Resource Wars - 1/23/08

In the U.S., we have it easy.  Power, food and shelter are in abundance all around us.  As Americans we take for granted how truly blessed we are.  Electricity is just a light switch away, groceries are in abundance just a few miles away, and gasoline although high, is cheaper than bottled water. 

Can you imagine trying to survive having to fight for your resources everyday?  What if we had to grow our on food, kill our own meat and find enough wood to heat our home at night?  It was not too many years ago, many people in the U.S. were doing just that! 

This resource war has already begun.  The first thing you think of is oil, but what about water, natural gas, wheat, corn and almost all commodities including  lead are being gobbled up around the world, while stocks of these resources are dwindling  away.  As the population of the world surges past six billion the demand for resources are exceeding supply. 

We already see big players like China buying energy companies in Canada.  China sees this resource war coming and they are planning ahead to secure their energy future as much as possible.  Look at our leaders in the U.S. are they securing our energy future.  The president is calling for the mass production of ethanol and bio-diesel. Will this help our energy problems?  Not really, ethanol is just a band-aid controlled by Big Oil.  The president’s new energy bill goes backward by removing solar and wind tax breaks.  Why?  Go to this link for more information on the new energy bill http://www.beyondfossilfuel.com/solar/tax_breaks_12192.html

Will this massive increase in food being used for fuel cause our food to go up?  Learn more about Peak Food

Much more needs to be done and right now before these resource wars become ugly.

China is buying resources all over the world from timber to scrap metal.  Scrap metal is in such great demand that cargo ships full of the stuff are being shipped from the U.S. to China everyday. 

If you pay attention you can see how this is turning not only into a world wide problem but into a domestic problem.  Corn is even being stolen from grain elevators.  A truck load of corn once worth $15,000 is now worth $50,000.  Atlanta is having a water crisis, it is fighting with other states in court over the precious resource called water. 

As resources become scarcer the survival of the fittest will come into play.  The strong will take from the weak without asking first.  Even though Sadam was a very bad guy some believe part of the reason the U.S. entered Iraq was to secure oil for the U.S.  This is just the first war of possibly many to come over resources like oil.  Cheney is quoted as saying this war will not end in our lifetime.  Which is it his lifetime or our children’s lifetime?  Our leaders know more than they are telling the people.  Maybe they know our resources like oil is being used up faster then the supply and they are not telling us. 

President Bush’s Crawford Winter White House is an environmentalist dream.  It has 25,000 gallons of rainwater storage, gray water collection from sinks and showers for irrigation, passive solar, geothermal heating and cooling. It seems he knows something about the future we don’t.   

The control of natural resources like oil, timber and other raw materials have been a factor in civil wars in Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, and Angola.   

Who will win this game of "Survivor"?  Maybe it will be the countries with the most resources and the armies to protect them.  Russia will be one of these countries.  The resource rich countries without a strong army that could be targeted may include Africa or Canada. 

I hope it will not come to world wars and global theft of resources.  Maybe we are just in a Commodity Super Cycle as Jim Rogers believes and will end around 2015.  For more information on his book “Hot Commodities” go to this link http://www.beyondfossilfuel.com/resources/super_cycle_012008.html

In the mean time we can adapt and use less of these limited resources.  Find more alternatives to hydrocarbons by using renewable sources like wind, solar, and geothermal.  The problem is we are running out of time.  The U.S. government needs to start a “REAL” energy program equitant to the efforts in putting a man on the moon.  They said putting a man on the moon could not be done, but we did it!  If enough time and effort is put in any project it can be done., but we cannot wait till the resource crisis is in our lap. 

The U.S. leaders need to give us the Good, Bad and the Ugly no matter how much it hurts.  The U.S. people are the most resourceful and innovative folks in the world.  They just need direction and a goal.  We can move forward with great tenacity, working day and night till we achieve our ENERGY INDEPENDENCE.   

Back to the Resources Page