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Brandon Stout

Professor Miss

UWRT 1102 001

02 Aug 2017

Clean Renewable Energy

What does one think when hearing the word clean? Waste management,

chemical safety, and maybe pollution control perhaps. These are only a few examples

on what could come to mind when thinking clean. The examples are ways of

keeping our surroundings clean, but they are also examples of keeping earth dirty.

They all take part in burning fossil fuels in order to clean, pretty contradicting

situation. Even something as simple as vacuuming or doing laundry contributes to

burning fossil fuels, due to the need of electricity to power such devices. Imagine the

amount of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) being consumed by our atmosphere every day, just

from human activity alone. There are many unclean acts humans take part in. But

out of all, the amount of CO2 being thrown into earths atmosphere tops them all.

The air is polluted and the atmosphere is infested, this results in climate change,

which is also the main contributor to the infamous global warming. If society does

not do their part in keeping a clean earth, there will be rough consequences for all

to endure, until there is no earth to clean.

A natural occurrence of earths atmosphere is known to be the greenhouse

effect, which takes place in keeping our planet warm enough in order to sustain

livability. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere, heat is then reflected back to

space, and warms the earths surface. From the surface, some heat is then radiated
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back in the atmosphere, the heat is then absorbed by greenhouse gases including

carbon dioxide (Co2). Being that the greenhouse effect is already a natural

occurrence of earth, human activity disrupts the effect. Human activity refers to the

burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. This causes more greenhouse

gases (Co2) within our atmosphere. Which under the greenhouse effects theory will

increase the earths temperature at an accelerated rate. The more human activity is

produced, the acceleration of climate change will increase. Everything humans do

attributes to burning fossil fuels, cooking, cleaning, bathing, commuting are only a

few examples. These daily activities more than doubled the Co2 in the atmosphere,

compared to its natural state. To paint a better picture, a single gallon of gas burned

puts 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (Effects of Global, Dec.2014).

Now imagine between every human everyday, how much that puts out. Lets just say

more than enough to make a quite noticeable impact on earth.

Global warming spiked its acceleration around 50 years ago. Drastic events

happening all over the world gained researchers attention as polar caps melting,

heat waves, droughts, floods, severe storms, health issues, agricultural impacts, and

more happening all around humanity. These events only took one simple action from

society, human activity. When looking in depth into these events, one will notice how

much impact they have on killing humanity. The polar caps melting along with the

tremendous amounts of rain in some regions, cause global sea levels to rise. Risen

sea levels have a huge effect on the lands natural water storage. The same water

storage for which humans obtain water from, also flooding coastal regions where

roughly half the worlds populations live (Effects of Global, Dec.2014). While regions
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will be flooded others will be droughty. Everyone knows droughts are bad, due to

living organisms needing water to survive, including plants. Which causes issues to

the agricultural community like farmers. Humans need food as well as water, and the

food needs water to live, without it humans will become sick and ill upon developing

other health issues. Even the use of dirty fuels within homes have adversely affects

on human health as well (Domestic Use, Nov.2017). Everything together results to an

unlivable world created by an uncivilized society. So, one can conclude from this

brief that if current trends as humans continue, humanity will die off before earth.

That is why society needs to come to realization for humanities future generations.

Societies over the years have become very selfish. Selfishness refers to be

uncivilized towards humanity. Society became lazy, and people do not want to work

for anything anymore. One would argue that this happened due to technology, work

smarter not harder. But while technology is there to make life easier, it has also

made life harder. Society became very dependent on matters that are not necessary

for a livable world, as well as lacking the skill and knowledge to survive. This brings

multiple issues for our generations that will inherit earth. Unless todays generation

puts humanities future into consideration, society will become lost only to digress.

So how does society move forward in transitioning to a cleaner earth? The answer is

simple, Clean Energy.

If earth is to become cleaner and greener, society must utilize clean energy.

Clean energy is also considered renewable energy, which are naturally replenished

resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, and heat (Renewable energy, wiki). These

resources are apart of the bigger solutions for earths survival, but there are also
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simple ways everyone can help as well. Society is to believe that going green is

unaffordable. Going green in everyday life actually saves money at home and work,

which our grandchildrens grandchildren will appreciate us for living sustainably

(10 Ways, April 2006). Save energy and save money, by unplugging appliances when

not being used. Wash clothes in cold water, 85% of energy used in washers goes to

heating the water. Dry out clothes on a drying rack instead of using a drying

machine. Save water to save money, by taking shorter showers. Speaking of water,

stop purchasing bottles of water. Invest in a purifying water filter and reusable water

bottle instead. This will save more money while protecting the environment. If

possible, walk or bike to work. Less gas equals fewer emissions into the air and more

money for better health (10 Ways, April 2006). All of these examples are easy and

cost efficient in transiting to a better life on earth.

