The Cause of Global Warming is Irrelevant October 22, 2007
Posted by Sharny in : Environment, Essay, Rants, Thoughts , trackbackOk. I’ll admit it. I am a bit of an environmentalist. I am concerned about the future of this planet. I am worried about the amount of fossil fuels we use and the wasteful attitudes of our society.
But if there is one thing I am really sick of, it’s this on going fight between lazy assed people and hippies about what the cause of global warming is. I’m here to tell you right now. IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER.
Of course, to start with, no one knows what is the cause of this increase in global temperature that we are having. The systems of this planet are very complex and we have difficulty really knowing what the fuck is going on with them. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what side of the line you stand, you still don’t know. I personally think it is a bit too convenient a coincidence that as we start releasing a load of locked up carbon and destroying the things that get rid of it the world starts getting hotter. But at the same time, I perfectly understand that this is by no means proof and really I don’t want to discuss the whole are we/aren’t we causing global warming.
If we are the cause of global warming then our burning of fossil fuels probably comes top of the reasons for this. All we really use this stuff for is fuel: to make our electricity; to run our cars and to cook our meals. Perhaps one of the biggest worries for some of us westerners is the ever increasing price of oil and how much of an effect this can have on our lives.
Now, no matter how you look at it, this is a simple issue of supply and demand. As more nations industrialise and populations increase demand (as it currently stands) can really do nothing but go up. On the other hand, supply is constantly going down. There is most definitely a finite amount of fossil fuels. This means that the price of this fuels will rise over the long term.
On an individual basis
Most of the things the average person can do to reduce what is currently becoming known as your “carbon footprint” involve saving energy in many different ways. A lot of these things are very easy and can be done without some massive overhaul. Ok, lets see less energy used = less money spent. As the money required for energy goes up this is going to be more noticeable in terms of the chunk coming out of your pocket.
Lets recap: Easy ways to save energy -> less energy used -> more money to spend on other things.
Now, I don’t even see how global warming needs to come anywhere near this. It’s just common sense. Yet for some reason lots of people object to the mere suggestion of this. I know you’re stubborn and demand for everything to be your way but this really has no downside. Well, it might cut 1 minute out of your day that you could be spending reading motivational lists on self improvement blogs. Damn, wouldn’t that be a shame.
On a national level
Ok, so I’ve covered why the causes of global warming are irrelevant and in fact why global warming needn’t even play a part in this stuff. Now its time for coverage of this irrelevance at a national level. Again, we mostly rely on fossil fuels and they will run out, some of them potentially within my lifetime. This leaves at the point - what are we going to do when the fuel all runs out? Renewable energy of course. Now, given that potentially we are the cause of global warming, wouldn’t it make sense to get on with the whole renewable energy plan before we actually run out?
So the idea is simple. America - end the war in Iraq, it is costing you millions upon millions every single day. Not only is it a waste of young life out there in the army but that money could be used to treat the sick, to get scholarships into college, to end hunger and make the world a more stable place. So, with all that money you save you can start researching ways to produce energy without the need of any fossil fuels.
Many solutions already exist. It is already very theoretically possible to power the whole of the UK on a series of wind compressing turbines out in the sea. Good because compressed air is easy to transport, easy to store and also good because some pompous middle class woman in a country village somewhere can’t complain about those “ugly” wind turbines ruining her view. Relatively inexpensive changes by the government could pay themselves off very quickly in terms of energy saving.
A further bonus for governments of acting on this crisis is that it would greatly lessen the hold that some countries influence on the west due to their sources of fossil fuels. Really, it’s our reliance on these things that makes us weak in our opinion. It would really take very little to bring the west to its knees, just take away it’s energy. You’re worried about looking weak to terrorists? Well guess what, you already look weak because you rely so heavily on something that’s running out.
Conclusion
If you want to keep up this pointless argument just because your ego makes it that important then you can. But ultimately, stop using your lack of “belief” in global warming as an excuse for your laziness. Get off your ass and make some changes, you are effectively throwing away money. Get off your ass and put pressure on your government to make changes to the sources of its energy in order to have indefinite energy and greater security due to not needing foreign oil. No, this is not someone else’s job. This is for you to do and I am sick of everyone pretending that it’s not.
Edit: Just stumbled on an interesting post that has done some of the maths along the lines of what I outlined (spending the money the US spent on Iraq on solving energy problems). Link: How Far could 68B go in securing our energy independence? Over here in the UK I think there is much more promise in wind energy rather than solar but for a country like the US (certainly large parts of it) there’s a lot to be said for solar power.
Tagged as: Environment, Essay, Global Warming, Rants, Thoughts, World
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