On the Environment
The environment mostly affects humans; the Earth will survive. So what are the keys to a better environment? Clean Water, clean air, and the chance for all species to flourish. I think that all three should are worth consideration.
In this consideration, we need clean water, as we cannot live without it, plus it spawns habits for other species, which we may well make use of in food, companionship, and just natural beauty. Water has long been a source of power and irrigation, sewage, and even drinking. Going back through history, however, we have made some mistakes.
We often use water for mining and industrial needs, leaving it in poor condition. Dams were meant for us to create reservoirs and power, but they do have a significant impact on nature and potentially on ourselves. Dams, and poor planning, have meant a considerable decline in freshwater oysters, one of the most efficient ways to clean the water and spawning fish. Mining has contaminated the water with heavy metals, cyanide, and other horrible chemicals; Agriculture has upped the presence of nitrates, which in turn cause the dreaded red algae blooms and deprive the ocean of oxygen. Not to mention should there be a dam failure, there are entire communities that could be flooded nearly instantly.
Dam design has made some essential changes, allowing fish to get upriver and limiting the amount of water stored in a single location. Still, many dams were built before thinking about this problem that has devastated localities. Not to mention the danger they potentially impose should they fail.
As for carbon dioxide, many assume the cars are the biggest culprit, and indeed the push for electric vehicles will help; however, there are far more issues the need to be addressed; as stated by Bill Gates, concrete and steel production produces more CO2 than cars and greener solutions for those would help tremendously. Another often ignored problem is the methane given out by cattle, but any answer is also problematic. While we could artificially produce beef in labs, there is still milk and the workforce to retrain.
Many strides in efficiency have been made; I got new windows, new ac, moved to LED lighting, and cut my power bill in half. It would take many years to see the payback but was well worth it as power consumption was dramatically reduced. So, in the end, there is every hope that we can make things better and not give up our lives as we have become used to.
In the end, new power sources and old refurbished ones can dramatically cut our carbon footprint while making new jobs a reality. Some jobs will disappear, yes, but humans have the knack for adaptation, and we should embrace the future, not just cling to the past.
We need to find new ways of conserving and producing power, clean water, and let nature take care of the rest. Solar wind and nuclear power all help, as does the newest practices in storing energy. A long hard look needs to be taken at the national grid vs. microgrids; thank you, Elon Musk.
