Chapter
12
Where
Do We Get Energy?
How
Do We Measure Energy?
How
Do We Use Energy?
Coal
as a Fossil Fuel
Oil
as a Fossil Fuel
Natural
Gas as a Fossil Fuel
Conserving
Our Energy
Chapter
8
What
is Health?
A
Changing Disease Burden
Emergent
and Infectious Disease
Conservation
Medicine
Antibiotic
Resistance
Global
Health Care
Toxics
and their Affect
Toxin
Mobility
Exposure
Bioaccumulation
and Biomagnifications
Persistence
Chapter
15
Driving
Policy
Policy
Cycle
NEPA
The
Clean Air Act
The
Clean Water Act
The
Endangered Species Act
The
Superfund Act
Making
Policies
International
Agreements
Enforcement
What
Can I do?
Chapter 12
Where Do We Get Energy?
Mankind started using energy provided by fire, then animal muscle
power, then water and wind. By the dawn of the 1800’s coal was being used as
reliable energy source. In the twentieth century oil became one of the main
sources of energy. We have drilled to the ends of the earth, literally, for
this liquid gold that much of the developed world has learned to rely on.
Americans alone go through around 60 barrels of oil per person every year!
These fossil fuels make up 88% of our planets commercial energy needs. This
need is not only damaging the planet, but incurs astronomical costs to find,
keep and develop these precious fuel sources.
How Do We Measure Energy?
For people who need more than just the explanation that we need energy
for electricity and just about everything else we do, there are specific
measurements for energy. Work is actually defined as the application of force
over distance. Work is measured in joules.
Energy is the capacity to do work, and power is the rate of energy flow or the
rate of work done. Think of it like
this: Pushing a large boulder requires work, with each step you increase the
amount of joules and create energy. How fast you push that boulder determines
how much power you have.
How do We Use Energy?
Developed countries such as the United States depend on fossil fuels.
Without them our day to day life would come to a screeching halt. 37% of the
fossil fuels we use comes from oil, while 24% comes from natural gas and 23%
comes from coal. Although the United States only has less than five percent of
the world’s population within its borders, they consume one fifth of all of the
fossil fuels consumed. We use these
fossil fuels to drive our cars, heat our homes, and make materials for our use
such as plastics, metals and fertilizers.
Despite the fact that the United States is beginning to use solar, wind
and geothermal power, it still only makes up one percent of the energy supply.
Nuclear power provides us with 20% of all of our electricity.
Unlike the United States, some developed countries have opted to use
more renewable sources of energy. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland have a higher
standard of living, but use a fraction of the energy that the United States
does.
Coal as a Fossil Fuel
Coal is a relatively abundant resource and if used efficiently could
last us thousands of years. Unfortunately, the downside of the extraction of
the coal far outweighs the positive energy that it gives us. Coal mining is
notoriously dangers, killing countless miners, either immediately as a result
of cave ins, or slowly through lung cancer and other deterioration.
More damaging to the planet than underground mining for coal is the process
of Mountain Top removal. The damage that mountain top removal k process
inflicts in irreversible and not only damages the mountain, but the valleys
below where the tailings are deposited.
Coal (once burned to create energy) releases dangerous toxins into the
atmosphere. Coal releases carbon dioxide, creates sulfur dioxide. While it is
possible to create gas and liquid fuels out of coal, the process is dirty and
much more expensive than just burning straight coal for energy resources.
There is an effort to develop cleaner coal plants. Over time these
integrated gasification combined cycle plants will pay for themselves as well
as help preserve our atmosphere. There is a IGCC plant in Florida that has been
successful and operational for more than ten years. The IGCC plants do not burn
the coal, but convert this solid to a gas and then burns the gas in a turbine.
Oil As A Fossil Fuel
Our oil use peaked during the 1970’s and then again in 2005-2012. Today
it is believed that only half of the world’s oil is recoverable, the rest is to
embedded in rock formations or too deep underground to be extracted to meet our
ever increasing demand for this resource. There is fierce competition for oil
around the globe as countries such as India and China continue to increase
their energy needs.
Here in the United States we have used over half of our recoverable oil
resourced. If we stopped importing oil all together, the remaining domestic
supply would be depleted in just four short years. Our eternal quest for this liquid gold continues
to be dangerous to extract. Not just for the men and women working on the rigs,
but the surround ecosystems. In 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon exploded it
killed eleven people, wounded even more and killed more wildlife than can be
counted. The cleanup effort was grueling and costly.
