Alternate Energy Sources and the Future of those sources Some of the major on-going controversies in this decade are Keystone XL pipeline , fracking, and climate change. These issues are co-related to each other and they all have one thing in common, energy from fossil fuels . Proponents for the Keystone XL pipeline & fracking argue that it would reduce the energy dependence on foreign oil. Although they are good for the energy security of the US, it may be a step backwards in terms of controlling climate change and looking for alternatives. Our energy use has dramatically improved our lives , but this energy is derived mostly from fossil fuels and has resulted in environmental change , and depletion of fossil fuels (Shahriar 181 ). This leads to continuing military conflict . This resulted in developing and using alternate resources for the increasing energy demand. These alternatives can be helpful in reducing carbon emissions while ensuring the energy independence . These sources are wind ,solar ,geothermal, hydro, nuclear and renewable bio fuels. Some of these sources are renewable , meaning they can be replenished, while others like nuclear, are non-renewable, yet are clean sources of energy. For better sustainability , society continues to explore the challenges of these energy options to help implement the necessary changes for an environmentally friendly and energy independent future. Nuclear energy Although the second world war was devastating , it had a
The Keystone XL is a controversial oil pipeline extension that would travel from Alberta, Canada, to the United States Gulf Coast. The Keystone XL should not be built because of the damage it would cause to the environment. The oil would be found within tar sands that contain bitumen. The process of extracting the crude oil uses a lot of energy and causes a large amount of greenhouse gases. Many citizens, in Canada and the United States, are outraged because it can be detrimental to the surrounding land and wildlife. TransCanada, the company building the oil pipeline, has to receive permission from the United States government to begin construction. If the United States does not have the pipeline built and chooses to not use Canada’s oil, then TransCanada will have the pipeline built elsewhere and exported to other countries. There has been a divide between those in favor of the Keystone XL and those who are not. The Keystone XL would be able to provide the United States with a reliable source of oil, but it would also take the risk of faults in the oil pipeline and ruining parts of America’s resourceful soil. The Keystone XL will cause a negative effect on the environment and damage resourceful land; therefore, the oil pipeline should not be constructed.
Fracking is a highly controversial practice that utilizes the injection of water, chemicals and abrasives to extract relatively inaccessible pockets of natural resources. Although fracking has the potential to benefit the domestic economy, the practice of hydraulic fracturing, if left unregulated and mismanaged poses significant risks to the environment, the ecosystem and safety.
To achieve peace by disobeying the law seems counter-intuitive. The structures of society support the morals of a nation, but still with human nature comes the possibility of unjust laws and discrimination. Civil leaders such as Gandhi, Thoreau, and Martin Luther King Jr., preached and lived the necessity of civil disobedience and peaceful protest. Nowadays, organizing a movement is relatively easy, but with every assembly there appears to be a select few who radicalize and incite violence. When peaceful resistance is maintained throughout the entirety of the movement, then there will be positive outcomes. Unlike the armed militants of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge whose message of violence and chaos was rejected by
In 2026, life in Dimock, Pennsylvania was a lot different than how it was twenty years ago. This is evident by all the new advances in technology within the two decades. However, what changed the town the most was the hydraulic fracturing boom back in the mid-2000s. The town has experienced many ups and downs because of all the gas companies coming in to extract the natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, that lies underneath the land. Dimock had received a lot of attention from the media due to the side-effects of fracking, some families also engaged in long lawsuits against the companies because of these harmful side-effects of fracking. The government finally stepped in and demanded the gas companies to pay for
For the past two years, The Dakota Access Pipeline has ignited fierce debate between environmental activists and energy advocates, spurring polarizing and confusing headlines. Cutting through four states from North Dakota to Illinois, the $3.7 billion project is threatening to affect the lives of many, and promising to bring unparalleled energy to the northcentral United States. But all these threats and promises, protests, and incidental reports on social media cloud the science behind each argument and separate the public from a true understanding of the source of contention: fracking.
