Something I’ve been struggling with
lately is the idea that there is a cost for every type of green technology and
sustainable lifestyle. Hydropower disrupts fish migration, floods the
landscape, and prevents sediment (nutrients) from moving downstream. Solar
panels require minerals that must be mined. The water extracted for utilization
by geothermal plants can be corrosive, leading to the pipes being frequently
replaced. Wind power is intermittent and therefore does not function as a
reliable energy source with the current electrical grid. Nuclear power has all
sorts of issues from weapons proliferation to radioactive waste, but even newer
reactors such as thorium molten salt reactors can require mining. Often fossil
fuels are hidden in the building supplies or transportation of materials.
None of these technologies, and I’d
venture to assume no technology, comes for free. The obvious solution is to
not rely on such technologies, but rather to live consuming as few resources as
possible. However, lifestyles of reduction and simplicity can be costly in
other ways. The ability to travel and experience culture and history is a
beautiful part of the modern world, which unfortunately at this point requires
fossil fuels. Globalization, while sometimes damaging to cultural integrity, is
an amazing tool that allows the exchange of ideas and philosophies, which can
lead to the ability to view a scenario from multiple perspectives. It allows us
as societies and as individuals to look to each other as models and teachers in
our attempts to craft a better world and better selves. Giving up those
experiences for the sake of reduced carbon emissions is a very real cost.
So what does this mean for the
creation of a sustainable world? The more I learn about environmental issues,
the more I realize that there is no magic bullet solution, just as there is no
single root cause of the problems. Maybe there never will be a perfect
solution. Maybe we are simply trapped in a cycle of trial and error as we try
to maintain our lifestyles and unintentionally create new problems. I think
that refusing to act until we find or create a perfect solution to
environmental problems is fruitless. Therefore we must move forward with the
choices available despite the known and unknown consequences.
In the
last class of the semester, one of my favorite professors explained to us that
despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, he still had hope for a better
future. It is with a thorough understanding of consequences, but also with hope
that we must confront environmental issues. It continues to amaze me how often hope is the
foundation for everything we do.
-Alicia
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