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Selena Lin
Mr. Davis
Government 2
25 October 2016
Alternative Energy Act
In the past decade alone, carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere rose more
than 100 parts per million (ppm), marking the highest concentration of pollution since the
industrial revolution. Being a highly developed nation, the United States is dependent on
nonrenewable sources of energy such as oil, gasses, and nuclear energy to power its
activities. With current technology, the country is more than capable of transitioning from
its reliance on fossil fuels to more secure, sustainable, and practical sources of renewable
energy. Alternative energies, such as solar or wind power, are one of the most overlooked
reserves of the nation despite being some of the most abundant resources. The countrys
slow progression to becoming energy efficient and environmentally aware can be blamed
on the government and private companies undivided funding towards the harvesting of
fossil fuels. Legislations regarding renewable energy have a hard time passing due to
large corporate influences that claim renewable energy to be unreliable and costly.
Fortunately, the benefits of renewable energy are being recognized and are becoming
widely popularized in the recent years. With additional funding, an environmentally
sustainable, economically advantageous, and efficient lifestyle with many health benefits
can be established to promote the advancement of nationwide sustainability.
Renewable energies have drastically low carbon footprints compared to nonrenewable fossil fuels; they are much more environmentally sustainable and will not
contribute additional CO2 emissions to the atmosphere.
Electricity production accounts for more than one-third of U.S. global warming
emissions, with the majority generated by coal-fired power plants, which produce
approximately 25 percent of total U.S. global warming emissions; natural gas-

fired power plants produce 6 percent of total emissions (Benefits of

Renewable).
In comparison, alternative energies have 100 to 180 percent lower carbon
emissions rates, effectively reducing air pollution to minimal amounts. Once gathered and

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combusted into power suitable to generate electricity, close to 100 percent of the energy
yield is properly transferred meaning no energy is lost. Every watt of energy gathered is
being used to its full extent in comparison to fossil fuels, which loses 80 percent or more
of its original energy yield (Miller 386). Since the amount gathered is essentially the net
energy received, renewable energy provides maximum protection against land
disturbances, as theres no need for the mass mining of coal or fracking of oil to counter
energy loss. This compensation typically leaves major environmental disturbances.
Unlike fossil fuels, there is no impact towards the geography or the biological niches of
local organisms when harvesting renewable energy. Conventional forms of harvesting
fossil fuels can include surface mining, drilling, water blasting, and underground mining.
Not only do these approaches severely damage the land, preventing certain ecosystems
from ever recovering to support any form life, but also emit crippling rates of pollution.
Through alternative energy, consumers can easily receive the same amount of energy
yield without the release of 2.07 pounds of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (U.S. Energy
Information). Clean energy can be gathered virtually anywhere and leave little to no
impact on their surrounding niches. Renewable resources are widely accessible; they are
extremely reliable and can never become depleted.
The economic growth and sustainability of using renewable resources are
extremely promising. In regards to the work force alone, there is a projected 20%
increase in jobs by 2020 and approximately 240,000 jobs can be created and
maintainedIf the U.S. relied solely on fossil fuels, the country would only maintain
around 75,000 jobs (Lacey). This massive jump in employment will help boost
economic growth and preserve the development of the alternative energy industry, as job
opportunities revolving around maintenance or research regarding clean energy
technologies will constantly arise. Alternative energy does extremely well in supporting
the economy through tax money and the California Energy Commission has found that
solar thermal power plants yield twice as much tax revenue as conventional, gas-fired
plants, (Dollars From Sense). Renewable energy companies invest a lot into production
and labor wages because there are ultimately more jobs to support the development. As
renewable resources can be locally gathered anywhere, the net profit can be kept, which
supports the local taxes and flow of the regional economy. An increasing number of

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alternative energy companies have started their investments into energy sources such as
wind and solar voltaic to increase their revenue. Alternative energy investments not only
provide relief towards the consumers (who now pay lower electricity bills) but also serve
as a steady income for private landowners in rural regions. From creating numerous job
opportunities to supplementing and maintaining tax flows, the vast range of economical
benefits that alternative energy offers are worth the investments.
Renewable energy holds a multitude of benefits with the key factor that it is
highly efficient while being health conscious. With the aid of more in-depth research and
rapid improvements on green technologies, scientists and environmentalists are able to
design a system that captures, stores, and transfers high-grade energy that will preserve
excess power, ensuring no unnecessary energy loss. Additionally, pollution prevention
efforts such as the P2 established research programs that help businesses and industries
identify better environmental strategies and solutions for complying with federal and
state environmental regulations which helps to fund the projects for technological
improvement of certain systems while ensuring its environmental impacts dont affect the
citizens (Pollution Prevention Grants). Efforts to keep air quality as clean as possible
have been enacted due to numerous studies that links between air pollutants and
morbidity due to respiratory issues The World Bank estimates that a 10 per cent
reduction in particulate matter levels (PM10) would reduce mortality by 1,000 deaths
each year. (Paul 39). These researches look for ways to allow consumers to save more
money while keeping the environment ideal for the physical wellbeing of the population.
For example, one of the newer developed solar technologies allow for higher yields of
electrical and hydrogen fuel cells that then leads to a thirty percent drop in energy
demand while at the same time, release no carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere
(Bergeron). Through expanded research more sources of efficient energy convertors can
be discovered and used to the advantage of not only spreading environmental awareness
but also to help improve health issues associated with conventional energy sources.
Despite the promising potential of alternative energy, there still lie some obstacles
that prevent the full implementation of switching to clean technologies. One of the major
setbacks includes cost; it costs a lot to support alternative energy. Commercially, it is a lot
cheaper for companies to invest in fossil fuels as compared to green technology. Not only