There are other methods of obtaining oil. Tar sands are made up of
bitumen that can (through a costly and vigorous process) be extracted to make
many of the products that we use today. Large deposits of tar sands can be
found in Canada and Venezuela. In 2000 Canada surpassed Saudi Arabia as the
largest supplier of oil to the United States.
While the tar sands provide an answer to the potential oil shortage, it
comes with a high environmental price. The process of extracting the bitumen
creates toxic sludge and releases thousands of tons of greenhouse gasses into
the air. The extraction also requires
and contaminates countless gallons of water.
Oil Shale provides us with yet another form of oil. Oil shale is a fine
grained rock rick in kerogan that can be heated, liquefied and pumped out like
oil. There are large deposits of oil shale in Utah, Oregon, and Colorado.
Unfortunately, the extraction process creates large amounts of carbon dioxide
and requires copious amounts of water (and if you live in the Western United
States, you know that water is a precious commodity).
Natural Gas as a Fossil Fuel
Of all of the fossil fuels used in our world today, natural gas is by
far the cleanest of them. As our world has begun to express concern about the
growing pollution problem, the demand for natural gas has increased. Russia
claims close to a quarter of the planets natural gas reserves and the Middle
East has more than forty percent of the planets natural gas. Despite this the
United States still has large deposits of natural gas and functional pipelines
to transfer this gas across the country.
However, international transport (particularly overseas) is extremely
dangerous. Each boat transporting the liquefied gas (LNG ships) has the same
explosive power as an atomic bomb, making ports hesitant to open to this cargo.
Despite the fact that natural gas use reduces the risks of global
warming, it still has harmful impacts on the environment. When natural rock
beds are cracked to extract the pockets of methane gas, causing chemicals can
seep into ground water and contaminating the supply.
Conserving Our Energy
One of our biggest issues with energy is that we waste most of what we
use. The less we use and waste the longer it will last. While that seems like a
simple statement for a complex problem, most of us have already set ourselves
on the energy saving path whether we know it or not. Our cars have better fuel
efficiency that ever before. Naturally, we don’t all go to the car dealership
and pick out a car with higher gas mileage because we are thinking about our
energy use or reducing our footprint. Most of us pick that car because we
cannot afford the rising cost of gasoline.
The same can be said for our “Energy Star” appliances. Manufacturers
put the sticker on the front of the new washing machine that you are looking at
that says instead of costing $46 a year to run it will only cost you $24 in
electricity each year. Not because electricity is getting any cheaper but
because these everyday household items are becoming more energy efficient and
decreasing the amount of wasted energy.
Today the government offers tax breaks to households that use double
insulated windows or install other “green” features in the home. Energy
companies have also begun consolidating and producing two forms of energy out
of one plant, reducing the impact on the environment. We are well on our way to
energy conservation, but the path is long and we must remember to teach the
younger generations to continue the work that we have started.
Chapter 8
What is Health? What is Disease?
What is health? When many are asked this question their response may be
that health is the absence of illness. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO) health is not only the absence of illness but the state of
complete physical, mental and social well being. When you think about health on
those terms, none of us are completely healthy, but we spend most of our lives
trying to get there.
Disease on the other hand, is what we spend most of our lives trying to
avoid. Disease is a abnormal change in our bodies that impairs our physical or physiological
state. Many things contribute to our illnesses, not the least of these is our
diet, nutrition infectious agents and toxic substances. Also on that list is
stress and trauma. The WHO blames more
than twenty percent of global disease on environmental factors.
A Changing Disease Burden
Disease does not just affect our health and well being, it affects our
global economy. When we are sick we cannot work, we cannot feed our families,
and children cannot get an education. In an effort to try to capture this
impact that disease has on our global economy not just on mortality rates,
health agencies invent DALYS (disability-adjusted life years). This calculates
the years lost because of disease. For example if a child becomes disabled because
of a car accident, the DALYS lost is higher than that of a 65 year old who is
incapacitated because of a heart attack.
The world is beginning to see an increase in chronic conditions. Fifty
years ago cardiovascular disease and cancer was only seen among the wealthy,
now it can be seen in the poor neighborhoods around the world. The WHO
estimates that heart disease will replace pneumonia on the leading cause of
global disease burden by 2020! Chronic conditions that pose a disease burden
are not limited to physical illness but psychological as well. In 2020 depression will be the second leading
cause of global disease burden worldwide. Lung disease is also expected to
climb the charts by 2020 replacing other illness like diarrhea.
Emergent and Infectious Disease
Communicable diseases still pose a huge mortality risk around the
world. They are responsible for one third of disease related mortality. Most of
these communicable diseases could be eradicated if clean water, better sanitation
processes, and vaccinations were applied in developing countries. Diseases can
cause pandemics that spread like wildfire and kill hundreds of thousands of
people like the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and what many feared H1N1
could have caused in 2009.
