US-Arab Eco. Forum convenes amid political, economic controversies  

Political and economic representation for the US and the Arab region is to meet as the US-Arab Economic Forum convenes Monday amid much mutually controversial issues that would be addressed to further feed debate among the American public.

Debate is frequently heated nowadays in the US over soaring oil prices and therefore higher fuel prices, exceeding three dollars per barrel for the first time in US history. This caused much vexation and brought down President George W. Bush's popularity in recent polls.

There are efforts at the congress to find a reasonable solution to bring prices down through taxes on oil companies, a suggestion that was turned down in the vote and opposed by Bush. However, some observers and analysts attribute this opposition to the presence of a lobby within the congress looking out for these companies' interests.

Some congressmen see a solution in increasing research on alternative fuels to reduce dependency on oil and gas while others call for boycott on Middle East oil.

These calls are rooted in politics rather than economics and there is a point of view saying certain Arab states support terrorism. Economists as well as officials in the US agree this view is irrational.

A more convincing theory is fear of a repeat episode of the oil blockade by Arab countries that considerably weighed down the US economy in 1973.

Meanwhile, owners of oil companies insist there is a great wealth of oil still to be tapped into in the US and it is estimated at 100 million barrels. This coincides with statements by President Bush in an address to the nation that oil companies ought to invest profits into further oil exploration and production.

This brings back controversy, however, as environmentalists and health activists believe the only way out is efficient utilization of fuel and switch to alternative fuels rather than searching for more oil.

- Environment action groups all over the US spare no effort in putting pressure on legislators to limit legislation that is detrimental to the environment or leave room for further pollution.

These environment action societies play a political role and monitor congressmen performance and even classify them into "pro-environmental" and "Dirty Dozen" based on their stance and vote on environment issues.

The lists of names under this classification are published and distributed to all media and the groups indicate the congressmen they would be supporting in the next campaign and the ones they would oppose.

On the oil companies' front, environment activists are accused of being unrealistic and having a one-way view and consideration of issues that is not positive for the national economy.

All the while, research on alternative fuel is ongoing with many options available already like ethanol extraction from corn, hydrogen as fuel and Fuel Cell Vehicles, organic fuels, and more and all these alternatives are now used in vehicle for assessment of feasibility.

But while different researchers try to prove their alternative fuel is safest and most practical, economists think all alternative fuels are so far costly and impractical and would not be replacing oil any time soon.

With this and more controversies alive and occasionally heating debate, the forum meetings are expected to be lively and the participation of decision makers in politics and economy as well as power experts might bring all closer to a compromise and middle ground for a fuel-greedy world.

The US-Arab Economic Forum states its objective as striving"to bring together corporate leaders and policy makers to create shared opportunities and strengthen US-Arab relations. With a focus on business and economics, our objective is to initiate reciprocal partnerships to promote economic growth and integration, free trade, entrepreneurship, public/private partnerships and a modern, innovative and competitive Middle-Eastern society.