Taking these steps are also the first steps among the larger solutions of clean

energy. All the savings one made during the transition can be invested into

technology designed to improving the environment. There are ranges of

technological approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Investigating,

2017). One approach that is rapidly growing through America is the production of

electric vehicles. Many industries produce electric vehicles, but one industry stands

out severely upon the rest, known as Tesla. Tesla is an industry created by a group of

visionaries with one soul purpose, to making the first initial steps towards a cleaner

greener humanity (Tesla Changes, July 2016). Tesla began their vision with the

production of electric cars that are comparable to conventional vehicles but with

zero emissions. They grew into such a power of influence to humanity to be able to
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grow into more than an automobile company. Now they are known as a corporation

dedicated to energy innovation through the use of technology and design. Not only

do their vehicles produce zero emission, but their manufacturing plants produce

zero emissions as well. Tesla influenced many to support their vision, in such that

Tesla began producing ion batteries, solar panels, and other clean energy sources to

sell to other manufacturers around the world, as well as residential areas. Even if

you didnt want a vehicle, then consider making your home powered from clean

energy by Tesla (Tesla Changes, July 2016). Tesla made a tremendous step to

globalize clean energy, which if one transitioning to green, can invest into an

industry as Tesla can gain a great vehicle while helping the world in going green.

Power plants provide society power by burning fossil fuels. Replacing the

plants with renewable energy sources is a no brainer. For example, wind turbines or

solar panels. But why do industries still resort to burning fossil fuels? The answer is

simple, affordability. The argument of affordability is always the excuse to not

transition to clean energy. Though in reality, clean energy is more than affordable.

Tesla already has proven the affordability as well as easy everyday changes society

can part take in. Not only is it affordable, but also money is being saved at the same

time. This is a well-known fact, but if it is so well known, what is holding society up?

Funding is putting society behind, which society receives funding from the

government. The U.S. government does not make global warming or the

environment a priority. In the fiscal year (FY) of 2015, half of the U.S. funding went

to military, social security, and unemployment. The U.S. funding is split into two

spendings, discretionary and mandatory spending. In FY 2015, $598.49 billion went

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to military and $1.25 trillion went to social security and unemployment (Federal

Spending). Which the Department of Energys proposed budget sets only $1 billion

for coal tech research and development. Since 2009, the agency committed over $4

billion, but roughly $5 billion in the course of 6 years, is very little compared to half

the funding (over $1 trillion) going to other places. Also, out of 6 facilities on the

funding list, 5 of them had financial issues (Clean Coal, Oct. 2016). It is safe to say

the U.S. can afford cuts in these areas, but humanity will never gain the governments

support unless they are influenced and convinced.

How is such a power like the government influenced? By another power of

influence, the people of society. When populations grow into a society working

together, they become a force that is hard to break. For earth to become greener and

cleaner, it has to start with the people of society. There were a few easy examples

mentioned earlier on how people can make everyday green and clean, this is where

it begins. From there happens a domino effect to bigger industries as Tesla, then

industries to society, society to humanity. But for the dominos to be lined up, people

need to place the first ones for society to follow. The more dominos people place, the

larger industries become, awareness will grow, influence is heightened, then the

government convinced to change priorities. This knowledge and way of life will be

passed through generations to inherit earth, where they will proceed to a greener

world, thus halting global warming. Just remember, the goal is not to live forever, but

to create something that will (Quotable Quote).

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Works Cited
Bradford, Alina. Effects of Global Warming. Live Science, 17 Dec. 2014,
www.livescience.com/37057-global-warming-effects.html

Diary, Chuck Palahniuk. Quotable Quote. Goodreads.com, www.goodreads.com/quotes/16831

Federal Spending: Where Does the Money Go. National Priorities, OMB, National Priorities Project,
www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/

Jesus, De Cecille. Tesla Changes One Word in Mission Statement and It

Already Says a Lot. Futurism.com, Earth and Energy, 15 July 2016,
www.futurism.com/tesla-changes-ont-word-in-its-mission-statement-and-it-
already-says-a-loy/

Joyce, Stephanie. Clean Coal: Fact or Fiction. Inside Energy, 11 Oct. 2016,
www.insideenergy.org/2016/10/11/clean-energy-fact-or-fiction/

Rahut, Dil Bahadur; Ali, Akhter; Behera, Bhagirath. Domestic Use of dirty Energy and its Effects on
Human Health. International Journal of Sustainable Energy, Nov 2017, vol36, issue10, article.

Renewable energy. Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy

Ross, Martin T.; Sullivan, Patrick T.; Fawcett Allen A. Depro. Investigating Technology Options for
Climate Policies. Energy Journal, 2 Oct. 2017, Spc.Issue2, vol38, article

10 Ways to go Green and Save Green. World Watch, 18 Apr. 2006,

www.worldwatch.org/resources/go_green_save_green/