Making a change from Middle East oil dependency has been a goal of North America for the last ten years. The best route that should have been taken was investment in more alternative energy sources, however, this was not part of the initial transitional plan. Instead, North America is taking the lead for becoming the world’s largest oil and natural gas exporter. The question is, will this benefit the continent while causing a higher carbon footprint on a global scale.

The global energy situation is a rather complicated problem. Countries such as China and India are increasing in their energy consumption, with higher demands for oil and natural gas. While China has addressed their needs through the production of renewable energy technologies, North America seems to be focused on maintaining the fossil fuel, natural gas and coal dependency through exports. One of the areas that is not being considered is the fact that water is a main component in energy production and already accounts for fifteen percent of the world’s water use. As the need increases, water will be a more important criteria for any and all energy projects. In some areas, this requirement is already upsetting the water balance and is therefore causing increased costs and will actually offset any savings and return on investment.

Analysis of North American goals may show that the policy push to exports may cause serious delays in any realized savings while actually affecting the global climate. There is a major need to balance the export policies with the use of sustainable and renewable energy to bring a balance to energy use and a lowered carbon footprint. The attitude of focusing on oil and natural gas exports for global energy answers may be one that is currently showing a higher investment potential but may actually be detrimental for even a short term plan.

Source: http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/pressreleases/2012/november/name,33015,en.html

3 Responses to “Balancing Global Energy: North America Takes the Lead”

1. 1
   MatterOfTime Says:
   

   No one is going to care until their kids start getting sick and dying from the effects of global warming. Of course, the wealthy will ship their families to special islands and the rest of the world will suffer with droughts, floods, hurricanes and fires. How bad does it have to get to start making the right choices?

   August 11th, 2013 at 6:21 pm
2. 2
   Can'tDance Says:
   

   More oil? Does it really matter who is drilling? Who is making these decisions? Washington, DC or the companies that support the politicians? Totally disgusting. The people need to stand up and start putting pressure on their representatives. If they figure out they won’t get re-elected because they are supporting the oil companies (who support them), then they just might make a change. It’s always about the bottom line, and we can make a difference.

   August 10th, 2013 at 6:54 pm
3. 3
   MaybeNot Says:
   

   I don’t care what kind of lead North America is taking if it’s continuing to focus on fossil fuels. We are just taking the money that we would have sent to the Middle East and lining our companies pockets and still pumping garbage into the atmosphere. It’s time to stand up and invest in what will keep the planet clean, not make the fat cats richer.

   August 9th, 2013 at 4:50 pm

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