Environmental Security and Long-term Energy Sustainability
The health and well-being of our environment, both at-home and abroad, is perhaps the greatest concern facing our long-term survival as a species. Like it or not, this giant rock we call Earth is our one and only home, the single known place in the universe which can sustain us (at least for now). We must take our role in protecting it seriously; we must leave behind a livable world for our future generations.
This is far from being a right or left issue. This is an issue that concerns people from all walks of life, and all social and economic backgrounds. It matters no different if you’re black, white, wealthy, poor, Republican, Democrat, etc. No person wants to live in a world where our waters are drenched with chemicals, our air filled with smog, and our ground littered with pollutants. The horrific accounts of those forced to live in environments such as these, within the major cities of burgeoning new industrial economies worldwide, should be enough to deter us from ever accepting this fate for our own nation.
Unfortunately, real environmental security is off the table amongst the powerful elites in Washington. For decades the oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear industries have stood in the way of moving our country forward toward a 21st century plan of sustainability. The growth of dangerous new industries, such as the recent fracking boom, have caused great environmental and personal suffering, but little to no long-term energy gains for the nation. The fossil-fuel industry is an archaic creation of the 20th century. It served its purpose for a time, but the world cannot continue to rely on hazardous, finite sources of energy any longer.
What we desperately need in this nation is a plan that will put us on track to actually become energy independent in the world, and to do so in a way that is logical, scientific, modern, clean, and safe. We need a plan of action that dramatically promotes solar, wind, and other sustainable energy development, and we need to do so in a timely, efficient manner. This initiative could go a long way toward dramatically reducing and eventually ending our dependence on fossil fuels worldwide.
The truth of the matter is that an “all-of-the-above” solution to energy independence is not reasonable or logical. Dirty and dangerous energies and fossil fuels are not up to par for what is needed within a sustainable energy future. It is vital that we undertake the necessary initiatives to make our nation energy independent, and that we do so with great urgency. Minor initiatives that call for marginal growth in wind and solar energy sectors are not adequate. This is not a situation that can be prolonged over the course of the entire next century. We need a plan that fundamentally updates our system entirely within years, not decades. This is of vital importance to our national security and long-term survivability as a nation and a species.
We cannot sit idly by and wait for situations to potentially improve. We must invest now in bringing our energy infrastructure up to modern standards. It is an investment that no doubt will pay major dividends for the future growth and prosperity of this nation, and its people.