U.S. needs a sustainable energy policy

By: Justin Gero

Posted: 5/23/08

Rising gas prices and environmental concern have brought energy policies to the forefront of many people's minds, especially in an election year. The need for a smart energy policy is of the utmost importance because, as Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico and former Democratic presidential candidate explained in his May 19 lecture, "Energy: A Flashpoint for Change," energy policy is connected to everything else we do. It affects the decisions we make domestically, and a dependence on imported oil shapes our foreign policy.

The race for control of the world's dwindling natural resources has driven mankind to ravage the environment and start wars for large oil reserves. President Bush's answer has been to give oil companies billions of taxpayer dollars and beg oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia to increase output.

The answer to our energy problems is not drilling more oil. There have been proposals to drill in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, but this isn't the quick and easy solution that its proponents make it sound like. We wouldn't be able to cash in on these oil reserves for another 10 years, and even when we finally started refining ANWR oil, it would only supply about 1 percent of U.S. consumption. In the end, we would have devastated a protected wildlife habitat, and wasted years and millions (perhaps billions) of dollars that could have been spent on developing new, better, cleaner technology.

The answer to our energy needs is not more oil, but environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources.

Despite growing support, many remain skeptical about renewable energy sources, and renewable energy has yet to have a big impact on life in the U.S. For example, wind power provides only 1 percent of U.S. energy today.

To increase the impact of renewable energy, we need to support their development more aggressively. May 12, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that wind power alone could provide 20 percent of the country's energy needs by 2030. The Department of Energy was clear to state that this report was not a prediction of the future, but it is important because it shows that effectively utilizing renewable energy technologies on a large scale is possible.

With regards to future U.S. energy policy, the DoE said: "To successfully address energy security and environmental issues, the nation needs to pursue a portfolio of energy options. None of these options by [themselves] can fully address these issues; there is no 'silver bullet.'"

Many states are starting to look more seriously into renewable sources of energy, but we cannot focus on just one technology to take over; we will need to utilize many different renewable sources to provide for our energy needs.

Germany is very aggressively pursuing solar power. Heavy government subsidies have created an industry boom and have made Germany into the world leader when it comes to solar power.

The New York Times reported May 16 that: "With [solar power], wind, biomass and other alternative energy also growing, Germany derives 14.2 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. That puts it ahead of a European Union target for countries to generate 12.5 percent of electricity from alternative sources by 2010."

The state of Pennsylvania has a goal to reach 18 percent energy consumption through renewable energy sources by 2020. This is an aggressive policy in a country where the federal government has not taken the lead, but it pales in comparison to Germany and many other European nations.

While we need to address energy issues to meet increasing demand, we also need to remember to pursue sustainable, environmentally friendly alternatives.

NASA recently released a study showing that "human-caused climate change" has had a huge impact on the Earth and its ecosystems. The NASA study looked at changes between 1970 and 2004 to determine climate change's impact on many different environments.

In a press release, NASA said: "Observed impacts included changes to physical systems, such as glaciers shrinking, permafrost melting, and lakes and rivers warming. Impacts also included changes to biological systems, such as leaves unfolding and flowers blooming earlier in the spring, birds arriving earlier during migration periods, and ranges of plant and animal species moving toward the poles and higher in elevation. In aquatic environments such as oceans, lakes, and rivers, plankton and fish are shifting from cold-adapted to warm-adapted communities."

These changes might not seem that extreme, but climate change has had a devastating impact on ecosystems and wildlife.

The BBC reported May 16 that according to data complied by the Zoological Society of London, "populations of land-based species fell by 25 percent, marine by 28 percent and freshwater by 29 percent," since 1970. Overall, between a quarter and a third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970. The report goes on to say, "Humans are wiping out about 1 percent of all other species every year, and one of the 'great extinction episodes' in the earth's history is under way."

Achieving energy independence and sustainability is a massive undertaking that may take many decades. However we must start now if we want to reduce our harmful impact on the planet, clean the environment, and stop climate change in the next 10 or 20 years.

Justin Gero is a pre-junior majoring in history, political science and sociology. He is the Ed-Op editor, and can be reached at ed-op@thetriangle.org.