Rod Schaffer - 2021

Climate Change

For my final project in this course I decided to make a lengthy essay, discussing the importance of immediate actions required from everyone on earth in-order to save our planet. I outline several different actions that people should comply with and demonstrate how implementing some of these significant changes will change our current trajectory. This essay for our final project includes multiple citations from scholarly articles to prove each of my points as I mention them. The conclusion of my report will prove that it is not too late to mitigate the crisis of climate change, and that everyone should to come together in this effort to save our planet.

My motivation for this project is to suggest, encourage, and promote some methods that will help with mitigating the current crisis of climate change. Different transportation methods, improved legislations, and renewable energy sources are some examples of many different methods that should be employed. Residential, governmental, and industrial systems should all immediately begin implementing many new processes that incorporate several of these various methods to help mitigate climate change on Earth. With this path towards sustainability we can still escape from the harsh reality that lies ahead with compliant cooperation of these societal institutions, but if we continue to sit back doing nothing about it then entire systems will fall apart.

Mitigating climate change is an important problem that requires immediate action from multiple groups within societal institutions to save our planet. Some of the important groups within various societies throughout this mitigation process are residential, governmental and industrial. Effective contributions to the environment and implementations of efficient alternative methods, are some of the actions required by these societal institutions. Employing different transportation methods, improving legislations, and using renewable energy sources, are some examples that groups can perform during the process. Most experts recommend that these societal institutions discontinue all environmentally harmful actions as soon as possible and begin implementing alternative methods. These two aspects, implementation of alternative methods and effective contributions to the environment, will sufficiently mitigate climate change.

The actions from residential societal institutions around the world can help with mitigating climate change by employing different transportation methods. Riding public transportation, carpooling, and having fuel efficient environmental-friendly vehicles, are some examples of how this group can implement alternatives and make effective contributions to the environment. The U.S. Department of Transportation, says, “National level data show significant greenhouse gas emission savings by use of public transportation, which offers a low emissions alternative to driving.” (Hodges, 2010, p. 1). This demonstrates how residential societal institutions can perform actions like riding public transportation during the mitigation process. Employing different transportation  methods is an implementation of alternatives and an effective contribution to the environment. By using different options of transportation, people can still get to where they need to be and help with saving our planet. The article says it would help with reducing emissions in the world if people were to rely on public transportation to get around, and the same principle applies with carpooling. This contribution and alternative shows that societies can help do their part with mitigating climate change, by catching rides with neighbors, family, friends, or co-workers. Carpooling is like riding public transportation, because it will similarly help reduce emissions on the planet.

However, there are situations for some people who need to have their own vehicle for transportation to get to where they need to be. The good thing is that there are fuel efficient automobiles on the market that are better for the environment then traditional ones. The article, IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics and Applications¸ demonstrates this, “A Tesla turbine is developed in order to utilize the potential energy within household water supply and convert to electricity energy without significant head loss. Pressure within the water supply having higher potential energy compared to the energy needed to reach the reservoir tank. This extra potential energy can be utilized and convert to useful energy before it being waste after reach reservoir tank.” (Choon et al., 2011, pp. 477-480). By choosing alternatives like these, residential societal institutions around the world can make effective contributions to mitigate the climate issues that our planet is facing. As described in this article, having automobiles that run off energy instead of fossil fuels will help with reducing emissions. This shows that this group can attempt do their part in mitigating climate change, whether it is done by using public transportation, carpooling with someone, or having a more fuel efficient environmental-friendly automobile.

The actions from governmental societal institutions and leaders around the world can help with mitigating climate change by improving legislations. Reformed laws, tax incentives and colonization are some examples of how this group can implement alternatives and make effective contributions to the environment. With different laws, bills or policies, governmental societal institutions can help save our planet from all the damage being caused to it. Energy Law Journal, says, “The law of climate change is being constructed at the intersection of several areas of law, including environmental law, energy law, business law, and international law. Any effort to address climate change also raises issues about the proper role of state, local, and federal governments, as well as their relationship to one another.” (Dernbach, J., C., & Kakade, S., 2008, pp.1)” This article demonstrates that this group can come together for the sake of our own planet if nations remove or replace current regulations. New sustainable bills, laws, or policies are examples of how governmental societal institutions can change regulations that are standing in the way of the mitigation process and will efficiently contribute to the environment. Creating these new regulations will be beneficial for the entire world, rather than only benefiting a select few individuals. Newer reformed bills, laws, and policies are an implementation of alternative methods and an effective contribution to the environment. Implementing regulations like these will sustainably help with mitigating climate change to save the planet and all life on it for generations to come. 

