The Environment

We are a part of the global community and, as such, the global environment is our concern. I hear people make global warming jokes about how “they could use some warmer weather.” I laugh but the reality isn’t really that funny. With warmer weather come warmer oceans. Warmer oceans bring stronger storms. Stronger storms bring floods. Species cease. Arctic land falls into the ocean. Droughts inherit new and unlikely regions to thrive. Water is not costly for now. Lakes dry up and disappear. Weird weather plagues unlikely territories. Tornados happen in NY. California and Arizona catch fire. In my hometown, in North Florida, it now rains at 6pm instead of 3pm. Red tide washes up more frequently and in new stretches of beach. Sharks, liking warm water, begin feeding in warmer waters closer to human beach populations. Boardwalks built over marshes now span across fields of dried, burned, grass because the water that fed the grass no longer exists. Global warming is here, whether you believe that we caused it, or whether you believe it is a natural process. It doesn’t matter. It’s here. Government now needs to chart a new aggressive direction for business and for government to follow, a direction that encourages “green” standards and sets examples for the citizens of the world. It might be in our lifetime but more likely it will be our children that live our legacy of global warming. Either way, a new way of life is ahead of us and we need to be prepared.

• New environmental business protocols. Businesses should be monetarily held accountable for the amount of toxins they introduce into the environment and rewarded for their efforts to reduce those toxins.

• New aggressive efficiency standards for the manufacturing of cars.

• Renew solar and wind power tax credits now. Legislative accountability.org notes that “The current credits for the development of solar and wind power expire this December, and so far eight different bills that included their renewal have been killed in Congress. Many wind and solar projects are unable to get further bank financing until this issue is resolved.”

• Conduct government audits of local farms with the sole purpose of accessing the efficiency of their irrigation systems and offer financial assistance those that are willing update those systems so that the loss or evaporation of water is less likely. Shortages of water are very likely a part of the future we, or our children, will be a part of. Let’s do what we can to NOT waste what is becoming more rare day by day.

• Offer incentives to citizens who are willing to upgrade their homes and cars to better accommodate the environment with options such as, but not limited to, bio-fuel conversions and solar panel installations.

• No more expansion of offshore drilling and require oil companies to use the existing leases that they previously obtained before awarding any new leases for further drilling.
  The Center for American progress posted a list of the top ten reasons why Offshore Drilling is a bad solution for the modern day energy crisis. Because these ten points are such a well-articulated summary of the ideas, I am including the entire post here:

“There are many reasons that offshore drilling in sensitive coastal areas is a bad idea. These 10 are only the beginning:

We can’t drill our way out of the energy crisis. According to a report by the House Committee on Natural Resources Majority Staff: “Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued for development of public lands increased by more than 361 percent, yet gasoline prices have also risen dramatically, contradicting the argument that more drilling means lower gasoline prices. There is simply no correlation between the two.”

We don’t have enough oil to meet our demand. The U.S. oil supply-demand balance is insurmountable. We have less than 2 percent of the world’s known reserves; yet use 25 percent of its oil. Even if we drilled off of every beach, and inside every national park, refuge, and forest, we could not produce enough oil to offset our growing demand

Oil companies have not utilized the leases they have now. Why open up new areas to drilling when oil companies hold over 4,000 undeveloped leases in the western Gulf of Mexico? What’s more, the government already leases 44 million acres offshore, of which only 10.5 million—or one quarter—are producing oil or gas

Offshore drilling would have an “insignificant” effect on long-term prices. Offshore drilling in sensitive areas would increase domestic oil production by 7 percent by 2030 compared to a reference case, according to the EIA. But “because oil prices are determined on the international market…any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.

Drilling could lock us in to a future of expensive gasoline. By committing to costly recovery, oil companies are betting that oil prices (and gas prices) will stay high enough to justify their investments. Opening the Outer Continental Shelf could never bring us back to $2-a-gallon gas, but would ensure that companies that develop the newly available oil have an interest in keeping gas prices high enough to justify their investments

Production would be expensive, would not start for a long time, and would have no short-term effect on oil prices. The average oil field size in the OCS is smaller than the average in the Gulf of Mexico, which is already being developed As a result, much of the oil in the OCS would be expensive to extract, and is only becoming attractive now as a result of high oil prices. According the Energy Information Administration, it would take at least five years for oil production to begin. EIA predicted that there would be no significant effect on oil production or price until nearly 20 years after leasing begins

There isn’t enough drilling equipment. Due to the high price of oil, existing drilling ships are “booked solid for the next five years,” and demand for deepwater rigs has driven up the price of such ships. Oil companies just don’t have the resources to explore oil fields in the OCS

We can’t refine the oil we would extract. In his speech yesterday, President Bush noted that, “Refineries are the critical link between crude oil and the gasoline and diesel fuel that drivers put in their tanks.” Yet refineries are already so stretched that last year, the United States had to import almost 150 million barrels of gasoline. The Wall Street Journal reported oil companies are not building new refineries because it would be bad for their bottom line. “Building a new refinery from scratch, Exxon believes, would be bad for long-term business.

Drilling more oil now is not the path to a future based on alternative energy. President Bush said in his speech that “in the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil,” but “in the long run, the solution is to reduce demand for oil by promoting alternative energy technologies.” Unfortunately, President Bush opposed efforts to shift tax incentives from big oil companies to efficiency and clean energy technologies, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. If alternatives are the future, why propose an oil-based solution to the energy crisis that will not show any results for years

Debating offshore drilling in sensitive areas distracts from real solutions. Instead of focusing on offshore drilling in sensitive areas, we should be thinking about both short- and long-term solutions to the energy crisis. To reduce oil prices, we can burst the speculative bubble by selling a half million barrels of oil per day from the full Strategic Petroleum Reserve. To help families, we should close oil company tax loopholes and recover lost royalties on oil and gas from federal waters, and return these funds to low- and middle-income households in a fuel price “relief bate” program

Speculators have increased oil prices by up to $30 per barrel, so the administration should make trades more transparent and increase the “margin” for speculators. In the long run, we must move beyond oil by investing in clean, sustainable biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol, require and promote super fuel-efficient cars, and shift tax incentives away from fossil fuels and toward clean alternative energy and efficiency. The real solution to the energy crisis—and to the climate crisis—is to innovate, become more efficient, and move forward. That’s why offshore drilling in sensitive areas is a bad idea. For a long-term plan, it is remarkably short-sighted.”

• Design and implement a new nation-wide public railway and subway infrastructure. With the implementation of such a system, American suburbs could be connected to the greater population, low-income people could forego the cost of cars, and towns could be connected at a low cost for families. Socially speaking, this addition to our way of life could begin to close the gap between the fortunate and less fortunate. Environmentally this option could pave the way for more responsible travel. If driving cars contributes to global warming then why shouldn’t we offer a nation-wide alternative?

• Aggressive government sponsorship for the development of fuel alternatives and renewable technologies.

• Re-install the White House solar panels. Make the White house an example of “Green” living. You may not have agreed with the Presidency of Jimmy Carter but I think we can all agree that he was right when it came to our dependency on oil. Take this action further by making all government and state buildings “green.” If the government buildings are “green” and the cars that they drive are “green” then the evolution of “green living” is fostered by example.

• Direct an aggressive government sponsored initiative for research and development of affordable and accessible green technologies.

• Direct a government-sponsored initiative for “Green” training to accommodate this new sector of employment that is inevitable.

• Offer individual and business tax incentives that encourage “green” standards.