Unrest in the Middle East - What Should America Do?

Why the conflict? Why are educated young people taken to the streets in protest?

Answer: An utter disgust for the gerontocracy of political and business leaders not finding the now-needed solutions to eliminate the job unemployment crisis.

Recap:

1. December 8, 2010 – More than 50,000 students protested a 200% hike in university tuition.

2. January 28, 2011 – Tunisian protesters led to the removal of President of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Riots were reported to have been started over unemployment, freedom of speech, and poor living conditions.

3. January 25, 2011 – an ongoing protest in Cairo, Egypt in which protesters seek the immediate removal of President Hosni Mubarak.

 

With ever-increasing riots and unrest in the Middle East, Americans are concerned for what this will do to the price of oil. Oil determines the price of everything in America. It is what fuels our transportation. If transportation costs rise, then the seller has to make up for the difference in raising the cost of our goods; therefore, food prices will increase. If the price of oil goes up, everything we buy will also go up.

 

Recovering Our Own Oil.

 

In April of 2008, the U.S. Geological Service issued a revised report of technologically recoverable oil in the Bakken formation known also as the Williston Basin. This formation stretches from northern North Dakota and Montana to Canada. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the basin is estimated at 503 billion barrels. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette noted, “This sizeable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.”

Another oil discovery of over 2 Trillion barrels was found 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains. President Bush attempted in late 2005 to mandate the extraction, but environmentalists and others have blocked any beginning efforts.

 

Read more about the Bakken Formation at http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article?ID=1911.