CQ Researcher Chapter 4 Response

Air pollution is one of the issues arise from industrialization. The excessive carbon dioxide, ozone, and pm 2.5 in the atmosphere caused global climate change. These harmful particles are also dangerous to the vulnerable group of people, such as elders and children. According to CQ Researcher, “Air pollution kills 3.3 million people a year, including 55,000 in the United States, mostly from strokes and heart attacks…” Air pollution has indirectly caused many people to have serious health issues. The government therefore steps in to regulate the amount of pollutants that can be released into the air. The Clean Air Act set up regulations for power companies and factories. President Obama raised the standard even higher after the participation in the Paris conference. Environmentalists are happy about this because finally there is a degree of control for air pollution. However, the power corporations are not happy because they need to invest more money for cleaner energy. This would also mean some of the coal or oil burning factories would be shut down due to the high level of pollution. Corporations would have to build new plants to keep up the demand of energy. It would take them years before they can retrieve the up-front investment. The energy bills for average residents will increase as a result.

Both environmentalists and the corporation owners have valid point. While the price would definitely go up if the equipment undergoes upgrade, the local air quality will become better. The current Clean Air Act is not as strict as the environmentalists would like because the energy corporations have more money to lobby the Congressmen or Congresswomen. In order to upgrade or renew the Act, I strongly believe listing out the economic benefits for corporations would be more useful. We cannot only look in short-term revenue, but also long-term revenue. Clean coal or renewable energy will be more sustainable on the Earth and brings beneficial health effects. It does cost a lot of money to invest in sustainable energy, but this is the road that the planet needs to go. The Earth cannot support lives on this planet if the greenhouse gas would not reduce. Currently, we are making our own end-of-world apocalypse by pollution the planet. If the energy corporations wish to earn more money in the future, they need to act now to reduce the release of carbon dioxide. We need to think about our future generations.