Emissions Controls as a Help or a Hindrance to a Healthy Economy - Essay Example

Emissions Controls as a Help or a Hindrance to a Healthy Economy One of the issues that was brought up during a recent edition of the PBS TV series NOW was the idea that combating global warming would be damaging to the economy. This idea was touched on by both Laurie David, the producer of Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth, and by Majora Carter, a woman who is working in the South Bronx to try to kick start efforts there to combat global warming in the inner cities. Carter discussed the issue in somewhat greater detail when she revealed that her group was attempting to win an empty factory site to set up as a recycling plant for metals and other solid waste. She points out not only how this would reduce the amount of waste in the inner city, but would also create decent jobs for people living in these areas which has the further effect of reducing crime and other inner city issues. Despite the multiple win situation this presents, she said that the city of New York has told them the site would be much better utilized as a state prison facility, bringing the morale of the community down, reducing the level of good that can be provided and increasing the number of individuals who, because of lack of decent employment opportunities, turn to crime as the best means of supporting themselves. As a result of this discussion, I decided to find out just how much the economy would be damaged if the government took a more active role in reducing greenhouse gases and other global environmental threats by making changes to the emissions laws. The rising global temperature is and will continue to cause major changes to the environment which in turn will negatively affect the U.S. economy to an extent that can only be speculative. What is known is that the impact will be nothing short of catastrophic regarding both the earth and economy. Only by quickly implementing alternative sources of automobile fuel and electricity on a large scale can this looming disaster be averted. Worldwide, carbon dioxide emissions are creating widespread health impacts even as greater numbers of people begin using cars for longer distances (Dearry, 2004: A600). Eighty percent of the world’s population accounts for just 35 percent of CO2 emissions while the United States is responsible for generating nearly half of this amount. Automobiles are the main cause of air pollution with toxins emitted from stacks at coal-burning electric power plants running a close second (Dahl, 2005: A239). In addition to CO2 emissions, vehicles emit carbon monoxides (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), all of which contribute to global warming (Energy Information Administration, 2004). At the same time, these emissions begin to break down the overall health of the population with increases in respiratory diseases and other illnesses as a result of the chemicals being pulled deep into our lungs (Carter in NOW, 2007). Thus, our population is forced to spend increasing amounts of money on health-related issues, production is decreased as a result of an unhealthy workforce and the economy suffers as the country’s reputation becomes dirtied with the pollution it refuses to acknowledge. The more rapid water recycling rate due to the greenhouse effect will result in heavier rainfall amounts and the number of extreme rainfall events. Higher rainfall rates will cause increased tropical storm intensity in addition to the warmer temperatures. Hurricanes may be even more frequent and intense than presently predicted (Ebi et al, 2006a: 1318). The tragic human and economic consequences involving southern sections of Louisiana and Mississippi when rising ocean levels destroyed property and displaced thousands of citizens will be repeated on a massive global scale if predictions of future climate change and ensuing sea-level rise are accurate. Scientists universally forecast that global warming will melt glaciers causing a rise of sea-levels which will hasten erosion resulting in the loss of vast areas of land. The change will bring about elevated storm surges thereby increasing the areas affected by flooding from heavy rain which introduces even more coastal lands to erosion and permits ocean water to infiltrate into rivers upstream of communities that they once served (Ebi et al, 2006a: 1317). The seas are currently rising along the Atlantic coast of the United States by a tenth of an inch per year and about half that amount on the Pacific coast. Scientists warn that the consequences will be catastrophic if the current trend continues and estimate that a one-foot rise in sea level could wear away up to 200 feet of the Eastern coastline, 400 feet on the West coast and several miles into Louisiana (Ebi et al, 2006a: 1317). The economic outcome of such an event is incalculable and unthinkable when one considers the number of cities that are located near the coast. Other effects of global warming are not as universally known as the damage to the air and the water cycle. As great an economic catastrophe as this near-future scenario is to the coastal regions, it remains the land masses that will suffer the greatest economic harm as a result of the greenhouse effect. The elevated evaporation rate will hasten the drying effect of soil subsequent to rainfall which will result in drier conditions in many regions. Places that presently suffer through periodic drought conditions in the warmer months will be hardest hit. Shifting vegetation patterns, types and regional variations, will force major human adaptations (Ebi et al, 2006b: 1957). Vast areas of farmland in the U.S. will transform to desert or swampland which alone could destroy the economy and quickly relegate the country to third-world status. The negative economic effects of global warming are not a far-off future speculation, the impact of global warming has been documented for decades. For example, as far back as 1990, it is known that “Midwestern United States crop losses of wheat, corn, soybeans, and peanuts from damage by ozone and acid deposition amount to about $5 billion a year” (Miller, 1990: 498). This amount will seem like pennies in 20 years if global warming is not controlled. The solution to automobile emissions may lie in alternative fuels. The conversion of beets or corn into ethanol is touted by scientists today as an economically and environmentally sound solution to global warming concerns. However, this is not a new revelation. Rudolf Fiesel, fifteen years after the invention named after him, was quoted in 1897 as saying “The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal products of the present time” (Boles, 2005). Promising future alternatives to crude oil, vegetable oil can be substituted for diesel fuel while ethanol is an effective petrol additive. Ethanol is a type of alcohol that can be made using crops such as sugar beets, wheat or corn. As a fuel additive, ethanol boosts octane and substantially reduces toxic carbon monoxide emissions. This again suggests a growth in industry coupled with a reduction in health care costs, import costs and environmental damage which could result in the saving of innumerable economic resources. Americans have been led to believe that they must choose between a thriving economy and an inhabitable environment. In the movie An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore shows a scale that holds bars of gold on one side and the earth on the other and asks the rhetorical question, which is more important? That is assuming laws passed to fight global warming would be a losing proposition, financially speaking. New industries that supply solar, nuclear, wind and battery power will replace any jobs lost by the old pollution producing industries and will likely produce a greater number of higher paying jobs. The economy will be enhanced by aggressively pursuing alternate energy sources and the U.S. would be on the leading edge of alternative energy technology thus well positioned for a robust economic future. Combating global warming is a win-win proposition. The economy will be strengthened, jobs added and the earth saved. Works Cited An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore. Lawrence Bender Productions, 2006. Boles, Tracey & Orange, Richard. “Where Do You Get Your Energy From?: Latest on Alternative Liquid Fuels.” The Business. (October 3, 2005). Dahl, Richard. “Heavy Traffic Ahead: Car Culture Accelerates.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 113, N. 4, (April 2005): A238-A245. Dearry, Allen. “Guest Editorial: Impacts of Our Built Environment on Public Health.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 112, N. 11, (August 2004): A600-A601. Ebi, Kristie L.; Mills, David M.; Smith, Joel B.; & Grambsch, Anne. “Climate Change and Human Health Impacts in the United States: An Update on the Results of the U.S. National Assessment.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 114, N. 9, (September 2006a): 1318-1324. Ebi, Kristie L.; Lewis, Nancy D.; & Corvalan, Carlos. “Climate Variability and Change and Their Potential Health Effects in Small Island States: Information for Adaptation Planning in the Health Sector.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 114, N. 2, (December 2006b): 1957-1963. Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment: An Introduction to Environmental Science. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1990. “The Heat Over Global Warming.” Now. New York: Public Broadcasting Station, (January 2006). Read More