On Patrick Buchanan’s ‘America Held Captive to Utopian Ideology’

A stronger environmental focus and limitations on oil well drilling and nuclear power are not an impediment to economic progress ,but rather a sign of progress. The U.S. desperately needs to transitions to alternative energy sources to wean the country off of fossil fuels and provide sources of power that neither place the U.S. at the mercy of Middle Eastern foreign policy or pollute the environment in which people live. It is important to note that China’s Three Gorges Dam “the largest power source on earth” produces energy using hydroelectric power, a renewable resource that creates minimal amounts of waste and Carbon Dioxide Gas emissions.
Buchannan’s claims that the U.S. “cannot defend her borders are simply unfounded. Antiterrorism measures have made U.S. borders even more tightly controlled and have caused tension between the U.S. and people from other nations because of that strict, overbearing control. If Mr. Buchanan is alluding to ‘illegal’ Mexican immigration, then perhaps he should touch on poor immigration laws and an unwillingness of many American to accept the Mexican immigrants working and living inside the U.S. as contributing members of society who deserve to be recognized as such under the rule of law. While it is founded that the U.S.’ s ‘War on Terror’ has put the U.S. in a situation where it cannot decisively ‘win’ the war and has caused the U.S. to take on large debt, the invasion of Afghanistan was an act of retaliation in the aftermath of September 11 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq was motivated by U.S. oil interests. If Mr. Buchanan would like to criticize anything it should be the U.S.’s dependence on oil and Americans reluctance to quickly and progressively adopt alternative, renewable energy sources rather than to allow further oil and natural gas drilling.(Chap. 31- In-Class Response)