# Is energy independence a Good Thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 3, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-energy-independence-a-good-thing/410393 "2007-07-03T19:37:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-energy-independence-a-good-thing/410393/41 "2007-07-05T20:53:56Z")
Inflation adjusted it was 20 bucks a bbl in '75, put that in something at 5% annual for 30 years and you get 86 bucks today. Buying the oil up front does not keep the money out of the opponets hands Has a big negative effect on your own growth would have been highly speculative based on what was known about future energy trends just way too expensive compared to other means to assure future energy independence cheers NBC ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-energy-independence-a-good-thing/410393/42 "2007-07-05T21:04:03Z")
[QUOTE=NaturalBlondChap] Inflation adjusted it was 20 bucks a bbl in '75, put that in something at 5% annual for 30 years and you get 86 bucks today. Buying the oil up front does not keep the money out of the opponets hands Has a big negative effect on your own growth would have been highly speculative based on what was known about future energy trends just way too expensive compared to other means to assure future energy independence cheers NBC [/QUOTE] Since the US is spending money on a war in Iraq, we ought to compare the cost of that expenditure with the cost of purchasing the crude minus the value of the crude. I never claimed it was a free lunch. Keeping money out of the Middle East doesn’t matter if they are not opponents today. The economy would grow just fine, the US is full of hard working, educated people, spacious and fertile land, and plenty of natural resources (including crude, after this). The US is no stranger to deficit spending. Your “obvious solution” sounds as much like wishful thinking as mine. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-energy-independence-a-good-thing/410393/43 "2007-07-05T21:22:46Z")
I guess we are at the agree to disagree stage on this. Cheers ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-energy-independence-a-good-thing/410393/44 "2007-07-05T22:39:56Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] And a massive tank is expensive to build. [/QUOTE] It still seems counterintuitive to store oil in the ground after somebody has already spent time and money to pump it **out.** ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-energy-independence-a-good-thing/410393/45 "2007-07-06T01:14:50Z")
The importance is whose borders are around that ground, and therefore who “controls” the oil. We all know how messy it can be to try to control the ground within someone else’s borders. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-energy-independence-a-good-thing/410393.md?page=2)