The Growing Need for Energy Sources and the “Oil” Industry
Exploring the framework for a “Balanced Development” model
Ramses
Rashidi
©2008
Center for Balanced Development (www.cbdus.org)
In the last article we talked about culture, values and progress. Here, in a
series of articles, we are going to examine a number of industries and how they
are affecting the course of the development of human civilization.
Fragmented Growth and Development
Throughout history, we have observed the evolutionary stages of human and social
development. The gradual growth of the economy and the advent of new technology,
until the mid-19th century, did not pose any major issues in terms of depletion
of natural resources and the simple lifestyle of the scattered pockets of
population worldwide. Our ancestors struggled to utilize the limited technology
that was available to them, and from time to time their achievements would be
destroyed in wars and regional conflicts. However, in the past century and a
half, as technology has advanced, we have experienced tremendous growth as well
as challenges that are unprecedented in human history.
One of the major challenges that we have been faced with is the concept of
fragmented growth and development. What does this mean? …… At the most basic
level, it means that industries have been growing without much correlation and
coordination with other industries. The housing industry is busy building homes,
the transportation industry keeps producing cars and the manufacturing industry
keeps making more products. Basically each industry keeps doing their own thing
without much attention to their impact on the bigger picture. This fragmented
growth pattern starts to pose a challenge to the overall body of development,
with certain parts being grotesquely out of proportion in relation to the whole.
We also see this fragmented development pattern among nations. When we look at
the global community, there is a great imbalance in terms of distribution of
resources, utilization of human potential, and access to necessities of life
such as food, water, shelter and education.
Clearly, there is a need to reflect on the impact of the widespread fragmented
growth on our personal lives, our families, the geopolitical landscape, the
global community, and the physical environment. Here, we are going to examine
certain industries and look at their impact and growth pattern. Furthermore,
we’ll try to come up with some transitional as well as long-term remedies. In
this article, the Energy industry, especially the Petroleum or Oil sector is
going to be the focus of our examination.
The Energy Crisis and the Oil industry
Energy is the lifeblood of growth and development throughout the world. In fact,
without the needed energy sources, our development around the globe could suffer
serious setbacks or even come to a halt. Today, the fragmented nature of
development has created a situation where we are faced with an energy crisis. On
one hand, we have been counting on the development of non-renewable sources of
energy such as oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear. On the other hand, we have
been playing with the idea of renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind,
geothermal, hydro, biomass and fuel cells. The net result has been our
continuing dependency on non-renewable sources of energy specially oil.
The petroleum or oil industry has changed the way we live. Some of this change,
of course, has been good and has raised our standard of living. It’s hard to
imagine how we would live without access to oil, natural gas and its byproducts.
However, the exploitation and over-utilization of petroleum has placed our
global community, our well-being, and the environment under great stress. In the
past 40 years, we have witnessed numerous conflicts and crises, both in the East
and the West that have been brought about due to the availability or shortage of
oil. In the Middle-East, where there is a major portion of the global oil
reserve, extreme ideologies and rogue governments, funded by oil revenues, could
potentially destabilize global peace and cause the further polarization of the
planet. Meanwhile, in the developed countries, as well as developing countries,
severe dependence on oil places entire national economies in vulnerable
positions. In fact, the exploitation of our oil reserves could become the cause
of global imbalance. Unless we take steps towards moderation and adjusting our
consumption patterns, we could become the victims of our own dependence on oil.
It’s very clear that we need to take measures to avert potential disaster.
Imagine not having access to oil and its byproducts. This could easily happen.
All we need is an escalation of the conflict in the Middle-East - an area that
is already in a constant state of crisis. We can wait and see, or we can change
the course of our lives and create a ripple effect. Let’s start a new chapter
towards balanced development.
Balanced Energy Policy
The following are some rudimentary and transitional measures towards a balanced
energy policy:
As a starting point, It’s time we realize that we are the agents of change on
this planet. We could continue our fragmented growth tendencies and further push
our global communities towards crisis or we can initiate changes in the way we
live and work, and the way we relate to each other. In a united and harmonious
environment we can achieve whatever we put our minds to.
In the next series of articles we will further examine the fragmented growth of
specific industries their impact on global balance and possible solutions.
Ramses
Rashidi (ramses@cbdus.org)
is the founder and director of Center for Balanced Development.
The
center is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources and
services to foster global balance in social, personal, ecological and economic
development.