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Joe Pittman
Connie Douglas
ENG 112-78
1 December 2016
Protecting Mother Earth
Is it not weird, how it is December, and we are somehow sweating while wearing shorts
and a t-shirt outside? What about how states, that have normally seen are good bit of snowfall by
now, are just beginning to see their first snowfalls of the season? The weather has become
extremely odd and can be explained with two words: global warming. Over the last century,
global warming has been steadily growing into a more serious world issue. The effects of global
warming include, but are not limited to: increase in global temperatures, higher frequency of
natural disasters, smog effects, and rise in sea levels due to the melting of polar ice caps. Global
warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which release harmful greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere and causing an imbalance in the levels of gases in the ozone. The ozone is what
allows life to exist on planet Earth. It has a very delicate balance of gases, used to prevent most
of the suns radiation from coming into our atmosphere to provide heat and energy. The problem
is that due to our pollution through using fossil fuels, we have disrupted the balance of the ozone
and now when radiation is let in to the atmosphere it becomes stuck. In order to prevent
problems from getting any worse, it is imperative that an immediate switch off the use of fossil
fuels is done, and we begin using carbon free alternative energy sources as our primary source of
energy.
Carbon free alternative energy is, unlike fossil fuels, obtained from clean sources that
cause little to no pollution to our atmosphere. There are quite a few different ways to obtain this

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clean energy, but the three most common ways are through: solar energy, wind, and hydroelectric
sources. Solar energy is the most abundant energy source available. All energy in our world, at
one point or another, was obtained from the sun. Solar energy is obtained using photovoltaic
cells, which collect energy from the sun and transform it into usable electricity through an
inverter. Per Carl Schoder, in his work A Convenient Truth about Clean Energy, The
convenient truth is that the world does not have an energy shortage; it simply lacks an energy
infrastructure capable of using the abundant source of solar energy that we receive from the sun
every day. The current worldwide demand of about 363 terawatt-hours per day could be met by
covering just 0.5% of the world's land area with silicon solar panels. This alone shows how with
more investment into solar power, it could effectively replace fossil fuels as our primary fuel
source. Wind energy is gathered using wind turbines and wind turbines are essentially a huge
windmill. When the wind blows the blades of the wind turbine begin to spin, and the motion of
spinning begins to power up a generator. The generator is what creates the usable electricity, and
from here the energy can be distributed for use. Due to it being so inexpensive, wind energy is
quickly becoming one of most popular forms of renewable clean energy and is expected to have
continued having growth. Hydroelectricity is obtained from the use of hydroelectric dams. Water
is run through the dam, and as the water passes through it spins a turbine. The turbine can then be
used to activate a generator, and the generator can create electricity that can be used. The main
benefit to hydroelectricity is that, when sources like wind and solar are unable to collect energy
because the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining, hydroelectricity, due to its constant
supply of water from the dam, can be created as needed.
While alternative energies do have their benefits, they also come with their faults as well.
One of the main faults that is brought against renewable energy sources is the high cost required

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to collect them. In a world where everyone seems to only be in it for the money this is a serious
problem. Cost does always have to be considered when choosing an energy source, but what is
not considered as much is that most of these renewable energy sources are relatively new
technologies. New technologies are almost never cheap when they first come out. Price
reductions only happen when research is committed and new processes are developed. If given
the chance, renewable energies have an untapped potential that could be the answer to our
problems. However, even if renewable energies could answer our problems, there are still those
who believe we need to continue the use of fossil fuels. According to Alex Epstein, in his article
Fossil Fuels have made All Our Lives Better, [Fossil Fuels] power, in turn, was used to
create the technological and economic advances that took us from no indoor plumbing to landing
on the moon in less than 200 years. The trend is striking: Increased fossil fuel use correlates with
every positive metric of human well-being -- from life expectancy to income to nourishment to
clean water access to safety. There is no denying it, Epstein is right, fossil fuels have progressed
our civilization to places our ancestors could have never even dreamed of. The problem with
Epsteins perspective is that, being as enlightened of a society as we are, it is our responsibility to
rectify detrimental problems when they are brought to our attention. It would be ignorant to
continue to eat excessive amounts of sugar after being diagnosed with diabetes. So, why would
we continue to use fossil fuels after Mother Earth has been diagnosed with global warming?
James McCarthy and Michael MacCracken say it the best, in their article It is Time to Turn
Green Talk into Action, Patience and credence can no longer be given to those denying
climate change. The delays that these so-called skeptics and vested fossil-fuel interests are
causing in the face of convincing detection and attribution only increase the staggering costs of

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adaptation and relocation. It is time for people to stop denying. It is time for people to start
making change.
The youth generation, is going to be the one who is going to have to bring about the
change off fossil fuels and convert our main source of energy to carbon free renewable sources.
Research, has clearly shown devastating the cost of using fossil fuels have been and continuing
them will only make things worse. We must all come together and force a change. The power lies
with us and the sooner we realize this, the sooner we will be able bring about change. When
making your decision about continuing use of fossil fuels or not, remember this: Is this really the
Earth we want for our children?

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Work Cited
Epstein, Alex. "Fossil Fuels have made all of our Lives Better." South Florida Sun SentinelNov
29 2014. ProQuest. Web. 1 Dec. 2016 .
MacCracken, Michael, and James J. McCarthy. "It is Time to Turn 'Green' Talk into Action."
The Journal News: 21. Dec 26 2012. ProQuest. Web. 1 Dec. 2016 .
Schoder, Carl E. "A Convenient Truth about Clean Energy." The Futurist 45.1 (2011): 25-9.
ProQuest. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.