Control of the World’s Energy
Dear
Beachhead,
Since the beginning of human
civilization, man has faced tyranny in many forms. Through out history the
common man has had to suffer under the rule of oppressors at the risk of life
and freedom for reasons such as religion, right of land, territorial conquest,
racial theory and most recently political beliefs. Through out time, never has
there been a tyranny with power that was capable of reaching and infecting every
corner of the planet. A tyranny that affected not only a single generation, but
that could affect every coming generation for as long as we lived on this
planet.
To many, the word “energy”
simply means the power to make things work. We know that electricity and
gasoline are two forms of energy that we need, in order to use electrical
devices in our homes, and to power most of our vehicles. The excitement of
modern technology has occupied our mind for so long, that we never stop to think
about what it really takes the United States to keep a constant supply of
energy. Hardly anyone realizes that our current atmosphere of war in the Middle
East is due entirely to our need of oil and that our current atmosphere of
global warming is due entirely on the use of coal and
oil.
In the United States, 50% of our
supply of electricity comes from coal burning power plants. To power our
automobiles nearly 100% of our supply for that energy comes from oil. The
burning of oil and coal are the top two suppliers of carbon dioxide in the
entire world. Carbon dioxide is the number one source of global warming. The
United States counts for only 4% of the world’s population, yet we alone
cause of over 25% of global warming.
Do we ever really stop to think about
these things? The truth is, the majority of our population doesn’t have
time to care about what the results may be, of having to turn on a light switch
to see in our home, or drive a car to buy food for our families. We simply grow
up in our society knowing that these things are necessary. So we continue using
and needing energy, regardless of what it takes to supply it or what the
consequence may be of using it. I recommend the documentary, An Inconvenient
Truth for easy to understand explanations about the facts of what global warming
really is, and how it will affect
us.
We may soon see the effects of what
our use of fossil fuel for energy has done to our planet. Some effects of which
may include changes to the geography of the planet that would lead to
catastrophic consequences for human civilization. At the moment, nature is only
warning us of this possible future, but each day that passes may soon take us
beyond the point of no return. The problem of global warming is the reason we
must all unite and bring an end to the need of coal and oil, if our species is
to avoid sharing the same fate as that of the dinosaurs.
Fernando Ruiz
Posted: Tue - May 1, 2007 at 06:04 AM