Driving to the End of America’s Birthright

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard G. Wilshire ◽  
Richard W. Hazlett ◽  
Jane E. Nielson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Previous History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
American People ◽  
Technological Base ◽  
Oil Wealth ◽  
The 1960S

In a 1957 speech, the legendary and controversial scientist and submariner Admiral Hyman G. Rickover noted, “Our civilization rests upon a technological base which requires enormous quantities of fossil fuels.” Rickover understood that the United States was producing and using as much oil in the 1950s as we had in all our previous history and worried, “What assurance do we . . . have that our energy needs will continue to be supplied by fossil fuels: The answer is—in the long run—none.” Rickover also warned that failing to conserve our oil wealth could leave us destitute. The United States doubled oil production and consumption again in the 1960s, and again in the 1970s—ignoring Rickover’s appeal “to think soberly about our responsibilities to our descendents—those who will ring out the Fossil Fuel Age.” Unrestrained fossil fuel consumption has propelled the United States to a level of affluence previously unknown in human history. Fossil fuels, petroleum (oil and natural gas), and coal, represent the “stored sunlight of millions and millions of years deposited in an energy bank account in the Earth by geological processes.” Since the early twentieth century, the whole world has been using up this inheritance “in a geological instant.” Cars and other transportation consume the major proportion of the world’s oil, but petroleum also is the raw material for a wide variety of industrial products, fabrics, and medicines (see appendix 3). Without it, every facet of modern life would be less convenient, less comfortable, and far less mobile. Massive energy consumption has addicted Americans to cheap fossil fuels. Energy addicts overheat the house and wear T-shirts all winter, tend to own two or more refrigerators, and maintain a vehicular fleet. Many believe that having and driving cars is a more important American liberty than voting (see chapter 5). Along with U.S. Senator Trent Lott, they feel that “the American people have a right to drive a great big road-hog SUV if they want to.”

scholarly journals An Analysis of Fossil-Fuel Dependence in the United States with Implications for Community Social Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Polack ◽  
Shelly Wood ◽  
Kimyatta N. Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Energy Sustainability ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Economic Problems

This article examines fossil-fuel dependence in the United States with emphasis on the areas of transportation and food. It is argued that fossil-fuel dependence will cause significant social and economic problems in the future and that ongoing usage is a major contributor to mounting environmental degradation. Ultimately, the authors argue that our fossil-fuel based economy is unsustainable and that efforts should be taken to reduce usage and dependence. A growing community movement aimed at revitalizing local economies and reducing fossil-fuel usage has recently emerged. Social work can bring critically important values and knowledge to these and similar efforts, especially in regard to community organizing and the participation of marginalized populations. Key Words: Fossil Fuels, Energy, Sustainability, Local Economy, Community Organizing, Social Work

Political Institutions and Supply-Side Climate Politics: Lessons from Coal Ports in Canada and the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 51-72
Author(s):  
Kathryn Harrison
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Climate Politics ◽  
Subsequent Withdrawal

In recent years, a new “supply-side” climate politics has emerged as activists have turned their attention from fossil fuel combustion to fossil fuel extraction and transport. This article investigates conditions for success of anti–fossil-fuel activism by comparing the fate of two proposed coal terminals on either side of the Canada–United States border. Both cases highlight that fossil fuel transport infrastructure is especially vulnerable to opposition as a result of concentrated costs and limited economic benefits in transit jurisdictions that did not produce the fossil fuels in question. Still, not all contexts are equally amenable to supply-side contestation. Institutional differences explain approval of a new coal port in Canada, while a similar US facility was rejected: a weaker environmental assessment regime and more limited opportunities for local government and Indigenous vetoes. However, the regulator’s subsequent withdrawal of the still-pending Canadian terminal’s permit five years later reveals that delay can be as good as victory for opponents when markets for fossil fuels decline.

The Words of War

2021 ◽  
pp. 295-319
Author(s):  
Patrick Ryan Lee ◽  
Melanie B. Richards ◽  
Robert Andrew Dunn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
The United States ◽  
American People ◽  
American Military ◽  
The Public ◽  
The 1960S

In this analysis of public speeches from four American presidents from the Republican Party, the ways in which those presidents discuss and position American defense activities and stances are examined to track the progression from the 1960s to the present. Presidents chosen were from one party who also presided over a period of protracted armed conflict or cold war. The addresses analyzed comprised public addresses to congress or the American people. The analysis groups recurring frames for each president. Some frames were more salient for certain presidents than for others. Other frames were common and consistently pervaded the presidents' remarks to congress and the public. America's struggle against a faceless enemy, American military might as a guarantor of peace, and the importance of the United States' commitments to its international partners were all prevailing frames which emerged in the analysis.

