Sustainable Energy Futures Economic and Ecological Ramifications of U'S' Energy Policy

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Sustainable Energy FuturesEconomic and
Ecological Ramifications of U.S. Energy Policy

• Kolbi Amon
• Jyri Kuokka
• Jin Kim
• Lisa Epperson
• Candi Ziegert

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Key Players

• Ron Blanchard
• Teacher of High School civics class in Houston,
  TX
• Wants his class to discuss potential sustainable
  energy strategies for the U.S.
• Gwichin
• Native American people
• Dependent on Porcupine caribou
• Would be greatly affected by the prospective oil
  refinement within ANWR

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Key Players

• President Bush and Vice President Cheney
• Current running President and V.P. of the U.S.
• Provide one side of the energy policy argument
• Environmentalists
• Glen Stone
• Old friend of Ron Blanchard
• Energy company executive

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Key Players
Ron Blanchard
Bush and Cheney
Environmentalists
Glen Stone/Corporations
Gwichin
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The Case

• The story opens with the protagonist, Ron
  Blanchard, reflecting on an article about Bushs
  energy plan
• Is a coherent energy plan for
• the U.S. possible?
• Deep conflicts of interest
• Differing assumptions
• Differing views on energy
• supply and demand

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• Recollection of trip to Alaska 10 years ago
• The Gwichin people and porcupine caribou
• The impact of drilling for oil
• On the fragile Arctic tundra
• On the caribou
• On the Gwichin
• Source of food
• Cultural bond
• Religious bond

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Two Sides of the Same Coin

• Bushs Energy Plan
• Engineered to seem like it had merit
• Language used
• Seemed to show concern about the environment
• Would entail
• Increased energy production
• Fossil Fuels
• Nuclear fission
• Tax credits for renewable energy, however...
• Conservation through new technologies
• Opening ANWR for oil production

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• Not concerned with
• Reducing energy consumption
• Raising fuel economy of motor vehicles

• Problems with this plan
• Actual worth of opening ANWR for oil production
• Ignoring problems with nuclear fission
• Costs
• Waste disposal
• Fears of ordinary people
• Ignoring global warming
• Confirmation bias
• In the end, Corporate America would be the winner

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• Environmentalists
• People are consuming too much
• In a way that degrades ecosystems
• Any damage is too much
• Consumption at current levels will
• have disastrous future consequences
• Critical of current industrial practices

• AGAINST
• Drilling ANWR
• Nuclear Fission
• Materialism

• FOR
• Reducing Demand
• Renewable sources of energy
• Industrial regulations

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Advice From Friends Past

• Ron calls his friend Glen Stone for help
• Supports Bushs plan
• His company would do well
• Believes
• The plan would reduce dependence on foreign
  energy sources
• Alternative energy sources are too expensive and
  insufficient to meet the needs of American people
• Jobs depend on a vigorous economy
• Increased energy prices or shortages would hurt a
  lot of people
• Thanks to vastly improved production methods,
  footprint on land would be small and temporary
• Obviously an advocate of very green values...

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The Story, continued

• Presbyterian Church
• General norms
• Justice
• Sustainability
• Sufficiency
• Participation

• 12 Guidelines
• Efficiency
• Adequacy
• Renewability
• Appropriateness
• Risk...

• Cost
• Monetary
• Environmental
• Flexibility
• Aesthetics
• Et al.

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12 Guidelines for Energy Decisions

• Serves as an evaluative tool to assess energy
  policies
• Decision-makers should not expect a perfect fit,
  since this list is so long

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12 Guidelines for Energy Decisions

• Adequacy having enough energy to meet basic
  needs takes priority once it is met, efficiency
  may be considered
• Renewability ability of energy source to be
  replenished (renewable energy takes priority)

• Equity how policy decisions affect different
  parts of society (poor/ vulnerable)
• Efficiency meeting power needs with fewer
  resources through new technologies, frugality

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12 Guidelines for Energy Decisions

• Appropriateness tailoring energy systems to
  basic needs, human capacities, end uses,
• local demand, employment levels, and the
  health of ecological systems

• Risk low-risk potential for energy to harm human
  health, social institutions, and ecological
  systems
• Peace potential to decrease armed conflict by
  avoiding energy dependence (and thus disruption
  of supplies)

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12 Guidelinesfor Energy Decisions

• Cost all monetary, social, environmental costs
  should be included in what the consumers pay
• Employment policies should stimulate the
  creation of jobs and new skills

• Flexibility high capacity of policies and
  options to be changed/ reversed is preferable and
  systems subject to disruption should be avoided

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12 Guidelinesfor Energy Decisions

• Participation Timely Decision-Making processes
  used should allow for those affected to have a
  voice without endless procrastination

• Aesthetics policies that scar the landscape
  should be avoided

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Assessing Major Energy Options Conservation

• energy efficiency
• Strengths low risks, costs sufficiency
  appropriateness high flexibility easily
• reversed
• Weaknesses reduction in employment limited in
  the long run
• Should be a top social priority- incentive
  programs, savings w/o deprivation

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Assessing Major Energy Options Solar Energy

