Year without Oil OPEC Oil Embargo There are several things that come to mind when presented with the picture and topic, but the one that stands out most is shortage. However, shortage is an ironic word to use for it. It wasnÕt really a shortage in the fact that the world is out of oil, which being a non-renewable resource will be one day, but it was an incredible 130% increase in price by OPEC, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. This forced the petroleum market to head into a tailspin. OPEC, started by the major oil producing countries in the Middle East, was designed to give price control to the oil producers, instead of the oil manufacturers.
Global warming is a war that we should not get involved with because we will lose if changes aren’t made soon. Global warming is the rapid increase in earth’s average surface temperature over the past century due to the fact that greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere increasing the earth’s average temperature (EarthObservatory.NASA.org). There are many contributing factors that play a role into the cause of global warming. Greenhouse gasses are gasses such as Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, and F-gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere. The heat that is trapped in the earth’s atmosphere is a slowly melting glaciers, cause sea levels to rise and is messing with the weather patterns.
Despite the good that can come from drilling, however, I tend to find that the problems we are creating are far greater than the good we can benefit from. When we drill oil, we exploit the land, essentially making it beneficial for only one agenda; the agenda of the oil companies. While destroying the land beyond recovery, we also create pollution in the air we breathe and water we drink. I don’t know anyone who would choose to live in the toxic environment we are creating, over an environment free from pollution. I guess my concern lies in the fact that we tend to value growth, material goods, and economic success over the quality of our own lives and living environ... ... middle of paper ... ... a difference, not just in the case of Prudehoe and The Arctic Refuge, but in most any environmental issue.
Energy it’s what makes the modern world work and what every human on this planet relies on. The energy crisis is clouded with fossil fuels that we use every day without think about their consequences. Energy can be obtained without burning fossil fuels that release global warm emissions into the atmosphere. Renewable energy is the future of energy and also helps create a new job market and millions of jobs. Renewable energy also helps reduce and prevent any more damage to our planet’s atmosphere, But people still ask the age old question of is renewable energy really worth it?
It does not necessarily take geniuses to figure out that we are running out of energy to power our automobiles and trucks, but with an oil centered economic setting, whether we want to or not, we will be forced to find new alternative energy sources. Renewable energy, which are geothermal, tidal/wave, wind, solar and biofuel can alone power the world in an ethical way without the need for nonrenewable sources. Crude oil, and in extension, petroleum, has uses in the modern day world that would be considered as everyday necessities. Gasoline, Diesel and jet fuel are used to power various forms of transportation. Gas and Diesel, which are the main usage for petroleum and crude oil, are used as fuel for automobiles.
Yet, the negatives are so heavily outweighed by the positives (i.e. high economic efficiency and low environmental impact), that they do not in any way draw from the fact that nuclear energy should definitely continue to be used, and more so. Nuclear power is extremely cost efficient. First, it requires a very small amount of Uranium-235, the most commonly used fuel, to produce a great amount of energy. Any given amount of Uranium-235 will produce 3.7 million times the amount of energy as the same amount of coal.
A Natural Monopoly In Economics, a natural monopoly can be defined as an industry where the fixed cost of the capital goods is so high that it is not profitable for a second firm to enter and compete. The reason is that the nature of that product or service makes a single supplier more efficient than multiple, competing ones. The purpose of this essay is to discuss that the economic arguments for and against on privatizing a state run natural monopoly. You will find out on following contents. Main body --------- Natural monopolies are typically utilities such as water, electricity, and natural gas.
The world needs to start making alternative energy sources more of a priority for a number of reasons. “Alternative energy refers to energy sources that have no undesired consequences such for example fossil fuels or nuclear energy” (“Alternative Energy”). Alternative energy sources collectively only provide about seven percent of the total world energy supply (McLamb). Even though fossil fuels are cheap and plentiful, can help a country’s economy, and can be extracted relatively easily, they have many disastrous effects (“Activity 3 – Fossil Fuels – The pros and cons”). Burning fossil fuels emits dangerous substances that harm our ecosystem.
This excessive spending is no good on a struggling economy, like that of the United States, and the potential for saving money will not come until much later. (Fears) Other types of renewable resources are expensive to install, but they start saving money immediately. Uranium, the fuel of nuclear energy, is not cheap to extract. Nuclear energy may be considered a “clean” energy source, but uranium puts a damper on that. Uranium is not a renewable resource like wind and solar energy, and, “…are expensive to mine, refine, and transport, and produce considerable environmental waste (including greenhouse gasses) during all of these processes.” (Fear) Most all things nuclear energy does to benefit the world have some thing to contradict them.
Colorado Springs is community addicted to cheap energy. Unfortunately, most citizens do not realize the true cost of conventional energy production, which is considerably subsidized by taxpayers. When one factors together the adverse health effects and environmental degradation that result from conventional energy production the cost rises even more dramatically. Customers of Colorado Springs Utilities are unaware of these effects and see coal and natural gas as the cheapest forms of energy available. Although renewable energy appears more expensive at face value, a deeper look reveals an energy source that is much cleaner and more sustainable for future generations.