Containing Qaddafi’s Libya

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-54
Author(s):  
Wallace J. Thies
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
American People ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Containment Policy ◽  
Oil Wealth ◽  
Clear And Present Danger ◽  
Global Reach

This chapter examines the case of containing Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi's Libya. Qaddafi had virtually unchallengeable access to Libya's oil wealth, which he used to finance his various plots and schemes. Qaddafi was also known to be greatly resentful of the United States, in no small part because America — with its high-tech military, its global reach, its endlessly inventive economy — stood for everything that he hoped the Arab world, or at least Libya, might someday become. There were also terrorist gangs and splinter groups ready to do the bidding of an ambitious dictator who sought to inflict harm on the United States and the American people. Qaddafi, in other words, posed a clear and present danger. He had the means, he had a motive, and he had multiple opportunities that he could exploit should he decide to strike at the United States. But while hindsight suggests that Colonel Qaddafi's Libya should have posed a demanding challenge for the containment policy of the United States, for the most part it did not, and it is instructive to explore the reasons why.

Having Their Say, Leaving Their Mark

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-153
Author(s):  
Adolphus G. Belk ◽  
Robert C. Smith ◽  
Sherri L. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Black People ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Independent Organization

In general, the founders of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists were “movement people.” Powerful agents of socialization such as the uprisings of the 1960s molded them into scholars with tremendous resolve to tackle systemic inequalities in the political science discipline. In forming NCOBPS as an independent organization, many sought to develop a Black perspective in political science to push the boundaries of knowledge and to use that scholarship to ameliorate the adverse conditions confronting Black people in the United States and around the globe. This paper utilizes historical documents, speeches, interviews, and other scholarly works to detail the lasting contributions of the founders and Black political scientists to the discipline, paying particular attention to their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and civic engagement. It finds that while political science is much improved as a result of their efforts, there is still work to do if their goals are to be achieved.

A Century of America on Chinese Screens

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiwei Xiao
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Print Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sharp Contrast ◽  
American People ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Chinese Films ◽  
New Millennium

AbstractNo serious study has been published on how Chinese filmmakers have portrayed the United States and the American people over the last century. The number of such films is not large. That fact stands in sharp contrast not only to the number of "China pictures" produced in the United States, which is not surprising, but also in contrast to the major role played by Chinese print media. This essay surveys the history of Chinese cinematic images of America from the early twentieth century to the new millennium and notes the shifts from mostly positive portrayal in the pre-1949 Chinese films, to universal condemnation during the Mao years and to a more nuanced, complex, and multi-colored presentation of the last few decades.

Andrew Jackson, Black American Slavery, and the Trail of Tears

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Earnest N. Bracey ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Life Time ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
American People ◽  
Andrew Jackson ◽  
Common Humanity ◽  
American Slavery ◽  
The People

Many revisionist historians today try to make the late President Andrew Jackson out to be something that he was not—that is, a man of all the people. In our uninhibited, polarized culture, the truth should mean something. Therefore, studying the character of someone like Andrew Jackson should be fully investigated, and researched, as this work attempts to do. Indeed, this article tells us that we should not accept lies and conspiracy theories as the truth. Such revisionist history comes into sharp focus in Bradley J. Birzer’s latest book, In Defense of Andrew Jackson. Indeed, his (selective) efforts are surprisingly wrong, as he tries to give alternative explanations for Jackson’s corrupt life and political malfeasance. Hence, the lawlessness of Andrew Jackson cannot be ignored or “white washed” from American history. More important, discrediting the objective truth about Andrew Jackson, and his blatant misuse of executive power as the U.S. President should never be dismissed, like his awful treatment of Blacks and other minorities in the United States. It should have been important to Birzer to get his story right about Andrew Jackson, with a more balanced approach in regards to the man. Finally, Jackson should have tried to eliminate Black slavery in his life time, not embrace it, based on the ideas of human dignity and our common humanity. To be brutally honest, it is one thing to disagree with Andrew Jackson; but it is quite another to feel that he, as President of the United States, was on the side of all the American people during his time, because it was not true. Perhaps the biggest question is: Could Andrew Jackson have made a positive difference for every American, even Black slaves and Native Americans?

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