Frankly, I don’t really care one way or another about whether or not global warming exists, and if it does exist I don’t care whether or not human activity has caused the globe to warm. The theories and arguments about the issue have devolved into political mudslinging and miss the bigger picture of the climate and energy issues. This past week’s revelation that groups of climate change scientists are colluding to manipulate and present data in a manner that reflects positively on their point of view casts even more doubt on the actual science of the issue. Science is supposed to be free of politics, but I’m not sure that’s the case anymore. Putting science to the side, I’m going to make a conservative argument for the whole idea of going “green.”
Non-renewable fuels like coal and gasoline are currently meeting our nation’s energy needs. Eventually, they’ll run out. Coal will become scarce and oil will become more and more expensive. Of course, currently, we’re blessed to have plentiful, inexpensive supplies of these fossil fuels and every day we’re discovering new supplies and more efficient ways to harvest our current supplies. Regardless of the new supplies we keep finding, they’re all finite sources of energy.
The future is in renewable and more efficient sources of energy simply because one day the fuels we use now will run out. Rather than moving toward a “greener” environment, we need to re-brand this campaign toward a more sustainable future. We need to think about this in an economic perspective. Currently, our nation is running a tremendous trade deficit and a large part of that comes from our dependence on foreign oil. In 2008, we imported $453 billion in petroleum products – American dollars that could be staying in the United States if we found ways other than oil and gasoline to fuel our energy needs.
To keep the American dollars in our country, we need to be on the forefront of developing these renewable technologies. We do not need to replace one import with another by waiting for another nation to develop the technology. The government needs to subtly encourage research and development with tax credits, subsidies and direct research money through universities. Since the end of the Cold War, Federal money being funneled to universities for research has declined substantially. Instead of wasting money on useless pork projects, Congress needs to increase university research funding so we maintain our competitive edge internationally. As a nation, we’ve fashioned our manufacturing around producing high tech, innovative and complex products. The future of innovation is in finding efficient energy delivery systems and renewable energy sources that can be implemented on a national scale.
It is important for the health of our economy and the future of our society to find new renewable sources of energy to supplant the imported energy we rely on and it’s just as important that we are on the forefront of this development. Renewable and more efficient sources of energy are the next field of possibilities for economic development and the United States need to capitalize on this opportunity rather than remaining entrenched in the past. Regardless of the science, a renewable energy push will be good for the economy and for the United States.
