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Opinion

'Geo-green' is bloodless oil solution

David Salinas
Opinion Columnist

As a matter of national security, and also as a means of pursuing the new "Bush Doctrine" of stoking the flames of international liberty, we should immediately start tapping the Alaskan oil reserves and driving hybrid vehicles. Fuel conservation should be prioritized, and the development of fuel alternatives should be a primary goal of government-sponsored research.

This is the mantra of a new voice in American politics, called the "geo-greens." The term, coined by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, refers to those who have adopted a conservation-based philosophy for promulgating reform in the Middle East. More specifically, geo-greens believe reform in the Middle East can be best accomplished by focusing on reducing the price of oil through efforts such as fuel conservation, developing renewable and alternative energies and expanding nuclear power. The theory is based on the history of the region. The United States has unwittingly propped up some of the cruelest dictators in the world because they have been willing to sell oil for low prices. People in the Middle East are smart enough to realize they are living in tyranny, and they know that the autocratic regimes would not be in power if not for the United States. By diminishing oil purchases from the region and withdrawing our support for tyrannical regimes, we will quit enabling the dictatorships that allow rampant poverty to exist.

Oil revenues may have created a state of dependence in many of the oil producing countries in the Middle East. Those nations are currently able to generate large amounts of revenue every year by exporting oil, so they can afford to prevent women from entering the workforce, leave unemployment at 25 to 40 percent and refuse to modernize schools. Cutting off oil revenue would force these countries to modernize if they wanted to survive economically. 

There is real economic incentive for reform if oil revenue is cut off. Jordan has realized this, and has taken tremendous strides for promoting a liberal, free-market economy. It is possible for a deeply devout Muslim nation to preserve its cultural values while progressing toward a stable economy by turning to alternatives to oil revenue for its economic strength. 

Something radical will have to happen to shake the dynamics in this region, and disrupting cash flows to the area is probably the only thing short of war that can provide a strong enough impetus for change. Further, the United States does not have the resources to launch very many more wars to depose dictators. A cheaper alternative to war is necessary, and the geo-green solution is feasible. We don't have to cut off all oil purchases today, but we could have more concerted effort to lower dependence on oil.

This geo-green philosophy has created strange bedfellows. An increasing number of ultra-conservatives are joining their liberal nemeses in entering the market for hybrid vehicles.

Salinas, an opinion columnist for The Daily Cougar,
can be reached at davidcsalinas@yahoo.com