Energy
Resources
Paul
Barnum III
PHS
100A Environmental Studies
David
Terrell
Warner
Pacific College
April 5,
2014
Energy
Resources
In
today’s society, the consumption of the earth’s energy resources is at an all-time
high. In America, what we as a
society consider normal energy consumption would be viewed by people in less
developed countries as excessive use.
I know in my day to day life, I use energy all of the time and do not
even think about where it comes from or how much I am using. This mentality can become a real
problem moving forward into the future.
In this paper, I will discuss or society’s dependence on energy
resources as well as talk about the opportunities and challenges that
developing alternative energy sources can bring in the future.
In
today’s environment there are many different kinds of energy resources. In order to have the type of convenience
we Americans like to have, “humanity has devised many ways to harness the
renewable and nonrenewable forms of energy available on our planet” (Withgott & Laposata, 2013, p. 520) . In today’s society we use all
kinds of energy. “We use these
energy sources to heat and light our homes; power our machinery; fuel our
vehicles; produce plastics; pharmaceuticals, and synthetic fiber; and provide
the comforts and conveniences which we’ve grown accustomed to in the industrial
age” (Withgott & Laposata, 2013, p. 520) .
While
we use some of these energy resources out of necessity, a lot of the energy we
use is out of convenience and we use it in excess without even thinking about
the long term effects it might have on the environment. About four weeks ago, the garage door
opener for my garage door broke.
When my wife got home, you would have thought it was the end of the
world! She wanted me to stay home
from work the next day and get it fixed so she could park in our garage without
having to get out of the car to open the door. This is a great example of how we think we cannot live
without certain things we have grown accustomed to having in our lives and they
are all out of convenience. I am
happy to report, it has been four weeks and the garage door opener has not been
fixed and my wife is still alive and well. She can go on living even with the garage door opener
broken!
Another
good example of how we use energy in excess is the automatic engine start most
of the new cars today have. It is
amazing to me that we think we need to start our cars in our driveway 15
minutes before we have to leave so it is warm inside. What a complete waste of energy! I think in America we have taken wasting energy to a whole
new level and the main reason is out of convenience.
When
I think about what opportunities we have in the future to develop alternative
systems to satisfy our energy needs, I get really frustrated. A good example of this is the electric
car. This hybrid, electric car
technology has been around for years and it is just now becoming available in
mainstream America. Why is it so
hard to introduce new technology into society today? The answer is money.
The large gas and oil companies do not want to see electric cars on the
road as it will cut into the profits they make. Governmental red tape and special interest lobbying groups
also make it challenging to introduce new technology. Even though this new technology uses much less energy and is
also cleaner, it feels like any time ideas and technology like this are
introduced, it gets shut down before it even has a chance to be implemented
into society. It seems like it
always takes many years, just like the example of the hybrid
cars that are out today.
While
thinking about our energy consumption and the future makes me feel frustrated
and guilty all at the same time, I realize that as a society we are not going
to give up all of our comfort and convenience to conserve energy. I do however think we can be much more
conscious about what types and how much energy we use. Simple things like turning off lights
when nobody is in the room to not starting your car 15 minutes before you
actually get in it to drive to work can make a big difference. In addition, we also need to hold our
government and big businesses accountable for continuing to make it difficult
to introduce new technologies especially when these new technologies are
cleaner and more efficient types of energy. I feel that accountability and making smart decisions on how
we are consuming the energy we are so fortunate to have are the keys to
ensuring that we have energy resources to draw from now and into the future.
Reference
Withgott, J., & Laposata, M. (2013). Environment:
the science behind the stories (5th Ed.). New York: Pearson Benjamin
Cummings.
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