In 2015, the world will face a vast amount of dilemmas; these dilemmas range from how someone is going to get their food to how they are going to cook. But the biggest dilemma of them all, is how they are going to continue to get energy to do everyday tasks. The most efficient resources are those of the nonrenewable variety. These nonrenewable resources include fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum. Someday these resources will run out and will not be replenished for thousands of years. As of now, an overwhelming majority of the energy used in the world today is non-renewable. We, as civilized people, are so dependent on fossil fuels that we go through extraneous efforts to retrieve these properties. The world needs energy to function and sites that once contained vital resources are on the verge of depletion. It is inevitable that the world looks elsewhere for another resource to absorb the depleting reservoirs. One reservoir capable of withstanding the demand for oil are the tar sands located near Alberta, Canada. These tar sands are the third largest reservoir of crude oil in the world and are conveniently located just north of the United States border (About the Project). There is a wide spread debate on whether or not the crude oil produced from these tar sands should be transported via pipeline. With critical analysis of all point of views, it is without a doubt that the United States should cease their delay on
fracking is the process of getting natural gas from from shale rock deep into the ground. to get the natural gas we have to use a thing called horizontal drilling, horizontal drilling allows us to go deep into the ground and injected high pressure fracking fluids into the shale area and when they have the cracks in the ground for the oil to go through and they put sand to hold open the cracks and keep them open this is the process of fracking. Tell the recipient of your letter why you chose to share this information with them: I am writing to good morning america because a lot of people watch that show i believe that if someone hears this then they will want to put a stop to it because its a very popular show. these are some bad things about fracking .the chemicals they use for fracking sometimes get into peoples water and could cause us to get very ill..a lot of animals lose their homes because they have to cut down the forest trees where animals live. .fracking can cause a lot of traffic and noise from all the drilling and construction problems. fracking should stop because not only can it damage our forest, put chemicals in our water, and cause traffic and construction problems but it also pollutes our air which can kill us animals and plants. here are some good things .fracking creates a lot of jobs for people unemployed.fracking creates a big money boom for the people who are getting the drilling done on their land. fracking gives us our own oil instead of us getting
An environmental disaster waiting to happen in ones eyes, a potential “gold mine” in the others; the decision of the Keystone XL pipeline. What seems to be a perpetual environmental battle and one of the most politically controversial topics in the past decade. The Keystone XL pipeline is a proposed 1,179-mile pipeline running from Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would join an existing pipe. There’s no question the intended pipeline has its pros such as its projected attribution to the American economy and the jobs it will create. However, I strongly believe the few pros it possesses simply do not outweigh the negative effects it will have. These include deforestation, the impact the pipeline could have on the environment and wildlife if there is a spill as well as the continued reliance to depend on fossil fuels; specifically coming from the tar sand oils from Alberta.
Fracking, does it have more consequence or benefits? Well first let me explain what fracking is. Fracking is formally known as (Hydraulic Fracturing), an exceedingly confrontational procedure commonly used today to extort oil and natural gas from the earth. Many exponents of fracking congratulate the encouraging economic impacts and job creations. But they fail to recognize the effects fracking have on the climate and societies across America.
The disparities between scientists, gas companies, and the government have created quite a bit of tension and angst across the country. In some communities people are trying to ban fracking while on the other side of the same town, people are celebrating the economic boom. Personally, I find it difficult to look away from the science that proves fracking has already had a devastating impact on some of our water sources. Not only does the fracking process use millions of gallons of fresh water, but also it ultimately contaminates and pollutes that very same water. This is an irresponsible use of water when some scientists estimate that by 2025, more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability (“Water”). While water is in short supply here in California, and in other parts of the country, and while many of us are working hard on conservation, it is sickening to think the natural gas companies are being allowed to drill without
Today, our western society uses fossil fuels for practically everything: to move our cars, to heat our homes, to make our medicines and to put shoes under our feet. Looking at our society, it would be safe to say that we as a whole have a dependency on fossil fuels for most of our modern luxuries. It is no surprise that, as a result of this dependency, scientist and oil companies have innovated a new extracting method to get more of what the public wants, more fossil fuels. This recently innovative method of extracting fossil fuels has been called Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing and is commonly known as fracking. Fracking can be viewed as an ingenious idea or an ignorant idea. Fracking has orchestrated a lot of controversy throughout politics
In the United States, there is a controversy on how safe pipelines are for the environment and whether we should approve the construction of pipelines, such as the Keystone XL and Dakota Access. This is a problem that we are experiencing in today’s world. To fix this issue we should better educate people on the risks that are decreased by hauling crude oil through pipelines instead of hauling by rail and trucks. There are many people who feel very passionately about the construction of the pipelines, and a minute group of people who are so devoted to their beliefs that they are currently in North Dakota participating in protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, as they are fearful of what effects it will have on the environment.
The Keystone XL Pipeline fight involved large economic and political issues. Some of the major issues included: Canada’s development of its oil sand resources, U.S. energy security, the American oil refining business, oil and gasoline prices in the United States, the environmental health of Nebraska’s Sandhills region, the Ogallala Aquifer and most significantly, global climate change.
The debate regarding the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline is one that we must look at very carefully, as this proposed project not only affects the petroleum industry, but has greater far-reaching consequences that many people may not be aware of. Some of the primary concerns raised against the project are safety, effects on the climate, and the impact it will have on the economy in America and abroad.
The natural resources of Earth continue to be used more and more each year. Coal and oil are consumed with incredible speed and about 28 percent of the total energy derived from coal and oil. Earth is becoming airless balloon and the human population is rapidly growing. These natural resources are not renewable. The world needs to stop pertaining to be blind about environmental crises. We need to start working on alternative energy that will protect our environment while maintaining energy dependent society. Our lives depend on energy. Modern technologies have developed to such an extent that everything we use nowadays needs energy. In every home, we use it to light and heat our houses and own 100 or more horses (horsepower) in our garage. Our power usage is limited. We might be enjoying it now but not in the future.