Oil: The Problem

The problem of oil is that we only have a LIMITED supply of oil. Even if we increase the drilling in America, we won't be able to counter the problem of limited supplies of one of the biggest used supplies in the world. We must start investing and USING other ways to fuel our lives. Most people do not have a hybrid car because they do not want to spend the extra money on a new car. Until we make in mass numbers cars that do not run on oil, than we cannot start to decrease our dependence on it. Not only do car makers need to start increasing the supply, but the government must also make the car makers increase there supply.

First, the government must raise the required gas mileage of cars and trucks. With each more mile we can go per gallon that is gas saved.

Second, the government must make it practical for a person to buy a hybrid car. Most hybrid cars are more expensive than there gas counterparts, and thus the average American does not have the money required for such a big investment. According to Joseph White, the Detroit bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, the current costs of a hybrid car means that it takes 15 YEARS for someone to pay off the extra money spend on a hybrid vs. the money they would have spent on a gas car, including the savings on gas with the hybrid. That means that someone must have the hybrid car for 15 years to save money. And honestly, how many Americans have a car that they continuously use for 15 years?!?! Not many I assume.

Finally, something must happen that is out of the control of most people; gas prices must continue to rise. Inevitably, after the costs get to high for gas, people will have to use it less. Using gas would just not work. If gas prices keep going up as fast as they are now, Americans will start calling on car makers and the government to help, thus leading to my previous two points becoming more attractive for car makers and the government. The only losers are companies like Exxon Mobil and BP.

And by the way, Exxon made the biggest profit of any company ever in one year at $36 billion.