David Kuo's Blog

From my previous blog post, an economics professor, Tim Haab, pointed out that pollution is okay as long as its benefits are equal to its costs. The United States’ self-sufficiency in oil provides benefits, but also comes at a high cost.

I agree with Claudia Jang though, on how the United States will be able to better focus its resources to more efficient uses and perhaps boost its own economy, and the economies of other countries that are involved with the U.S.

At the same time, I also see the cost that is associated with this. Many countries that are affiliated with the U.S. through oil trades, such as Canada, will suffer losses initially, and possibly never recover the losses from a boosted U.S. economy. Also, the new methods of extracting oil by the U.S. poses environmental concerns, such as polluting groundwater, and the surrounding environment.

I fully agree with Claudia that an assessment is needed for these methods of oil extraction. At the same time, resources are diminishing, especially oil – and the continual dependence on oil will create more environmental concerns in the future. Countries should not focus its resources on oil extraction and instead should look towards innovating more sustainable methods of energy production for the future. This technology will prove to be valuable to not only the U.S., but countries around the world in an effort to become sustainable.