Adam Channel

ENGL 1C - 831
8/19/2007
McKibben Summary

McKibben has a well formed article with plenty of convincing claims. He covers

alternative energy sources, conservation of energy methods, environmental and political reasons

for a shift towards green policies. An important aspect of his article is the evidence of how

simple

it is to conserve energy, and how far reaching of an effect these simple changes have. He gives

examples of how using more efficient windows with better insulating blinds, or turning the

thermostat down a couple degrees can have far reaching benefits for a greener planet. He focuses

on how easy it is for the average American to conserve energy with very little sacrifice.

He spends a good portion of the article discussing how most other industrialized

countries are working towards conservation and less pollutant means of producing energy. How

one of the only signatories of the international treaty for curbing CO2 emissions, the Kyoto

Protocol, is the United States. His article claims that the reason behind the United States not

working towards conservation is ties between high ranking political officials and the oil industry.

Furthermore he claims that oil drilling un-sustainable and within a decade will raise the earths

temperature "a few degrees" also that the oil companies do not care about the environment, but

merely wish to "wring every last penny from their mines, their drill rigs, and their refineries."

McKibben claims that a shift toward green policies is not only eco-friendly, but also

economically viable. He claims that the world will continue moving towards conservation "with

or without George W. Bush." He illustrates that California has implemented their own energy

conserving policies giving figures such as "79 percent reported taking some steps, and a third of
households managed to cut their electric use by more than 20 percent."

The article draws a convincing claim in favor of a shift towards greener policies. The

information and figures that uses as support do not provide sources which brings doubt to his

claims. The article could do with less subjectivity and more properly cited facts. Overall however

the article was well written and persuasive.