Energy Policy In the US
Abstract
Energy policy is not just a problem for the US, but also it is global problem. If we look at the U.S past, we can view how they have been developing in the last few years. However, the U.S. has a huge population, which means they need a lot of energy resource, in order to cover their daily demand. So, I think the US should do three things to solve their energy problem. First, nonrenewable energy, an example of this kind of energy is oil and coal. The US should try to develop themselves, and cover their needs of energy. Second, renewable energy, for example, solar, wind, nuclear power, and hydro eclectic energy. Those forms of energy could help the US to decrease their demand on nonrenewable energy. Finally, if the US improved their education by changing their school system, they might be able to have better technology. So, if the US works hard enough they might be able to solve any future energy problems before they happen.
There are many reasons which make me think that the problem between the US and China is more about globalization, which could be dangerous, or that globalization is not a good idea. The problem is between the US and China. According to L. Tyson (2005), CNOOC Ltd. was trying to buy Unocal Corp. CNOOC Ltd. is one of the largest oil companies, and mostly owned by the government of China (around 70%). And, they made an offer to buy Unocal, which was for $18.5 billion. Moreover, looking at China’s history, we can see that China is smarter than the United States in the way they handle each other. It is also hard to break down this deal, because China already overpaid in their second offer. By trying to stop this deal, the United States warned the world and showed them how dangerous it could be. Also, we could infer that the United States could not wait to see China’s economy rise (Zakaria, 2005). Basically, the US does not care about Unocal; they are more worried about China, which could cause a threat to the national security of the US. The US won’t suffer much damage, if they end the deal. Nevertheless, that might slow China’s economy, which is now open; also it could cause economic and political problems for the US. However, the US should not be worried about China; they should be worried more about energy policies. I am going to write about three things that should be done about the energy policy in the US. First, oil and coal are the largest suppliers of energy now and these kinds of resources, which are non-renewable energy, can vanish in the future. I believe this kind of energy can greatly affect the environment. For example, global warming has increased over the past millennium and it is a big problem. Second, solar, wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric power should be used more often in the US, because it is renewable energy and could not vanish. Finally, the US needs new technologies to solve the problem, which is finding ways to get an energy supply. And that will happen, if more boys and girls enter physical, science, and engineering schools. However, a lot of people migrate to the US, which is bad for the US in some ways, and so the US should develop its school system and try to decrease the number of immigrants.
First of all, in view of the increasing US population and its demand for energy, the US should try to develop its energy supply in the future. The nonrenewable fuels are just a temporarily solution that cause many problems. So, the facts, which is finding a way so billions can live, or the US is going to face many problems. I mean that oil consumption is rising now but it would go down in the next few years, then, for coal curve, which is rising. Finally, gas curve, which is rising as well, and it would keep rising for the next few years, but later it will fall down. That is because, they might use other sources of energy like renewable energy. “ Coal is the most abundant conventional fossil fuel worldwide. Identified world reserves of coal should last about 220 years at current usage rate” (Miller, Jr, 1994). That means, the coal curve is going to fall down in the future, because they will be no more coal in the world. For example, according to Financial Times Information (2005, par.12), the world population today is six billion and it continues to grow at the rate of 90 million every year. That means, the curve of this energy might fall down because of over consumption, in other words using too much energy. For example, when you use a car, you do not get back the energy, you lose the energy.
By using a kind of energy which is nonrenewable, we will face many problems. First, the temperature will be rising, which will caus the weather to change. Second, there is more carbon dioxide; I think if we burn all the coal, we are going to get a lot of energy, but we will face depletion in the ozone layer. Finally, global population has quadrupled and energy consumption has increased. So, this is why the U.S. should shift away from nonrenewable energy, and we can avoid these problems by using renewable energy. Moreover, if the US government makes some laws, they can decrease the present use of nonrenewable energy. For example, we should increase the taxes of the gas so they can save some energy, or decrease the number of SUVs, which consume a lot of energy. Moreover, the U.S. could start saving energy and money in building, for instance, super insulating houses, adding insulation, using most energy efficient devices, and setting higher standards.
