Marlene A. Condon opines that thanks to the burning of fossil fuels, global climate change is now a term everyone knows. But do we talk about limiting population growth and the particular aspects of consumerism that have brought about this dangerous alteration of our atmosphere? After all, as long as the human population keeps increasing, there will be a corresponding increase in demand for energy just for basic needs, such as heating homes and cooking, never mind the energy needs of our modern era of computers, cell phones, automatic doors that open and close constantly, etc.
Yet as power companies attempt to provide the energy that our modern lifestyles are commanding, they are lambasted for their efforts. In Virginia, a lot of contentiousness exists about bringing fuel through the state via three huge natural-gas pipelines as well as the movement of electricity through gargantuan transmission towers.
That is not surprising. What person who appreciates the natural beauty of a rural area wants such unnatural-looking features running through it? However, every American whose house is larger than necessary, or whose computer runs 24/7, bears some responsibility for these situations.
Many people insist that we do not need coal or fracked hydrocarbons (environmentally destructive sources of energy) to supply our energy demands. They suggest we just need to develop green energy, such as can be obtained from sunshine, wind, and water. But (not so fast), these so-called green energy sources are not synonymous with harmless to the environment as many people seem to think.
Although green power sources may emit fewer or no carbon emissions as compared to coal, (and natural gas), their use, when employed on a large scale, results in a variety of wildlife losses, both directly by infrastructure and indirectly by habitat destruction.
But from other green sources, are nuclear power plants prohibitively dangerous, as she has seen written? No.. but read on.
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Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-