February 20, 2016 10:22 PM UTC

The Seven Other Reasons to Dump Fossil Fuels

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• by: Tom Phillips

There is no disagreement about whether or not burning fossil fuel creates carbon dioxide (CO2).  It does.  There is also no disagreement about whether or not CO2 is a greenhouse gas.  It is.  Increasing atmospheric CO2 levels changes the atmospheric energy balance.  Whether you believe higher CO2 levels are changing our weather is another matter, with those who want to move away from fossil fuels firmly convinced that it is and those who want to ‘drill baby drill’ firmly convinced that it isn’t.  Whatever your beliefs about atmospheric carbon, there are at least seven other good reasons to quit fossil fuels.

1.) Fossil fuel extraction damages the land, water and air.  More and more attention is rightfully being given to the obvious and undeniable externalities of the extraction industry.  Damage to forests, contamination of surface and ground water, and often severe air pollution near drill rigs and evaporation ponds.  Mountain top removal in the case of coal.  Destruction of the arboreal forests of Canada by tar sands operations.  Imagine Colorado 50 years from now if every pocket of oil and gas has been extracted.  What would be left of our natural assets?

2.) Fossil fuel creates large national health issues.  Using fossil fuels for cars causes more problems than just carbon emissions.  Internal combustion engines expel toxic sulfur and nitrogen waste products into the air at nose level in all of our cities.  The canyons of New York City and other cities are filled with car waste that people breathe.  It’s a major health issue.  The nation’s health would be much better if all those city cars were replaced with zero emission electric vehicles.  Respiratory and related illness would drop dramatically as would health care costs.

3.) Gasoline cars have no fuel flexibility.  Gasoline car can only be fueled by gasoline.  This is the ideal endgame for the oil companies.  It’s no wonder they don’t want anything to change.  Electric cars can be fueled by any energy source that can make electricity.  Being reliant on a single source of fuel for transportation creates a host of security and military issues.

4.) Fossil fuels require a large military to defend them.  Since crude oil is produced and traded widely and freely around the world, the major sources of crude must be defended against those who might turn off the tap.  The USA has spent trillions of dollars in the Middle East, defending the flow of oil.  Without doubt, we would not be so involved in Middle East disputes were there no oil reserves there. As such, our military expenditures in the Middle East must be added to the national cost of oil, making oil much more expensive and harmful to the economy than renewables like solar and wind.

5.) Oil revenues fuel radical Islamic organizations around the world, including ISIL and the hardline Islamic fundamentalists in Saudi Arabia.  It is well known that ISIL would not exist without the oil revenues from captured land in the Middle East.  ISIL cannot profit in any way from local wind and solar energy.  The continued almost exclusive reliance on fossil fuels weakens our security.

6.) The price of oil is unstable and always will be.  Oil is a global commodity and as such is affected by every large and small political/social/military event in the world.  The fossil fuel reliant US economy is always holding its breath wondering what’s going to happen next to the price of oil.  Uncertainty is never good for an economy.  Wind, solar, tidal and other renewables are not affected by global events.  These renewable energies are locally generated and locally controlled.  The price is certain and stable.  Plans can be made with certainty.  Fossil fuels offer no such certainty.  Putting solar on your roof doesn’t just reduce your carbon footprint, it eliminates electric utility inflation and price uncertainty from your life.  With more local, renewables in place, whole communities could be set up to be self-sufficient for electricity at stable and predictable prices.  It’s just a better business model.

7.) The burning of fossil fuels is destroying our oceans.  Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from the burning of coal, oil and gas is making the ocean more acidic.  When CO2 is absorbed in the oceans some of it turns into acid.  When the oceans become acidic, ocean life suffers and dies.  Much ecological and economic damage is being done by ocean acidification which is caused directly and exclusively from the burning of fossil fuels

Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, and weather is becoming more radical.  Most likely, these trends will only continue and that carbon that was once sequestered by the earth and then subsequently released by humans is the cause.  But this is not the only problem with fossil fuels.  Considering all the other issues, fossil fuels are just too expensive and damaging to our economy and our security.