Drought in Texas is of great concern, today, and this essay will focus on pollution as the cause of Texas drought. Coal fired electric generating plants and vehicle emissions are the major sources of the polluting agent, hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons are affecting the weather patterns in our state which result in extended periods of drought. When hydrocarbons are burned, it causes all sorts of problems. If it is pure hydrocarbon and is burned completely, it releases CO2 which is a green house gas. Texas leads the nation in CO2 emissions which has resulted in weather change from adequate rain to drought conditions. Texas emits about 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas, more than any other state, according to Kim Chapman in BusinessWeek earlier this year. If Texas were a country it would be the world’s eighth-largest polluter.
Coal has been used as a fuel source since 1819. Since that time, the population has grown three fold. During this period, industry in our state, and residential growth in our state, have also grown by leaps and bounds requiring more electricity. Our government has chosen coal to fire these generating plants, and there are fifteen plants in Texas. By 2005, Texas ranked third in the nation in coal-fired power production as published by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality . The tons of hydrocarbons emitting from these plants have been scientifically proven to change our Texas weather patterns .
Texas has more coal-fired electrical capacity than any state in the U.S. Burning coal releases a tremendous amount of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere creating ozone trapping heat on the surface of the earth. A green house effect results, which provides global warming not only affecting ...
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...emitted a total of nearly 260 million pounds of carbon dioxide giving the same amount of global warming pollution in a year as 45 million of today’s cars emit in a year. There are over 30 million cars in the state of Texas, alone. The use of coal as a source to turn the turbines that generate electric power in the state of Texas must be held to a very strict standard for controlling the emission of hydrocarbons. The people in Texas must realize our inability to regulate coal fired plants along with tremendous growth in use of gasoline and diesel engines with continue to contribute to Texas drought. By examining these two major causes of Texas pollution, burning coal and vehicle emissions, Texas citizens must take a more personal responsibility in the effort to find solutions to balance the need of providing power plants and using fuel in their daily lives.
Utah is known to have the best snow on earth, we have beautiful scenery, relaxation and recreation all within minutes of our front door. But what about that dirty air that seems to last for months? Utah has four of the nations 100 largest oil fields, which produces 1.2% of the nation’s output, with 3,600 active wells. Utah ranks 11th in the nation of oil production, and we have five refineries in the Salt Lake area that can produce 175,500 barrels of oil per day (House,2012). The major effect of these practices, is the effect of air pollution along the Wasatch Front and the serious health consequences on children, teens and adults.
Roughly 68 percent of the electricity generated in the United States of America is produced by fossil fuels. That includes petroleum, natural gases and coal. Although coal contributes around 37 percent to the factor, it is by far not the cleanest of them all. Some might argue that it is good for the economy because it is cheap and it creates jobs.. But the other side of the story portrays coal mining as a process that kills thousands of coal miners a year and that it practically destroys the environment around the mining with soot and air pollution. Mining now days is a big part of urbanization; due to how cheap the process is. There are different ways that coal mining is done. Mainly mountain top removal is done but there are many other
Pennsylvania, along with being rich in coal, is now receiving kudos for its participation in the production of natural gas. An article composed by Madelon...
Texas has a total land area of 261,914 square miles- making it the second largest state in the United States. Combined with a diverse geography, Texas has one of the most varied climates of any state. As the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases year by year, causing an increase in the Earth’s average overall temperature, changes in our climate are inevitable. We will investigate how those changes will affect the life of the everyday Texan - from our water resources, to our cities and why they are important issues that need to be addressed by our society.
The California drought has been extremely harmful to the states’ air quality. Since 2012, California has seen the worst drought conditions in 1,200 years and it is severely affecting air quality (California’s drought, 2015). As of 2015, the cities of Hanford, Merced, Modesto, Fresno, Yuba City, Lancaster-Palmdale, Chico, Sacramento, and Bakersfield have been experiencing exceptional drought coverage (Pestano, 2015). California has a Mediterranean climate, which is a concentrated rainy period several months of the year and warm to hot temperatures the remaining of the year. For the past four years, California’s rainfall has been below average, which causes PM2.5 levels to go
Situated in the south central part of the United States, Texas is the second largest state in the U.S. It is also the third fastest growing state and holds a number of the most populous cities in the nation [US Census,2013] and number one in the nation in producing greenhouse gasses [EPA, 2013]. Stress in water resources can be seen in rapidly populated and over populated areas, where the water demand is high and availability is limited. This is particularly magnified in Texas due to climate change. It is important to identify different factors that shape Texas’ climate before characterizing its implication on water supply in the future.
