Persuasive Essay On Coal Vs Energy

A lush thriving metropolis, and a dark dank slum. Both of these house humans, but the difference is only one has energy. Energy is fundamental to the way people live their lives. Where energy, and specifically electricity, are available and reliable, homes, businesses, and governments can thrive. But when energy is unreliable, families struggle, businesses go bankrupt, and governments turn to anarchy. Is energy the only difference between these two extremes? No, but few understand how much energy, or the lack thereof, can affect foreign policy and other important decisions. Consequently, almost everyone agrees that energy is important, but a wide consensus cannot be reached about where that energy should come from. Some hold that oil and coal are the only realistic choices for energy production. Others hold that the future of energy is, and should be, nuclear. The last camp argues that renewable energy sources, such as, geothermal, wind, and solar are best solution. In an ever changing world, one must be firm in his understanding of energy, …show more content…
This is the main reason for their dominance of the energy sector. Even though there are large oil reservoirs and many reserves of coal, one must understand that they will not last forever (“Energy Sources Pursued?” 21). This produces a frightening dilemma: coal and gas are easy to find and harvest now, but what about the future? Even though there may be still be oil to drill, all the oil near the surface is gone (“Energy Sources Pursued?” 14). This will eventually snowball into a net energy loss - when the amount of energy expended to harvest the oil exceeds the energy produced (“Energy Sources Pursued?” 21). It makes no sense to use one barrel (42 gallons) of oil to drill for another barrel of oil. Quantity of energy is crucial, but what would happen if our oil