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does the latter require funding for research, but also the industrial development and
construction of alternative energy sites. However, renewable resources are becoming
cheaper in the long run. Experts predict, at the same time fossil fuel prices rise, new
technology will likely reduce renewable energy costs, (Heal 32). Alternative energy can
never become depleted, as a result maintaining a consistent price. Fossil fuel costs are
constantly fluctuating depending on their availability. As resources become more limited,
the cost to continue funding for fossil fuel projects will become increasingly steep.
Statistics from researches regarding wind power also show that the cost of generating
electricity from wind has fallen by more than 40 percent over the past three years
(Production Tax Credit). Not only is wind power becoming much more affordable, but it
is also sustainable and reliable as wind is always unlimited and far-reaching. It can be
true that theres not always the perfect condition to gather renewable energy. There will
be cloudy days where photo voltaic cells wont be able to capture as much sunlight to
transfer into energy and there are times where wind settles to a mere breeze. These highly
selective conditions can make it difficult to fully implement renewable resource sites
however, there is an open list of energy alternatives that are readily accessible in the
United States: wind power, solar energy, photovoltaic cells, hydropower, etc.
Additionally, wind power is vastly accessible throughout the entire country and this must
be taken advantage of to strategically capture wind energy, powering major cities (Wind
Energy). Different systems can be placed next to one another to work together,
minimizing possible flaws. Concerns regarding potential risks of renewable resources can
easily be resolved through investments and adequate research and planning.
An environmentally sustainable, health conscious, and economically beneficial
lifestyle can be easily achieved through increased government funding and research. A
transition to renewable resources is important and much needed in order to upkeep the
demands of a growing population. The federal government must start providing support
for the advancement of living sustainably especially due to the abundance of resources
available domestically.

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Works Cited
Web Sources:
"Benefits of Renewable Energy Use." Union of Concerned Scientists. Union of
Concerned Scientists, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. <http://www.ucsusa.org/cleanenergy/renewable-energy/public-benefits-of-renewablepower#.WBAVTEv7WFI>.
Bergeron, By Louis, and Louis Bergeron. "The World Can Be Powered by Alternative
Energy, Using Today's Technology, in 20-40 Years, Says Stanford Researcher
Mark Z. Jacobson." Stanford University. Stanford University, 26 Jan. 2011. Web.
09 Sept. 2016. < http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/january/jacobson-worldenergy-012611.html>.
Lacey, Stephen. "The Economic Impact of Renewable Energy." Economic Impact.
Renewable Energy World, 20 Apr. 2007. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
< http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2007/04/the-economic-impactof-renewable-energy-48201.html>.
Paul, James, Liam Magee, and Manfred Steger. "Urban Sustainability in Theory and
Practice: Circles of Sustainability (2015)." Academia.edu. N.p., 2015. Web. 26
Oct. 2016.
<http://www.academia.edu/9294719/Urban_Sustainability_in_Theory_and_Practi
ce_Circles_of_Sustainability_2015_>.
"Pollution Prevention Grants Program." Alternative Fuels Data Center. U.S. Department
of Energy, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2016. <http://www.afdc.energy.gov/laws/272>.
Production Tax Credit. "Production Tax Credit for Renewable Energy." Union of
Concerned Scientists. Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
< http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/increase-renewable-energy/production-taxcredit#.WBAIZEv7WFI>.
"Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit (PTC)." Department of Energy. U.S.
Department of Energy, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
<http://energy.gov/savings/renewable-electricity-production-tax-credit-ptc>.
"U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis."

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Renewable & Alternative Fuels. U.S. Department of Energy, n.d. Web. 09 Sept.
2016. <http://www.eia.gov>.
"Wind Energy ." Wind Energy. Purdue University, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2016.
< https://ag.purdue.edu/extension/renewable-energy/Pages/Wind-Energy.aspx>.
Print Sources:
Dollars from Sense: The Economic Benefits of Renewable Energy. Golden, CO: National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1997. PDF. 17 Oct. 2016.
< http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy97/20505.pdf>.
Heal, Geoffrey. "The Economics of Renewable Energy." (2009): 32. Global
Development and Environmental Institute, Tufts University, 2014. PDF. 25 Oct.
2016.
<http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/education_materials/modules/RenewableEnergyE
con.pdf>.
Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott Spoolman. 15 and 16. Living in the Environment, AP
Edition. Belmont, C.A.: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.