Staff Writer Cory Muehlebach explores options with renewable energy
By: CORY MUEHLEBACH
Staff Writer
The inevitable energy crisis surrounding America and other key countries is troubling. Relying on oil to power our cars, heat our homes and fuel our military is essentially futile. Oil is a limited resource; so looking in other areas is crucial to our survival in the digital age.
Many countries are switching over to renewable energy sources. According to http://makewealthhistory.org, Iceland heats around 85 percent of its homes using geothermic energy (or energy attained from underground heat sources.) Other countries such as Bhutan, use mountains to create electricity and then export that excess energy to places like India.
America falls behind in the renewable energy race. Though America is creating new wind farms and finding new ways to use solar energy, we still heavily rely on coal, which is horrible not only for the economy but for the environment as well.
The problem is that there is no immediate profit from renewable energy and big companies like Ameren want to keep their business, so they lobby for laws against renewable energy in the hopes to delay a possible loss in profit. This puts a huge halt on America’s progress toward green energy.
If America wish to see a new country full of renewable energy, we must bite the bullet, suffer short term and give it time. In that time, we will see wind farms rise, solar panels built and other forms of alternative energy flourish, thus relieving our need for expensive oil and coal all the while preserving the planet. It is a win-win, but it takes a little bit of time and aspiration.
Ultimately, it is foolish to stay on the path we are now as a country. With depleting resources, one can only imagine why a country as great as America has not made the change towards alternative energy that other countries have. America needs an alternative way of living and what we have now will not cut it.
