The Development of Sustainable Energy Sources in the United States Essay

The Development of Sustainable Energy Sources in the United States - Essay Example Glaciers have been melting and shrinking, weather patterns are changing, sea levels and rising, mosquitoes are spreading and corals are dying from the acidification and warming of the oceans and seas (Hansen et al., 2008, p16). According to Hansen et al. (2008), the world needs to lower the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere by 350 ppm or lower in order to avoid further- and possibly catastrophic effects of climate change (p16). While other people may see such re-orientation of the power industry as an unnecessary and expensive push, I say that it is about time that the United States does its share in the global effort to mitigate climate change and its effects. In fact, such step is, from the global political perspective, long overdue. The United States has consistently avoided signing binding treaties on climate change mitigation. There is a certain level of global consensus, evident in the Kyoto Protocol, that developed nations must bear a heavier responsibility in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) as a result of more than a century of industrial activity. However, the United States (U.S.), as major world superpower refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement which binded 37 industrialized countries and the European community in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2005. In the Copenhagen Accord, the U.S. only committed a 4% reduction of GHGs from 1990 levels by 202 0 (Biello, 2010, paragraph 1) a targeted way below the commitment of other countries such as China, Brazil and the European Union (paragraph 3). From a business- and rational economic perspective, investing in the development of new energy sources and abandoning oil reserves in the Gulf Coast and in Alaska may easily be seen as wasteful, and even risky. However, given the fact that fossil fuels are finite resources, the country has no choice but to develop renewable energy sources that could replace existing energy sources before the latter  totally becomes depleted.