Another action that governmental societal institutions and leaders around the world should perform to help with mitigating climate change is colonization. This implementation will create an alternative method that can effectively contribute to the environment and will help with mitigating climate change. Colonization will contribute to the planet by allowing alternative methods to be implemented and attempt to repair or fix, some of the damage we have already caused. “colonization could be to relocate taxa to restore declining ecosystem processes that support biodiversity in recipient sites. We compare the benefits and risks of species introductions motivated by either goal, which we respectively term ‘push’ versus ‘pull’ strategies for introductions to preserve single species or for restoration of ecological processes.” (Lunt, I. D.,et al., 2013, pp. 172-177). This concept may sound a little bizarre to some who think that the damage is irrevocable, but nations have talked about doing colonization on other planets like Mars. If governmental societal institutions would consider doing something like that on another planet, then why will they not consider starting it here on earth. Our planet is all that we have for now, but that may not be much longer if this group does not act quickly. Colonization will sufficiently mitigate climate change though this implemented alternative method and effectively contribute more to mitigating climate change on the entire world.

The actions from industrial societal institutions around the world can help with mitigating climate change by using renewable energy sources. Wind farms, hydroelectricity, and biofuels are some examples of renewable energy sources that should be alternatively implemented to effectively contribute to the environment. This group can help with lowering the emissions that their industries all around the world are putting out  daily with different actions. Implementing renewable energy sources like wind farms, is something industrial societal institutions should do to help with environmental issues and the mitigation process. The Department of Energy, says, “The nation is working toward generating more energy from domestic resources—energy that can be cost-effective and replaced or “renewed” without contributing to climate change or major adverse environmental impacts.” (Lindenberg et al., 2008, pp. 1). Renewable energy sources all around the world help with the costs of industries investments, and that is a big reason as to why they are being used. It is obvious that these types of equity driven things help with mitigating climate change, but industrial societal institutions would not be so propelled to use renewable energy sources like wind farms if it costed them more money. This goes to show how little we can do or say about their decisions that impact the entire world. So, saying the word ‘we’, is different if you can see it from a non-industrial societal institution perspective. It becomes more like what little ‘they’, can do and or say about these things that are affecting all life on the planet, environmental issues and the mitigation of climate change. ““It is the suffering of the many that pay for the luxury of a few. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis.”” (DuVebray, 2018, n.p.). This demonstrates how only a small percentage of people have control about what is being done to our planet because of industrial societal institutions obsessions for money, power and control. Showing that our opinions mean little to nothing when it comes to their almighty dollar, and that all we can do is watch these industries slowly destroy earth for the need for greed. The industries should effectively contribute more to the entire world and implement alternative methods like renewable energy sources. They should do  this to mitigate climate change because they care about the planet and all life on it, not because they see some type of monetary gain. In this paper I have demonstrated how mitigating climate change is an important problem that requires immediate action from multiple groups within societal institutions to save our planet. Addressed some of the important groups within various societies throughout the mitigation process: Residential, governmental and industrial. Explained how effective contributions to the environment and implementations of efficient alternative methods, are some of the actions required by these societal institutions. Discussed how employing different transportation methods, improving legislations, and using renewable energy sources, are some examples that groups can perform during the process. And how most experts recommend that these societal institutions discontinue all environmentally harmful actions as soon as possible and begin with implementing alternative methods. I have explained how these two aspects, implementation of alternative methods and effective contributions to the environment, will sufficiently mitigate climate change.

References

Choon, T. W., Rahman, A. A., Jer, F. S., & Aik, L. E., (2011). Optimization of Tesla turbine using Computational Fluid Dynamics approach. IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics and Applications, (pp. 477-480). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6108756

Dernbach, J., C., & Kakade, S. (2008). Climate Change Law: An Introduction. Energy Law Journal, 29(1), (pp. 1-20). https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/energy29&div=7&id=&page=

DuVebray, A. [@GretaThunberg]. (2018, December 16). “It is the suffering of the many that pay for the luxury of a few. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis.” [Thumb-nail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ava/status/1074486569577242627

Hodges, T. (2010). Public Transportation's Role in Responding to Climate Change [Brochure]. U.S. Department of Transportation. 

Lindenberg, S. (2008). 20% Wind Energy by 2030 [Brochure]. U.S. Department of Energy. (pp. 1-23). https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/42864.pdf

Lunt, I. D., Byrne, M., et al. (2013). Using assisted colonisation to conserve biodiversity and restore ecosystem function under climate change. Biological Conservation, 157, (pp. 172-177). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320712003898\