"The End of Oil"

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a critical review of Paul Roberts book, "The End of Oil". The paper relates that Roberts' book begins with a candid series of observations that while realistic, are also gloomy. The paper summarizes these observations and then discusses another contention made by Roberts regarding the problems with the world's energy economy. The paper also discusses some of the solutions to the world's energy economy that Roberts makes and points out some of the problems with these solutions. Lastly, the paper discusses the Bush administration's energy policies according to Roberts and concludes with a reference to Robert's concern about what will happen in the Middle East if and when the Saudi crown prince dies. He is a close ally of the U.S., but upon his death, there will be a power struggle in Saudi Arabia, and some experts are convinced that a very anti-American power structure could emerge that could cut the U.S. out of oil.

From the Paper:

"Meanwhile, Roberts' book begins with a candid series of observations that while realistic, are also gloomy. In his Prologue, Roberts points out that the Middle East countries are engaged in a "perpetual state of political instability, ethnic conflict, and virulent nationalism" - and oil is at the center of this chaos. The war that the U.S. launched in 2003 in Iraq - ostensibly to remove Saddam Hussein from power - was, Roberts insists, whether "openly acknowledged or not...clearly meant to restore Middle Eastern stability and maintain Western access to a steady supply of oil." The suspicion by Roberts and many others that the current executive branch had a secret oil agenda is given credibility by the fact that the vice president, Dick Cheney, was recently the CEO of Halliburton, an oil service giant, a company in fact that was given billions in no-bid contracts to work in Iraq following the toppling of Saddam."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Goldstein, David. The End of the Age of Oil. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.
• Raeburn, Paul. "They're Not Making More." The New York Times, February 8, 2004, Retrieved June 12, 2007, from http://query.nytimes.com.
• Roberts, Paul. The End Of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.

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