Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Oil's big 5 are thrilled with Obama's green outlook


As might be expected, the planned 150 billion dollar expenditure towards a greener future posed by the Obama administration is not sitting well with big oil companies like Shell and BP. The companies claim that the alternative energy would not be able to handle the vast amount of energy needed to run this country. Although the companies have run commercials claiming that they support alternative energy and will be experimenting with biofuels, their investments are quite small and are not a focus of their long term goals.
I think that alternative fuels are necessary to find and I think it's important for oil companies to make it a priority, but at the same time, we also have to keep our oil flow steady because our country still relies heavily on oil. Is it realistic to assume that we can replace conventional forms of energy in the time frame that Obama has given? Should we focus all our efforts on helping our dying planet and use a substantial amount of money towards alternative fuels?

5 comments:

rachel s said...

hahaha i meant they aren't thrilled...my bad.

Anastasia Markovtsova said...

Although I think that investing in alternative sources of energy is a good idea, I do not think it is a great idea RIGHT NOW. The research, time commitment, and money that it requires just does not seem plausible given our current economic crisis. We need to be focusing on America's banking problems rather than trying to discover a "cleaner oil". We have our priorities mixed up! Personally, I feel that the oil companies' attempts at seeming greener are just for show. They want to seem as if they care about what the average American cares about - saving our planet and recycling. They know that if cleaner fuel is found, then they will lose billions of dollars, so obviously, they aren't spending too much on research right now. Personally, I don't think that Obama's plan for a cleaner America is very realistic. We really can't change our dependency on oil in the time frame that we are given.

bryan moore said...

I have to disagree with Anastasia about the idea that now is not the time to invest in alternative energy sources. Though our current economic crisis is straining the resources of the government and our country is in a large amount of debt, there is no guarantee that the next president is going to be as willing to fund the necessary research as our current president is. I also believe that considering the terribly damaging effects that gasoline has had and will continue to have on the environment there is no time like the present to try to stop the damage and reverse it as best we can. Though government spending on things not related to fixing the economy could be criticized at a time like this I believe that government spending in the clean fuel industry would help spur an industry that is already growing quickly therefore benefiting the economy in addition to the environment.

Oliver Draper said...

I also have to disagree with Anastasia. Investing in cleaner fuels could help solve a lot of our problems, including the financial crisis. It will create jobs and get the cash flowing again, and while it may not be the answer to all of our problems, it will certainly help us in the long run. And while Obama's plan may seem unrealistic, we need to change our oil dependency in the time frame we are given, because if we don't, we won't be abe to power our cars, among other things. Oil's gonna run out soon, and then we'll have to find a new fuel anyway. Of course the oil giants are less than thrilled, think of how much money they'll lose!

Anonymous said...

Lauren C Strojny- Now is the best time to start implementing new energy resources into the US. If companies can expand on the idea of alternative energy sources now, then hopefully in the near future we will see change in how people use energy. If change doesnt start now will it ever? Obama has a great message and plan of going green, we need to save our planet while we can and changing our energy use is a great start.