You flip on your computer. You flick off the lights in your room. You eat in a dining hall or other eatery that is alternately heated or air-conditioned, where there are also lights and stoves on. They are all powered by energy of some kind. We take all this electric power for granted; we hardly ever, if ever, think about what it would be like to live without it.

So what’s the big deal about power anyway? Why should we care about it? Why is it such an issue now? And will having even more power to meet future demands hurt us in the long run?

The US Department of Energy says more that half the electricity in the United States is generated by coal. With figures compiled as recently as 2008, the DOE points out that, for now, coal is our “dominant” fuel used to produce electric power that turns on our lights, mini-fridges and microwaves, supplying over 48 percent of our needs. Natural gas comes next, supplying Americans with 21 percent of their electric needs, followed by hydroelectric (think Niagara Falls), with seven percent of our electric needs, and 19 percent from nuclear power, petroleum and non-renewable hydroelectric sources.

This great dependence on fuels  could jeopardize people’s health and/or the general environment concerns many people in this country. A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, by staff writer, Mark Clayton, pointed out that some companies were going hog-wild in Texas when it comes to unconventional methods of extracting natural gas. One process uses a drilling system that fractures rock with a high pressure fluid, opening up reserves of shale gas deposits. Clayton says using this method strikes a “Faustian bargain: it gains new energy reserves, but it consumes and quite possibly pollutes water resources.”

The new coal plant being built in Wise County in far Southwest Virginia will have more stringent emission standards placed on it when finished than a neighboring coal plant in the next county over. However, it will still be allowed to put so many tons of mercury and sulfur dioxide into the air. This particular area is in a region of Virginia with a high rate of people running to hospital emergency rooms for breathing problems due to asthma.

Aren’t there any “safer” alternatives to these traditional forms of energy, in a country where we just cannot kick the energy habit or otherwise curtail our craving for more power?

Maybe there are. According to Powervote.org, the country is ready for safer “green power.” In Oxford, Miss. this month, 30 nine-foot-tall wind turbines were set up across the Grove on Ole Miss to make a point about the possibilities of green power, with 400 Ole Miss students pledging to vote for green power.

On Sept. 27, 2008 many communities got together to send the message to politicians and America that we need green jobs to replace those going overseas. We need energy independence from foreign oil, and we also need energy conservation. These are lifestyle and political issues that affect everyone and could help our economy and our planet, if looked at and developed properly.

The site “GreenJobsnow” points up the fact that people are America’s number one resource, not oil. This is true if we work on new, healthier, sustainable ways to “power up” our economy, our phones and our computers.

According to Powervote you are encouraged to pledge support to solutions to global warming and demand “a clean energy economy, green jobs for all, and to secure our climate.” If you care about the environment, jobs and/or your health, consider pledging your support at this site. Over 144,000 people have already!

Cover and story photo from Stockxpert

Tags: better, better way, hungry, maybe, power, power hungry, power hungry maybe theres a better way, radford, Radford University, way, Whim

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 2:59 am and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.