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Abilities of Fossil Fuel

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Submitted By claude
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The Abilities of Fossil Fuels

HUM/114

25 Apr 2011

Fossil fuels provide 85% of the energy used in the United States. At the same note, fossil fuels also cause 80% of the global warming pollution in this country. Therefore, there is no doubt that the United States should seek other energy sources. I believe harnessing the unlimited power provided by the wind and the sun is our best recourse. Some people would debate that these projects would be expensive. On the other hand, I think these will be cost effective, as trying to clean up the air, sea, and land from pollutants produced by coal, oil and petroleum, is even more expensive. If we are to spend money on finding other energy sources, rather than finding oil sources in the country, we might as well invest in technology to harness wind, solar and geothermal power. Sadly, some politicians do not support this idea because of vested interests. Oil and gas companies have donated $238.7 million to candidates and parties since the 1990 election cycle. Greenpeace, an independent environmental organization, states in their website that with the current technology, renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal can provide 96% of our electricity and 98% of our total heating needs. Business companies can begin transitioning into using clean energy sources and should educate themselves about the different incentives at the local, state and federal levels. Greenpeace further stated that investing in these projects will help boost the economy by providing jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. There is an estimate that about 5 million jobs will be created in the clean energy fields (Klare, 2010). I think this by itself is an encouraging thought and even more reason to go ahead with these undertakings. The possible hindrance to thinking for this particular issue is conformity.

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