Liz
Kelly
ENGL
102-057
Causal
Argument Essay
24
January 2013
Renewable Energy Sources: Necessary
for the Survival of the Planet
The world is changing at a rapid
rate. Now more than ever, humans are
dependent on the earth’s natural resources, particularly fossil fuels. In fact, 82 percent of the energy used in
this country emanates from fossil fuels (“Institute for Energy Research”). Oil, coal, and natural gas heat our homes,
power our cars, generate electricity, and essentially run America's industries. However, at the rate we as a human race are
consuming these resources, how much longer will it be before we have drained
the earth dry of these natural resources?
Already, there are fewer and fewer oil reserves. Not to mention the terrible consequences
using and burning these fossil fuels are having on the environment,
particularly global warming, bizarre weather patterns, and the horrible effects
that take place in the event of an oil spill.
In order to ensure the survival of the planet and in turn the human race
it is necessary to switch to forms of renewable energy sources such as wind,
solar, and geothermal; switching to these sources will have the nation no
longer dependent on foreign oil, significantly reduce global warming, and allow
us to live independently as well as in harmony with our environment
indefinitely.
Our dependency on foreign oil
threatens our national security as well as our nation’s economy. Of
the imported petroleum Americans consume, 68 percent is supplied by countries
that are on the edge of instability. Oil
dependence provides leverage and money to potential adversaries, and risks ensnaring
the U.S. state in endless conflicts abroad to secure access to oil (“American
Security Project”). U.S. defense
spending is the highest in the world. Much of this expenditure is spent securing
sea-lanes for oil ships. Other
developing countries that depend on oil and gas for growth may seek to
challenge the United States’ naval dominance.
For example, as China seeks natural resources to foster growth, it could
come into military conflict with the United States if shipping lanes become
areas of contention. More importantly,
however, the world’s dependence on oil empowers foreign leaders. The transnational
sale of oil enriches a select few within the exporting country (Fay).
As for
economically, Americans send over $1 billion abroad every day to pay for
oil. The outcome is lost jobs and growing
dollars in the hands of foreigners who we increasingly depend on to finance our
deficits. The U.S. borrows money from
the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis, causing greater national debt and
dependence on the goodwill of others to allow its economy to function (“American
Security Project”). Renewable energy
sources will enable us to be self-sufficient and not be reliant upon other
countries for a limited resource.
Another
issue that may soon be solved by switching to renewable forms of energy is
global warming. By
the end of the century, if recent trends carry on, the global temperature could
rise so high that the climate and weather patterns that have given rise to
human civilization would be drastically altered. However, this is not simply a natural process
that has happened on its own. We are driving climate change by burning fossil
fuels such as coal and oil (“Greenpeace USA”). Wind, water, and solar energy
would reduce world power demand by 30 percent, thereby avoiding 13,000 coal
power plants (Bergeron). In fact,
coal-fired power plants are the single largest U.S. source of global warming
pollution (“Greenpeace USA”). Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrous oxide and other pollutants, primarily produced by the burning of fossil
fuels collect in the atmosphere, trap heat from the sun, and cause the planet
to warm. Global warming has adverse effects on weather patterns, (as seen with
the recent devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy), human health, wildlife, sea
levels and the glaciers (Abbott). With
current technology, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and
geothermal can provide 96 percent of our electricity and 98 percent of our entire
heating demand which would account for almost all of our primary energy demand
(“Greenpeace USA”). More than half of
U.S. states have adopted a renewable electricity standard which is a policy
that requires electricity suppliers to progressively increase their use of
renewable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy. These states
are demonstrating that renewable standards are an affordable solution to reduce
carbon dioxide and other unhealthy air emissions, while relieving the harmful
impact that fossil fuel extraction, transport, and use have on land and water
resources (“Clean Energy”). Investing in renewable energy could jumpstart our waning
economy, creating millions of jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. It could
put the U.S. back at the forefront of the 21st century economy, ahead
of China, which in 2009 became the largest global investor in renewable forms
of energy. Then, with significantly
decreasing global warming comes the protection of countless wildlife species
particularly in the northern regions.
Oil spills contribute to global warming as well as can damage the
ecosystem beyond repair, as seen with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in
2010. Switching to renewable energy will
significantly decrease global warming as well as save countless ecosystems from
potential environmentally hazardous oil spills.
With these alternative energy
sources comes the reassuring reality that they are in fact renewable. Renewable
energy is energy derived from natural resources that replenish themselves over
a period of time without diminishing the Earth's resources. These resources
also have the added benefit of being plentiful, available in some capacity virtually
everywhere, and they cause little, if any, environmental harm. For example, these include energy from the
sun, wind, and thermal energy stored in the Earth's crust. In contrast, fossil fuels such as oil, coal,
and natural gas are not renewable, since their quantity is limited. Once we have extracted them from the earth,
they will cease to be available for use as an economically-viable energy
source. Although they are produced through natural processes, these processes
are too slow to replenish these fuels as speedily as humans use them.
