SUMMARY OF ISSUE
The fact that we should be moving to more renewable energy and using less oil is no secret. Scientists have repeatedly warned that if we continue to burn fossil fuels with our current abandon, we risk catastrophic climate impacts, some of which we are already beginning to see. Instead, they caution, much of our oil, gas, and coal reserves should stay in the ground.
But as long as fossil fuels remain cheap (ignoring externalities), and energy companies reap big profits from them, we will keep drilling and mining and burning—global catastrophe be damned.
Every state in America can produce its own energy from clean, renewable sources, keeping millions of energy dollars in-state, reducing pollution, and creating new jobs and new sources of income. With the right policies in place, states and localities can harness their own natural resources -- from farmland and sunshine to wind and skilled labor -- to develop a local renewable energy industry.
WHY THIS ISSUE IS IMPORTANT
This issue is important for various environmental reasons like:
Atmospheric Effects
The processing of fossil fuels emits harmful greenhouse gases into the air. These gases, primarily carbon dioxide, damage the ozone layer which protects us from the sun's radiation. The air pollution also negatively affects our respiratory health. A 2004 study concluded that pollution from coal-powered plants shortened nearly 24,000 lives a year in the U.S.
Acid Rain
Acid rain is created by the emission of sulfur and other chemicals into the atmosphere, often from the conversion of fossil fuels into electricity. It is corrosive to machinery and can disrupt local ecosystems. In 1991 the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) found that five percent of the lakes in New England were acidic and two percent could no longer support trout.
Land Pollution
Harmful ash is stored in solid waste containment areas which are prone to rupturing and causing havoc in the surrounding areas. In 2008 the containment area at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee ruptured releasing 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge which damaged houses in the surrounding areas and released harmful ash into the air.
Oil Spills
Oil spills are extremely damaging to nearby shores and ecosystems. They are also economically damaging. Analysts estimated British Petroleum's oil spill of 2010 would cost $2.5 billion in losses to the Louisiana fishing market alone. Florida was estimated to lose $3 billion in tourism income. Biologists worried that Sargassum algae, vital to hundreds of species of animals, would be killed due to the oil released in the Gulf of Mexico.
The fact that we should be moving to more renewable energy and using less oil is no secret. Scientists have repeatedly warned that if we continue to burn fossil fuels with our current abandon, we risk catastrophic climate impacts, some of which we are already beginning to see. Instead, they caution, much of our oil, gas, and coal reserves should stay in the ground.
But as long as fossil fuels remain cheap (ignoring externalities), and energy companies reap big profits from them, we will keep drilling and mining and burning—global catastrophe be damned.
Every state in America can produce its own energy from clean, renewable sources, keeping millions of energy dollars in-state, reducing pollution, and creating new jobs and new sources of income. With the right policies in place, states and localities can harness their own natural resources -- from farmland and sunshine to wind and skilled labor -- to develop a local renewable energy industry.
WHY THIS ISSUE IS IMPORTANT
This issue is important for various environmental reasons like:
Atmospheric Effects
The processing of fossil fuels emits harmful greenhouse gases into the air. These gases, primarily carbon dioxide, damage the ozone layer which protects us from the sun's radiation. The air pollution also negatively affects our respiratory health. A 2004 study concluded that pollution from coal-powered plants shortened nearly 24,000 lives a year in the U.S.
Acid Rain
Acid rain is created by the emission of sulfur and other chemicals into the atmosphere, often from the conversion of fossil fuels into electricity. It is corrosive to machinery and can disrupt local ecosystems. In 1991 the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) found that five percent of the lakes in New England were acidic and two percent could no longer support trout.
Land Pollution
Harmful ash is stored in solid waste containment areas which are prone to rupturing and causing havoc in the surrounding areas. In 2008 the containment area at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee ruptured releasing 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge which damaged houses in the surrounding areas and released harmful ash into the air.
Oil Spills
Oil spills are extremely damaging to nearby shores and ecosystems. They are also economically damaging. Analysts estimated British Petroleum's oil spill of 2010 would cost $2.5 billion in losses to the Louisiana fishing market alone. Florida was estimated to lose $3 billion in tourism income. Biologists worried that Sargassum algae, vital to hundreds of species of animals, would be killed due to the oil released in the Gulf of Mexico.