Everyday we are faced with the fact, the fact that we are completely dependent on oil, and because of this dependency we are faced with the consequences. On April 20th, 2010, one of the largest, deep water, offshore drilling rigs exploded and released oil into the water, not to mention the broken well under the water that is leaking oil constantly. According to ABC.news Admiral Landry, Commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District estimated that 13,000 gallons of oil are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico every hour. This oil spill could kill off not only entire of species of plants and animals but also affect people. The only people that we can blame for this catastrophe are ourselves for our dependency on oil.

The world has no choice but to reduce the consumption of oil. If the United States refuses there will only be more disastrous oil spills and increasing rate of global warming. We need to switch to a new energy source and that is bio-fuels. Jobs ranging from farming to production to transportation would be created with the development of bio-fuels. Bio-fuels produce fewer carbon emissions than fossil fuels, thereby reducing air pollution, greenhouse gasses, and toxins. With the development of bio-fuels we will also decrease our dependency on foreign fuel and fuel independence increases domestic security and self-dependence.

Nowadays when people want to go anywhere they have drive there in their car. This is another reason why most people are shy to the idea of decreasing oil consumption in the United States. An easy way to decrease oil consumption is by creating more livable communities. A huge contributor to oil consumption is when people commute to work everyday. The United States government should create communities where riding a bike, taking the bus, or walking is encouraged because the community is not scattered development that is linked by busy, high-speed, multi-lane roadways. When the United States takes the steps to creating livable communities then will the people of the United States notice a positive difference in the environment and their everyday lives.

We live in a consumer society and lots of our items have oil in them, from aspirin to upholstery. To reduce our oil consumption we need to also consider the fact that we have to reduce our waste in the healthiest manner. Reduce, Re-use, recycle; everyone knows this saying but in our society people mostly use recycle – few use re-use and reduce. Re-use and reduce go hand in hand. The more people re-use items the more waste is reduced. Also in many ways re-using creates less hazardous waste, saves money in purchases and disposal costs, and creates less air and water pollution than making a new item or recycling. Re-use is the act of prolonging the life of the item, and if we re-used more the manufactures wouldn’t have need to create more products out of oil.

Eventually, the United States is going to have to stop relying on oil, because we are running out of oil and time. The earth and our economy are suffering and it’s all because of our reliance on oil. We need to move beyond our oil addiction and take new steps to a better future.