Looking back on the Arab Oil Embargo, 40 years ago this week
#1
10-16-2013, 05:00 PM
Looking back on the Arab Oil Embargo, 40 years ago this week
Filed under: Etc., Green Culture, USA, Middle East
Well before the start of AutoblogGreen, well before there were blogs, before even the first production hybrid vehicle, there was the Arab Oil Embargo. It happened 40 years ago this week, which means now is as good a time as any to take a look back at a time when getting gas in the US was a tremendous challenge.
In response to US support for Israel in its war with Egypt and Syria, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) limited how much oil came into the US. This, in turn, caused a "major economic downturn" in the US as gas supplies fell (and prices rose). For a while, the US responded determinedly. To deal with the embargo, the US set up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, implemented a national 55-mile-per-hour speed limit and got the ball rolling on both CAFE standards and the DOE. But then, in March 1974, the embargo ended and the US went back to some of its old habits. We're still reliant on fossil fuels because we just can't seem to get renewable energy to work. Just today there was a story in The Washington Post about a big fight over solar power in Arizona. The good news, though, is that renewable energy sources (things like biofuels and wind power) made up just 6.9 percent of domestic energy production in 1973, but are account for almost 12 percent today, according to the Sun Day Campaign. There are many more statistics in the press release below and more information on the embargo over at Wikipedia.
Today, the US gets less than 10 percent of its oil from the Middle East (we get more from Canada, now), but that's only part of the problem. As Michelle Robinson of the Union of Concerned Scientists put it in a prepared statement, "While the embargo may be in the past, the oil we use continues to jeopardize our economy, our security, and our climate. The situation is serious ... we must do more."Continue reading Looking back on the Arab Oil Embargo, 40 years ago this week
Looking back on the Arab Oil Embargo, 40 years ago this week originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
More...
Well before the start of AutoblogGreen, well before there were blogs, before even the first production hybrid vehicle, there was the Arab Oil Embargo. It happened 40 years ago this week, which means now is as good a time as any to take a look back at a time when getting gas in the US was a tremendous challenge.
In response to US support for Israel in its war with Egypt and Syria, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) limited how much oil came into the US. This, in turn, caused a "major economic downturn" in the US as gas supplies fell (and prices rose). For a while, the US responded determinedly. To deal with the embargo, the US set up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, implemented a national 55-mile-per-hour speed limit and got the ball rolling on both CAFE standards and the DOE. But then, in March 1974, the embargo ended and the US went back to some of its old habits. We're still reliant on fossil fuels because we just can't seem to get renewable energy to work. Just today there was a story in The Washington Post about a big fight over solar power in Arizona. The good news, though, is that renewable energy sources (things like biofuels and wind power) made up just 6.9 percent of domestic energy production in 1973, but are account for almost 12 percent today, according to the Sun Day Campaign. There are many more statistics in the press release below and more information on the embargo over at Wikipedia.
Today, the US gets less than 10 percent of its oil from the Middle East (we get more from Canada, now), but that's only part of the problem. As Michelle Robinson of the Union of Concerned Scientists put it in a prepared statement, "While the embargo may be in the past, the oil we use continues to jeopardize our economy, our security, and our climate. The situation is serious ... we must do more."Continue reading Looking back on the Arab Oil Embargo, 40 years ago this week
Looking back on the Arab Oil Embargo, 40 years ago this week originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
More...
Thread
Topic Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Curated Content Editor
Journalism & The Media
0
03-20-2015 12:11 PM
Curated Content Editor
Journalism & The Media
0
03-28-2013 06:30 AM
Curated Content Editor
Journalism & The Media
0
03-27-2013 05:10 PM