However, if we take a look at the percentage of how many SUVs there are in the U.S. we will see a huge number. Moreover, when the gas prices went up, “ Maybe then we will all wake up to the idea that declining supply of resources requires us to take a very different attitude” (Toronto Star Newspapers, 2005, par. 3). Therefore, before the price of gas went up “nearly 90 percent of shoppers in the market to buy or lease a new vehicle do not believe that SUV drivers should be described as patriotic” (PR Newswire Association LLC, 2005, par. 1). After that, “ the number of vehicle shoppers considering an SUV has fallen to 34 percent” (PR Newswire Association LLC, 2005, par, 2). As I see it is fast food, larger cars such as SUVs, poor public health and poor perception of the United States by many peoples of the world are all interrelated. So, kind of begins with junk food which is inexpensive, poor in quality and makes Americans obese. Obese people don't fit in small cars, so they demand larger cars such as SUV’s to move around. However, small SUVs could cause a lot of problems, for example, SUV has much greater impact on the environmental than driving other passenger cars. We might wish people who do not need SUV won’t buy them, but people will buy whatever they want.
Solar, wind, nuclear power, and hydro-eclectic should be used the most in the US. Nuclear power has low cost and creates a less polluted environment than oil. I think developing nuclear power is a good thing for the US since it will provide enough energy for the future. However, the U.S. is also looking into hydroelectric power, which means the US will have enough energy to cover their daily supplies of energy. If nuclear power is combined with hydro-electric and each one of these powers have advantages, this will help the US to grow their economy. The US could develop rapidly if they want but it would take a lot of energy to do that. Then, if we use the energy in a good way, we will be able to save the environment. For example, when the US uses nuclear power to kill people or stores it in the wrong place, then what will happen to the environment? We hope they are using it for civilian purposes.
However, some of the primary energy sources are alternatives to oil. For example, there is conservation, hydroelectric, wind, wave, and tide but these sources are not enough. Moreover, solar electricity does not pollute the environment. Also, solar energy could help the environment problem, because it produces less air pollution and costs less. Therefore, it can be used to heat and cool houses, to power vehicles, and to help run factories. For chemical energy sources there is natural gas, and clean coal; the similarity between natural gas and clean coal is that both of them are available but the problem with both of them is how much they cost. For nuclear, there are nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, geothermal, solar terrestrial, solar power satellites, and lunar solar power. For nuclear fission, radioactive waste is the only problem; for the nuclear fusion the only problem is that it’s too complicated and the costly, and for the rest of the other nuclear is how much (Miller, Jr, 1994). So, importing less oil and spending more money on research for other energy sources is what the US should do to solve the energy problem.
“At a presidential summit in 1997, Chinese and American leaders sinned the energy and environment cooperation initiative, agreeing to work together on energy and environmental research and trade issues” (Kearney, 1999). As we know the US is in first place in energy consumption in the world and China is second. As a result, both governments decided to change the way each country produces and consumes energy. So, we are now in 2005 and the U.S. and China signed this agreement in 1999. I think both countries did not accomplish anything yet, but they still have problems. This problem is Unocal Corp, and that CNOOC Ltd. is trying to buy Unocal corp. (Tyson, 2005). Consequently, it is easy to talk the talk but it is hard to walk the walk. I mean the US was planning to change the way it produces and consumes a long time ago and they did not.
Finally, the U.S. needs to adopt new technologies to solve their energy problems. Therefore, to get the technology the US must change their school system. And, it needs education, which depends on whether the person wants to study or not, because the U.S. needs more educated people than before in order to solve its energy problem. However, the big problem is how we can let our children know what they want to study and what is better for them. If we help teachers and administrators become more productive and make their job tasks more controllable, they might help students to become better and more efficient learners. Moreover, we could help the students to prepare with the essential technology and higher-order thinking for their future (Valdez, n.d.a). Then the US might establish general directions to guide the next generation. Through desirable future and take advantage of opportunities the future will afford if we look at time (Valdez, n.d.b). However, if we start working hard we might decrease the rate of students who dropout of school. Because, since 1990 “ drop out rates have actually increased since 1990, rising to 30 percent of all 17-year-olds” (Peterson, 2005). Therefore, it is a responsibility for everyone to solve this problem in order to develop better technology to solve the energy problems in the US.
