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MockCongressResearchPaper
TheuseofalternativeenergyiscrucialtothesustainabilityofplanetEarthinthefuture.
Currentlytherearenolawsthatregulatetheamountofalternativeenergycompaniesmustuseto
powertheirfactories.Thesefactoriesreleaseunbelievablylargeamountsofpollutionintothe
atmosphere,thusdamagingtheEarth.Globalwarmingisbecominganincreasingissuethatwe
needtotakeactionnowtopreventitfrombecomingworse.Mybill,regulatingtheamountof
alternativeenergycompaniesmustruntheirfactorieswith,shouldbecomealawbecauseof
globalwarming,thepollutioncausedfromfactoriesanditsenvironmentalimpact,andthe
economicbenefitsfromalternativeenergy.
Whenauthorof
ClimateChange:PicturingtheScience,GavinSchmidt,
says,Inmany
waystheproblemofhumaninducedclimatechangeisunique:itisglobal,itwillaffectthe
planetfordecadestocenturies,anditiscomplex,imperfectlyunderstood,andhasthepotential
fortrulydramaticconsequences(
Schmidt)
,itisapowerfulstatement.Americans,alongwith
peoplefromtherestoftheworld,arecomingtotheirsensesonthiscontroversialtopic.Global
warmingisnojokeandtheleadingcauseofitisfromtheburningoffossilfuelsatfactories.
ThesefossilfuelsheatuptheEarthsatmospherethusheatingupthesurfaceofEarth.When
PresidentTaftcreatedGlacierNationalParkin1910,itwashometoanestimated150glaciers
andnowthenumberhasdecreasedtofewerthan30(Glick).Factoryemissionsaretoblamefor
themeltingofthesehistoricglaciers.SomepartsoftheArctichavewarmedasmuchas15
degreessince1960(Kunzig).Globalwarmingisanepidemicfeltonallcontinents.Another
startlingfactaboutglobalwarmingisthattenofthewarmestyearshaveoccurredinthepast12

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years(Shaftel).Onedoesnothavetobeanenvironmentalisttobeconcernedaboutthis.Theuse
ofalternativeenergyinfactoriesinsteadofcarbonbasedfuelswillsignificantlyslowglobal
warming.Globalwarmingisnottheonlyproblemconnectedtotheburningoffossilfuelsfrom
factories.
Pollutionisanissueofconsiderableimportance.Smoghangingovercitiesisthemost
familiarandobviousformofairpollution.Factoriesreleasehighlevelsofgreenhousegasesinto
theatmosphereeveryday.Agreenhousegasisdefinedasagasthatabsorbsinfraredradiation
(IR)fromthesunandradiatesheatinalldirectionscontributingtoglobalwarming.Themost
commongreenhousegasiscarbondioxide.Theamountofcarbondioxidehumansrelease
throughbreathingisdwarfedbytheginormousamountsfactoriesproducethroughtheburningof
fossilfuelssuchasgasoline.Inthepast150years,suchactivitieshavepumpedenoughcarbon
dioxideintotheatmospheretoraiseitslevelshigherthantheyhavebeenforhundredsof
thousandsofyears(AirPollutionFacts).Theairisnottheonlythingbeingpolluted.Factories
aredumpingwasteintoriversandstreams,thuscontaminatingthewater.
Fishandplantsthat
liveinpollutedwatercanabsorbthepoisonsfromthewater.Ifeaten,thepersoncouldgetsick.
Inpollutedwater,manyfishandplantscannotliveatall(WaterPollution).
Lastly,mybillshouldbepassedbecausetheuseofalternativeenergywillbemore
economicallysmartthanusingotherenergysourcesthatarecarbonbased.In2013,theUnited
Statesspentroughly388billiondollarsoncrudeoil(Jon).Thisisfartoomuchtobespendingon
somethingthatdamagestheenvironment.Ifcompaniesruntheirfactoriesusingclean,efficient
alternativeenergy,theUnitedStateswillbeabletocutspendingonimportingoilfromoverseas.