Therefore, these sources will run out sooner or later (“Green-e”).
Renewable energy sources are the key to securing our planet’s
future.
The
strongest opposing arguments against switching to renewable energy sources are
that it is costly to do so and therefore we should be tapping into our domestic
oil supply first before we fully invest in renewable energy. The preproduction expenses
to construct a renewable energy plan are tremendously high, much more so than
the conventional power resources we have grown familiar to. The time it will take to recover these preliminary
costs is around ten to fifteen years. This is a good deal of money for private
capital investors to support while they wait for a return on their money (“Renewable
Power News”).
However, switching will ultimately save
money in the long run since
we will not be paying extremely high amounts for what oil is left in an
eventually depleting market. Also, $56
billion worth of grants and tax incentives is already available to the
renewable energy and efficiency industries, in the U.S. alone (Hodge). Although high, the initial cost is worth the
outcome. Once this initial investment
has been made, materials are generally free. As a result, the only costs
associated with renewable energy production are maintenance, labor, and
regulatory fees (Climatepedia). Furthermore,
tapping into our own domestic supply of
oil will only sustain us temporarily, as it is not a long term solution. Also, these oil reserves would include
national wildlife reserves that are currently legally protected. Imagine the devastation if an oil spill were
to occur on the ANWR, the effects would be catastrophic.
The
world is not the same as it was 500 years ago, and in more ways than one. The changes are not all positive and as a
result of human activity on this planet, earth is heading down a dangerous
path. Renewable energy sources, however,
provide a reasonable, doable way out of our dilemma. Barack Obama discussed the
importance of change to renewable forms of energy as a nation in his Address to
a Joint Session of Congress in 2009. In
this speech, Obama stated, “To truly transform our economy, protect our security,
and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately
make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy.” These resources allow us the ability to be
independent of other countries’ oil supplies, reduce global warming, and to
stop aggressively taking from our planet what cannot so easily be
replenished.
Works
Cited
Abbott,
Billie. "Green Living: Ideas to Help Reduce Global Warming." National
Geographic.
National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 3 Feb 2013. <http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/actions-people-can-stop-global-warming-2441.html>.
"Arguments
for and Against Renewable Energy." Renewable Power News: News about Solar,
Wind, and alternative green power
technologies. Renewable Power News, 17 Dec 2009.
Web. 3 Feb 2013. <http://www.renewablepowernews.com/archives/704>.
Bergeron,
Louis. "Shifting to 100% Renewable Energy Would Save Money." Renewable
Energy World.
Renewable Energy World.com, 21 Oct 2009. Web. 3 Feb 2013.
<http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/10/shifting-the-world-to-100- renewable-energy-by-2030-may-reduce-world-power-demand-by-30>.
Fay,
William. "US Too Dependent on Foreign Oil." Daily Trojan.
N.p., 27 Apr 2011. Web. 3 Feb 2013.
<http://dailytrojan.com/2011/04/27/us-too-dependent-on-foreign-oil/>.
"Fossil
Fuels." Institute for Energy Research. N.p.. Web. 5 Feb 2013.
<http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/energy-overview/fossil-fuels/>.
Hodge,
Nick. "These Numbers Don't Lie: Live from the Renewable Energy Finance
Forum Wall Street." Energy and Capital. Angel Publishing LLC, 24
Jun 2009. Web. 10 Feb 2013.
<http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/renewable-energy-statistics/900>.
Obama,
Barack. Address to Joint Session of Congress. House Chamber of the U.S.
Capitol, Washington, D.C.. 24 Feb 2009. Address.
Renewable Energy. 2006.
SBC: TechnologiesWeb. 5 Feb 2013.
<http://www.sbc-technologies.com/sbc-technologies-renewableEnergy.php>.
"Renewable
Energy Standards-Mitigating Global Warming." Clean Energy. Union of
Concerned Scientists, 12 Feb 2009. Web. 3 Feb 2013.
<http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/smart-energy-solutions/increase-renewables/renewable-energy.html>.
"Stop
Global Warming." Greenpeace USA. N.p.. Web. 3 Feb 2013. <http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/>.
"U.S.
Oil Dependence Threatens Security, Economy,Environment: New Joint Report Shows
the Problems with and Solutions to U.S.
Oil Addiction." American Security Project. N.p., 27 May 2010. Web. 3 Feb 2013. <http://americansecurityproject.org/press-releases/2010/u-s-oil-dependence-threatens-security-economy-environment-new-joint-report-shows-the
problems-with-and-solutions-to-u-s-oil-addiction/>.
"Why
Renewable Energy?." Green-e. N.p.. Web. 3 Feb 2013. <http://www.greene.org/learn_re_why.shtml>.
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