...2015 Nuclear Legacy 1.a) United States in New conducted the first nuclear test in Mexico just south of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1945 (Lower and Lower). When the Cold War broke out shortly after the United States used their bombs on Japan, Russia spent all their energy on trying to overtake the United States in the arms race. By 1961, the Russians have taken the lead. At that time, the United States were capable of advanced targeting methods for their nuclear arsenal. To compensate, the Russians chose to widen the area of their nuclear bomb’s effectivity. There is a a 50-60 megaton Soviet atomic bomb codenamed Tsar to get the culmination of this competition (Lower and Lower). 1.b) A New York Times article titled Obama’s Youth Shaped His Nuclear-Free Vision reads, to achieve the goal of global denuclearization for Mr. Obama is very crucial. (Broad and Sanger A1). He thought that it is too naive to keep developing the advanced nuclear weapons in order to stop the countries like Iran and North Krean. The most powerful man in the world having this kind of opinion is a great step towards the stoppage of production of nuclear weapons. This, however, looks like it’s the most that can be done right now with nuclear weapons. Nuclear testing sites such as Los Alamos National Laboratory fields and the Novaya Zemlya are still largely left deserted. When it comes to cleaning up of ecosystems affected by nuclear waste, it seems like Russia and the United State’s strategy is to...
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...Coal Use.") The first commercial oil well in the United States was drilled in 1859. (Yergin, 7) These two fossil fuels were the power behind the American Industrial Revolution, and wealth behind Edward Berwind and John Rockefeller(Brinkley, 435), respectively, that continue to provide power and fuel in present day society. Natural gas is another fossil fuel that helps to provide for the needs of today. Oil, coal, and gas companies tout new technologies that make their products cleaner and safer for the environment. Opponents of fossil fuels say there is no way to burn them cleanly. Proponents for fossil fuels believe there are plenty of reserves to keep America running on fossil fuels for years to come. Advocates for newer technologies, “green” technologies, such as solar power, geothermal energy, and biofuels claim that the time to move on from these fossil fuels has arrived. The new energy sources claim to be renewable so as to never run out. (E.g., the sun would have to supernova for solar power to run out.) They believe the point of “Peak Oil”- the point at which worldwide oil production begins to decline, has already passed and the country will need their new technologies to keep pace during the changing of the energy guard. There are many lenses through which to look at the use of all these energy sources. The end of the debate as to which ones are best has no end in sight. A main focus of the fossil fuel debate is how safe they are for the environment. Coal mining...
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...analyst at Tesla Motors is to evaluate the changing relationship between our environment and the energy we use ever since the company was established. Since the largest automobile company in the world was founded on the principle of decreasing the environmental impact of the automobile, I find that such an assignment must be taken seriously and with careful consideration. While searching for some ideas, I stumbled upon in my bookshelf a book entitled Taking Sides, written by Thomas Easton. This book, which was the 2009 edition, was right around the time Tesla began its prominent ascent. It touches on three key points which I feel to be most prudent even to this day – global warming, new electricity sources such as wind, and automobile standards. It is amazing that just 20 years ago there was still a virulent debate on the existence of global warming. Even after all the scientists agreed on the detrimental effects of fossil fuel consumption, some politicians and many others in the United States were still arguing otherwise. In Issue 8, Seth Schulman argued that this was due to the oil industry’s brilliant “disinformation campaign.” Modeled after the tobacco industry’s strategy to fool the public on the harmful effects of smoking, ExxonMobil employed tactics such as creating uncertainty, laundering information, hiring fake scientists to back their efforts, shifting the focus of the debate, and lobbying government officials to stir up doubts on global warming. With regards to...
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...Energy Summary SCI/362 April 25, 2011 Energy Summary This summary of Energy will review three cases, The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Yucca Mountain, and The Three Gorges Dam. It will identify each type of energy source, its relative abundance and environmental impact along with evaluating the economic and ethical issues of each energy source highlighted by these three cases. The summary will identify the interests of prominent stakeholders, and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each energy source according to each stakeholder’s point of view and present possible strategies for solving the limited-resource issues raised in these case studies with explaining the role of conservation in these strategies. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Since 1980 there has been an on and off debate regarding opening the refuge to oil drilling. The refuge is close to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, one of the world’s largest pipeline systems that begins at Prudhoe Bay and continues south to Valdez. Prudhoe Bay has produced 14 billion barrels of crude oil. In the early 1990’s, it was the first time in history that the United States would import more than half the oil it used. The interest of opening the refuge to oil drilling started again after it subsided for five years following the Alaskan oil spill. The Department of the Interior admitted that the oil drilling will harm the area’s ecosystem and therefore both the Senate and House of Representatives agreed to allow...
