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Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy

types?

What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy types? : A Review of Literature
Joseph Reyes
University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

In a modern world faced with issues of global warming the energy crisis has become
more important than ever to solve. In this literature review, it looks at the
influences, origination of relying on fossil fuels, the costs of switching energy types,
and the action needed to be taken by Americans to see what energy best suits
them. This report will determine if fossil fuels or renewable energy will be what
future societies will rely on. In order to find out what is best there must be an
overview how this can happen and what are the implications of how life will be lived
in the future with these types of energy resources. All that can be seen at the
moment is that if the issue is not solved soon then there might be facing major
problems in the near future.

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy types? : A Review of
Literature
The energy crisis in America has been quite a rollercoaster. There are many different
types of energy that Americans use in todays modern world. Although the energy used today can
affect future societies if it is not used wisely. Some say if America continues to depend on nonrenewable energy this could contribute to greenhouse gasses that creates global warming.
According to article by Kump he states The PETM bears some striking resemblances to the
human-caused climate change unfolding today. Most notably, the culprit behind it was a massive
injection of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and oceans, comparable in
volume to what our persistent burning of fossil fuels could deliver in coming centuries. Kump,
L. R. (2011).
Its so easy for many Americans to ignore the fact that global warming is a real issue and
the energy used today contributes to that. Of course the U.S is not the only contributor but, if this
nation wants to solve global warming it should lead the world like they always do. There are
many ways that Americans can contribute to create a cleaner society. It will be a tough time to
switch completely too renewable energy but if the right steps are taken there might still be time
to fix this energy issue and its contribution to global warming. That is why the debate continues
for all Americans to determine the review of these 4 questions:
1. What is influencing American culture to stick with non-renewable energy over
renewable energy?

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

2. How did we first start creating the problem with relying on non-renewable energy and
what caused this?
3. What are the costs of solving this energy issue?
4. What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy types?
With these questions it will be easier to determine why American culture has not switched over
to keeping the environment safe by looking at energy culture, where did the problem originate,
what cost are made to switch energy types, and what action should be taken from all Americans
to solve this energy crisis.
What is influencing American culture to stick with non-renewable energy over
renewable energy?
So there must be an influence that is stopping Americans from converting to clean energy
and the culture that is reinforcing this common lifestyle. Look at former U.S. secretary of Energy
Spencer, Abraham he states the following He remains a strong advocate for tapping off-shore
oil reserves and opening the national parks for drilling, but he gives short shrift to the
conservative claim that scientific evidence about global warming is a hoax. While he endorses
solar and wind power as auxiliary energy sources, his central thesis focuses on the need to build
more than 50 new nuclear plants in the next 20 years as a major component of a viable program
for clean energy. LIGHTS OUT: Ten Myths (and Real Solutions to) America's Energy Crisis.
(2010).This shows how politics plays a role to determine what clean energy is and how they plan
to create it for Americans. The comment made by the U.S. secretary of Energy doesnt call for
switching to renewable resources, but to continue to rely on nuclear power which is a nonrenewable resource.

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

There are also other influences that are effecting the American culture. According to a
study conducted state by state the following was said Lutzenhiser et al. similarly write: the
macro-patterning of energy use seems to be strongly influenced by the deployment of wealth and
material culture (2002:251). Proponents of both political economy and ecological
modernization incorporate notions of wealth and material social structure into their hypotheses of
energy use. The built urban environment is a massive representation of material culture in
modern human society, generally, and U.S. society, specifically. Clement, M. T., & Schultz, J.
(2011).This means that Americans have grown to urbanization in its culture and the type of
energy consumptions represents the materials an individual may have. Some Americans will
rather stick to old energy types if it means that it will make them look wealthier or have extra
material to show off. This creates a huge problem when it comes to converting to clean energy.
How did we first start creating the problem with relying on non-renewable energy
and what caused this?
Looking at the influences that effect American culture can show how all this was effected
from the origination of the problem. There must have been a start when Americans saw an
expansion of urbanization and how the energy they used affected todays modern lifestyle. In the
primary research conducted by me the purpose of the survey was to see why people still use
fossil fuels in their daily lives and why they choose this type of energy source. So in my primary
research I had ask Why do you still rely on fossil Fuels the most popular answer out of 25
American participants was Its the only energy type that is available to me. Reyes, Joseph
(2016).This could mean from the survey that not all energy types are available to American

