Energy Policies – What A Mess
January 24, 2011 by Guest
Filed under Uncategorized
For the most part, producing energy and consuming energy is a very dirty business Although you all may have a sense of this, the extent of the problem seems to be a political question open to debate. What can we do about energy consumption? Do we use less? Should we use different resources? How can new energy sources be best invested in? What types of new energy sources should be invested in? That is the most important question. What is going on regarding global warming? Can we do anything about it? What is the impact new energy sources and combating global warming that will take place on society as well as individuals?
Many ideas are being discussed, but it’s difficult to know what kind of impact each one will have long term. And what make it worse is that different political views are being screamed from the sidelines to the point that it turns people off to the point that they just don’t care. Unfortunately people are used to this system that guarantees grilock and partisanship because it has been this way for so very long.
Leaving the important questions up to the politicians hasn’t worked too well, and so it’s incumbent on everybody to understand the issues so that informed decisions can be made when voting for candidates with varying views concerning both the problem and the solutions. Understanding the issues will also help, on a smaller level, to know what is best for you and your family.
Understanding Where Society Is and How It Got Here
The fact is, energy is a critical component of your lives and your economy as a whole. If you are aware of it or not, energy is being used in virtually everything we do. Life expectancy in the U.S. has increased 66 percent over the last century (from 47 years in 1900 to 78 years today). Americans are living longer, healthier lives, and for the most part Americans are more secure and knowledgeable about their world. Life is just plain better than it used to be, and this has been made possible by advances in medicine and technology – advances that all took a great deal of energy.
To make any kind of claim that energy consumption has been anything but advantageous to humanity completely misses the point. The problem certainly isn’t with energy itself, it is with the way the energy is being used and what types are being used.
It’s becoming clear now that energy use is a zero sum game. We pay for as much as we gain, but what we pay for this usage is still unclear. Of course, you pay for each gallon of gas you use, but we’re also learning that we are paying in environmental costs and health costs. The most fundamental concept that this article can teach is this: The U.S. (and by extension, the world) does not have an energy crisis. Rather, it has an environmental energy policy crisis. The U.S. has as much energy as it wants to use. The question here is how to use it and what kinds of limitations should be set in terms of the environmental impact because of that energy use. To answer that, you need to know the energy use in the past, present, and future.
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