The other day my friend and I went to see Bill Nye speak at the Eisenhower Auditorium. It was legendary. He talked about climate change and it made me realize how little I actually know about the science behind it. I “believe” that it’s happening and I hope our generation can eventually go all green, but it made me question a few things. What are fossil fuels, why are they so bad, and what are they actually doing to the earth?
Science Daily defines fossil fuels as “hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals.” Okay so that makes sense. I’m not quite sure how it took me this long to realize that FOSSIL fuels come from FOSSILS, but it did.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, fossil fuels release nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere when they are burned via human activities such as cars, trucks, coal-fired power plants, large industrial operations, ships, and airplanes.
Nitrogen is essential to plant and animal life, but it is all the excess nitrogen in our atmosphere that is so harmful. The pollution affects our air, water, and land. The nitrogen excess contributes to the “formation of smog and acid rain.” The EPA states the following:
“The presence of excess nitrogen in the atmosphere in the form of nitrogen oxides or ammonia is deposited back onto land, where it washes into nearby water bodies. These excess nutrients contribute to pollution, harmful algal blooms and oxygen-deprived aquatic zones. Excess ammonia and low pH in these areas are toxic to aquatic organisms and affect their survival.”
So, if the United States government and everyone knows that fossil fuels are so harmful to our environment in such a way, why are we still using them?
Energy Informative discusses fossil fuels pros and cons.
Fossil Fuels are well developed, cheap, and reliable. We have been using fossil fuels to power our world for decades. The technology works, it’s cheap, and it is more reliable than other new energy sources such as wind and solar power.
On the flip side, fossil fuels contribute to global warming. They are non renewable, unsustainable, and incentivized. They produce high amounts of carbon that contribute to global warming. Fossil fuels take millions of years to form which makes it a finite resource in today’s world. They are unsustainable yet subsidized. “Coal, natural gas and petroleum received $4.22 billion” in government subsides while solar only got $1.13 billion.
So, the problem with fossil fuels is that we are used to them. They power our every day lives which makes getting rid of them seem unfathomable. Climate change is inconvenient for all of us. I’d rather not give up my car or traveling the world via airplanes, but what’s the alternative?
The documentary Merchants of Doubt explains that 100% of the scientists who research and focus on climate change found that it is happening and it is enhanced by human activities. The people who say it is not happening are the ones who have a vested interest in the fossil fuel industry. The documentary compares it to the tobacco industry.
Andrew discussed in class the relationship between cigarettes and cancer and the way the tobacco industry did everything they could to hide that truth from the public. From what I understand, the same thing is happening with climate change today. The industry bias doesn’t want climate change to be real because it will hurt them economically. Scientists are usually bad communicators and they can’t say anything is definitely, without a doubt for sure happening. This makes their fight against corporations who benefit from cheap and reliable fossil fuels quite difficult. The corporations, and even the military, can hire communications people to create doubt and convince the public that the science isn’t perfect.
It seems that climate change is much bigger than you and me. Most human activities that are associated with burning fossil fuels are a result of transportation and industry, and it is the people the people who benefit from that industry who don’t want anything to change. But, what can we do as individuals to limit our burning of fossil fuels?
The EPA says the two biggest ways we can help individually is to conserve energy and minimize the miles. Turn off your lights, computers, and TV when you’re not using them. Buy equipment that uses less energy and limit your use of air conditioning. To minimize your miles carpool or utilize public transportation.
I also attended Bill Nye’s lecture- what a humorous and insightful guy! If I remember correctly, the solutions he suggested/proposed included more focus on wind energy/ solar power/ hydro power and also a tax on fossil fuel usage. The way he explained it made it sound like a great idea. Currently, we keep using fossil fuels because they are what most people have always used, and there’s not much incentive to invest in other practices. With a tax on these harmful products, there would be a push to find alternative energy sources all around. If only all Americans could come together to talk about this vital issue, rather than a Starbucks cup, or the latest Drake video…!
Great post. It explained a topic that many of us bloggers have little knowledge about. Climate change has become such a political topic. People post all over their social media about research on this topic. I have a good friend who is always “sharing” articles with his friends. One video in particular stood out to me. It was a video created by Prince Ea, who you may of heard of. It’s an apology to future generations for all of the things our generation and the generations before us have done to impact the environment negatively. While I don’t think it’s fair for him to call out specific news outlets and people in the middle of the video, I think he covers a lot of material in a powerful manner. Check it out.