It seems like every time
I turn on the news there’s a new story being reported about ways in which we
could reduce our carbon footprint. However,
it’s not uncommon for that sustainability story on the news to be followed by
two or more stories about new efforts we’re making to pump as much oil out of
the ground as possible. I was thinking
about this the other day while I was filling my car up at the gas station and a
really striking question occurred to me.
Why is it that almost a quarter of the pollution in this country comes
from the transportation sector but it’s still perfectly acceptable for me to
pump gallons upon gallons of gasoline into my car on a regular basis?
Not only is it ok for us to pump gas into our car
regularly but it’s also ok for us as a country to dedicate billions of dollars
a year to locating and extracting oil from all over the country. It seems that for every effort we make towards
utilizing more clean forms of energy we make an even greater effort to pump
more oil out of the ground. This leads
to huge problems to our countries future efforts towards sustainable development.
The
decision on whether or not to give the developers of the Keystone XL pipeline
the permits that they need is a decision that affects everyone around the
country and even around the world regardless of race, gender, income level, or
any other demographics. An expansion of
the Keystone XL pipeline only adds to the problem that future sustainable
development has become. According to
Webster dictionary, sustainable development is development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs. At this point in time
it is essentially universally accepted by scientists that the burning of fossil
fuels such as oil and natural gas adds to the problem of global warming and
climate change, and these changes in the atmosphere of the planet will
certainly affect the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs. If the expansion to the Keystone
XL pipeline is allowed then at first we would feel the positives that come with
excess oil being fed into the global market, but down the road this initial
positive impact could be greatly overshadowed by the negatives that would come
with the progression of climate change.
Secretary Kerry will announce in the coming months his
decision on whether or not he’s in favor of giving the pipeline the permits it
needs. After considering the effect its
construction would have on the United States’ sustainable development effort I
certainly hope he comes out against expanding the pipeline. In reality the pipeline won’t singlehandedly
destroy the environment and all of the government’s efforts to develop in a
sustainable way, but it’s a huge step in the wrong direction. For too long the United States has talked
about making a change away from dirty sources of energy like petroleum;
however, few changes to this system have materialized. It’s time that we start making a change and I
think that denying the Keystone XL Pipeline could be that first step as a
country towards change. Instead of just
taking the easy way out, and passing the pipeline simply because that’s what
we’ve always done in the past, we could use the denial of building this
pipeline as something to build off of as a country.
It
is our jobs as citizens to be aware of the issues affecting the world we live
in and to let our representatives in our communities and in congress know our
stance on these issues. We need to
continue to develop in a sustainable way as a country so that generations after
us are able to meet their needs with the same ease that we meet ours. If we join together and allow our voices to
be heard then we can ensure that the Keystone XL pipeline is not built and that
sustainable development in this country will continue to grow.
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