Despite our advances in medicine, malaria still remains one of larges
infectious diseases. The mosquitoes that carry this deadly virus have expanded
their territory and have begun affecting more countries than ever before. While
treatment and prevention of malaria would be as simple as a pill and a bed net,
many countries that suffer from this deadly disease cannot afford event that.
Emergent diseases are diseases that have not ever been seen or have not
been seen in at least twenty years. H1N1 is a good example of an emergent
disease. Ebola and Marburg fevers have also made a comeback as emergent disease
in Africa in the last twenty years. Cholera, and dengue fever have also appeared
back on the map. The more the human population moves into remote and previously
unsettled land, the more risk we have of new disease that humans have never
encountered before.
Perhaps the most widely known and the most deadly of these emergent
diseases is HIV/AIDS. This disease has made a huge impact on the globe in the
last thirty years. Three million people die every year from HIV/AIDS and 33
million are infected around the globe. In developing countries many children
contract HIV/AIDS through childbirth and/or breastfeeding. This could be
prevented with a cheap procedure completed during childbirth.
Conservation Medicine
Humans are not the only species greatly impacted by global disease.
Animals contract and spread disease as much if not more so than humans. This is
called ecological disease. Just as humans pass illness and disease to one
another, so do animals. In 1949 oysters in the Chesapeake bay suffered from a
MSX parasite that killed millions of tons of oysters. Ebola fever killed around
5,000 gorillas in the Congo and botulism spreads like wildfire through
migrating birds.
The more we disrupt ecosystems the more we put our globe a risk for
widespread illness and disease. We introduce foreign animals into different ecosystems
and they bring with them parasites and bacteria that the local wildlife has no
resistance to. In today’s modern world we can transport disease and illness
around the world in just a few days.
Conservation medicine is our attempt to learn more about our impact and
how these changes to our environment are impacting our planet.
Antibiotic Resistance
Many strains of illness and infection have become immune to our
antibiotic treatments. The more frequently that antibiotics are prescribed
(especially if they are not necessary) and the more people who do not complete
their prescribed antibiotic regime the faster these illness will become resistant
to antibiotics.
When pests and pathogens are only exposed to our control measures in a
mild form, they are given the opportunity to build up resistance.
Global Health Care
Health care is a huge concern around the world. The poor are the most
afflicted by disease and illness and these are the people who cannot afford
health care or a better living environment. The WHO stated that 90 percent of the need for
healthcare is in developing countries, but less than 10 percent of the
healthcare dollars are spent there.
It is clear that our world needs to take a serious look at health care
and ask themselves where each one of us holds responsibility. Do those of us in
developed countries really deserve health care and a healthy living environment
more than those in developing countries? Can each of us afford the minimal cost
to help a family in a developing country provide health care and clean water
for their family? Is it worth it to us?
Toxins and their Affect
Toxics and toxins are poisonous. They include chemicals, radiation, UV
light, and electromagnetic forces. Toxic
material disrupt metabolic function causing damage and even killing living
organisms. Environmental toxicology studies the effects of toxins in organisms
and ecosystems.
A toxin that we can all claim familiarly with are allergens. Allergens
flip on the switch in our immune system. Sometimes just the presence of the
allergen triggers our immune system to start creating antibodies to fight it
off. Other allergens must first bind to foreign material to cause the immune
system to respond with antibodies.
Neurotoxins are metabolic poisons that attack our nerve cells. These attack
our nervous system which is vital to our body activities and the results can be
devastating. Lead and mercury can kill nerve cells and cause permanent
neurological damage. Anesthetics disrupt the nerve membranes generally temporarily,
we know these neurotoxins as what numbs our body when we go in for surgery.
Mutagens alter our DNA which can lead to birth defects and tumor
growth. Teratogens are factors that cause issues during embryonic growth and
development. The most common teratogen (known to us) is alcohol. Alcohol use
during pregnancy leads to fetal alcohol syndrome. This teratogen is completely
avoidable and preventable. Carcinogens
are the toxins that cause cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of death
in the United States. We are exposed to carcinogens at a surprising level at
all stages of our life, beginning in the fetal stages.
Toxin Mobility
Toxin mobility depends on the toxins solubility. If the toxin is water
soluble then it has a wider range of mobility since water moves more freely and
rapidly through our environment. Once introduced to our body the toxin has
complete access to our cells. If the toxin is oil soluble, it has a more
difficult time spreading through the environment and generally needs a carrier,
however once it enters the human body it absorbs into the tissue and fatty cells
of the body where they can survive for years.
