Climate change and fossil fuels
fossil fuels caused 8.7m deaths globally in 2018
Energy production and use pose significant environmental challenges. Policy approaches must align energy and environmental issues to ensure that economic growth and environmental protection are achieved together.
The Administration is reinventing environmental protection, creating regulatory systems that are more flexible and accountable, emphasizing pollution prevention over “end-of-pipe” clean-up, and fostering the development of new energy-efficient technologies to meet both economic and environmental goals.
(Sustainable Energy Strategy, 1995)
According to Guardian: fossil fuels caused 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, research finds
Pollution from power plants, vehicles and other sources accounted for one in five of all deaths that year, more detailed analysis reveals.
A balance must be found, therefore, between the amount of pollution control that society is both willing and able to pay for and the amount of environmental damage resulting from pollution.
Fossil fuels have a really large impact upon health, the climate and the environment and we need a more immediate response,” “Some governments have carbon-neutral goals but maybe we need to move them forward given the huge damage to public health. We need much more urgency.”
Marias: a geographer at University College London and a study co-author.
Burning fossil fuels emits a number of air pollutants that are harmful to both the environment and public health. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, primarily the result of burning coal, contribute to acid rain and the formation of harmful particulate matter. UCSUSA
Dependence on oil as an energy source is a real danger to our national security, our environment and our economy. Promoting domestic renewable energy sources instead will provide green jobs, safeguard our health and break our reliance on unstable foreign governments and oil cartels. Environment is paying a serious price for our unbridled consumption of fossil fuels and our climate is warming at a rate that may cause irreversible consequences.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the burning of fossil fuels was responsible for 76 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2016. These gases contribute to the greenhouse effect and could lead to potentially catastrophic changes in the Earth’s climate. Technologies such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) may help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions generated by fossil fuels, and nuclear energy can be a zero-carbon alternative for electricity generation.
The United States leads the world in petroleum consumption at 19.88 million barrels per day as of 2017. Net petroleum imports for the United States were 3.8 million barrels per day. Top exporters to the United States include Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria. The world’s heavy reliance on oil for transportation makes it difficult to reduce consumption. Oil is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions: petroleum is responsible for 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States as of 2017.
Oil is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions: petroleum is responsible for 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States as of 2017. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Capturing and burning the gas to produce usable heat and power prevents the methane from being released from the landfill or feedlot into the atmosphere directly. Natural gas is most commonly transported by pipeline, which makes Canada the key exporter to the United States, while Russia remains the main supplier for much of Europe. Increasingly, however, natural gas is being transported by ship in a liquefied form (LNG) to meet greater global demand for the fuel.
Scientists have established links between pervasive air pollution from burning fossil fuels and cases of heart disease, respiratory ailments and even the loss of eyesight. Without fossil fuel emissions, the average life expectancy of the world’s population would increase by more than a year, while global economic and health costs would fall by about $2.9tn.
The death toll exceeds the combined total of people who die globally each year from smoking tobacco plus those who die of malaria.
Air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil was responsible for 8.7m deaths globally in 2018.
It is important to emphasize that technological solutions are available today for reducing pollutant emissions from most sources to environmentally acceptable levels. Unfortunately, what actually constitutes “environmentally acceptable” amounts of a pollutant is a matter of some debate. What is much more debatable, of course, is who should pay for these emissions reductions. For example, when the economy falters, these amounts typically tend to increase. On the other hand, as the discharge requirements for a given pollutant are reduced closer and closer to zero, the cost of control rises steeply.
There is obviously a trade-off between the costs associated with emission standards and the benefits to the environment and to society. It would be ideal, of course, if the emission of all pollutants could be reduced to zero, and the technology may indeed be available for doing so. However, the costs of doing this may be prohibitive in some cases.
Photos from Build Back Fossil Free events across the country available here:
Activists organized socially-distanced events from San Francisco to Standing Rock to St. James Parish, Louisiana, urging President Joe Biden to protect and invest in Black, Indigenous, Brown, and working-class communities and to launch a national climate mobilization to end the era of fossil fuel production.
The week of action was organized by the Build Back Fossil Free campaign, made up of more than 200 groups representing millions of environmental, racial, and economic justice advocates. They aim to hold President Joe Biden accountable to his promises for bold climate action.
