Behavior of an Addict

In President Bush's 2006 State of the Union Address he referred to our use of oil as an "addiction". Current calls to drill in the Artic and offshore along with responses to Al Gore's plan is nothing but the response of an addict and its enablers.

Jack Henningfield of John Hopkins University refers to the plan as a “nicotine” patch. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/23/america.oil.addiction/index.html?iref=m...) While nicotine patches, when used as part of a long term plan, can help wean a person off of nicotine it is just a very short term solution. It does not change the behavior of the addict; it allows the addict to continue using, just from a different source. The stark difference here though is that our patch could have substantial environmental impacts if it is not properly implemented. There is a very serious risk of causing significant environmental harm and there is also the distinct possibility that this patch will not have any benefit.

The absolute, most optimistic estimates put production at a level that will provide us with 1% of our daily consumption needs. We currently import 70% of our oil! Also, if we increase our domestic production by 1% then all OPEC has to do is decrease theirs by 1%. However the real problem is that by the time this increase can come to market (seven to ten years best estimate), worldwide consumption will have easily eclipsed these gains. The planning to open these areas to off shore drilling is synonymous to a smoker saying, “just one more cigarette”, an alcoholic saying, “just one more drink”, or drug user, “shooting up one last time”. Denying this fact is denying the real problem and it simply puts off the inevitable pain of ending the addiction or the addiction ending the addict’s life.

The only way to end this crisis once and for all is to end our dependence on oil completely. This is more than just the rhetoric of a bleeding heart liberal especially considering that even T. Boon Pickens is calling for action to move us to cleaner, cheaper, and domestic energy sources (http://www.pickensplan.com/). Many have responded to Al Gore’s plan to end our dependence on carbon based fuels (oil) as impossible. They claim it is impossible and that it will be too costly. Furthermore, many blame him and President Clinton for this mess as their energy policies did not help prevent this mess. This is the behavior of an addict. Addicts blame others for the problem rather than taking actions themselves. Addicts also are reluctant to go through the necessary withdrawal pains that will ultimately break the cycle of addiction. Finally, addicts sell themselves short. They do not realize or appreciate their own strength and how they do have it in themselves to break free from their addiction.

The United States of America is truly a great country we have the intellectual abilities to end this crisis and we truly have a phenomenal drive. How else do you characterize a nation that managed to put a man on the moon, to build up a phenomenal Interstate system, developed the Internet, and the birth place of many of the technologies in use across the world? Furthermore, we already have a great foundation to begin with. We already know how to make fuel from waste paper, cellulose, and many other potential sources. We already know how to harness the wind, the sun, and the tides. We also know how we can store energy from all of these sources. The first step of breaking any addiction is to admit to the problem, that we have an addiction. We, as a nation, have already begun doing this, now we need to come up with a plan that will end it!