Our Current Actions

There has been a growing awareness of the issue of climate change in the media lately, which has brought more attention to the issue. However, there are still many individuals who do not believe that climate change is valid and are skeptical of imposing changes that may require spending money or inconveniencing them. Although there is not a united viewpoint about this problem, it is beneficial to examine the current actions that the United States is taking in order to halt harming the environement.

 

Initiatives can be separated into two different types. The first is department and legislative actions, which includes reforms and policies enacted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and other government actions. The second are public movements that have gained traction through both social media and local community interactions, in a much smaller but individualized manner.

 

The work being done to halt climate change is largely being taken on through the United States Environmental Protection Agency. An important piece of the Environmental Protection Agencies work has been to continuously monitor emissions data in order to determine if the amount of pollutants is increasing, stagnant, or decreasing in certain areas. This allows them to analyze weather imposed regulations and actions have been successful in implemented areas, as well as locate places of extreme pollutant emission. This data also aids in informing the public of the general trend of the greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Additionally, this department has spearheaded reforms in order to take an active role in decreasing emissions responsible for climate change. They have established vehicle greenhouse gas rules, which require vehicle producers to meet a certain standard of environmental cleanliness in their vehicle engines. This is not only estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six billion metric tons by 2025, but also save drivers a total of $1.7 trillion in gas costs due to improved efficiency. In addition to this, one of the largest and most effective initiatives has been the Environmental Protection Agencies execution of the President’s Clean Power Plan. The plan targets multiple facets of the climate change issue in order to emphasize clean energy and stray away from producing harmful emissions. The main points of the plan aim to decrease the carbon emission from power plants and is estimated to reduce the total carbon dioxide emission by 32% by 2030. The other primary point of the plan is to expand the clean energy economy by emphasizing renewable resources such as solar, wind, and tidal energy. In order to do this, the government has not only provided incentive to companies for utilizing renewable resources, but have also made it more more easily accessible to the private sector. The plan is estimated to increase clean energy production by 30% by 2030. Other major points of the President’s Clean Power Plan include building a clean energy infrastructure, cutting energy wastes, and reducing additional greenhouse gas emission.

 

In a very different manner than policy and government intervention, many current initiatives to prevent climate change have been created through the use of technology. Television ads and campaigns provide effective means of conveying information about the prevalent issue of climate change and help to spread awareness. Additionally, social media has created a platform for individuals to express their opinions and ideas on the topic, as well as encourage others to take action.

 

Many local communities also help to promote prevent climate change by providing accessible means for individuals to partake in climate friendly actions. One such example is the Penn State’s Mobius initiative, which promotes recycling around campus by providing multiple recycling bins for various waste. Local communities who make being environmentally clean more accessible, naturally have a greater prevalence of individuals who use clean practices.

 

Even though much is currently being done in order to curb the expanse of climate change, there is still much more that could be done. Many individuals have little knowledge of the harm that their fossil fuels have on the environment and take no part in seeking cleaner forms of energy. Reforms and initiatives look promising, however we are still a long ways away from reaching a significant level of energy obtained through clean manners. Fixing the issue of climate change is a matter of getting everyone involved, a task that is getting increasingly difficult as people become more accustomed to the instantaneous lifestyle of the modern world.

 

 

 

 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/climate-change

https://www.usaid.gov/climate

https://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan

3 thoughts on “Our Current Actions

  1. Brandon Corey Sullivan

    To be quite honest, our current actions are lackluster. We need to step up our game. It’s great to know that there are steps currently being taken to taking this fight to our doorsteps before it’s too late. The EPA, while trying, has always been under some fire for their lack of effectiveness and that argument seems well maintained when we look at crises like the Flint water crisis. Such things should be completely avoidable by now but somehow it slipped between the cracks and Flint hasn’t had clean water in over a year. The scary fact remains that it could happen to any community around the nation and the world. Hopefully, more organizations like the EPA step up their game with help from local non-government organizations. This is a problem we can’t fix without the assistance of countless communities and organizations. I had briefly heard about the greenhouse vehicle gas laws but never looked into them. They seem a step in the right direction and I hope we can continue similar work. Great post!

  2. ces5729

    Hey Tyler!
    Great post this week! It was very interesting to learn about the different ways in which people are acting to help stop climate change. The government is definably doing a great deal to try to help the environment, especially through programs such as the EPA, but obviously they are going to need to do a whole lot more. However, I wasn’t aware of theses greenhouse vehicle gas rules, but that seems like a great step to take. Sometimes though, the real changes occur on an everyday person level, such as just making the decision to recycle that water bottle instead of throwing it away. Programs such as the mobius one here at Penn State really help to make a difference in the world. Just by providing people with easy and convent ways to recycle, people will be much more likely to do it.
    Looking forward to your post next week!

  3. sjt5234

    Hey Tyler,

    This is a pretty comprehensive post about the issue of climate change and what is being done to solve the issue! This is pretty closely related to what I’m interested in, as my Issue Brief was written on how climate change is taught in schools. It’s great that government organizations such as the EPA are working to prevent the exacerbation of an already-bad situation. By placing regulations on corporations and other businesses, we can ensure that the world we hand off to our children is in better shape (than it would be without the regulations, anyway). Public movements are also incredibly important, and it’s crucial that we as citizens know what actions we can take to slow climate change. Because of this, it’s my belief that by better teaching climate change in schools, we can begin to have a consensus as a country and do some real work towards fixing the greater issue.

    Great post!

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