Clean Energy Nation: Freeing America from the Tyranny of Fossil Fuels

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SECTION TWO

AMERICA’S ENERGY ISSUES

M

ost Americans don’t often consider the direct and very real

impact that energy use has on them as individuals. Whatever

form it might take, energy use affects virtually every aspect of

our lives, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Energy issues abound all around us, both in dramatic ways, such as

the rising price at the gasoline pump, and in subtle, often unrecog-

nized ways, such as the electric power required to clean and distribute

our water supply. In this section, we will examine in depth eight of

America’s most important energy issues to better understand why it is

so essential for our nation to gain its freedom from fossil fuels.

In Chapter 4, we’ll look at why clean energy will help us preserve

our democratic form of government. In Chapter 5, we’ll consider

our national security and how achieving our energy independence

can help make Americans significantly safer from foreign threats. In

Chapter 6, we’ll examine how clean and green energy can enable us to

become better stewards of the natural world and fulfill our moral ob-

ligation to protect the environment. In Chapter 7, we’ll consider how

America’s economy can grow more robust and secure as we develop

sustainable-energy industries that will create hundreds of thousands

of green-collar jobs. In Chapter 8, we’ll find out how enhancing the

efficiency of our nation’s vehicles and transportation systems is abso-

lutely vital for achieving our energy independence. In Chapter 9, we’ll

learn why our nation’s food supply is so closely intertwined with fos-

sil fuels and how energy independence can help our country’s farm-

ers provide the agricultural products needed to sustain our modern

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AMERICA’S ENERGY ISSUES

civilization in future years. In Chapter 10, we’ll analyze how achiev-

ing a sustainable-energy society will help improve the health and

well-being of all Americans. Finally, in Chapter 11, we’ll gain an un-

derstanding of how building America’s brainpower by improving our

schools and educational systems is an absolutely necessary component

to achieving our energy independence.

Some of the chapters in this section will deal with potential ca-

lamities that might come about in the twenty-first century because of

the peaking of global oil production and the climate changes resulting

from global warming. We must accept the fact that modern civiliza-

tion will pay a heavy price if we continue traveling down the hydro-

carbon highway. We must not sugarcoat the truth about our present

energy situation and ignore the catastrophic harms our addiction to

fossil fuels might bring.

On the other hand, we must not let these potential troubles dis-

courage us from moving forward and finding solutions—and taking

action to avert their impact. Instead, we must use the threat of these

doom-and-gloom projections to motivate us to step up our efforts to

gain energy independence. We are not helpless in shaping our des-

tiny. There are viable solutions for a better future for all of us, which

we’ll learn about in the third section of this book. As you read about

America’s energy issues, please bear in mind that we can avoid the

brunt of many of the possible trials and tribulations by implementing

a vigorous national energy policy that will lead to a sustainable-energy

society. We all have a bright future ahead of us if we can keep up our

courage and take action to achieve it.