No Perfect Solution

For some reason I expected this section of Climate Changed to be a bit more upbeat. Squarzoni (FINALLY!) begins to mention the alternative sources of energy that are available. At first glance, solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, biofuels, and nuclear energy all sound like the perfect answer to the problem. They all create energy without creating the CO₂ that fossil fuels create. And right when you think, ” This sounds awesome! Why haven’t we done this?” , you find out that the solution is not as perfect as you imagined it would be. Hydropower is cheap, clean, and effective but, the dams can flood fertile land and displaces people. Wind energy works, but creates issues with landscapes and bird migration. Nuclear energy is an option, but it is very dangerous and produces radioactive waste that lasts for thousands of years.

The one thing that all sources of renewable energy have in common is that they all have critical drawbacks. Moreover, none of these alternatives are effective if the population does not significantly reduce its energy consumption. There is also the issue of transitioning our oil driven economy to a green economy.

After taking the time to really think about this section, I realized that there will be no perfect solution to climate change. Humans are imperfect creatures so anything that we create will have some flaws. As much as we want to hope that there is a clear cut remedy for every problem, this is not always the case. It seems that any source of renewable energy that we may use will have some drawbacks.