The United States consumes approximately 30% of the energy used in the world. With such a large dependence on energy sourced from traditional means that release danger greenhouse gases into the air, there is a huge push for increasing renewable energy production to be used in this country. The renewable energy debate has been heatedly discussed in every major political election in the past decade and it continues to be a topic that inspires steadfast opinions about how the United States should continue in the future. Since there are good and bad aspects to all sides of this argument, finding common ground and being able to work together is essential for our country to be able to grow in this area in the future.
Our Current Situation
Everyone has heard of, and probably has an opinion on, the merits of the global warming situation around the world. Scientists have pointed to the burning of fossils fuels as one of the main contributors to the creation of greenhouse gases that get released into our atmosphere. These gases remain trapped in our atmosphere and eventually lead to an increase in the global mean temperature, which have drastic effects on our oceans, weather patterns, and climates. Our current methods for energy production release an enormous amount of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere which continues to exacerbate the warming trend that is harming our planet.
The Argument Against Governments Given Too Much Authority
The argument for staying with our current situation is that it is so immersed into our culture, and the way we run our daily lives, that the adjustments we would have to make to switch to renewable energy would be enormous. Advocates of staying with our current way of doing things cite the large amount of money that would need to be spent to overhaul our current system. Other people point out that the only way we would be able to achieve the widespread energy reform would be for the government to step in and regulate the energy industry. Large parts of the population believe that we should still practice a laissez-faire method of governance; that it is not the role of the government to tell private sector businesses how to operate.
Switching to Renewable Energy
One plan for increasing renewable energy collection and use in the United States is to allow grants for the construction of renewable energy farms on public lands around the country. Some see this as the only available option for collecting enough renewable energy to reverse our dependence on energy sourced from methods that release greenhouse gases into our environment. This plan creates a lot of controversy in the renewable energy debate. Advocates for the creation of these energy farms argue that the re-allocation of this public land is worth the costs of losing a portion of the remaining undeveloped land in the United States. Many people see this as a threat to the lands in question and argue that there is no reason we should ever risk our remaining public areas for any reason.
Although the renewable energy debate continues, it is obvious that something needs to be done for political, ecological, financial and practical reasons. We cannot continue to be dependent on foreign sources of fuel for energy and the route we are on now is financially unacceptable. Only in healthy debates can a working solution be found.
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