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...In 1880 it was used as a way to enhance production to reactivate oil and gas. In the 1980’s experiments were performed in Texas in a large shale deposit called “Barnett Shale”. Today Hydrofracking is performed on shale deposits to remove fossil fuels. Even though hydro fracking has been around since 1860 the technique to get natural gas from shale is actually a new technology. There is much debate on whether hydrofracking is good or bad for the environment. Hydrofracking is the process of using fluids and water that is pumped at an extremely high pressure to crack or fracture the shale to get to the fossil fuel deposits inside of it. To get to the shale, companies have to drill deep into it before they can use the water to fracture it....
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...Nuclear Energy Research Paper Global warming is a major issue in today’s world that affects many people, animals, economies, and society as a whole. What is global warming? Global warming is the rising average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. It’s been constantly rising over the past 100 years because of major contributions which include: greenhouse gases (especially CO2) being emitted, industrialization, burning of fossil fuels, and the increase in population. Global warming was first discovered in 1896 by a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius who proposed an idea that there is a relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature. He later then described, by comparing carbon dioxide levels, infrared absorption, surface temperature of the earth, and human activity, that global warming would rise. Other scientists didn’t believe this idea stating that natural forces would cancel out human activity that releases carbon dioxide. It wasn’t until 1988 that it was finally acknowledged that global warming is present because of how much warmer it was than the 1800s. Since then, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was founded which looks at scientific, technical, and socio-economic information that relates to human induced climate change and figures out plans and ideas to decrease and slow down the rate at which the climate is getting hotter. However, there are still disagreements to this day whether or...
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...Si Peng Professor Sellmer English 123 6 Aug. 2010 Offshore Drilling: A Bad Idea Crude oil is one of the three kinds of fossil fuel (coal, crude oil, and natural gas) that are widely used by humanity. It plays a very important role in our world, as it is one of our primary energy sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States is the biggest oil consumption country in the world, which consumes 19.5 million barrels of oil per day (EIA, “Country Energy Profiles: Oil Consumption”). Crude oil can not only be found on the continent, but also in the ocean. The activity that people discover and extract oil from the ocean is called offshore drilling. Offshore drilling has a long history in the United States. The first offshore well was drilled in 1896, in California (“History of Offshore Oil” 163). Oil soon became the primary energy source of the United States by 1910, as the internal combustion engine, which requires gasoline to power, was invented (“History of Offshore Oil” 163). In the next few decades, offshore drilling industry in the U.S. was going up quickly (“History of Offshore Oil” 163-64). Along with the development of the industry, the government regulation came up. To pursue offshore drilling in the U.S. OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) lands, oil companies need to acquire the lease from the U.S. federal government (“History of Offshore Oil” 164). The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) passed in 1953 ensured federal government’s...
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...some crops to make biofuels also drives the cost of food up. High crude oil prices have fueled interest in finding alternative energy sources and reducing dependency on import oil supplies. The emergence of biofuels has given rise to an alternative market for a number of agriculture commodities. Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust over hundreds of millions of years. The burning of these fossil fuels is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide which is one of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Biofuels are transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel that are made from biomass materials. The fuels are usually blended with petroleum fuels, but can also be used alone. Using ethanol or biodiesel means we don’t burn quite as much fossil fuel. Biofuels are usually more expensive, but they are cleaner burning fuels that produce few air pollutants. Ethanol is an alcohol fuel made from sugars found in grains such as corn, sorghum or barley. Other sources are potato skins, rice, sugar cane, sugar beets, yards clippings, bark and switch-grass. Most ethanol uses in the United States is distilled from corn. Ethanol is a major type...
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...Edison Electric Illuminating Co., was the first large electric company to supply power to thousands of businesses and homes. By the end of the 19th century, more than 3,600 electric utilities had sprung up across the United States. Some were privately owned, while others were publicly funded and built. The growth of the automobile industry in the early 20th century created a demand for oil, and in 1916, the U.S. government began...
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...Energy Needs in the United States Michelle Mix HUM 114 Dr. Eric R Jackson April 9, 2013 Energy Needs in the United States There is always much debate over the energy crisis that the United States faces. I find the quote from Mary Bono, a former U.S. Representative for California's 45th congressional district, to be the key to how the US should deal with the problem. She states: “With gas prices nationally, and especially in our area, increasingly on the rise, it is more crucial [than] ever that we take steps to diversify our energy sources and reduce our dependency on foreign oil”. Utilizing the resources that are available in the United States would help the US become independent and bring our debt down. Deciding whether to drill or not to drill in the United States versus importing fuel is very debatable. People argue that drilling for oil in the U.S. is a way to create economic and political independence. The people who are opposed to drilling for oil in the U.S. are saying that doing so will hurt the environment. The United States should ease limits on natural gas exploration and clear a backlog of 5,000 drilling permit applications to lower fuel prices, industry leaders said. The United States has gas supplies that might last 177 years "if the restrictions can be lifted," James Hackett, chief executive of gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp., said at the National Press Club in Washington. Speeding approvals for drilling on federal lands and building liquefied...
