Markkula Center of Applied Ethics

Energy: What Is the Real Cost of Oil?

                         

The Challenge
Americans are reeling from increases in the price of oil and gas, but the cost of energy goes beyond dollars and cents. Our dependence on fossil fuels causes environmental damage, distorts our foreign policy, and exacerbates the gap between haves and have-nots.

What's at Stake
Passage by Congress of the first omnibus energy bill in 20 years has done little to quell public debate on U.S. energy policy. An article in the Washington Post called the bill "a piñata of perks for energy industries." While the legislation does offer some incentives for the development of new energy sources, it includes few measures to curtail consumption or protect the environment. Our dependence on oil, especially foreign oil (58 percent of our current consumption), remains a problem. Because of that dependence, U.S. foreign policy must sometimes pander to oil-rich states whose policies and human rights records make them poor allies. To fundamentally alter our energy policy, Americans will have to be willing to make real changes in the way we live.

Critical Questions
  • With fuel prices increasing in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, President Bush has begun to call for more conservation. This is a departure for the administration, which had previously viewed conservation, in the words of Vice President Dick Cheney, as a "personal virtue," not a sound energy policy. To what extent is conservation a responsibility of individuals and to what extent should it be made mandatory through regulation?
  • Gas prices are just as high for those who conserve by driving hybrid vehicles as for those who drive gas
    guzzlers. Should there be incentives at the pump and elsewhere to encourage conservation?
  • Nuclear energy is once again being discussed as an alternative to fossil fuels, but there are serious environmental questions regarding transportation and storage of radioactive wastes. What risks are worth taking in order to provide more affordable energy?
  • Higher prices for energy mean that necessities such as heating and transportation will be more costly, increases that will impact the poor disproportionately. What is society's responsibility to those who cannot afford such basic necessities?

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The views expressed on this site are the author's. The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics does not advocate particular positions but seeks to encourage dialogue on the ethical dimensions of current issues. The Center welcomes comments and alternative points of view.
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