Nationally renowned expert on U.S. petroleum policy, Michael T. Klare discusses his latest book Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum.
Crude oil is trading at well over $50 a barrel. Congress has authorized oil exploration in the protected lands on Alaska's north slope, but the reality is that oil reserves there are limited. Given current patterns of consumption, the United States will need to import 60% of the oil it uses by 2010.
Donald Rumsfeld famously declared that the Iraq War had "nothing to do with oil, literally nothing." Michael Klare begs to differ, and in his new book Blood and Oil, he presents a compelling assessment of the consequences of American dependence on Middle Eastern oil as the lifeblood of its economy. How do U.S. oil policies impact our domestic well-being and our international relations? With worldwide petroleum reserves dwindling, what are we doing to prepare for future energy needs? What should we be doing so that we can stop paying for oil with blood?
Michael Klare is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security at Hampshire College. The defense correspondent for The Nation and a contributing editor for Current History, he is the author previously of Resource Wars, Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws, and Low Intensity Warfare.