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Alternativeenergysources,suchaswindandsolarpower,savecompaniesmoneyinthelong
run.Theyrequirelessmaintenanceandgenerateenergyfrompreexistingsources.
Theearthreceivesabout274milliongigawattyearsofsolarenergy,whichtranslatesto
anastonishing8.2millionquadsofBtuenergyperyear.Theentirehumanrace
currentlyusesabout400quadsofenergy(inallforms)peryear.Putanotherway,the
solarenergyhittingtheearthexceedsthetotalenergyconsumedbyhumanitybyafactor
ofover20,000times(HowMuchSolarEnergyHitsEarth?).

Ifcompaniestakeadvantageofthis,soontheywillnotbespendingapennytoruntheirfactories.
Alternativeenergyisincrediblyabundant.
Twocounterargumentstomybillarethatcompanieswillhavelargeupfrontcoststo
converttoalternativeenergyandthatalternativeenergyisnotreliable.Alternativeenergypays
foritself.Companieswillhavetospendlargeamountsofmoneytoinstallthesolarpanelsor
windturbinesbuttheywillbemoreefficientandlessexpensivetooperateinthefuture.For
example,afamilycanownasetofsolarpanelsfor
theupfrontcostof$12,000$16,000,butthe
utilitybillsavingswillbenearly$70,000overthe25yearlifespanofthesystem
(Connors).
Somepeoplebelievethatrenewableenergysuchassolarpowerisnotreliablebecausethesunis
notout24hoursaday.Theamountofenergycollectedandstoredduringthehoursthesunis
presentisenoughtopowerthefactoriesforthecompanies.
Globalwarming,thepollutioncausedfromfactoriesanditsenvironmentalimpact,and
theeconomicbenefitsfromalternativeenergyarethreeofthemostimportantreasonswhy
companies
thatmakeover15milliondollarsinrevenueeachyearmustrun15%oftheir
factorieswithnoncarbonbasedenergybyJanuary2020.Alternativeenergyusebycompaniesis
relatedtothelargertopicathand,whichisglobalwarmingandpollution.Theentireworldneeds
toutilizedrenewableenergy,notjustthefactoriesintheUnitedStates.Thisisaglobalissueas

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wellasanationalissue.Mycalltoactionistoencourageallfamiliestoinvestinalternative
energy.Itissafe,reliable,andfarmoreenvironmentallyfriendlythancarbonbasedenergy.

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WorksCited
Connors,Jill."SolarPower:HowtoCompareCostsandBenefits."HGTV,Web.01Nov.2015.
<http://www.hgtv.com/remodel/mechanicalsystems/thetruecostofsolarpower>.
Essick,Peter."AirPollutionFacts,AirPollutionEffects,AirPollutionSolutions,AirPollution
Causes"
ClimateChange
.NationalGeographic,Web.01Nov.2015.
<http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/globalwarming/pollutionover
view/>.
Glick,Daniel."GeoSigns:TheBigThaw."
NationalGeographic
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Magazine,Web.01Nov.2015.
<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0409/feature2/fulltext.html>.
"HowMuchSolarEnergyHitsEarth?"
HowMuchSolarEnergyHitsEarth?
EcoWorld,14June
2006.Web.01Nov.2015.
<http://www.ecoworld.com/energyfuels/howmuchsolarenergyhitsearth.html>.
Jon."HowMuchDidtheUSSpendImportingOilin2013?"
GreenLifestyleChanges
.Web.01
Nov.2015.
<http://www.greenlifestylechanges.com/howmuchoildidtheusimportin2013/>.
Kunzig,Robert."FreshHopeforCombatingClimateChange."
NationalGeographic
.Web.01
Nov.2015.
<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/climatechange/introductiontext>.
Schmidt,Gavin,andJoshuaWolfe.
ClimateChange:PicturingtheScience
.NewYork:W.W.

Norton,2009.Print.

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Shaftel,Holly."ClimateChangeEvidence:HowDoWeKnow?"
ClimateChange:VitalSignsof
thePlanet
.NASA,Web.01Nov.2015.<http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/>.
"WaterPollution."
WaterPollution
.UnitedStatesEnvironmentalProtectionAgency,n.d.Web.
01Nov.2015.<http://water.epa.gov/aboutow/owm/wpollu.cfm>.