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Author: Alden Gajda (page 1 of 1)

COP26

Perhaps the most notable event of COP26 was Russia and chinas absence. This absence is disheartening because china is the biggest polluter globally, and Russia is one of the biggest exporters of Oil in the world. China and Russia need to come to the table if there is any hope for a sustainable future. In addition, Australia and India did not commit to any reduction of emissions this decade which is also unfortunate. Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter, and India is a world leader in emissions. Without their help, the world cannot reach a sustainable future. Climate change is rapidly approaching, and world leaders are being too slow to act.

Nuclear Energy ARG

With my limited understanding of nuclear energy, I believe it to be good. This is because it appears to be carbon neutral. Furthermore, Europe uses it to supply lots of its power carbon-free, and they rarely, if ever, have safety issues. Nuclear is a great transitional energy that can be used now to prevent emissions while the costs of other renewable sources can be researched and reduced in price. Nuclear energy is also still relatively undeveloped. Its actual efficiency and potential have yet to be discovered and one day could power the world if given the time of day and research. Nuclear is one of the only affordable carbon-neutral sources of power the world has today and needs to be expanded upon.

WSJ – Alden Gajda

One Source of News I frequent is the Wall Street Journal. This is because I am interested in finance, and this is a great way to get exposed to a lot of the language of business and markets while also keeping up with current events. The WSJ has a reliability rating of 46.06 which means it is relatively reliable with some opinions and analysis of those facts. The basis rating is a modest 4.89 skewed right. Meaning the commentary on the reported facts tends to be just right of center. All in all, I think this source is reliable. Compared to many other mainstream sources, it is much more reliable and less biased when looking at both medium’s respective ratings for reliability and bias.

Car and Gasoline Issue -Alden G

A big reason I took the “neutral” position is because of where I am from. In Lewisburg, PA, there is no public transport, and most travel cannot be biked or walked. Although taking steps towards reducing emissions is something we all want. In my opinion, the cost is too high. Frequently driving around is something that I don’t wanna pay more for. Gasoline is inelastic, meaning changes in prices in gasoline (gas tax) will not change its quantity demanded substantially. Meaning unless the cost of gas increases to fees Americans cannot pay, they will just pay more for gasoline and pollute roughly the same amount. Additionally, most PA power plants burn natural gas and coal. Meaning electric cars in PA, unless powered by a person’s individual solar panels, are about as pollutive as gasoline. We all want a green future, but currently, the price is too high, which is why I took a neutral position.

Letter Set 3 Rewrite

Moving forward with the newly proposed green energy policies is not a good idea. The entire world is still dependant on oil and natural gas, and it would be inefficient to switch to a more expensive form of energy. For example, solar energy can cost the US household around 19 cents per kWh more than gas or oil. Not to mention the vast amount of land solar farms need to even produce this amount of energy. Currently, only around thirteen percent of U.S. energy consumed was from “renewable sources.” The sheer amount of infrastructure needed to create a 100% renewable energy economy would bankrupt the recovering U.S. economy strapped with huge budget deficits and 28 trillion dollars in debt. Additionally, climate scientists frequently point to the fact that deregulation will lead to an increase in emissions. However, due to the previous administrations’ deregulation of domestic energy production, natural gas was increasingly becoming a larger and larger proportion of energy consumed, saving the US about 705 Million Metric Tons of C02 emissions during 2019-2020. Investment in alternative energy sources is good, and a gradual and affordable transition to green energy makes sense. But, a massive economic overhaul in favor of green energy in the current U.S. economic climate would be inefficient.