Conrad Mcmurry

In today’s society, the topic of energy has garnered an enormous amount of conflict and debate. It seems that everyone who’s of the age to drive a vehicle has an opinion on the matter, whether the argument is about high gas prices or why 48% of the United States’ oil is dependent on foreign countries (energy.gov). The most heated debate within the energy subject, however, is how we can reduce our carbon footprint. To a large amount of people, renewable energies, mainly wind and solar, seem to be the answer to the carbon footprint problem. While fossil fuels emit substantial amounts of carbon based emissions into the atmosphere, wind and solar power are seen as “clean” energies that can drastically lower pollution levels. The idea of renewable energies has good intentions to it, as most of today’s society thinks that they are very beneficial for the overall health of our environment; however, energies such as wind and solar can actually cause more environmental damage than most of us think. As a student at Western State College, my current area of focus is Professional Land and Resource Management. In these courses, experts from all across the spectrum of the energy industry have come to share their viewpoints and expertise on everything involving energy. From oil and gas, to geothermal and biomass fuel, the areas discussed are widespread. One thing that has caught my attention is the fact that a lot of this information is not widely recognized by the general public. Before I started attending the college, I got most of my information from media outlets such as television and newspapers. One thing that was rarely discussed through these outlets, however, was the science and facts that go on behind the scenes of the energy industry. The news would show a new wind farm being built in California, and how it was the next step towards establishing