The International Community

In a recent guest opinion, our congressman made some excellent points about our role in the international community:

• "The rise in a price of a barrel of crude oil on the global market has coincided with increased levels of unrest in the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa. Additionally, political instability in places like Venezuela and Nigeria, both exporters of oil, has caused a jump in prices.
  
  "The heightened tensions between the West and Iran have also driven up the price of a barrel of oil....Potential turmoil in these global hotspots over the course of the last year has served as a stark reminder of the risk we take in relying on these unstable regions for our energy supplies....
  
  "A combination of relying on unpredictable foreign sources while neglecting our own natural resources has created the conditions for the rising cost of filling our cars and heating our homes. The facts are simple: As long as we remain dependent on foreign oil sources, our gas prices will continue to be subject to the volatility of prices in the global oil market....
  
  "we must conserve our existing energy resources by aggressively pursuing energy efficiency and conservation programs....
  
  "Next, we must increase and diversify use of our traditional domestic natural resources, namely coal, oil and natural gas....
  
  "we must also accelerate the development of clean and renewable energy alternatives....
  
  "Finally, we must make a transition to a sustainable energy future....We need a 21st century energy infrastructure to power a 21st century economy" (Mike Fitzpatrick, Courier Times, 3/19/12)

At this juncture of history, it certainly appears that energy independence is a path to national security and peace. No right thinking parent or grandparent wishes to jeopardize the safety of her/his descendants. As per Chapter 9 of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,

• “To bring about & consolidate an international order that effectively guarantees peaceful mutual relations among peoples, the same moral law that governs the life of men must also regulate relations among States....The universal moral law, written on the human heart, must be considered effective and indelible as the living expression of the shared conscience of humanity....
  
  “As the Magisterium sees it, the right to development is based on the following principles:
   unity of origin and a shared destiny of the human family;
   equality between every person &...every community based on human dignity;
   the universal destination of the goods of the earth;
   the notion of development in its entirety; &
   the centrality of the human person and solidarity….
  
  “Among the causes that greatly contribute to underdevelopment and poverty, in addition to the impossibility of acceding to the international market, mention must be made of
   illiteracy,
   lack of food security,
   the absence of structures and services,
   inadequate measures for guaranteeing basic health care,
   the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation,
   corruption,
   instability of institutions & of political life itself....
  
  “international cooperation requires that, beyond the strict market mentality, there should be an awareness of the duty to solidarity, justice & universal charity....
  
  “Complex causes of various types lie at the origin of the debt crisis....The greatest sufferings, which can be traced back both to structural questions as well as personal behaviour, strike the people of poor and indebted countries who are not responsible for this situation.”