The Environment Of A Country 's Energy Security And The State Of Our World 's Climate

Venezuela’s reputation has been well established regarding its supply of oil and how it was being used for medicinal use and other purposes. It was not until the first oil well was drilled in 1912, when Venezuela became the world’s second largest oil producer behind the US, and the world’s largest oil exporter (Wilpert, 2003). With the well drill in the country it attracted many major oil producers that wanted a piece of anything they could get. The Royal Dutch Shell and Rockefeller’s Standard Oil became the main producers of the oil and maintained a high status. Everything was going great for the company, “ between 1920 and 1935 oil share’s exports went up from 1.9% to 91.2%”(Wilpert, 2003), but not everything goes according to plan. The country had a dramatic impact towards its economy that many recall, “The Dutch Disease.” “The utmost important magnitude of the Dutch Disease was that agricultural production declined to almost nothing and the country fell behind in industrializing, relative to other Latin American countries” (Wilpert, 2003). Thus, Venezuela had passed a reform oil policy that was the Hydrocarbons Act, which was from the oil revenues based on the income of the mines (Wilpert, 2003), bringing the state’s income to stability.

The argument about man’s role in climate change and the role of government, the role of industry and the role of citizens is a significant challenge that crosses all levels of government, crosses all geopolitical boundaries and crosses all sectors of business. National governments across the globe are dealing with the issue in different ways, but one overarching aspect of control and mitigation can be seen in the oversight and regulation of the electric energy industry. One significant challenge facing each nation is the cost to lower carbon emissions and the question of who will pay the additional cost for compliance. Though the cost issue is significant, a much more difficult question is whether any decision on lowering emissions can make

Oil is and will be the dominant sector of economy in the world for some more decades. It is capable of taking entire countries out of their economic trouble as well as giving them power over other nations. Ecuador, a small country in the north west of South America, began to take part in oil industry about four and a half decades ago. The government started looking for more small petroleum reserves in 2004 without the expectation of finding much. This is why in 2007 it was an enormous surprise when they found one that could help take their “third world country” stereotype away. The only problem is it is located under the world’s most diverse spot on earth. Because of this the government decided to structure a project called Yasuni-ITT to save this precious place. In 2013 this project was canceled since no great support from other countries was shown. Yasuni-ITT was a precise approach to the solution of this dilemma because it prevented an ecological impact from occurring while also allowing Ecuador to advance economically. All of this could had been achieved if other nations would have shown interest in saving the environment.

The Ecuadorian Government’s national policy of ‘Zero fossil fuels on Galapagos’ is a policy that aims to convert all of the Galapagos energy to renewable energy by 2020. This policy was the response of the Ecuadorian Government to an incident that happened in 2001, where a tanker spilled heavy fuel oil near the islands. This resulted in the death of a large number of marine iguanas. The ‘Zero fossil fuels on Galapagos’ policy revolves around the use of wind, solar, and biofuels to make the Galapagos free of fossil fuels. With the induction of this policy there have come many projects to use more renewable energy sources and be more efficient with energy consumption. With Ecuador lacking the technology and funds to realize this policy, energy companies

The United States is in an energy crisis. We rely almost solely on crude oil for most of our “gasoline” needs, meaning our fuels. The issue with our current reliance on crude oil is, plainly, that it is running out. We don’t currently have enough crude oil production in the US to support our current demand, so we are forced to import oil from overseas. And, we import a lot of it. With a gas demand of roughly 134 billion gallons per year, there exists a large risk relying on a fuel that is unsustainable and imported from overseas. Our country has the capability of greatly reducing our dependence on foreign oil, perhaps to the point where we would not have any need to import oil from overseas. With the use of our own crude oil, natural gas, and other alternative fuels, the United States can become nearly completely self-sustainable in terms of fuels. Moreover, becoming self-sustainable can have an effect of reducing geopolitical tensions particularly with regard to relations in the Middle East, the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil.

The oil-rich Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, located on the northern coast of South America, was for many decades considered among the wealthiest nations in the entire continent. While having the largest proven oil reserves in the world has often proved a tremendous boon for Venezuela, the very black gold that has been the cause of its success has also proven to repeatedly be its kryptonite. Over half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product stems from petroleum exports – which equates to approximately 95% of total exports. It is really not too hard to imagine what drastic consequences shifts in global oil prices could have on the economy.

Financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the project contributed to the development of Colombia’s national climate change policy and several adaptation projects in highly vulnerable areas.” (“Adapting to a Changing Climate in Colombia,” 2016). The Colombian government too, recognizes that climate change is very much a real and tangible issue that should be tackled before it becomes too cumbersome for change, therefore in 2015, they formulated a Green Growth plan that is intended to create a more sustainable environment and reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. Restrictions have been placed upon companies to ensure that people are not deliberately polluting the environment, however this issue is sometimes taken lightly or when even when it’s being enforced, rebels attack oil refineries lading to oil spills which affect the fauna in an area, making that yet another

According to expert’s estimations, the economic cost associated with climate change events in Latin America with a temperature rise of 2°C, is in the order of 85-110 billion per year by 2050 (Fernandes et. al. 2012, Dasgupta et. al. 2007, Vergara et. al. 2013 & Vergara et. al. 2007). Economic injuries of this magnitude, can erode the development path of countries like Colombia and Mexico . The restriction to natural resources access will undermine countries´ prospects for

In 2001, the Norwegian government submitted a climate policy. This affected their oil industry and therefore their economy as well. “The 2001 policy guidelines notwithstanding, the Norwegian government has failed to disconnect public expenditures from the

The origins of the International Energy Agency can be traced all the way back to the period leading up to the Middle East War crisis of 1973-1974 and the industrial countries’ response to that crisis, where significant changes in economics and politics regarding the international oil market had occurred. Major oil companies had extensive control over the world oil market for years so much that they were able to “influence prices paid

The sufficient and unhindered access to cheap energy resources is a security concern for governments. Non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels often guide a nation’s economic wealth and military strength. The access, production, and delivery of this strategic resource drive a government’s policy development and often contains influences that may cause internal conflicts and strain relationships with other external entities. Tensions arise when economic concerns, the relaxation of environmental restraints, foreign policy, or the threat of use of force to protect its vital interests is presented.

Climate change around the world was the most pressing issue at that time, and according to Levy (1997), it was an international environmental issue that stirred up widespread controversy amongst all the industries worldwide. In addition, Kolk and Levy (2001) also noticed that with increasing public measures, rules and regulations, most oil companies have started to change their strategies, with Shell taking very strong measures to be responsive to social and environmental concerns. Without any actions like Shell, BP would face a situation whereby lack of social legitimacy is seen as a fundamental threat to the company (Kolk & Levy, 2001).

During his keynote address at the opening of the 30th Asia-Pacific roundtable, Malaysian Prime Minister said, “We will continue to rely on diplomacy and dialogue to peacefully resolve difference and disputes. We will do so in accordance with and in adherence to the norms, customs, and principles of international law" (Cheng, 2016). Disputes in the SCS have been a long-standing issues amongst claimants such as Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Republic of China. Apart from territorial disputes, the SCS holds a critical geostrategic importance due to its strategic location and energy reserves (Kaplan, 2011). Increased of China assertive action in the SCS and reclamation work in Spratlys has disturbed the SCS claimants and its users. In early 2013, Philippines have initiated an arbitration case against China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (Xue Lei, 2016). Indonesia recently involved with the SCS disputes when Chinese fishing vessel encroached into Natuna Islands waters and Indonesian war ship has fired a warning shot toward the Chinese fishing vessel. Subsequently the Indonesian president visited Natuna Islands and held a meeting onboard the war ship as to send a stern warning about the country 's commitment to protecting its sovereignty (Gomez, 2016). In addition to that, the United States interest in the freedom of navigation with the rebalancing strategy for its strategic presence

Although we believe limiting carbon omissions by 15 percent in the next five years will reduce our oil exports and contribute to a catastrophic decline for our economy, we are willing to consider should there be a national enforcement mechanism. We are willing to pursue international initiatives to contest the issues of climate change, although we are one of the largest oil-producing countries. In order to comply, we demand reimbursement in case of a future offset in losses in oil revenue. We as a country understand the effects of global warming and the fact that our future is deteriorated because of it. However, many of our people do not recognize climate change as an immense issue that needs to be addressed. Many often believe that our climate in Saudi Arabia is tremendously hot already; there is no point in limiting our carbon omissions, as the chance of lost revenue is present. Additionally, with a growing economy, we will not have the ability to maintain sufficient standards of living with possible dwelling oil reserve revenue. With enforced compliance, being one of the richest countries in the world, will attempt to influence the poorer countries to also limit their

Among the sixteen critical infrastructures within our country, comes the fact that each and every one of them plays a very important role within keeping our nation up and going. Not only on an economical aspect but also in a safety aspect. Each of the sectors are equally as important as the next. The Dam sector is one of my favorites to talk about because I feel as though it is very much not thought about as a critical part of our infrastructure and I believe that there are many security holes within that particular sector. Today however, I will focus on the energy sector which I also see as not having serious constant talk about the threats that are a reality. When one thinks about the energy sector, many typically think about power lines and how it would cause an issue within a centralized location. This in fact is not all. Our Energy infrastructure actually involves: electricity, oil, and natural gas (Energy Sector).