In conclusion, the US should try to develop its energy supply in the future. Using less non-renewable energy, using more renewable energy, and improving technology are great things that should be done about energy policy. Also, that will help their economy to grow. However, if the US starts working harder from now on they might be able to decrease their demand of energy in the future and increase the economy of the country. Moreover, the US could be able to get more energy research, and resolve any energy problem before such problem accurse.
*References:
Financial Times Information. (2005, Jun 19). Renewable and non-renewable resources. Retrieved Sept. 16, 2005 from LexisNexis.
Kearney, W. (1999, Dec 8). Collaboration between U.S and China on Energy R&D should be pursued vigorously. Retrieved Sept 26, 2005 from The National Academy of Engineering.
Miller JR, G.T. (1994) Environment: problems and solutions. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth publishing.
Peterson, P. (2005, Sept.27). Guest Column: American high schools hiding high dropout rates. Daily Egyptian, 7.
PR Newswire Association LLC. (2005, June 27). Purchasing an SUV not seen as patriotic. Retrieved Sept.21, 2005 from LexisNexis.
Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. (2005, April 13). High gas prices may be wake-up call we need. Retrieved Sept.16, 2005 from LexisNexis.
Tyson, L. (2005, Aug 15). What CNOOC leaves behind. Business Week, 101. Retrieved Aug 25, 2005 from Ebsco: Academic Search Premier database.
Valdez, G. (n.d.a). Forming a technology implementation planning committee. North Central Regional Education Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/tandl/plan4.htm on Sept. 21, 2005.
Valdez, G. (n.d.b). Establishing general direction. North Central Regional Education Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/tandl/direct1.htm on Sept. 21, 2005.
Zakaria, F. (2005, Aug 15). Mishandling the China challenge. Newsweek 7. Retrieved Aug 25, 2005 from Ebsco: Academic Search Premier database.
Energy policy is not just a problem for the US, but also it is global problem. If we look at the U.S past, we can view how they have been developing in the last few years. However, the U.S. has a huge population, which means they need a lot of energy resource, in order to cover their daily demand. So, I think the US should do three things to solve their energy problem. First, nonrenewable energy, an example of this kind of energy is oil and coal. The US should try to develop themselves, and cover their needs of energy. Second, renewable energy, for example, solar, wind, nuclear power, and hydro eclectic energy. Those forms of energy could help the US to decrease their demand on nonrenewable energy. Finally, if the US improved their education by changing their school system, they might be able to have better technology. So, if the US works hard enough they might be able to solve any future energy problems before they happen.
There are many reasons which make me think that the problem between the US and China is more about globalization, which could be dangerous, or that globalization is not a good idea. The problem is between the US and China. According to L. Tyson (2005), CNOOC Ltd. was trying to buy Unocal Corp. CNOOC Ltd. is one of the largest oil companies, and mostly owned by the government of China (around 70%). And, they made an offer to buy Unocal, which was for $18.5 billion. Moreover, looking at China’s history, we can see that China is smarter than the United States in the way they handle each other. It is also hard to break down this deal, because China already overpaid in their second offer. By trying to stop this deal, the United States warned the world and showed them how dangerous it could be. Also, we could infer that the United States could not wait to see China’s economy rise (Zakaria, 2005). Basically, the US does not care about Unocal; they are more worried about China, which could cause a threat to the national security of the US. The US won’t suffer much damage, if they end the deal. Nevertheless, that might slow China’s economy, which is now open; also it could cause economic and political problems for the US. However, the US should not be worried about China; they should be worried more about energy policies. I am going to write about three things that should be done about the energy policy in the US. First, oil and coal are the largest suppliers of energy now and these kinds of resources, which are non-renewable energy, can vanish in the future. I believe this kind of energy can greatly affect the environment. For example, global warming has increased over the past millennium and it is a big problem. Second, solar, wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric power should be used more often in the US, because it is renewable energy and could not vanish. Finally, the US needs new technologies to solve the problem, which is finding ways to get an energy supply. And that will happen, if more boys and girls enter physical, science, and engineering schools. However, a lot of people migrate to the US, which is bad for the US in some ways, and so the US should develop its school system and try to decrease the number of immigrants.