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...As the world continues to evolve, explore, industrialize and spread to all corners of the green earth, humans are consuming and impacting the natural cycle of nature. From greenhouse gases like CO2 to material waste and contamination, humans have an impact anywhere they live. In this modern age, that’s nearly everywhere. We have all heard of the Global warming debate, being a layman does not help to decipher the rhetoric from the hard facts (known or not). According to the EPA’s “Climate Change Risks and State Adaptation” web-page, climate change is steadily affecting water, energy, ecosystems, agriculture and your health and transportation. (United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.). It is up to each state to save itself the best way it sees fit in anticipation of the inevitable increase in heat waves, flash floods, heavy rains and the rising sea level. Everything from an energy curfew, cap and trade, incentives for running a low GHG business and having funding to research more efficient ways to do business and have a lesser impact. On the other side of the debate you have scientists that say global warming is a natural part of the evolutionary cycle of nature, or that it is not occurring at all. In the 60s and 70s some scientists insisted that global cooling was happening (it reminds me of the twilight zone episode from 1961, “The Midnight Sun”). Most recently you have the co-founder of the Weather Channel John Coleman come out on a national news network and say...
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...Coal: Good Energy Source or Major Pollutant? According to Wikipedia, “Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layer or veins called coal beds or coal seams. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, with smaller quantities of sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen.” As humankind discovered coal and its ability to be used as an energy source thousands of years ago, man began harvesting coal and using it as a natural resource. While the demand for coal and useable energy rose, humankind had to find faster, more efficient ways to dig for coal. Strip mining, mountain bombing, and mountaintop removal began to arise as the predominant ways of retrieving coal during the 1950’s and remain as the predominant ways of retrieving coal to this day. The common issues that most activists focus on surrounding coal and its removal are the stripping of the land the coal came from and the waste removal process of the “unusable” remains from the mining process. The stripping of the land causes a change in the ecological system surrounding the coal mining location. From the effects that coal mining has on the local animals in the area to the rock and sediment the mining removes, ecological debates surround the coal mining process. In addition, as the “unusable” remains from the mining process are dumped into local streams and creeks, the natural drinking water becomes contaminated...
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...other leaders announced on Nov. 15 what had already become evident — that no formal treaty could be produced anytime soon. Instead, the leaders pledged to reach a placeholder accord that would call for reductions in emissions and increased aid to help developing nations adapt to a changing climate and get access to non-polluting energy options. This would in theory give the nations more time to work out the all-important details. Negotiators would then seek a binding global agreement in 2010, complete with firm emission targets, enforcement mechanisms and specific dollar amounts to aid poorer nations. At the heart of the debate is a momentous tussle between rich and poor countries over who steps up first and who pays most for changed energy menus. Read More... Within the United States, Congress is similarly fighting over legislation on climate change. The House in the summer of 2009 passed a bill outlining a cap-and-trade system that could, over the next few decades, lead to an early end to conventional use of coal and oil, fuels that have underpinned prosperity and growth for more than a century. But between stiff opposition from energy interests and the overwhelming...
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...law firm in Chicago. On October 3, 1992, he and Michelle were married. They moved to Kenwood, on Chicago's South Side, and welcomed two daughters: Malia born 1998 and Sasha born 2001. In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He was locked in a tight battle with former first lady and then, U.S. Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton. On June 3, 2008, however, Obama became the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party, and Senator Clinton delivered her full support to Obama for the duration of his campaign. On November 4th, 2008, Barack Obama defeated Republican presidential nominee John McCain as the President of the United States. On January 20, 2009, Obama became the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American to hold this office. In the 1970’s, when Obama was a child, The...
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...To Drill or Not to Drill Aloma Chase HUM/111 03/10/2013 Jennifer Beaman To Drill or Not to Drill Alaska drilling in the ANWR refuge is a controversial debate because of the issues which are associated with destroying the wilderness. The ANWR is located in the “North Slope area of Alaska and eight million acres of this selected segment of the landscape is in the National Wilderness Preservation System, which is intended to protect pristine and untouched land areas” (Burley, 2010, p.1). Drilling for oil in the ANWR will destroy the environment; endanger the caribou herds, birds, and other wildlife. However, the opposing viewpoints contend that it would provide jobs, help with our oil supply, and not destroy the land. Examining other alternatives for energy shortages in the United States would prevent the destruction of the ANWR and other protected habitats. Renewable sources of energy like solar energy, and wind power would not affect the environment or cause pollution. The dependence on oil and other fossil fuels needs to be curtailed, so, the Alaska Refuge is not destroyed. Additionally, “each year oil operations on Alaska’s North Slope emit more than 70,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, which contribute to smog and acid rain” (National Resource Defense Council, 2010, p.1). Toxic oil spills kill the plants and vegetation, air pollution caused from drilling and emissions affects the air quality, and hazardous waste contaminates the water supplies. The drilling on...
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