The Road to Escaping Oil Dependency

In America, oil is one of the substances in highest demand today. However, this is a limited resource that is steadily dwindling. In the future, one of two things has to happen. Either America needs to start a new trend in bike riding, or it needs to break its dependence on oil. Seeing as America is infatuated with motorized vehicles, the latter has to occur. Matthew L. Wald of the New York Times discusses a new proposition to increase the allowed amount of ethanol in gasoline to 15 percent.

Preliminary testing had found that e15 was safe for 2007 models or newer, which use about a third of the gasoline consumed in the United States. A decision about the ethanol limits in cars made from the 2001 to 2006 model years could be made next month. “For other model years and other types of vehicles, we will need more time to gather and assess the necessary data,” she said.

While this is a great first step away from dependency on oil, there are still many problems with this solution. Ethanol still uses vast quantities of natural gas and releases carbon into the atmosphere. While it is true that we need to be moving away from oil as a source of fuel, the solution needs to be a greener, more efficient one. If not, America's bike sales are about to increase.