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You Are Killing Yourselves!

By: Monica Pinon


People all around the world continue
to follow rules, laws, and policies,
without ever asking themselves the
true effect behind them. What if I
were to tell you that some of this
regulations you follow in daily life are
only killing you, your future, and
others around you. What if I were to
tell you that the reason why people
are dying from cancer, heart attacks,
asthma, etc., is because you have
been contributing to the equation.
Sure, from the surface, policies might seem
like they are solving the issue, but in reality
this is not for most cases.

Taken by Sarah Yang, UC Berkeley (2010). Retrieved from:


http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/10/05/asthma/

I am talking about a policy that allows the nonstop use of fossil fuels: The Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007.
The policy only focuses on automobile fuels, the development of biofuels in order to
have an independence from fossil fuels in this industry. However, that is not enough.
Fossil fuel are currently contributing up to 57% of CO2 emissions causing great
amounts of pollution impacting human health (J. Holguin,
personal communication, October 17, 2014).
Air pollution causes 200,000 deaths every year (M. Cox,
Betts, Jones, Spall, & Totterdell, 2000). Last year alone 9.9
billion metric tonnes (GtC) of CO2 emissions we present in
the global atmosphere (Sustainable Energy, 2014).
A policy change must happen! The policy needs to look for
fossil fuel independence from the entire petroleum industry.
And it also has to help promote the use of renewable energy sources.
As Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi once said,
The first step toward a future of energy independence."

With this policy change supporting the development of alternative energy, new
technologies will be developed at a faster rate for these sources.
Renewable energy is very powerful and can be considered to sustain high energy
demand in places where they are harvested efficiently. Renewable energy in the form of
wind power generates more than 250 billion kilowatt-hours that energize over 22 million
households, (V. L. Lougheed, personal
communication, October 19, 2014). And even
though renewable energy can be considered
expensive because of the need of further research
needed on clean technology, according to the article
written by Chris Nelder (2009), fossil fuel shortage
could cause renewable energy to become less
expensive as fuel prices increase.
Also, Renewable energy has been quoted as being
labor-intensive by the National Renewable energy
Laboratory (Sustainable Energy, 2014) because it creates more jobs and greater
earnings. According to the Wisconsin Energy Burea (Sustainable Energy, 2014), clean
sources originate more than double the occupations than fossil fuels. Renewable
energy industry provides all kinds of different jobs such as manufactures of photovoltaic
components and maintenance jobs at wind power.
If the use of fossil fuels continues, all glaciers will be gone due to the harsh
temperatures from global warming. But if we change the policy, renewable energy will
decrease pollution and carbon dioxide emission, as well as stop global warming from
increasing and destroying the Earth. Alternative sources are the solution to eliminate
CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.
What can you do to support this policy change?
Vote for politicians who support this policy change! Get involve with organizations in
your community that support alternative energies and let your voice be heard. There are
many ways to be active, for example by writing petitions.
Support 100% renewable sources. Cut down you dependence
on fossil fuels by installing solar panels at your home or
carpooling more often. This will help the Earth and your
budget.
The need to become independent from fossil fuels is urgent.
With support this policy change will be possible. How much
longer will the Earth and humanity last if this continues?
Please dont wait until it is too late.

REFERENCES

Energy, U. D. (2014). Fossil. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from ENERGY.GOV: http://energy.gov/scienceinnovation/energy-sources/fossil


M. Cox, P. M., Betts, R. A., Jones, C. D., Spall, S. A., & Totterdell, I. J. (2000). Acceleration of global
warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model. Nature International weekly
journal of science, 184-187.
Nelder, C. (2009). The End of Fossil Fuel. Forbes, 1.
Sustainable Energy, L. (2014, 10 17). National Rewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved 10 21, 2014, from
Leading clean energy innovation: http://www.nrel.gov/
Yang, S. (2010, October 5). UC Berkeley News Center. Retrieved from
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/10/05/asthma/

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