Mideast Oil Crisis Of The 1970's

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In this essay, I will argue that the environmental and energy crisis of the 1970s, did usher in a period of decline in the United States. The beginning of the 1970’s was an era, where Americans were under-siege with energy and environmental decline. In the early 1970’s the United States oil consumption was at an all-time high, while the domestic oil production was declining. Foreign dependence was steadily rising. Domestic oil was being produce oil at 100%, but the production was still not enough to supply Americans demeaned. The Graph in PDF, displayed the energy consumption by source. It showed how much oil Americans were using and the beginning of the downfall in the United States, due to how much oil we used. Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana …show more content…

OPEC felt that these countries were friendly to the Israelites. This boycott lasted six months and cause the price of a barrel of oil to rise from under two dollars to over twelve, within four years. The phrase “Mideast Oil Crisis was coined because oil price skyrocketed. This was the beginning of the gasoline scare of the 70’s. Following the “Mideast Oil Crisis” American begin having problems accessing gas, electricity, and general energy, due to price controls, gasoline rationing and gas stations being forced to close because of Allocation. Nixon signed the Allocation act of 1973 to ensure that petroleum would have equal distributive, prices, and marketing control, however it still was a shortage and gas lines became longer. When Reagan took office, he eventually withdrew the …show more content…

However, they contrast because they had two different ways of achieving this goal and only one was successful. In the pdf, Reagan quotes that “We need more energy and that means diversifying our sources of supply away from the OPEC countries.” Both Reagan and Carter felt that Americans depended too much on the OPEC. Both felt that coal was the answer. Reagan quote that “we must master the chemistry of coal.” Regan eliminated the price control of petroleum and other natural gas, where Carter used price control and rations and the price still rise. In Reagan era, gas production soar, where in Carters, gas production decline. The environmental and energy crisis of the 1970s did lead to the decline in the United States. Americans dependence on domestic and foreign oil correlated to oil being limited and not always, readily available. Although, there were many alternative solutions to petroleum, for instance nuclear plants and coals, the results were not favorable. The environmental and energy crisis of the 1970s still constrained the United States today with more smog, landfill waste, and gas prices risen and