The More You Know

Over the time since I have started writing this blog the way I think has changed. My view of how blogs are used and what their purpose is has been altered. Also, I can more clearly see and understand energy issues and the response to these issues our presidential candidates are making.

At first I thought of blogs as a stupid creation. I imagined all of them to be the diary of a depressed sixteen year old girl. I was wrong. I didn’t respect blogs before for the reason I like them now: anything can be posted on a blog. This means when the news partially reports on a subject a person can still look into it and inform everyone else. There is only so far the media can go before they worry about offending people, but a blog can push that limit to the point of truth.

I began this blog with the knowledge I had from an environmental science class I took two years ago. I could tell you about how polution from coal plants is effecting the environment with sulfur emissions and other compounds. Also, I could tell you roughly about the Yucca Mountain site where we are planning to stick all of our excess nuclear waste that should have already been cleaned up. I even knew of other nuclear power related accidents, such as Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. Both nuclear events involve a catastrophe that was involved with human error that could have been solved with a larger budget. I had a rough idea of my own value concerning energy and how it affects the world around me, but I decided I wanted to learn more.

I have learned of ecological disasters like the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. This oil tanker run aground has made me believe that our energy markets should be more regulated to help the safety of our environment. Also, the Exxon Valdez event and other oil spills from hurricane Katrina have shown me how ecology can be partially ignored by the government in times of crisis.

My thoughts about the presidential candidates have changed also. I assumed that Obama would go green and McCain wouldn’t really care about clean energy, but I was wrong. McCain does want to develop cleaner coal power plants. Obama does have an energy plan that is more dependent on creating more environmentally friendly energy sources. I loved to learn that both candidates wanted to lower the United States dependence on oil, specifically foreign oil. I still do not like how McCain is supporting off shore oil drilling. I believed that this is a problematic process and that it is still a problematic process.

The more I have put thought into the entire subject I like both candidates stances for different reasons. I liked McCain support of developing more nuclear power, but McCain still is holding onto coal power to much. I think it is a close decision and I will endorse Obama to win because of his anti-drilling policies. Obama seems to be committed to cleaner power that doesn’t hurt the environment as much. I can now comprehend these energy issues better and help other with them.