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

citizens. Although the survey had limited results it does show that for some Americans it is
harder to switch to a different energy source because of the availability.
Now the question raises another point in that fossil fuels is a preferred energy type
because its already readily available in America. Somehow the U.S. got stuck in the past by
using the same energy that was used 50 years ago. During the rise of the Industrial revolution
came the urbanization which creates a need for energy such as fossil fuels. According to Page he
states The energy needed to pull ploughs or haul loads came from the food consumed by
animals or laborers. The heat for cooking, heating and industry came mainly from wood. Plants
were also the ultimate source of many raw materials, from wool and cotton to timber for houses
and ships. Other materials, from cement to iron, couldn't be made without burning wood or
charcoal. This meant that as populations grew and energy use rose, land area became a limiting
factor. Negative feedbacks kicked in. If charcoal burners used more wood, there was less for
building and ship making. If more trees were planted, there was less land for growing food.
Page, M. L. (2014). This states that because there were limiting resources of wood the rise of
coal would be inevitable for the advancement of the Industrial revolution. What this could mean
also is that eventually there was a need to rely on fossil fuels that are used today to create a
transition to a modern society. Looking at figure 1.1 it can be seen what types of energy sources
humans have been using in the last 210 years.

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

Figure 1.1.

Primary sources of energy in the world from 1800 to 2010.

Towler, B. F. (2014). The Future of Energy. In B. F. Towler, The Future of Energy. Elsevier
Science.

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

From the graph it shows how the previous resource was correct in saying that biomass
was the most used energy in the 19th century. It wasnt until the early 20th century that coal
surpassed biomass in energy consumption. Along the rest of the 20th century it can also be seen
that oil and gas are among the highest energy used and surpassed coal around the 1960s. While
at the bottom are nuclear, hydro, and renewable resources such as wind, sun, geo. This shows
how dependent Americans are becoming on fossil fuels and what this could mean for the future.
It shows how humans are evolving when it comes to advancement in technology and so the need
for energy resources increases while looking for cheapest and most sustainable energy source.
This can be seen when the increase of gas and oil spiked in the mid-20th century. This was due to
the invention of the automobile and the need to power it by gas.
What are the costs of solving this energy issue?
What can be done now is to switch into a cleaner energy and see if it is also cost effective
for an American lifestyle. It can also be possible that there will always be a dependence on fossil
fuels if it remains cheap. What can be done is compare the different types of energy used today
and see if in the future what it will cost Americans. In a book about renewable energy it states the
following The truth is that in addition to cutting pollution and reducing our dependence on oil
imports, renewable energy has a major advantage over fossil fuels: sharply declining prices over
time. The price of solar energy production, for example, has fallen dramatically as the industry
has gained new economies of scale. A recent request [in January 2011] for proposals by Southern
California Edison (one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the country) found that solar
power is already among the cheapest ways for them to generate new electricity. (Haugen &
Musser, 2012) What this means is that in the U.S. we have showed and proved that renewable