Exposure
We are exposed to toxin in many ways. Some are airborne and very easy
to contract. This airborne toxins usually cause the most problems for us and
are sometimes hard to avoid since air is everywhere and no matter where we are
we need it. We can also absorb toxins through water and food, but if we are
aware that a certain food or water source is contaminated, we can avoid it
(unlike air, we cannot hold our breath indefinitely). Skin contact is another
way that we are exposed to and absorb toxins. Imagine a factory worker that
touches a small amount of lead every day, eventually that skin contact will
cause problems.
Because children have a less developed immune system it is much easier
for them to be affected by absorbed toxins. Their bodies are much for sensitive
to damage caused by toxins which can cause long term consequences.
Bioaccumulation and Biomagnifications
Bioaccumulation is the cells ability to absorb and store nutrients and essential
minerals. This same ability can also enable the cell to absorb and store
harmful material. Biomagnifications is when the toxic burden of a group of organisms
is accumulated by a predator. For example, if algae absorbs a heavy metal or
another toxin, a single fish can consume a large amount of this algae causing a
high level of the toxin in the fish. Then a larger predator consumes a large
amount of the fish. The larger predator will now begin to suffer adversely because
of the toxin.
Persistence
Most toxins degrade when exposed to sun, air, and water. This makes
these toxins inactive. Unfortunately, some toxins are persistent and do not
degrade when exposed to the elements. One of these toxins is Mercury. Mercury
is a byproduct of the coal burning. Mercury is released into the air and
concentrates in high levels in fish.
Most states have issued warnings about mercury levels in their local
fish and recommend that pregnant women and children do not consume fish.
Chapter 15
Driving Policy
Policies are rules or decisions that determine how
we deal with problems. Policies can be (and are) made on every level. Each of
us makes policies for our lives, cities make policies, states make policies and
the federal government makes policies. Our governments establish policies to
protect our rights, our health, and our money. Our national government also
makes policies to protect our environment.
Because we are fortunate enough to live in a
democratic nation, many different things drive policy. Public citizenship is an
important driver for establishing and or changing policies. Some of the biggest
policies established to protect our environment (such as the Clean Water Act)
were initiated by individuals in communities. These same citizen initiated policies
have had global reach. The Chinese government has had to establish and modify
many policies in response to citizen actions in the form of environmental
protests.
Naturally, groups with political interest,
industrial interest, and labor unions also impact policy and policy change.
Wealthy groups and other powerful individuals also exercise influence over
policy.
Policy Cycle
To create policy there is a process, a continuing
cycle for the life of the policy (imagine in your head the school house rock
video “I’m just a bill here on Capitol Hill” and you come close to the process
of a policy).
To begin the process a problem must first be
identified. Then an agenda or purpose of the policy must be created and
proposals decided on. Of course, support for the policy is imperative. This can
be accomplished through campaigns, lobbing, and public education. The next step
is to enact the law or rule and then to decide on how it will be enforced.
After a period of time the policy’s results will be evaluated and changes may
be suggested. Then the cycle begins all over again.
NEPA
The National Environmental Policy Act (or NEPA) was
signed into law by President Nixon in 1970. This act established a Council on
Environmental Quality as well as directs agencies to take under consideration
the impact their decision making will have on the environment. Finally, it
required that Environmental Impact Statements be published for each federal
project that could have an important impact on environmental quality.
The purpose of the EIS was so that any major
federal project would have to document and make public any risk or change it
could pose to the environment, allowing citizens the opportunity to oppose or
support the project. Each EIS must include
three parts: a purpose and need for the project; a alternative to the purposed
action; and a statement of positive or negative impact on the environment.
The Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act was written into legislation in
1970. The CAA was established because of serious concern about pollution since
the industrial revolution. The burning of coal and other products caused high
levels of sulfuric acid, and airborne metals such as mercury in the air which
has lead to serious health risks. The intense impact of this pollution was
realized when in 1953 London was engulfed in stagnate air full of these
pollutions. Thousands died as a result of asphyxiation and thousands more
because of respiratory issues resulting from the pollution. Since the CAA was
enacted, these pollutants have declined dramatically.
The Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act was written into law in 1972
and tries to keep surface water safe for swimming and fishing. This Act aimed
and first finding the sources of the water pollution such as end pipe discharge
from factories and other industries. By the end of the 1980’s the water
pollution from these sites was nearly under control.
The Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act became part of our law
in 1973. It provides a list to the government of species that are at
vulnerable, threatened and endangered. The ESA provides rules and enforcement
for the protection of habitats (which can cause issues when developers want to
built housing developments in the middle of these habitats).
