Gas prices are down in the $2 range, and Thomas Friedman says that it leaves him with mixed feelings.  In his bi-weekly New York Times column today, he reminded us that when gas prices went beyond $4, Americans changed a lot—drove less, polluted less, exercised more, used more public transportation, and there was lots of talk about hybrid and electric cars.  It also caused politicians to respond and give various solutions to the “oil” problem.  All seemed to suggest that the USA needs to be energy independent.  Others suggest that we need to drill (drill baby drill) off shore and in Alaska.  Others suggested we needed to be weened off of our addiction to oil, and develop “alternative” energy sources.  What do your students think needs to be done?  Of those who drive cars, what did they think when they were paying more than $4 a gallon for gas?  

One of the comments we typically hear is that we need to become less dependent on oil that comes from the Middle East (and other parts of world as well).  But I think the emphasis, and common lore, is the Middle East. And, the USA does import a lot of oil.  According to the US Energy Information Administration, the US imports about 10 million barrels of oil per day.  Do you know which country provides us the most amount of oil?  Is that country:

1. Saudi Arabia
2. Russia
3. Nigeria
4. U.K.
5. None of these

If you selected #5, none of these, you would be correct.  The US imports more than 2.1 million barrels of oil per day from Canada, where as we import 1.5 million barrels from Saudia Arabia.  In fact, when you examine the data of the top 15 importers more carefully, the US imports more than 5.4 million barrels of oil from the Americas (Canada, Mexico, Venezuela), and only 2.3 million barrels from the Middle East (Saudi Araba, Iraq, Kuwait).  Put another way, 23% of our imports come from the Middle East, the rest comes from the Americas, U.K., Africa, and Russia.  

Is this data surprising to you?  How did your students react?