Oil Prices are Not Likely to Go Down
China and India are emerging as Asia’s new powerhouses for gobbling up fossil fuels. Economists and experts agree that this will do nothing to bring down the price for oil any time soon. It has been noted that India and China can account for over 2/3 of the global growth in the demand for oil.
Others are saying that the oil demand in China can equal Saudi Arabia’s total supply. As prices for a barrel of crude oil creep up to $100 or more, there is a real threat to the global economy. The average citizen is paying the price for the situation, and the results are economies all over the world in trouble. While salaries have stayed basically the same, the cost of living has risen dramatically, and more families are finding it harder to pay for their basic needs such as housing, home heating and food.
Rising oil prices produce a ripple effect. The price for transporting goods goes up, and therefore the price of food goes up. If we don’t address alternative energy sources in the very near future, we may see something as drastic as a global economic recession.
What China and India need to do in order to address this problem, is to explore sources of renewable energy as well as greater efficiency in the way they use fossil fuels now. They can also join the rest of the developed countries in capping emissions that are one of the major causes of global warming.
Countries around the world will have to work together like they have never had to join forces in human history before. If we are to have a planet to leave to future generations, we must all be willing to sit around the table and make concessions and compromises that will positively impact the environment, and leave behind the notion that what each nation does is its own business.
