Other Intersting Blogs

As of late when I find myself crawling over the blogosphere I have been returning to three different blogs. Each attacks their topic with inquiry and insight, so you should check them out.

Jumping the Fence : A pro-immigrant rights blog done by an immigrant to the United States. The blog looks critically at the topic of immigration and shows how it affects economic and social factors. It is also very interesting to read something from the point of view of an immigrant.

War on Drugs : Ever wanted to understand the war on drugs better? This blog looks at the effectiveness of the war on drugs and how society is being affected. I recommend reading a few posts; you will find something that surprises you.

Crime and Punishment : The prison system is more complicated than you might think. This blog explores the arguments over punishment and rehabilitation in the prison system.

Want to Learn More?

Want to learn more about energy and the environment on your own? Here are some links that will help you:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | New Energy for America - Barack Obama’s official website devoted his views on energy. It is a good place to see what Obama says he stands for.

JohnMcCain.com - McCain-Palin 2008 - John McCain’s official website devoted to his views on energy. Great for getting a view on what McCain says.

Obama, McCain energy plans – CNN.com - CNN’s coverage on the energy plans of John McCain and Barack Obama. This site makes it easy to compare the two plans.

Energy Information Administration - EIA - Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government - This US Department of Energy page is full of every statistic you could ever wonder about energy. Not neccesarrily a casual read, but you can find some interesting information at this page.

World Coal Institute - Environmental Impacts of Coal Use - This page contains basic information to the different ways coal pollutes the environment while offering solutions to these problems. It should be noted that this is a very pro coal industry page.

Energy: Is Offshore Oil Drilling the Answer? | Newsweek Voices - Daniel Gross | Newsweek.com - A Newsweek article that interviews Shell’s president of US operations about how offshore drilling does not support the American economy.

Exxon Valdez oil spill - Encyclopedia of Earth - A large encyclopedia article about the Exxon Valdez oil spill. I recommend reading this article to better understand how oil spills do effect the environment.

Not Smart Power, but Smart Delivery

Here is an interesting idea: energy source aren’t the problem, the way energy is transferred is. Ben Jervey posted Intelligent Transmission, a blog post, about switching from conventional energy transmission techniques to new smarter more efficient methods.

Jervey’s post has some good thoughts. He states that solar and wind powers are effective ways of generating energy, they aren’t continuously running. Instead of using our current transmission system that just lets the energy flow, we should move to a system that stores and adapts to energy to help it move more efficiently. I wonder is this new systems efficiency would offset its costs to implement?

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.

Heaven let your light shine down

Well, were following Europe's lead with our financial troubles. We might as well follow them when it comes to energy. The Catholic Church is installing solar panels on some of the buildings in the Vatican City. The Pope says that he wants to promote environmentally friendly energy. The solar cells used were given to the Pope as a gift.

Even though this measure was done due to charity, it is still a step in the right direction. If the Vatican can recap the money they would spend it will send a powerful method. Lets hope the world can follow their lead.

If we dont act

If energy issues are ignored the future is quite dark. Our access to oil and natural gas reserves will be exhausted, nuclear waste will pile up ignored, and the environment will continue to become more and more polluted. With a little bit of work and though on the public bleak future will can be brightened.

If we keep doing what we are doing CO2 levels will keep rising just from people burning fossil fuels. Currently, nuclear waste is just stored in facilities on site at plants. Nuclear waste will build up and this could lead to easier nuclear proliferation. Coal burning power plants will continue to spread sulfur into the environment which creates acid rain.

We should deal with our energy issues as quickly as we can. Otherwise, we will fall down our slippery slope.

What Does It

Education and economy a key to environmental and energy issues. Lack of education keeps people from fully comprehending the environmental issues that arise from energy. At the same time this ignorance is mixed with economic issues. When these two issues combine strong polarized views are created.

Groups like the Sierra Club focus completely on the environment but lack a careful analysis of economic issues. Likewise oil interest groups look purely at economic issues. The problem with this arises when the average person doesn’t understand all the issues. Companies are easily able to pull the wool over the average mans eyes. These companies have thought manly of economy and has resulted in laws like CERCLA to combat the environmental issues companies have created. CERCLA is a legislation enacted that sets up a fund to pay for the environmental disasters companies have made.

Such divided sides can be stopped with better education. There is a happy medium between economy and environment. Do you know what makes the energy you buy? If you said a power plant your right, but there is more to it than that. People should be conscious of what energy we use. Knowing the use of petroleum accounts for 44% of energy in the US makes a difference in how we think of our energy sources. A better world can be created from a better mind.