First of all, in view of the increasing US population and its demand for energy, the US should try to develop its energy supply in the future. The nonrenewable fuels are just a temporarily solution that cause many problems. So, the facts, which is finding a way so billions can live, or the US is going to face many problems. I mean that oil consumption is rising now but it would go down in the next few years, then, for coal curve, which is rising. Finally, gas curve, which is rising as well, and it would keep rising for the next few years, but later it will fall down. That is because, they might use other sources of energy like renewable energy. “ Coal is the most abundant conventional fossil fuel worldwide. Identified world reserves of coal should last about 220 years at current usage rate” (Miller, Jr, 1994). That means, the coal curve is going to fall down in the future, because they will be no more coal in the world. For example, according to Financial Times Information (2005, par.12), the world population today is six billion and it continues to grow at the rate of 90 million every year. That means, the curve of this energy might fall down because of over consumption, in other words using too much energy. For example, when you use a car, you do not get back the energy, you lose the energy.
By using a kind of energy which is nonrenewable, we will face many problems. First, the temperature will be rising, which will caus the weather to change. Second, there is more carbon dioxide; I think if we burn all the coal, we are going to get a lot of energy, but we will face depletion in the ozone layer. Finally, global population has quadrupled and energy consumption has increased. So, this is why the U.S. should shift away from nonrenewable energy, and we can avoid these problems by using renewable energy. Moreover, if the US government makes some laws, they can decrease the present use of nonrenewable energy. For example, we should increase the taxes of the gas so they can save some energy, or decrease the number of SUVs, which consume a lot of energy. Moreover, the U.S. could start saving energy and money in building, for instance, super insulating houses, adding insulation, using most energy efficient devices, and setting higher standards.
However, if we take a look at the percentage of how many SUVs there are in the U.S. we will see a huge number. Moreover, when the gas prices went up, “ Maybe then we will all wake up to the idea that declining supply of resources requires us to take a very different attitude” (Toronto Star Newspapers, 2005, par. 3). Therefore, before the price of gas went up “nearly 90 percent of shoppers in the market to buy or lease a new vehicle do not believe that SUV drivers should be described as patriotic” (PR Newswire Association LLC, 2005, par. 1). After that, “ the number of vehicle shoppers considering an SUV has fallen to 34 percent” (PR Newswire Association LLC, 2005, par, 2). As I see it is fast food, larger cars such as SUVs, poor public health and poor perception of the United States by many peoples of the world are all interrelated. So, kind of begins with junk food which is inexpensive, poor in quality and makes Americans obese. Obese people don't fit in small cars, so they demand larger cars such as SUV’s to move around. However, small SUVs could cause a lot of problems, for example, SUV has much greater impact on the environmental than driving other passenger cars. We might wish people who do not need SUV won’t buy them, but people will buy whatever they want.
Solar, wind, nuclear power, and hydro-eclectic should be used the most in the US. Nuclear power has low cost and creates a less polluted environment than oil. I think developing nuclear power is a good thing for the US since it will provide enough energy for the future. However, the U.S. is also looking into hydroelectric power, which means the US will have enough energy to cover their daily supplies of energy. If nuclear power is combined with hydro-electric and each one of these powers have advantages, this will help the US to grow their economy. The US could develop rapidly if they want but it would take a lot of energy to do that. Then, if we use the energy in a good way, we will be able to save the environment. For example, when the US uses nuclear power to kill people or stores it in the wrong place, then what will happen to the environment? We hope they are using it for civilian purposes.
