12 May 2007

On Energy and the Environment

First, a Happy Mother's Day to all who are reading, their mothers, their grandmothers, et cetera.

I am quite a believer in environmental reform. Being on my high school's Students for the Preservation of the Earth club, I believe we have to break away from our Hummer-using, gas-guzzling attitude and start to conserve. There are many ways in which we can do this:
  • Rewrite the tax code, rewriting any loopholes(especially for businesses). Then, formulate a tax break for businesses that use at least 50% of gross income for research, development, and marketing of alternative energy sources.
  • Create recycling systems and increase marketing for mini-flourescent bulbs(the 'spiral bulbs').
  • Do what the Europeans do: when using nuclear power, recycle nuclear waste.
  • Increase CAFE standards(gas mileage standards, not the amount of caffeine at your corner Starbucks) to 30 MPG.
  • Finally, encourage American car companies to create alternative energy cars, which would decrease carbon emissions and increase jobs.

In conclusion, there are a variety of things we can do. Then, the question lies: why aren't we doing anything about the climate change problem? Why isn't the Bush administration doing anything about it? The answer is simple: The Bushes are from the highest 1%! They are, and have always been, in cahoots with the oil industry! That's the reason why gas prices are going up!

I know I sound like a liberal hack by saying it's the Bush administration's fault, but they're not the only ones to blame. The modern media has erred in not covering the climate crisis-and the gas crisis-enough, and (dare I say it, being a union supporter) it is the UAW's fault as well, being that they have stood strong for years that they do not want to raise CAFE standards.

There are a lot of people to blame, but we have no time to blame. All that we can do is reform and change.

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