The Energy Crisis
Michael Kelly
SCI/275
September 26, 2010
John Szczepanski
The Energy Crisis
Fossil fuels will always continue to supply an endless amount of energy for an eternity with no adverse effects on the environment. There are a few people who still believe this false statement, but the progress toward total reliance on renewable energy sources has been less than prompt and less than significant. Retrieving fossil fuels in the means of mining and drilling negatively impacts ecosystems, and the burning of fossil fuels is the main cause of acid deposition and greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. Also the drilling and mining can cause situations like the oil spill in the Gulf. While there are several strategies for reaching energy sustainability, none of the plans can come to together without a major contribution of time into the research and development of the plans and the investments or funds need to be found and put into action for the plans to take place. There are many benefits to total reliance on renewable energy, but there are some organizations who are protesting that total reliance. In order to reach total energy sustainability, support for alternative energy programs must come from not only the global governments but the global citizens as well.
In an interview with Newsweek’s Anne Underwood, Eileen Clausen who is a former assistant secretary of State and one time Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official clarifies how the United States relies on many types of energy in an interview with Anne Underwood (2005). “In the United States, 51 percent of electricity comes from coal; 20 percent, nuclear; 16.5 percent, natural gas; seven percent, hydroelectric; three percent, oil, and the rest renewables geothermal, wind and solar”. The major problem with burning coal is that the coal emits many pollutants into the air that are high in nitrous oxides (NOX), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). In...