However, some of the primary energy sources are alternatives to oil. For example, there is conservation, hydroelectric, wind, wave, and tide but these sources are not enough. Moreover, solar electricity does not pollute the environment. Also, solar energy could help the environment problem, because it produces less air pollution and costs less. Therefore, it can be used to heat and cool houses, to power vehicles, and to help run factories. For chemical energy sources there is natural gas, and clean coal; the similarity between natural gas and clean coal is that both of them are available but the problem with both of them is how much they cost. For nuclear, there are nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, geothermal, solar terrestrial, solar power satellites, and lunar solar power. For nuclear fission, radioactive waste is the only problem; for the nuclear fusion the only problem is that it’s too complicated and the costly, and for the rest of the other nuclear is how much (Miller, Jr, 1994). So, importing less oil and spending more money on research for other energy sources is what the US should do to solve the energy problem.
“At a presidential summit in 1997, Chinese and American leaders sinned the energy and environment cooperation initiative, agreeing to work together on energy and environmental research and trade issues” (Kearney, 1999). As we know the US is in first place in energy consumption in the world and China is second. As a result, both governments decided to change the way each country produces and consumes energy. So, we are now in 2005 and the U.S. and China signed this agreement in 1999. I think both countries did not accomplish anything yet, but they still have problems. This problem is Unocal Corp, and that CNOOC Ltd. is trying to buy Unocal corp. (Tyson, 2005). Consequently, it is easy to talk the talk but it is hard to walk the walk. I mean the US was planning to change the way it produces and consumes a long time ago and they did not.
Finally, the U.S. needs to adopt new technologies to solve their energy problems. Therefore, to get the technology the US must change their school system. And, it needs education, which depends on whether the person wants to study or not, because the U.S. needs more educated people than before in order to solve its energy problem. However, the big problem is how we can let our children know what they want to study and what is better for them. If we help teachers and administrators become more productive and make their job tasks more controllable, they might help students to become better and more efficient learners. Moreover, we could help the students to prepare with the essential technology and higher-order thinking for their future (Valdez, n.d.a). Then the US might establish general directions to guide the next generation. Through desirable future and take advantage of opportunities the future will afford if we look at time (Valdez, n.d.b). However, if we start working hard we might decrease the rate of students who dropout of school. Because, since 1990 “ drop out rates have actually increased since 1990, rising to 30 percent of all 17-year-olds” (Peterson, 2005). Therefore, it is a responsibility for everyone to solve this problem in order to develop better technology to solve the energy problems in the US.
In conclusion, the US should try to develop its energy supply in the future. Using less non-renewable energy, using more renewable energy, and improving technology are great things that should be done about energy policy. Also, that will help their economy to grow. However, if the US starts working harder from now on they might be able to decrease their demand of energy in the future and increase the economy of the country. Moreover, the US could be able to get more energy research, and resolve any energy problem before such problem accurse.
*References:
Financial Times Information. (2005, Jun 19). Renewable and non-renewable resources. Retrieved Sept. 16, 2005 from LexisNexis.
Kearney, W. (1999, Dec 8). Collaboration between U.S and China on Energy R&D should be pursued vigorously. Retrieved Sept 26, 2005 from The National Academy of Engineering.
Miller JR, G.T. (1994) Environment: problems and solutions. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth publishing.
Peterson, P. (2005, Sept.27). Guest Column: American high schools hiding high dropout rates. Daily Egyptian, 7.
PR Newswire Association LLC. (2005, June 27). Purchasing an SUV not seen as patriotic. Retrieved Sept.21, 2005 from LexisNexis.
Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. (2005, April 13). High gas prices may be wake-up call we need. Retrieved Sept.16, 2005 from LexisNexis.
Tyson, L. (2005, Aug 15). What CNOOC leaves behind. Business Week, 101. Retrieved Aug 25, 2005 from Ebsco: Academic Search Premier database.
Valdez, G. (n.d.a). Forming a technology implementation planning committee. North Central Regional Education Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/tandl/plan4.htm on Sept. 21, 2005.
Valdez, G. (n.d.b). Establishing general direction. North Central Regional Education Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/tandl/direct1.htm on Sept. 21, 2005.
Zakaria, F. (2005, Aug 15). Mishandling the China challenge. Newsweek 7. Retrieved Aug 25, 2005 from Ebsco: Academic Search Premier database.
