Don’T Let It Come To This

Topic Reflection on EnergyBy Colin Henning

9/29/10

Don’t Let it Come to This


9/29/10

Energy as we have seen it is a complicated, and quite expansive topic of discussion.

Everyone from world leaders to the poorest of the poor will be affected by our future energy

policies and mode of conservation. Currently our nation is looking into renewable sources of

energy for the future. As we learned in discussion, our energy core, or infrastructure for the year

2050 is being developed and decided upon today. That is quite a lot of pressure for decision-

makers all around the world. This is why I am going to share my perspective on technology and

energy in regards to the philosophical perspective of aesthetics.

What we have started discussing is energy, and what sort of role the technology that

incorporates this energy has in store for our future. Coal plants, miles of train cars, nuclear

power plants, smoke billowing into the sky from the tops of cities, and literally countless miles

of power lines cover up this beautiful earth. All of these things we need to produce and transfer

energy to support today’s lifestyle, and that is just a small example of the destruction we have

brought across America’s landscape. Everything we as humans make, create, or do affects this

naturally abundant world we live on. Take the rainforests for example, “Each hour the

equivalent of 35-50 acres of rainforest are destroyed” (Save The Rainforest). This is not going to

turn into an anti-logging paper by any means, but the point being made here is that this world is

changing; we are changing it. Do you ever wonder what America looked like when Lewis and

Clark explored it over two hundred years ago? Our country was full of vast forests, healthy

wildlife and streams full of fish, not motor oil and fast food junk. Our children deserve the right

to see a beautiful earth, who are we to deny the future generations what we were given as a gift

from our predecessors?

Looking forward now, it is a general consensus that one day we will run out of fossil

fuels. Our major dependency is on coal and oil. In order to shift the processes of our

infrastructure, we must look for less destructive ways to obtain renewable energy to consume.

Professionals in many fields have been looking into new technologies for nuclear, wind, solar,

and hydropower. The two renewable technologies that I believe need further attention are wind

and solar power. Gathering of energy with these two technologies is not the issue. We need to

have higher total terawatt outputs so that these more visually appealing renewable sources can

become more primary energy sources for us in the future. In order to have higher outputs we


9/29/10need to think in terms of quantity. More solar panels in available avenues would be a great place

to start. Rebates for having solar panels on your home or business in California would be a great

place to start. Individuals that can feed any amount of energy back into the grid instead of taking

from it will help with our future energy demands.

To negate a popular criticism about solar panels, studies have shown that they in fact do

work during the winter. In chilly Wisconsin for example the winter the air is clearer, and allows

more sun to fall directly unto the panels. This does not even account for the amount of reflective

light that bounces off the white snow and helps to illuminate your house while allowing even

more light to fall unto the panels.

Experts suggest that our electricity shortage is continually getting worse. “By the year

2020 the amount of electricity the United States uses is expected to double” (Moffat, Charles).

This estimate is due primarily to expected population growth along with the growing percentage

of people that use gaming and computer technologies everyday. What I like most about the wind

and solar panel technologies is that they enable everybody to do their part, like recycling. You

do not need to be a large corporate owner or government affiliate to get involved with this sort of

renewable technology. I am not suggesting to put up a windmill in your backyard here in

Menomonie, but solar panels can be put on nearly every home or school (without much notice

because many shingled homes are black already), and you can lobby for windmills to be brought

into your county or district in areas where they qualify.

There have been concerns about the eye appeal of windmills, and other negative factors

like noise and the death of seagulls from the blades. Personally I have visited a few windmill

farms and they are quiet even standing right up next to them at ground level. Europe already has

implemented working wind farms in the water where coastal winds keep the turbines pumping at

great speeds, all while keeping the beautiful landscape undamaged. In regards to the death of the

seagulls, if these individuals are so worried about the wildlife they too should be pushing for

renewable energy because the amount of wildlife that is killed each year from polluted water

sources alone is astronomical. MarineBio highlights a graph of pesticide use for the last forty

years. There is a correlation made between the thousands of tons of pesticide runoff into natural

water sources and the biomagnification of pesticides in the food chain (Davis, Jay).

Getting back to the perspective of keeping this world bright in the future (no pun

intended), I think it is appropriate to view my history to convey why I feel the way I do.


9/29/10Originally I wanted to write this reflection on ethics, which seemed like an easier task but what

really is important to me, is the natural beauty that can have such an affect on people’s lives and

everyday perspective. Have you ever noticed that you feel great on a nice warm sunny day?

Psychologists have performed many studies on the link between our emotions and our

environment, and I believe them to be true. I love the outdoors. I was born and raised on a farm

in rural Wisconsin, and have loved every minute of it. With the sun, green grass and woods to

play in, I was the happiest boy around. You can drive almost anywhere around here and find a

place where nature truly astounds you. We are blessed to live in a beautiful place like

Wisconsin, and I feel that is what drives me outdoors when I have free time to enjoy some of my

favorite hobbies. Photography has been a passion of mine for a few years now, and part of my

mission with taking pictures is capturing the beauty of our world so others can experience it as

well. That brings us full circle to why we need to be ethically and aesthetically responsible to

solving our energy concerns for the future. What, where, and how we build will shape our world

for the years to come. This cannot be taken lightly, and that is why I want to stress my topic of

aesthetic use of our emerging technologies.

I think it is a shame when I see people litter, and in a way I want to compare our continued

use of fossil fuels to littering. There is so much waste, that with all of our fancy technologies

emerging everyday I am pushing for our leaders to continue the trend of “Green” thinking and

hope every bit of our knowledge as humans is put into solving this issue of lasting energy

resources. Renewable energy is even becoming an art form in many parts of our country. There

are designers working with scientists and engineers to establish more aesthetic, innovative

structures to allow for higher efficiency energy production and transfer. I want to see this world

work together, put their differences aside, and I just pray I never see this world look anything

like something I saw in Terminator.

To close I would like to leave with this quote from Save The Rainforest,

“If you are thinking 1 year ahead, sow seeds

If you are thinking 10 years ahead, plant a tree

If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the people.”


9/29/10

Bibliography

Davis, Jay. "Wildlife and Pollution." Marine Biology, Biodiversity and Ocean Conservation.

Marine Biology, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2010.

<http://marinebio.org/Oceans/Conservation/Moyle/ch11.asp>.

Moffat, Charles. "The Solar Powered Myth." The Environmental eZine. N.p., Dec. 2007. Web.

29 Sept. 2010. <http://www.lilith-ezine.com/articles/environmental/The-Solar-Powered-

Myth.html>.

Save The Rainforest, Rainforest Facts. n.d. EbscoHost. Web. 29 Sept. 2010.

<http://www.savetherainforest.org/>.

Don’T Let It Come To This

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