The other risk of excessive oil consumption: petro-influenced international relations
The effort to decrease consumption of fossil fuels, while closely related to environmental issues, also has a strong geo-political component. As T. Boone Pickens has been emphasizing lately, dependence on foreign countries for one’s supply of energy can have dangerous and expensive consequences.
This fact has been highlighted in recent days by a rift that has developed between the Czech Republic and Russia over the Czechs’ decision to host an American antiballistic missile radar system on Czech soil. Russia, which strongly opposes this system (arguing that it will disrupt the current balance of power) is suspected of taking punitive measures against the Czechs by temporarily cutting off their supply of oil. While Russia denies intentionally cutting the flow of oil, both the Ukraine and Lithuania have accused Russia (or Russian companies) of using the flow of oil and natural gas as a political weapon in the past, and it is suspected as a possible explanation in this case.
Either way, this situation illustrates that the risks of fossil fuel dependence extend beyond environmental damage. In the current geo-political world, where much of the world’s fossil fuels are controlled by authoritarian countries, it is dangerous to be beholden to their spigots. And in the Czechs’ case, even though they have a secondary oil pipeline coming from Western Europe, much of that oil originates in the Middle East. While it may be hard to imagine a situation where global politics would lead to a complete disruption of oil supplies, in reality, such a scenario is not that inconceivable given dwindling supplies, skyrocketing demand and the enormous financial and political consequences of petro-policies. As long as these facts remain, and they will for the foreseeable future, the only option is to dramatically decrease our consumption and reliance on oil.
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