Changes

===Energy===

===Energy===

Americans discovered crude oil (petroleum) near Titusville, Pennsylvania, and drilled their first oil there in 1859.  It began yielding 25 barrels a day, but by the end of 1859 the flow had slowed to 15 barrels a day.  The world would never be the same again.  By 1906, American oil production had reached 126 million barrels a year.  Today petroleum constitutes 40% of Americans’ overall energy consumption in the United States, with coal being the other big source of energy.  Most of the cheap, readily accessible oil is under the control of Muslims in the Middle East.

Americans discovered crude oil (petroleum) near Titusville, Pennsylvania, and drilled their first oil there in 1859.  It began yielding 25 barrels a day.<ref>By the end of 1859 the flow of oil from this first well had slowed from 25 to 15 barrels a day.</ref> The world would never be the same again.  By 1906, American oil production had reached 126 million barrels a year.  Today petroleum constitutes 40% of Americans’ overall energy consumption in the United States, with coal being the other big source of energy.  Most of the cheap, readily accessible oil in the world is under the control of Muslims in the Middle East.

To keep the price of oil higher than it would be in a free market, Middle Eastern countries formed OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) in 1960.  The original members were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and also the Latin American country of Venezuela.  African and Asian countries later joined OPEC too.  Angered by American support of Israel during the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, OPEC placed an embargo on the shipment of oil to the United States.  Prices jumped by a multiple of four in two years, and there were many long lines and shortages at American gas stations.  The worldwide economy was hurt by this shock in energy prices, aggravating a problem with inflation and unemployment late in the 1970s.  Japan, which relies heavily on oil imports, was hit hard.  But OPEC’s influence has steadily declined due to increased competition by other countries.  Mexico and Russia have become large oil-producing nations, and they have not joined OPEC.  In 2007, the net revenues from oil to OPEC nations will be about $500 billion, while the non-OPEC nations will have net oil revenues of about $225 billion.  The United States imports about $170 billion-worth more of oil than it exports.

To keep the price of oil higher than it would be in a free market, Middle Eastern countries formed OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) in 1960.  The original members were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and also the Latin American country of Venezuela.  African and Asian countries later joined OPEC too.  Angered by American support of Israel during the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, OPEC placed an embargo on the shipment of oil to the United States.  Prices jumped by a multiple of four in two years, and there were many long lines and shortages at American gas stations.  The worldwide economy was hurt by this shock in energy prices, aggravating a problem with inflation and unemployment late in the 1970s.  Japan, which relies heavily on oil imports, was hit hard.  But OPEC’s influence has steadily declined due to increased competition by other countries.  Mexico and Russia have become large oil-producing nations, and they have not joined OPEC.  In 2007, the net revenues from oil to OPEC nations will be about $500 billion, while the non-OPEC nations will have net oil revenues of about $225 billion.  The United States imports about $170 billion-worth more of oil than it exports.

Many claim that the involvement of the United States in the Middle East is to protect the cheap oil there.  In late 1990, Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded and conquered Kuwait, a large oil producer.  In January and February 1991, the United States (with the support of the United Nations) responded with Operation Desert Storm, and liberated Kuwait in this Gulf War.  Saddam Hussein, in retreat, lit fires on the Kuwaiti oil wells and dumped two million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.  This seemed to anger environmentalists more than the loss of life!

Many claim that the involvement of the United States in the Middle East is to protect the cheap oil there.  In late 1990, Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded and conquered Kuwait, a large oil producer.  In January and February 1991, the United States (with the support of the United Nations) responded with Operation Desert Storm, and liberated Kuwait in this Gulf War.  Saddam Hussein, in retreat, lit fires on the Kuwaiti oil wells and dumped two million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.  This seemed to anger environmentalists more than the loss of life! The environmentalists called this action by Saddam Hussein “environmental terrorism.”

In the late 1990s, politicians and some scientists began to cite a warming trend in the earth’s weather as evidence of a “global warming” caused by the burning of oil and the release of chlorofluorocarbons, a chemical.  They blamed factory smokestacks and automobiles, and especially refrigerators and air conditioners.  The loss of trees in rain forests was also supposedly a cause of global warming.  Regulators began banning the use of certain chemicals in hairspray, and the Kyoto (Japan) Treaty was proposed to limit the pollution each country could generate each year.  Political opposition in America prevented the United States from ratifying the Kyoto Treaty.

In the late 1990s, politicians and some scientists began to cite a warming trend in the earth’s weather as evidence of a “global warming” caused by the burning of oil and the release of chlorofluorocarbons, a chemical.  They blamed factory smokestacks and automobiles, and especially refrigerators and air conditioners.  The loss of trees in rain forests was also supposedly a cause of global warming.  Regulators began banning the use of certain chemicals in hairspray, and the Kyoto (Japan) Treaty was proposed to limit the pollution each country could generate each year.  Political opposition in America prevented the United States from ratifying the Kyoto Treaty.

===Technology===

===Technology===