http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/09/13/clean-energy-is-cooling-the-economy-and-damaging-the-environment/
This article was eye opening but I am also a bit critical. I think that the writer has a valid point about the amount of energy regulations but his view is very one sided. I think that clean energy can benefit communities and can eventually replace oil and natural gas. The author's opinion is that drilling and exporting oil and natural gas is the only way to increase GDP. This seems skewed because the article is supposed to talk about how clean energy damages the environment and there is nothing about that or how drilling affects the environment. I do agree that places where drilling is available do benefit from the increased income but the question is; how long can the areas support a practice that negatively affects the environment around them? I also agree that natural gas doesn't contribute to carbon emissions as much as oil and is a better fuel. I don't understand why the author critiqued the Climate Action Plan because it simply states that money from taxes will help fund clean energy projects. The article states that putting so many regulations on a struggling economy can only have negative impacts and I agree that that is true up to a certain point.
Positives and Negatives of "Clean Energy"
ReplyDeletePositives: Companies who use clean energy pay less taxes, and the environment is usually better off since less emissions go up into the atmosphere.
Negatives: What happens when clean energy literally explodes in your face? Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus shale made the local water supplies flammable! If those plans explode near a elementary school (could happen to CW), a place for potential economic growth could turn into a environmental disaster, like Chernobyl (I know it was a NUCLEAR disaster there, but the impact could be similar).
In the long run, safe means of obtaining clean energy, like solar and wind, will be cheap and efficient; however, for "clean energy" like natural gas, we have to be careful.