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It's easy to get lost in the lingo when liberal radio host Stephanie Miller and her conservative opponent Doug McIntyre fervently debate a host of pressing environmental issues on Supper Club with Tom Bergeron. But political parties aside, what do all these eco-chic buzz words really mean? Here are some of the most common green issues under debate in the upcoming election.
Clean energy. With the price of gas sky rocketing and the realization that fossil fuels are doing major damage to our planet, more and more emphasis is being placed on the search for cleaner alternative sources of energy. Such investment means the creation of a whole new sector of clean energy jobs across a wide spectrum of different industries. One major environmental debate facing our country relates to which alternatives are the best investments. Here are some well known options:
- Biofuel is fuel derived from recently dead biological material, usually plants. It is one of the cleanest alternative fuel options. By purchasing a diesel fueled car, a driver can fill up with biofuels like those made from used vegetable oil.
- Hybrid technology relates to vehicles that combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor as the power source in order to reduce emissions.
- Better battery technology allows fully electric automobiles to run with zero emissions.
- Other clean energy includes solar power, wind power, and hydroelectric energy.
Cap-and-Trade policies. Cap-and-trade systems add a financial incentive for emission reductions by assigning a cost to polluting. The most famous cap-and-trade proposal is the Kyoto Protocol. In such a system, a cap is placed on a group of polluters by environmental regulators to limit the amount of emissions allowed. A polluter must pay for excess emissions. The cap is generally set at a significantly lower level than what a polluter, such as a power plant, had formerly emitted. Each unit of pollution now has a financial value, a real motivation in a capitalist economy. Companies can buy and sell permits in order to continue operating in the most profitable manner for them. Companies that choose to keep polluting must pay a premium to companies who choose to reduce their emissions, while pollution overall is reduced.
Becoming energy independent. This is the mother of all environmental buzz words. To get a better understanding of what it really means, it's best to know the numbers. Right now the U.S. uses more than 7 billion barrels of oil per year at a cost of more than three trillion dollars. Not only are we depending on unstable Middle Eastern countries for the majority of this oil, we are throwing away tons of money that we can't get back. Massive steps to alter social norms through the development of alternative energy, the use of public transportation, and green urban development are required to make just a dent in the 13.5 million barrels of foreign oil the U.S. imports each day.
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