The supply of oil being finite has become an economical and political

Hey everyone,

Looks like this thread is a real blast from the past - 4 years old! Like the World Cup, though, I think it makes sense to bring it back up every even-numbered-but-not-divisible-by-4th year!

To add to the "be wary of the word 'being'" mentality, let me show you why it's not a great word choice here (and how it fits into the well-known GMAT error hierarchy):

"Being" is the present-tense form of the verb "to be"; you'd use it when something is currently (but not always) happening:

My daughter is being a brat. ---> That's correct; she's not ALWAYS a brat, but is just being that way right now.

Being female, my daughter... ---> That's not correct. She's not temporarily "being" female - she just "is" female.
As a female, my daughter... ----> That's correct, a way of restating the previous modifier to make logical sense.



Now, as far as this question, the difference between D and E is that D says:

The supply of oil being finite...

and E says:

That the supply of oil is finite

Is the finite supply a temporary thing? No - "finite" is a permanent condition; if it were to become "infinite" than the original classification of "finite" is completely wrong. "Finite" is an essence thing...it either is or it isn't, but that won't change (much like using "ser" instead of "estar" in Spanish - "ser" is a permanent, essence-based condition; "estar", with its potential for change, is the "being" form of "to be").

So D is DEFINITELY wrong - not because "being" is awkward or less preferred...because it's in an illogical, incorrect verb tense here. That's why E is correct.