We continue to depend overwhelmingly on resources that are neither clean nor renewable. Fossil fuels- coal, oil, and natural gas- provide 85 percent of the United States’ energy needs. The combustion of these fuels generates massive amounts of air pollution, which effects our health and contributes to climate change. Electricity production is the greatest single source of air pollution in America. Power plants are responsible for a full two thirds of total sulfur dioxide emissions and one third of all nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide emissions. Vehicles spout out another third of all nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and carbon dioxide, as well as fifty percent of all carbon monoxide emitted in America.

Exploration, extraction and transportation of coal, oil and gas has caused great damage to the land and water over the years. To extract coal from the earth, companies often use explosives to blast off the tops of mountains, offering them easier and greater access to the mineral deposits. The remnants of the mountain tops are dumped into the surrounding rivers and lowlands in the valley below. In addition to destroying the beauty of an area, this practice damages and disrupts ecosystems. Somewhere between 15 and 25 percent of southern West Virginia's mountains have been lopped off to mine the underlying coal. In the process, over 1,000 miles of streams have been filled in and over 300,000 acres of hardwood forests have been cut in West Virginia alone. Exploration in wilderness areas has caused irreparable harm to ecosystems and habitats which are further devastated by faulty transportation processes which have led to numerous oil spills on land and water.

Even if we were to disregard petroleum’s destruction of the earth, its effects on the health and well being of humans and animals, and its contribution to climate change- the peak of oil production will soon result in a tremendous rise in its price. We have blindly depended on cheap and abundant oil to fuel our economy, with little thought of what to do when it is no longer cheap and abundant. Signs of petroleum’s peaking are evident now and as it becomes less and less affordable, we will have to look to other forms of energy to fulfill our energy demands.

Energy derived from natural sources like the land, wind, sun, and water offer us a chance to generate clean, renewable energy in a sustainable manner. Little action has been taken to utilize these energy sources though. Texas is fortunate to have, by far, the greatest renewable energy potential of any state in the US. Already we are second in the nation, behind California, in production of renewable energy. Continuing our investment in solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and other non-polluting renewable sources of energy will benefit our health and our environment, but also our bottom line. It will spur the local economy- creating jobs and increasing the tax base.