Drill Or Not To Drill

Submitted By rachelt2010
Words: 506
Pages: 3

To Drill or Not to Drill?

For many years now, the United States has been reliant on non-renewable fossil fuels to provide energy to the millions of people and places all over the country. As technology is increasing and opening many doors continually, the opportunity to begin using alternative renewable energy is becoming more apparent. With the amount of business and politics attached to the fossil fuels as well as the country’s reliance, changing to alternative energy sources would be a difficult task, but not an impossible one. Thinking critically about all the ins and outs of the situation as well as the positive and negative effects from both sides can make the decision easier. The argument between continuing to use fossil fuels and changing to alternative energy sources is as old as the discovery of the alternative sources. In a year, the United States imports more than 60% of its oil (USBC 2001). When there are alternative energy sources available to use, a lot of strain would be taken away from the purchase of oil. Although using wood furnaces in the winter season is different from using solar or nuclear energy, it is still an option in limiting the amount of fossil fuels Americans use. “Fairgoers Eye Alternative Energy Idea” (2005) explains that when the same amount of energy from using oil costs almost $400 dollars less than 225 gallons of oil, the amount of money and fossil fuels saved is quite high. There are many other options to choose from for energy sources other than oil. A few examples are wind power, solar energy, and Biofuels. While all alternative energy resources do not come without side effects, the positive effects are well worth the effort. Changing from fossil fuels would improve the environment as well as have a lot of positive effects with economic issues. With the United States being very dependent on other countries for a majority of their fossil fuels, changing to alternative energy sources would