Alright, let’s get real here. Thursday February 24th, after I rocked my Spanish mid-term I packed up my car and drove the 7 hour drive back home to Minnesota to enjoy spring break with my family. From the news lately, I knew gas prices were going up, but holy cow! $3.35 a gallon? Seriously!?! I’m sure all of you who drove to your spring break destinations experienced the same pump-shock, or whatever you want to refer to it as. Sure hurts the pocket book doesn’t it? But there is more to the whole “gas price” thing than just Americans having to spend extra money at the pump. Let me preface this by saying, last semester I had no television, thus I didn’t have the convenience of having the news on in the background anytime I wanted it, which lead to me falling behind in current events. If you’re anything like I was last semester, you may be in the need of someone to help fill you in, and that’s what I’m about to do, because there is most definitely something important going on that everyone needs to be informed about. And this isn’t just about the gas prices, it is so much deeper than that. Specifically I’m talking about Libya and the Libyan uprising.
That’s right. We’re talking some pretty heavy stuff here. In January, before Libya, Egypt experienced a historic revolution. It began with a popular uprising that included protests, demonstrations, and inevitably violence between protestors and supporters of the regime of the country’s (then) leader Hosni Mubarak. Despite the violence, American journalists were able to report on the happenings, which helped to keep much of the world informed of the fight Egyptians were participating in. Though the military allowed peaceful protests, many Egyptians gave their lives fighting for freedom of speech, free elections, and the want for a non-military government among many other things. Because of this, governments in some parts of the world tried their best to keep their people uninformed of the Egyptian uprising for the exact reason of what is now taking place in Libya.
Inspired by Egypt, Libya (one of the world’s top oil producers) is currently in the midst of their own uprising, which began in mid-February. At the time of this writing though, it has moved far beyond just an uprising. According to Richard Engel, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent, who entered Libya on February twenty-second, “the protest movement is no longer a protest movement, it’s a war. It’s open revolt.” The people of Libya are fighting to reclaim their freedom from Moammar al-Gaddafi, the world’s longest-ruling autocrat (a form of government in which one person possesses unlimited power.) The violence in Libya is outrageous and is far more violent than that in Egypt was, if only for the fact that Egypt’s dictator was at least a seemingly sane man, while the leader of Libya is not. He has vowed to fight on and to die a martyr. Though Libya is an oil producer, they are not the top supplier of oil to the US, yet it has greatly impacted our oil prices here at home. Why? Because “In general, oil markets prefer stability and stability often comes with governance… markets are not perturbed by dictatorships, so long as the pipelines keep gushing.” As this violence takes place on the other side of the world oil analysts are anxiously watching from their comfortable offices, and gas prices have jumped not because oil production has dropped, but because of the fear that it will happen. “The best case scenario, from the oil market’s stand point, would be for unrest to calm” Looking at current trends in the middle east though, that isn’t about to happen soon and this fear is also taking into account “what would happen to energy markets if unrest spread to Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s biggest oil producer.”
“Libya’s revolt scares oil traders,” this is a primary reason for the hike in gas prices. Personally I am saddened that while people are dying for their freedom we American’s can really do nothing but watch the violence unfold on our nightly news and then complain the next morning about the high gas prices. It’s not that we are bad people, it’s that we are lucky enough to live in a country where we already have the freedoms that many are fighting and dying for. All we really have to worry about is trying to afford enough gas to drive home for spring break. It is frustrating to think of how we can help solve these issues, but then when you really think about it, it’s obvious. We can do something. It’s been the talk of politicians for years now. As a country we need to cut our addiction to oil. It is definitely an attainable goal, but it’s difficult because cutting ourselves off from oil involves investing in other energy resources. That takes money and we all know that as a country our wallet is pretty tight these days, but as a people we can do something. If each of us Americans took steps to reducing our use of gas then that becomes a large movement of over 300 million people cutting their useof oil. And when we look at current “large movements” like Egypt for example, it’s obvious that as a collective, when people join together for a cause they can make a huge difference. Ride your bike, walk, use public transportation, carpool, or if you can afford it, get yourself a hybrid car, or better yet one of those electric ones. These things are not hype that the liberals and hippies of the world have made up, this is very real stuff that can very much improve your world.
Sitting here back home in Minnesota, I can’t do anything about the violence in the middle-east, but I can do something, like write an article for Her Campus informing others of the problem. We need to remember that what is important here isn’t the rising gas prices. In fact, with all things considered, having to pay more at the pump is really the least of everyone’s worries. There are two primary things that need to be the main focus here and I hope I’ve done well to inform you because being informed is the first step in being able to do good for the world. First and foremost, the people of the country of Libya and others in the middle-east are in dire need of support for their cause. Secondly, America needs to quit thinking about our dependence on oil and actually take an honest and serious step at changing our ways. Though as college students here at home, focusing on our studies, checking our Facebooks, and reading our latest Her Campus issue, we really can’t do much in regards to helping the Libyans other than hoping the best for them, but we can start making the much needed changes here in our home country, and why not start now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Libyan_protests
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves_in_Libya
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/201122212923942483.html
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/24/134034855/In-Libya-Defectors-Organize-In-Benghazi
http://bltwy.msnbc.msn.com/politics
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/100726/top-7-us-oil-importers