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

energy can work and might be cheaper than what most Americans think. Overall it would also
cut out pollution and get rid of our dependence in the Middle East. Which would ease political
tension between the U.S. and its foreign affairs in the Middle East.
How else can the U.S. become more open about converting their energy use to renewable
resources over the traditional use of fossil fuels? Perhaps if it can be shown that in the future the
costs of renewable energy will be cheaper than using fossil fuels Americans can start using it in
the near future. According to the article presented about the costs of renewable energy it states
The economics of renewable energy technologies are critical to understanding their potential
role in the energy sector, and how quickly and at what cost we shift the energy sector onto a truly
sustainable path. Unfortunately, most Governments have not systematically collected the
necessary data to track the trends in the evolution -- many would rightly say revolution -- of
renewable energy technology costs. The result is that too often misconceptions about costs or
out-of-date data have undermined policy effectiveness. AMIN, A. Z. (2015). After reading this
statement it refers to how the costs of renewable energy has begun to rise in popularity due to its
low costs and that government policy has prevented the growth of converting to this type of
energy. Further in the article it states how the future generation will overcome the fossil fuel
generation as technology will make it easier to convert to using renewable energy resources.
What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy types?
So after learning what caused the problem and the culture along with costs of energy use, we
now wonder how Americans should decide what energy type they should use. It seems after
further research that government has the strongest influence over the energy that is being

Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

provided to Americans today. It calls for policy change if Americans are passionate enough to
convert to using renewable energy. In the article about policy change it states This revolution is
not just a technological process; it is first and foremost, a societal and political process in which
technology is one determining factor. Thus, the role of different stakeholders, as well as societal
needs and wants, are to be duly taken into account for the transition to be timely and effective.
International agreements, as well as small and large-scale infrastructure projects to support the
transition phase, all need to be based on a clear vision of the future and require laborious
dealings and negotiation. Dov, V., & Battaglini, A. (2015). So according to this statement it
means if Americans are to take action into converting to clean energy they must take into account
of the social and political factors that are involved in solving the problem. The technology that is
readily available will also effect policy change in regards to converting to renewable energy such
as tidal wind and solar panels. So in order to take action with this energy issue Americans have to
look into their local government and see what is already available to them. If there is legislation
or want to see government take action on energy then Americans must know where they stand in
regards to the energy they want to use. In order for change to happen there must be a wider
availability about the knowledge of using alternative energy sources and demand action from
local government to provide the technology to convert to renewable energy source.
Conclusion
So the actions that can be taken in solving the energy crisis and the costs of converting
energy types are there for Americans to choose. It has been true that for centuries humans have
always use a certain type of energy to help them live their everyday lives. While in the past 100
years it has been constant in using coal, gas, and oil as the top energy consumption. If Americans

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Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

can change the attitudes about how they view energy in a social way then maybe they can change
which energy type they should use widely in America. It might be that Americans are already
comfortable with the energy they use or are not ready to use another type of energy. Although it
has already been shown that America is ready for change, it is up to its people to decide if the
energy crisis can be solved soon or be faced with the consequences of sticking with fossil fuels.

References
AMIN, A. Z. (2015). HOW RENEWABLE ENERGY CAN BE COST-COMPETITIVE. UN
Chronicle, 52(3), 8-11.
Clement, M. T., & Schultz, J. (2011). Political Economy, Ecological Modernization, and
Energy Use: A Panel Analysis of State-Level Energy Use in the United States, 19601990. Sociological Forum, 26(3), 581-600. doi:10.1111/j.1573-7861.2011.01263.x
Dov, V., & Battaglini, A. (2015). Energy Policy and Climate Change: A
Multidisciplinary Approach to a Global Problem. Energies (19961073), 8(12), 1347313480. doi:10.3390/en81212379
Haugen, D. M., & Musser, S. (2012). Renewable Energy. In D. M. Haugen, & S.
Musser, Renewable Energy (p. 45).
Kump, L. R. (2011). THE Last Great Global Warming. Scientific American, 305(1), 5661.
LIGHTS OUT: Ten Myths (and Real Solutions to) America's Energy Crisis. (2010).
Kirkus Reviews, 78(7), 287.

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Running head: What action should be taken from all Americans to switch energy
types?

Page, M. L. (2014). World without fossil fuels. New Scientist, 224(2991), 34-39
Towler, B. F. (2014). The Future of Energy. In B. F. Towler, The Future of Energy.
Elsevier Science.

Reyes,Joseph (2016) Energy use among Americans


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