Nuclear, wind and solar power are great hopes in reducing our energy crisis and dependencies on foreign oil to fuel most of the country.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Stage Seven: Second Editorial
The energy crisis in America has escalated to staggering heights in the past few years. Even these past few months the price of oil, and in return gasoline, has sky rocketed because of the conflicts in the Middle East. As every major politician has said, America's dependencies on foreign oil is too high. But can we really become a self-sufficient country for energy? In my opinion, American will always depend on foreign oil. The amount of dependency is debatable. For years America has researched other energy sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power. But most other energy sources are insufficient to undertake the majority of America's population. While driving out into more rural areas of Texas, one will cross many small oil drills. They might be still in production but most of the drills are at a standstill. We are depleting the natural resource that we consider so vital to our everyday lives and we do not even realize it. Instead of seeing used up oil drills, I would like to see wind mills producing energy. In the plains of Texas there is bound to be enough wind that we should at least power some of the smaller towns with. Granted that wind energy is not very reliable, it could at least cut some of the need of oil. Solar energy is also unreliable due to weather. But like wind energy it can help cut the need of oil or gasoline. We see more solar panels around than we do wind mills, for example the school limit signs, on houses, even some calculators are solar powered. Living in Texas all of my life, I can vouch that we get enough sun to produce massive amounts of energy to help our houses running. Solar energy might not be the wisest of uses in Washington state or Oregon, but in some parts of the country I truly believe that it can help reduce our energy crisis. With nuclear power there comes more risk. It is expensive as well as dangerous to produce. With the meltdown of the power plant in Japan, and all the chemicals pouring into the Pacific Ocean, it is hard to stand up for this energy source when it is causing so much damage. Like I said, there are more risks, but the power it produces is so much more compared to wind and solar energy. Nuclear power has the capability to help larger cities for longer periods of time.
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Lily Streiff wrote an editorial on US dependence on oil and provided her own alternatives to providing power to our nation. In response, it was a nice read and her message was clear and concise. In principle, we both agree that alternative energy/fuel sources need to be researched, refined, and implemented. There are points she makes that I do not agree with or even understand, but I will touch on that later.
ReplyDeleteIn summary, the editorial stated that the US needs to become self-sufficient in respect to energy. Lily says that we should not rely on foreign oil and as a result skyrocketing prices will continue to hurt Americans. She also writes that more renewable sources of energy, such as wind-generated energy and solar power should. She concludes by saying that although nuclear power is a potential danger, it could provide the best result for powering our cities and an overall lower cost as opposed to foreign oil.
First off, I am unclear on what she means by powering America. I assume she is referring to electric power because she brings up cities and small towns. Yes, petroleum products make up a plurality of our supply source but most of this product is consumed by transportation and industrial sectors. These sectors do not make up the majority or plurality of energy demanded. Electric power consumes the most from available suppl sources (by a plurality). In fact, a minority of energy consumed for use by the electric power sector (i.e. cities) is actually taken from petroleum products. Coal, then nuclear power, then natural gas, then renewable sources all contribute more to the electric sector than petroleum. (See Figure)
Back to the US dependence on oil, there are plenty of oil deposits that are still plentiful and many more that have yet to be tapped. We cannot be supposedly depleting our domestic oil supply if are drills are at a stand still. A better solution to weaning the country off of oil is to find alternative fuels. Transportation and industry are the sectors that demand on petroleum the most. Find alternative methods to power these sectors and you essentially have no need for oil. If appropriate alternative fuel sources cannot be found, then cut down on the amount of petroleum consumed. If that means placing the burden on the suppliers or the consumers then so be it. Whether that means higher taxes, setting caps, or granting subsidies it can be done. A secondary effect would be a lowering of prices on the oil we actually do consume.
Anyways, good read but more opinions than facts. We do definitely need to get away from oil though. We are killing our planet and our pocketbooks and in both cases are killing ourselves.
I strongly agree with Lily's editorial and have a few extra things to add. In early 2009, President Obama directed his Secretary of Transportation to issue a mandate towards car manufacturers in the United States which required the average milage of a company's complete vehicle lineup to meet or exceed 35.5 miles per gallon of gasoline by the year 2016. As a Toyota technician, I have already seen the increase in Hybrid vehicles and smaller engine cars. In addition to that, the more efficient vehicles require much less maintenance than larger trucks or SUVs.
ReplyDeleteBack to your editorial, I agree that using renewable resources such as wind, solar, and nuclear power is the way to reduce power sources that harm our environment (coal, oil, ect.) This will become especially useful in the near future when car companies begin selling electric vehicles in mass quantities. The day is coming where you can plug in your electric powered Chevy Volt or Plug-in Prius and the only energy you are using is from the wind and sunshine. While these solutions are not here yet, the willingness of the government to address these problems and start creating solutions is a large step forward for this country.