Renewable Energy Beneficial for the Environment or Not?
HUM/111 CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING
Renewable Energy
Beneficial for the Environment or Not?
Global warming is something that we all hear about and something that might concern most of us. Carbon is something that is already in our atmosphere and we need it to help keep out harmful radiation from the sun, but too much of it in our atmosphere can be very harmful to the planet. Too much carbon in the atmosphere reflects light and heat back down to earth, letting little escape, therefore heating the temperature of the planet and causing the green house effect or global warming. The big debate in recent years has been how to handle the energy crises. Our country alone uses a huge amount of oil and other natural resources, and “Not only are these high levels of consumption causing equally high levels of pollution, but the world's fossil fuel supplies are quickly being used up. For example, [the] total oil supply is estimated at between 2,000 and 2,800 billion barrels. About 900 billion barrels of oil have already been consumed, 28 million barrels of that just in the year 2000.” (Langwith, 2009)
We may be running out of our natural resources. and when we do burn them we are polluting our planet. Scientists’ and politicians have been working out ways to help protect our energy and our planet bye finding new ways to power our world. However, this is not just a scientific and political problem; this is something that affects every one of us. Domestic oil and natural gas has become very expensive over the past few years. Paying for higher gas has caused many families to look for ways to cut back. Some argue that the country must decrease its dependence on oil and invest in alternative sources of energy, such as wind and solar power. Using wind to create power is something that is said to be so much better for the environment because it burns no fuel and emits no carbon or other toxins into the air that is harmful to the
Renewable Energy
Beneficial for the Environment or Not?
Global warming is something that we all hear about and something that might concern most of us. Carbon is something that is already in our atmosphere and we need it to help keep out harmful radiation from the sun, but too much of it in our atmosphere can be very harmful to the planet. Too much carbon in the atmosphere reflects light and heat back down to earth, letting little escape, therefore heating the temperature of the planet and causing the green house effect or global warming. The big debate in recent years has been how to handle the energy crises. Our country alone uses a huge amount of oil and other natural resources, and “Not only are these high levels of consumption causing equally high levels of pollution, but the world's fossil fuel supplies are quickly being used up. For example, [the] total oil supply is estimated at between 2,000 and 2,800 billion barrels. About 900 billion barrels of oil have already been consumed, 28 million barrels of that just in the year 2000.” (Langwith, 2009)
We may be running out of our natural resources. and when we do burn them we are polluting our planet. Scientists’ and politicians have been working out ways to help protect our energy and our planet bye finding new ways to power our world. However, this is not just a scientific and political problem; this is something that affects every one of us. Domestic oil and natural gas has become very expensive over the past few years. Paying for higher gas has caused many families to look for ways to cut back. Some argue that the country must decrease its dependence on oil and invest in alternative sources of energy, such as wind and solar power. Using wind to create power is something that is said to be so much better for the environment because it burns no fuel and emits no carbon or other toxins into the air that is harmful to the