Classmate's Blog- "Black Gold"

I recently read an informative editorial by Christi Duderstadt. In her piece titled “Black Gold”, she gives the reader an insight into what President Obama wishes to do in concerns with the rising oil and gas prices. Duderstadt states that Obama “would like to build new refineries to create billions of gallons of bio fuels and increase fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles”. She also comments that while our nation is sitting on an abundance of oil, we shouldn’t start drilling and become co-dependent on ourselves for oil. While I am a firm believer in finding a resolution to our gas prices quickly, I have to agree with Duderstadt. It is unethical for our country to go from relying heavily on foreign, imported oil to simply producing all of our own. At the same time, I don’t fully support Obama’s angle towards creating bio fuel as Duderstadt does. I don’t agree with this because of the mere fact that in the event of producing billions of gallons of bio fuels for fuel-efficient vehicles, who all will benefit from the fuel? Not every person, or even the majority of the population, owns a fuel-efficient car. For Obama’s plan to effectively work for the whole, many people will have to dip even farther into their budgets in order to purchase different vehicles that can use the supply of fuel. I think that the idea of mass production of bio fuels is a good start for the long run, but the country needs help sooner rather than later. Duderstadt effectively portrays her thoughts on mass production of bio fuels being the best answer. While I agree that it is a valid idea, I disagree that it will help in the near future.