Libya, Egypt and the U.S. fighting over petroleum

Troubles in Libya continue to unravel, but what does that mean for us, the United States and how are we involved?

In mid January the first sign of governmental change began in North Africa.

A revolt in Tunisia took place because of a lack of employment and an increase in the price of food.

Mohsen Bouterfif, a civilian, killed himself because he was unable to find a job or a place to stay.

Shortly after, around a 100 young men began to protest, which motivated the rest of the country to protest as well.

The majority of the uprising occurring in North Africa is by the youth.

This is especially true for young men who want a change in their government and more opportunities for a better life.

When Adison Adams, a soph­omore biology major from Den­ton, Texas, heard about what was occurring in Egypt, she was surpised.

“What I find most fascinat­ing about the revolt in Egypt is the ingenuity and desire shown by the Egyptian people, particu­larly in the case of birth of the revolution via Facebook,” Ad­ams said.

Now Libya is undergoing po­litical change that is also catch­ing the attention of the entire world.

Mummar Gaddafi, the presi­dent of Libya for the last 42 years has used violence on pro­testers who are in favor of him stepping down.

The U.S. has yet to get heavily involved except to aid Americans who are stuck in the violence in Libya by helping evacuate them as soon as possible.

“I think our armed forces have other things to attend to. As does the US government es­pecially in regard to our current economic and environmental status,” says Adams.

Despite the U.S. choice to not get heavily in the mix of what’s occurring in North Africa, the government upheaval in North Africa will definitely affect us.

As of now oil prices are $97 per barrel; they could increase as much as $100 or more a barrel leading in to the summer if the troubles in Libya continue.

The last time we saw a large increase in oil was in October of 2008 when barrels of oil reached a high of $150.

Already, just last week in Lon­don, oil reached to $111 from crude off the North Sea.

Political Science professor Kevin Unter finds the most im­portant issue students need to consider is not just the rise in oil prices but an increase in prices of other commodities.

“We’re already starting to see spikes in gas prices here in Mon­roe. But there’s more than just gas; petroleum and petroleum byproducts are used in so many things,” Unter said.

Things will continue to rise in price if things in North Af­rica do not change; a possibil­ity about which the country is nervous.