ScarletRose:

> Okay.. so why don't we use our own oil?? Why refine it to send it off just to get oil from somewhere else??

In answer to your first question: the US does not use its own oil because it does not have enough. Even if the companies were to drill in Alaska and do deep sea drilling in the gulf of Mexico, the US still wouldn't have enough oil to meet the demand.

The US has approximately 5% of the people in the world. Yet it consumes about 36% of the crude oil in the world. Based on pure statistics, the average American citizen is consuming about 6 times the amount of oil that a person in a developing country (like China) would consume. This has to do with lifestyle. Americans like big cars (at least ehy did in the past. That trend is changing). Americans use a lot of electricity and energy for heating, air conditioning and illumination (consider all the Christmas lights in the street, for example).

It is this high demand that has moved the US to import most of its oil. Here in Alberta, Canada, we produce enough oil to supply about 15% of American demand. We are the biggest supplier of oil to the US now. We supply even more oil than Saudi Arabia. Both American and Canadian companies have pursued oil exploration and drilling in Canada because we are a friendly country to the US. We are a stable democracy and we share the largest undefended border in the world.

In reality the US refines most of its own crude oil, and exports little refined product. What the US exports is technology for exploration, drilling and refining.

A change in energy policy in the US (or around the world for that matter) will require not just a change in government attitude, but also a change in the attitude of suppliers (oil and energy companies) and a change in the attitude of consumers. Oil is the biggest business in the world and suppliers (companies, OPEC, etc.) are constantly trying to manipulate prices to maximize their profits. Governments are corrupt and they sell their integrity to oil companies. Consumers just want cheap, abundant energy and until recently they were not willing to change their consumption patterns. Now that oil is so expensive we are starting to see a shift in consumer attitude. People wants to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, appliances and vehicles. However, we forget that only 25 years ago most people didn't care much for saving energy.