If ever you had to speculate, exactly what might you suggest the most broadly known renewable energy sources really are? Many people would certainly say solar energy and wind energy. Though using environmentally friendly energy solutions certainly is not a brand new technique, the green movement has given the concept a lot more push. But if solar and wind energy are so popularly accepted, why aren't we choosing them both much more? I believe the main cause at fault is our significant reliance on foreign oil.
As you read this, America is spending $1 billion a day on foreign oil. Two years ago America brought in oil from nearly a dozen countries on the State Department's Travel Warning List. You'll find Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan on that list. The security of the nation and the environment is put in jeopardy because of our oil reliance. Nothing has made oil's threat to the environment more clear today than the spill in the Gulf Coast.
For 3 months oil has been streaming out of the ground in the Gulf Coast. On June 13 the BP spill officially became the worst oil spill in United States history. Somewhere in the vicinity of 210, 000 gallons of oil is coming out of the ground. Given that amount of oil, you could fill an Olympic sized swimming pool every few days. Numbers like that don't bode well for the clean up effort.
Back in 1989 the Exxon Valdez spilled 250,000 barrels worth of oil into Alaskan waters. There still thousands of gallons of oil on the shoreline even after the extensive cleanup. It's likely that the gulf coast spill will have even worse results, because the catastrophe is much larger and considerably more difficult to contain. The future with clean energy sources looks very appealing as we watch footage from the Gulf Coast.
A new Stanford University poll, which surveyed 1,000 American citizens between June 1 and June 7, discovered that even though three-fourths oppose new taxes on electricity and gas to force conservation, 84 percent would opt for the federal government proposing tax breaks to encourage a greater use of renewable energy sources.
Even though utilizing renewable energy sources is nothing unique, the renewable energy industry around the world is still in its infancy.. However, in the event that green energy manufacturers are able to obtain around $15 billion in investments by the end of 2012, the industry as a whole might achieve a sense of equality with traditional energy. In order for us to move forward, and avoid another incident like the BP spill, we have to make clean energy a serious priority.
If you want to learn more about renewable energy sources click here. Sebastian is an individual who's interested in all environmental issues. |
