Mideast meddling, climate boil down to oil consumption

The recent military actions in Iran by Donald Trump and the consequences resulting thereof should again force us to ask the question as to what our involvement in the Middle East should be. Much of the hatred directed to the U.S. stems from our meddling in the politics of the countries in the Middle East and our support of nations opposed to other nations there due in a large part to our insatiable dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

The cost to America is enormous in terms of military service personnel lives lost or ruined and financial support for military actions. As long as our government favors an economy run on oil, we will remain hostage to political unrest and war directed against the United States of America.

A separate but related issue is the unabated and alarming increase in the introduction of greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere. Tipping points for life as we know it on Earth come and go on a regular basis. Burning of fossil fuels is the primary culprit responsible for the growing disaster facing our planet. The U.S. needs to lead the charge in developing renewable energy without CO2 emissions.

My point is that two problems are interrelated and can be significantly mitigated by increasing our efforts at an exponential rate to immediately reduce and eventually eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East. Citizens in the State of Hawaii should carefully evaluate political candidates’ stance on these issues.

Scott Graves

Kihei