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The Cost of Natural Resources
The economies and populations of BOTH the developed and developing world are affected significantly when oil prices rise, or when the prices of any basis natural resource increases. We all can recall not that long ago when the price of gasoline was nearly $5 a gallon and how it cost us $100 to fill our cars. This most certainly affected the way we all lived.
Another aspect to consider with natural resources is how everything is all interconnected. Remember when we had the push for ethanol as a miracle fuel that was added to our gasoline to save the planet? Well, that caused a lot of farmers to switch from growing corn for food to growing corn for fuel, causing massive increases in food costs in the United States and all around the world. Now the food riots did not get that much attention in the media because it did not fit the political story of saving the planet, but a lot of people died because of this idea.
Consider the following facts and explain how a person could reach different conclusions about natural resources and how the costs of these resources, and our desire to exploit them, affect thins in the world? Provide specific examples and consider the following in your response:
- Despite all of the hype over the green economy and alternative fuel sources, much of it is just not efficient enough or cheap enough for the world to afford it. What motivation could there be for recommending that poor countries (or any country) use expensive technologies that are not that efficient when cheaper and better for the environment?
- Why would it make sense or not to drill for oil in the developing world when oil is easily available at home?
- What would making energy and natural resources make or not make sense? What are some government policies that promote these ideas?
- Nuclear energy happens to be the safest and most renewable form of mass-producing energy the world has thus far discovered. Yet, there has not been a reactor built in the United States in decades. Why?