In 2010 there were 1,969 species on the worlds
endangered species list, 753 of them were plants.
The Superfund Act
In 1980, the federal government passed the
Superfund Act. The Superfund Act aimed at repairing abandoned toxic land. The
EPA was tasked with finding the company responsible for the pollution and
holding them financially responsible for the cleanup. The EPA also supervised
the clean up and determined when the site was “healthy” enough for use and what
type of use. In 1995, Congress changed the method of funding to the Superfund
Act and now the financial burden of the cleanup falls largely on the taxpayers.
Making Policies
The making and enforcement of laws involves all
three layers of government. The legislative branch of our government is
responsible for writing policies, laws, and rules. Each member of congress has
the opportunity to vote in favor and against each policy, law or rule brought
before them. Ideally they vote in a manner that would benefit their constituents.
The judicial branch interprets the laws passed by the
legislative branch. It is their job to decide if the law has been broken, what
it means, and if it is constitutional. The judicial hold responsibility over
criminal and civil law. Sometimes when a law is broken it can be criminal and
civil. When the Deepwater Horizon exploded causing the Gulf Oil Spill in 2010,
the company was held criminally responsible by the government and civilly
responsible to the people that were financially impacted.
The executive branch hold the responsibility of
enforcing the laws enacted by the legislative branch, and interpreted by the
judicial branch. The executive branch is made up of federal agencies (as well
as state and local boards). The executive branch can set rules, settle disputes
and investigate misconduct. Specifically the Environmental Protection Agency
has been tasked with monitoring our nation’s environment and its use and abuse.
These agencies are headed by someone who is appointed by the president. The executive
branch departments that hold the most significant environmental impact are the
EPA, the Department of the Interior (home of the US Fish and Wildlife Service) and
the Department of Agriculture (home to the US Forest Service). These
departments work together to protect our national parks, our lands, and our
ecosystems.
International Agreements
In the last several decades, countries have become
more aware that our impact on the environment does not hold to man-made borders.
Many problems are international and spread around the globe. It was with this
thought in mind that countries began collaborating with each other and agreeing
to treaties that protect our planet as a whole. Countries gather together at
global conventions and plan best efforts to approach global concerns.
In 1973, the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species agreed and declared that wild flora and fauna are valuable and
irreplaceable. Because endangered species are threatened by human activities
CITES created a list of endangered species that are affected by trade and
restricted and established rules unauthorized or illegal trade from one country
to another.
The Montreal Protocol was agreed on in 1987 and
protects the stratospheric ozone. The treaty committed agreeing parties to
phase out the manufacture of several chemicals that bread down ozone. The Montreal Protocol is responsible for the
phasing out of CFCs. When searching for an example of a highly effective international
agreement, the Montreal Protocol serves as that example.
The Basel Convention in 1992 restricts the trade or
shipment of hazardous waste to other countries. Before one country can transfer
hazardous waste or chemicals to another, the receiving country must consent in
writing for the transfer.
In 1994 the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change directed governments to share data on changing climate. This convention
enables international plans for reducing and controlling greenhouse gases.
Enforcement
International enforcement is difficult because
countries are hesitant to send foreign police into free state countries to enforce
laws (accept in the instances of genocide). Despite that form of international
enforcement, most countries desire to maintain national pride and to represent
their countries with pride. Because of that, international treaties that are
agreed upon are followed to the best of the country’s ability.
When treaties are decided upon, the signatories do
their best to accommodate each country entering the agreement. Often treaties
use words like “urge” instead of “shall” and are discussed until agreements are
reached. As time goes on and countries develop, some treaties and agreements
require modification. Agreements that do not require commitments, but instead
meaningful actions are generally more widely accepted by the global
communities.
What Can I do?
Of course policies, laws and rules established at the international,
national, state, city and neighborhood levels are important and lay the
foundation for environmental protection. However, the process begins and ends
with the individual. Educators inform of the importance of environmental protection,
scientist measure and validate methods of greener energy, artist capture our
planet as it now and was then, and writers formulate opinions in ways that can
be created into law. Each one of these people plays a role in the bigger
picture. In our own homes we can make the choices to recycle, by greener cars,
and equip our homes with energy efficient appliances and windows.
The most important thing I have learned this semester is
that what one person does can matter. I lived with the misconception that one
person could not make a difference and so it didn’t matter what just one of us
did. I was wrong. What I do not only impacts my footprint, but the lessons my
children learn and then teach their children will continue to make an impact on
our planet. All it takes is one extra minute from me each day, enough to sort
the trash. Seems simple enough.
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