Oil is everywhere. Even outside the Gulf of Mexico, it’s everywhere one looks. It powers planes, trains and cars, it’s in the plastics that make water bottles and computers, and it heats buildings and keeps the lights on at night. Oil also bends our arms backwards, forcing us to bend to its will.

Due to the myriad uses we have found for the liquid leftovers of dead dinosaurs, it has become hard to reduce our consumption of it. Although reducing our appetite for oil will be difficult due to the diversity of applications it has, this undertaking is a necessary one. Considering 72 percent of crude oil is used to refine gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel, according to the Department of Energy, the use of oil as a fuel will be the main concern of this writing.

JP Morgan-Chase estimates that by the end of 2012, prices for crude oil will reach $120/barrel, close to the 2008 highs of $140 when gasoline topped $4/gallon. As many will remember, gas stations did not bring warm and fuzzy feelings to many Americans in 2008, and many believe the oil price spike that year kick-started the ensuing recession. With this forecast, it becomes in our individual economic interest to reduce our oil consumption as much as possible so as to insulate ourselves from volatile oil prices.

On a national level, it becomes wise to limit our use of oil for two reasons.

First, to lessen the future competition for resources we will inevitably encounter with rising economies like China, Brazil, and India. As these countries develop, their use of things derived from oil will increase, raising prices and forcing America to pay more for fuel, plastics, and other goods.

Secondly, 40 percent of our oil is imported from countries belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC’s strategy going forward is to deliberately limit global oil production so prices will remain high indefinitely. According to bloomberg.com, OPEC does not plan to increase oil production unless prices climb above $100/barrel. This type of activity, if performed in the U.S., would be in direct violation of anti-trust and price-fixing laws. In addition to the unsavory economic tactics practiced by OPEC, many member countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran do not grant full rights to women, while others do not hold meaningful elections for heads of state.

International politics aside, the decision to limit the use of oil as a fuel should be an obvious one. It simply makes sense to take steps now to save ourselves from a problem that is certainly going to impede our progress as a people and as a nation in the future if nothing is done.

[email protected]