“Like a man who has been dying for many days, a man in your city is numb to the stench.” -Chief Seattle
Coal companies have been destroying our mountains, polluting our water, and poisoning our communities for far too long.
Houston, Texas is a city that has grown and thrived off of the energy industry. The city that has been endearingly termed “the petrochemical capital of the world”, is home to oil refineries that produce a quarter of the oil in the entire United States (Ngai & Sims, 2017). Some of the country’s largest oil companies like Valero, ExxonMobil, and Marathon, have chosen to establish refineries in the booming city. These refineries together produce about 2 million barrels of crude oil per day (Blum & Blunt, 2018). Houston is also home to the WA Parish Generating Station, the largest coal power plant in the state of Texas. The economic opportunities that have followed the migration of these energy companies have drawn massive amounts of people to
One of the most important issues that must be addressed and resolved in Texas is that of the environmental pollution. In fact, Texas has been one of the most polluted state in America. It doesn’t take long for the different type of waste such as nuclear waste, chemical pollutants, emission from coal-fired power plants, and pollution resulting from fracking to have damaging effects on the air and in the water supply of many Texans. In response to this situation that doesn’t stop from becoming worse, the Lone Star State needs to act quickly.
Global warming is threatening to destabilize human society unless we make immediate and drastic changes to our lifestyle, particularly our usage of energy resources. Coal happens to be the most abundant, and therefore, the least expensive of Earth's energy sources. Due to coal's abundant supply and low price, the world burns eight billion tons of coal a year, providing for 40% of the world's energy, and 39% of the carbon dioxide emissions (Nijhuis, 2014). The IPCC report makes it clear that the more carbon dioxide emitted, the more numerous and more severe consequences society must face. Climate change is not one simple consequence of humanity's actions, rather the spark from which all other consequences are derived. Climate change, carbon dioxide emissions, and ultimately coal, are the cause of declining food crops, water supplies, and human health (Holthaus, 2014).
California is among the states that are on the lead in the fight against climate change. The reduction of the global footprint has proven to be a key issue for California hence the enactment of policies that seek to reduce the damages caused by industries and individual households. One such move includes the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 by California, which seeks to increase the sale of renewable electricity by up to 50% before 2030. Additionally, the Act seeks to increase the levels of energy savings of electricity and the natural gas by the same target year (Bulkeley et al.). The world in general has also woken up on this issue, and the UN General Assembly is constantly meeting to review and structure a path that would lead the world in the fight against climate change by reduces its
In addition to the fact that solar, wind, and hydro power are local resources, they are also emission free resources. Emissions and pollution are a key concern with traditional power sources. The coal-fired plants that dominate U.S. energy production also produce more emissions than any other energy source. “Em...
In talking about global warming, we need to learn what causes the greenhouse effect. Rays from the sun are taken up and absorbed by water vapor that is natural in the atmosphere. The United States emits the largest man made greenhouse gases in the world. As Americans we must realize the responsibility to reduce the emissions. (Gore, Albert) Water Vapor is eighty percent of greenhouse warming. The last twenty percent results from other gases that are in very little amounts. A huge absorber of the sun’s heat rays is carbon dioxide. Us as humans release a lot of carbon dioxide. When fossil fuels are burned, they release big amounts of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is on the increase in our atmosphere due to car emissions. Approximately eighty percent of CO2 increases because of man’s use of fossil fuels. When there is more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere the more sun rays are absorbed. In result to this happening this will cause the earth and the earths atmosphere to warm. When the earth is warming, water temperatures will start to get warmer. Oceans and lakes will get warmer in result f...
Fuels like coal, and oil that once were a fine innovation in creating energy are now rapidly deleting and one day will be gone forever; energy that won’t last is often referred to as non-renewable energy. Besides being set up to fail and become inefficient in the future, fossil fuel energy is not clean to use and poses several environmental complications. Coal, for instance is “the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. Coal combustion not only produces sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain and snow, it generates millions of tons of particulates that cause asthma and other respiratory diseases.” As with all usage of fossil fuels, it creates enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, which contributes to greenhouse gas. Not only are fossil fuels dirty, they also pose as a security risk and unforgiving on the American wallet. (Saini)