An America without Fossil Fuel Based Energy
The upward trend in global temperatures is directly associated with the increase in greenhouse gases which are a by-product of burning fossil fuels. The human consumption of fossil fuels is contributing to climate change and America’s dependence on oil, per capita, dwarfs that of any other country in the world. The Nation has garnered the attention of the other advanced countries of the world to effect a drastic change in greenhouse gas emissions. America must lead the effort towards a future without fossil fuel based energy by stopping the expansion of domestic oil production, decreasing its consumption, and imposing oil import tariffs in order to fund alternative fuel research and development.
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Although it is commonly believed that most vehicular travel is for commuting to and from work this only accounts for 20% while errands, shopping being the majority overall, make up 4 out of 5 reasons Americans expend fuel (Frankel). It is true, Americans enjoy their freedom to move about in their automobiles. Not until gas prices almost double do they start to cut back on unnecessary travel. So federal legislators have been incrementally imposing regulations on manufacturers to increase fuel efficiency in their vehicles to 35 mpg for both cars and light trucks by 2020 and are becoming more aggressive by proposing a 55 mpg regulation by 2025 (Frankel). And although alternative energy sources are available in many forms today it will take some time to displace petroleum based fuels for transportation. The energy density, or available energy per unit of mass, of fossil fuels is pivotal when engineering vehicles that must travel moderate distances with an inherently limited amount of space (Frankel). In order to match the efficiency of fuel source versus miles attainable alternative fuels would then be consumed at a much higher rate and would have to be more readily available than fuel, geographically speaking. This means that based on the current costs of production there will be a higher cost per mile for the immediate future while technologies are allowed to improve and mature. For this reason, Americans still needs to curb their usage of automobiles and other items that expend