Energy Consumption in the United States

458 Words1 Page

Energy Consumption in the United States

The United States consumes more energy than needed, compared to the rest of the world. However, to properly address such an issue as over consumption of energy, one first must understand what “energy” is.

Energy is the ability for something to do work, create heat, or emit light. By this definition, energy can be anything from a sandwich to uranium. However, for the sake of simplification, this essay will focus on the United States’ consumption of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and gas), which constitute eighty-six percent of American energy (Lehrman 2). That is a lot of energy, however it becomes an even larger amount when taken into consideration that even though America accounts for only five percent of the world population, it consumes twenty-four percent of the world’s energy! To be more specific, one American consumes as much as two Japanese, thirteen Chinese, or 370 Ethiopians on average. Even more amazing, if every country were to consume energy at the rate of the United States, three more Earths would be required to fill the demand ...

Open Document