Optimistic About Energy Future- Civic Issues

I devoted my Civic Issues blogs to one of America’s major problems: the future of energy. I noticed a few other classmates did similar topics, such as alternative energy sources, and it’s nice seeing that many people are aware of the potential danger if we do not sort out this energy mess. Replacing the efficiency of fossil fuels with cost-effective alternative energy sources is something that has baffled the country for decades, and will continue to. In my own opinion, I do not see a significant shift to cleaner energy sources in the near future mainly due to the price of these methods. What seems more feasible is to take action that will decrease our need to import so much oil on a daily basis.

 

One of the primary issues is that we are overly reliant on foreign regions, especially the volatile Middle East, for our oil supply. Although there is not much that can be done to stop relying on these countries for oil, there is more that we can do within the country to diminish the need for foreign oil. While many people have discussed alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and nuclear (to name a few), an interesting solution may lie in unconventional oil and gas.

 

Unconventional oil and gas activity is already revolutionizing America’s energy future and bringing enormous benefits to its economy. Unlocking unconventional energy will generate millions of jobs and billions in government receipts. Against a backdrop of a historically slow economic recovery and persistently high unemployment following the Great Recession, the surge in spending associated with unconventional oil and natural gas activity is proving to be an important engine for jobs creation.

 

Shale oil and natural gas industries will continue to boom, allowing domestic production to reach an all-time high. By exporting the natural gas extracted within the country and importing liquid natural gas, we will be able to shift to cleaner natural gas. This will keep carbon emission levels from rising, and actually start an overall decrease. But the revolution in U.S. energy isn’t just about fracking and other new forms of production. Behavior change can also alter the way we use energy. This will work exceptionally if the Obama administration is able to keep the motor industry towards reaching the goal of 54.5 MPG by 2025. But the thing about the future is that it remains remarkably unpredictable, and we’ll never really know until the time comes.

4 thoughts on “Optimistic About Energy Future- Civic Issues

  1. Joe Gamber

    I think you have some wonderful points here Shiv, but there is one key problem with the optimistic attitude of this blog: reality. In short, the real world sucks. By that I mean that liquefying natural gas and producing higher efficiency vehicles are great notions that I support 110%, but oil companies do not. They make billions every year off of the inefficiency of cars on the road today, and with that kind of cash flow, it’s easy to bribe a company or corrupt a politician to slow the production of more efficient technology. And that’s the sad truth of the world we live in today. So, while I love the ideas, I just don’t see it working out.

  2. Jordan Paulus

    I think you are spot on with your proposed solution. I don’t think alternative energy is something that will magically happen as proponents of such energy claim to say. Rather, simple changes that work towards the ultimate goal of alternative energy is something that we should strive for. Totally agree with you.

  3. Nathan J. Case

    I agree with your final statement that we will never know until we get to that point. It seems like this is always the case. Science likes to think it has a solution to every problem, but the solution may take years to find and develop in an economically reasonable way. The energy crisis is real, and as more and more countries continue their development, energy will continue to increase in importance and scarcity. Utilizing the recourses we have now is one of the only feasible ways to do so, and like you have mentioned unconventional fossil fuels may be the best source for this.

  4. Daniel Tsai

    Many people think that our world is going to have some sort of energy crisis, but I believe (optimistically) that there will always be people that make the appropriate changes to the changing circumstances. When oil was found to be a non-sustainable source of energy, wind, solar, and hydropower took the lead as alternative energy sources were found. Cars have now become a lot more efficient and humanity has adjusted accordingly to those changing circumstances. I just think we need to keep ourselves informed and alarmed of the dangers and fix accordingly.

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