Reference no: EM132520234

Accessing Non-Renewable Resources

Countries that claim the most access to the planet's resources continue to grow in population and economy at an increasing pace. This growth reduces the amount of non-renewable energy resources on the planet. However, contrary to popular belief, the earth has so much of these non-renewable fuels that it the planet is not going to run out for quite a long time.

Consider, however, the recent push for increasing our use of renewable and clean energy sources such as solar and wind. While these energy sources sound great on paper, they are massively expensive to setup and operate, and they are also very inefficient. In same cases, like the electric car or ethanol fuel, they are actually more damaging to the environment than fossil fuels.

There is a lot of hidden activities going on in the world of natural resources where countries try to keep prices high by playing with environmental laws in other countries or by causing political instability in areas of the world where these resources are produced.

Oil is very abundant in the earth, and quite a few countries have access to it that are not located in the Middle East. However, it is illegal in many countries including the United States to drill for this oil on land where many of these massive oil fields are located. Instead, environmental laws force companies to drill off shore in the water, where it is more expensive and much more dangerous for the environment. What motivations would environmental groups have for making environmental laws that seem to hurt the environment? Which countries have the most to gain from oil prices? Which countries are the largest donor to the environmental movements?