To Whom It May Concern,
(In your everyday life, if you make use of anything that directly or indirectly involves Oil, Coal or Natural Gas, this concerns you.)
Why does it always seem as if people assume that the world is going to continue on indefinitely as it is? Several things in the media over the past few weeks as well as a few documentaries have led to me writing this.
Let me address three of the many things that I have major issues with.
Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal are all NON-Renewable resources. This means that they are finite and WILL run out. Recently, I saw a commercial for one of the big name oil companies that made a statement that we can drill for natural gas just beneath the surface and that there is enough to satisfy our energy needs for “the next 100 (one hundred) years.” I do not doubt that there is a large amount of natural gas in the world. My issue with this matter is that switching from oil to natural gas (or coal) is like switching from one drug to another.
The second major issue I have is with “Clean Coal”. I’ll say it again – Coal is NOT renewable. Once again, I do not doubt the ability of coal to support our energy habits for many years. But why should we further pollute the earth when we have the technology to clean it up? Clean coal claims to produce fewer pollutants due to the filters in the smoke stacks. While this may be true, they are still producing copious amounts of pollution.
My biggest issue of all is with oil. It is everywhere and it both directly and indirectly affects each and every one of us. We lie, cheat, and steal for it, and recently even gone to war for it. Don’t get me wrong, the War on Terror is important. But are terrorists REALLY why we are over there? Let me remind you that we have found absolutely no WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction). After all, that was our original excuse for invading the Middle East, wasn’t it? I’m not discrediting the war, but merely pointing out that we are fighting a war on the second largest oil fields in the world. Considering we are mostly tapped out of oil on our own soil (other than Alaska and that brings up a completely different argument), I think the U.S. found this to be a major swaying point, when it came time to go to war.
These three issues are just the tip of the iceberg. Money, power, and corruption all play their own roles in these resources and because of that they remain in control of our everyday lives. They cause continued destruction of our environment. All we have to do is make a choice, unite, and fight to improve the environment and the future of the world for the next generation. If we continue to use resources like we are currently, it would take multiple earths to sustain us. Renewable and sustainable energy is the future, why not start now?
The point that I am trying to stress here is that the US is addicted to Fossil Fuels and we have already shot down many attempts to make an energy policy that will slowly incorporate more and more renewable options until we can completely eliminate our dependence. I'm not saying that we have to do it all at once but I do think we should take a few big steps toward energy independence. I really admire Germany for their approach and plan to power the country with 80% renewable energy. If you have any questions, complaints, or contributions feel free to comment.
