Essay on To Drill or Not to Drill

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To Drill or Not To Drill?
Shawn Jibben
HUM/111
04/19/13
Melissa Bramm
Renewable energy is a greatly debated topic with a lot of different opinions. Many people argue that renewable energy is costly and does more harm to the environment than the alternatives. Many others argue the exact opposite, saying that renewable energy is the key to living a harmonic, energy-dependent life in which the environment does not suffer. Though there is no way to prove which is right at this moment it is still worth it to consider differing opinions coming from various experts within the field.
One of the viewpoints that I read states that renewable energy is a waste of resources. The amount of land needed, as well as the materials that are needed to build such plants, is too much for the amount of energy output that is received. With the exception of nuclear power plants, which the author states make great amounts of energy for the space that it takes up, fossil fuels are superior in the amount of energy that they put out and the resources used to keep those plants running (Ausubel, 2009.)
The other viewpoint stated that renewable energy is more than worth the effort that’s being put into it. The author states that the problem lies not with the resources themselves, but with the politics involved in pursuing those resources. He says that fossil fuels are causing irreparable damage to the environment and that even if the damage caused is ignored; they are being consumed at a much faster rate than they can be replenished. He states that renewable resources will require a lot of time and energy spent on developing them, as well as large amounts of money, but that the gains outshine the penalties (“Renewable Energy is Beneficial for the Environment” 2007.)
I mostly disagree with the first opinion, and mostly agree with the second. I feel that while renewable resources are not what many people think they are, they are a better alternative than fossil fuel. Fossil fuel is causing a lot of damage to the environment and is being consumed at a tremendous rate, thus it’s only potential lies in that it is cheap and effective. Nuclear energy is the only renewable resource I feel is worth pursuing, and even it is plagued with wasteful byproducts that almost negate the benefits that it gives. In the end, I find that I am not open to many other opinions on renewable energy because I have been grounded in my own for years.
As stated earlier when looking at an opinion that differs from my own I am not very open. In high school I had done research on a certain form of renewable energy and I found that I really liked what I had researched. That has
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