preview

The United States Uses Fossil Fuels For 81 Percent Of Its

Decent Essays

The United States uses fossil fuels for 81 percent of its the total energy. It is estimated that the world will use all of the fossil fuels sometime in the next 50-100 years. Either we need to find a way of slowing down the use of fossil fuels or we need to convert to a new source of energy. Renewable energy is the most viable option because we cannot run out of renewable energy. The convergence of Las Vegas and Google are examples of why, as a country, we need to use more renewable energy. The United States is the second biggest consumer of fossil fuels and the biggest consumer of renewable energy. However, our renewable energy usage is only 19 percent of our total energy usage. We may be number one, but only have that number at 19 …show more content…

Until we have someone step on and make this decision, we are going to keep burning through our fossil fuels Las Vegas, Nevada, is the largest city in the United States to run only on renewable resources. In 2008 the city took a vote to become a cleaner city. As of December 20th, 2015 Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman state the city achieved their goal. Since the start of the project, Las Vegas has reportedly saved $5 million a year. They achieved this by using solar energy. The city putting solar panels on top of company buildings, using geothermal plants, and creating Boulder Solar 1. Boulder Solar 1 is a solar energy company located just outside the city. Goodman did what more cities need to do. Goodman spent money to get the project started. She knew the project was going to be negative to start, but once it got going to was going to be worth the investment. In many people’s eyes, it was worth it. Homeowners took a toll for a bit. Taxes went up for a couple of years. Now that the project is complete, taxes are coming back down. Home values went up on an average of $3,000 to $5,000. Homeowners are now saving $4,000 an average each year. These small amounts add up. Over a 25 year period, a homeowner will save $100,000. With homeowners having more money to spend, the economy of the city will grow. Another benefit to this project is it created more sustainable jobs in the city. Goodman’s

Get Access