• Forms thermal, biomass, solar electric
• Strengths renewable low risk high efficiency
  flexibility sustainable centuries of experience
• Weaknesses not yet cost-competitive lacking
  infrastructure energy storage problematic
  requires large tracts of land hydroelectric
  impacts ecosystems
• Should be a priority for
• research development

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Assessing Major Energy Options Oil and Natural
Gas

• Forms fossil fuels oil, gasoline, natural
  gases, oil shale, tar sands
• Strengths flexibility has infrastructure
  variety of uses easily understood low cost gas
  is relatively clean burning abundant if source
  resources are exploited
• Weaknesses nonrenewable costs
• will rise air water pollution global
• warming dependency poor
• geopolitical distribution
• Should reduce consumption

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Assessing Major Energy Options Nuclear

• Forms conventional reactors (fission)
• breeder reactors (fission) fusion
• Strengths long-lasting supplies safety record
  is good no global warming or air pollution
• Weaknesses accidents radioactive
  contamination storage of waste vulnerability to
  terrorist attacks nuclear weapons breeder
  reactor fusion not developed high cost
  inappropriate for scale centralization
  technical complexity participation political
  sensitivity least understood of options
• Difficult to rule out most controversial need
  vs. ecological justice risks, costs future
  generations to consider

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Assessing Major Energy Options Coal

• Forms combustion of coal synthetic fuels
• Strengths plentiful supply costs are
  competitive used in various appropriate scale
  burnings chief source of energy for generating
  electricity
• Weaknesses risks of mine accidents, black lung
  disease, air water pollution, acid rain, land
  degradation, global warming, respiratory
  ailments reduces aesthetics transportation is
  costly cumbersome resources scarce in poor
  countries
• Major fuel for transition into sustainable
  future, but a messy fuel

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Assessing Major Energy Options Hydrogen

• Forms hydrogen is separated from oxygen in water
  and recombined in a fuel cell to make
  electricity produced from the reformation of
  natural gas
• Strengths pollution free long-lasting
  plentiful source most abundant element
• Weaknesses need large quantities of energy to
  retrieve hydrogen highly flammable no
  infrastructure requires rare resources
  (platinum) in early stages of development
• Technology is decades away but promising
  possible primary source of motor vehicle fuel in
  the long run

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Bushs Energy Plan

• Economic growth is best!!
• Increase supply of energy
• to meet rising demand.
• Concern about sustaining
• the economy than the
• environment.
• Increased energy production, especially from
  fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) and
  nuclear fission.

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Bushs Energy Plan (contd)

• Drill in ANWR and resuscitate nuclear fission.
• Opening ANWR will be a golden opportunity to meet
  the increasing demand of consumers and to reduce
  dependence on foreign sources.
• Oil exploration in ANWR will not cause
  substantial ecological damage.

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Bushs Energy Plan (contd)

• Minimize government intervention in markets
• The marketplace, technical virtuosity, increased
  efficiency, and the deregulation of industry will
  both increase economic growth and solve energy
  and environmental problems.
• Economic expansion
• high material standards of living
• The American way of life

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Assessing the plan

• Pros
• Mitigate the effects of high energy costs on
  low-income consumers
• Support tax-credits for renewable energy
• Less expensive than alternative sources
• Minimize damages

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Assessing the plan (contd)

• Cons
• Costs, disposal of wastes, and fears of ordinary
  people.
• Failure of global warming
• Not lead to energy independence

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Nuclear Power, ANWR Global Warming
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The Kyoto Treaty

• A protocol to the international
• Framework Convention
• Objective to achieve "stabilization of
  greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere
  at a level that would prevent dangerous
  anthropogenic interference with the climate
  system.
• Reduce greenhouse gases that cause climate change

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The Kyoto Treaty

• Drawn up in 1997
• Commits industrialized nations to reducing their
  emissions of Greenhouse gases (CO2) by about 5.2
  below their 1990 levels
• Revised with the Bonn compromises in 2002
• reduced emissions reduction goal from 5.2 to 2
  in
• hopes of gaining US involvement
• Needed to be ratified by countries who were
  responsible for at least 55 of the worlds Carbon
  emissions to come into force.

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The Kyoto Treaty

• As of June 2007, 172 parties have ratified the
  protocol
• 35 of these countries are required to reduce
  greenhouse gas emissions to the levels specified
  for each of them in the treaty.
• 137 countries have ratified the protocol, but
  have no obligation beyond monitoring and
  reporting emissions.
• As of November 2007, the US,
• and Kazakhstan are the only
• nations not to have ratified the
• treaty

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Environmentalists vs. Bush

• Bushs plan is more about improving the economy
  as oppose to the environment.
• Environmentalists are against his plan because
  they think it will just hurt the environment.

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Environmentalists and the Kyoto Treaty

• Agree with the treaty because it will reduce the
  worlds carbon emissions.
• The first step towards stopping global warming.

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• Do you think that Bush was right to reject the
  Kyoto treaty?
• Do you think that it is ethical to drill in
  Alaska?
• Which energy source do you think is the best
  option?

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Group Activity To Drill or not to Drill? That
is the Question!

• Get into your groups and prepare to debate!
• Each groups theme indicates which side they will
  take drill in ANWR vs. do not drill in ANWR

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The End?