Laws are meant to regulate how people behave towards each other. The laws are developed by legislatures and thus they are called policies. There are policies which have been put in place to ensure that we don’t destroy our environment.
This is because our livelihood on this planet depends on the environment because if we don’t take good care of it in future we may not be able to obtain our resources from the environment. The policies that were established concerning energy and environment are referred to as energy and environmental policies. This paper focuses on the reasons behind the development of the above policies and the steps that are being taken to implement them.
Energy is very important to us because without it our industries can not operate. The discovery of oil was welcomed with lots of whining and dining and in fact countries that produce oil are fancied by many because their economies are normally stable. The demand for oil is always on the increase every other day because factories are being established daily. In addition, the same oil is used for domestic purposes in form of kerosene and as well as in automobiles (Cochran et al., 2009).
Morvay and Gvozdenac (2008) explains that there are various forms of energy such as wind and chemical, but as for now research has established that energy in form of oil has been causing more harm to the environment than the other forms. This is because when this oil is heated it results in emission of carbon dioxide into the environment which is expressed as pollution because it damages the ozone layer.
Moreover, it leads to acid rain which is very destructive. When the waste from oil is deposited into the environment it endangers our lives because if the toxins come into contact with water bodies our food reserves are at a risk of being extinguished due to the fact that we can no longer eat sea food, neither can we get adequate crop harvests. It is in this regard that governments have come up with policies that aim at safeguarding our environment. The other forms of energy are being utilized because they are least likely to be harmful.
For instance solar energy is very effective and efficient because it does not require any processing and in fact the only thing that is required is storage of this energy. But storage should not be a problem because solar batteries are able to store solar energy which can be used in future. Most government and private entities buildings are being fitted with solar panels that are used as source of electric power.
The energy derived from the sun is easy to convert into electricity because one only needs to use an inverter which converts solar energy into electricity. In fact there are some automobile manufacturers that have already developed a pilot model vehicle that’s powered by solar energy but then they are still working on the project. Another alternative source of energy is wind which is readily available (Morgenstern & Portney, 2004).
There are some governments including the US government that are advocating for this form of energy because its very reliable compared to solar energy. This is because solar energy can not work on rainy weather and cloudy climates. Sperling and Kurani (2001) explain that in order to tap wind energy, wind turbines are installed on higher grounds where there is much wind.
Governments have been pushing for the adoption of wind energy because electricity generated from rivers is not reliable because sometimes the water level goes down hence the force of the water is not enough to rotate the turbines.
Additionally, developed countries have been using nuclear energy which is generated very fast compared to the other forms of energy because it’s based on chemical compounds.
Finon and Midtton (2004) argue that governments have been holding meetings in a bid to eliminate products that are thought to be harmful to the environment. Of late the manufacture of refrigerators that use CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) has been banned in most countries. In fact people who have the old models are disposing them in exchange of the new models.
Moreover, governments have been against deforestation because the trees are vital in reserving soil nutrients and in addition to that they provide us with oxygen. It is with this regard that governments have been conducting numerous campaigns on tree planting. As of now those who cut trees in order to get timber have to be licensed by the concerned agencies. Governments have been encouraging their citizens to plant more trees as possible.
Furthermore, governments are in support of campaigns against the use of plastic paper bags because they don’t decompose hence they are harmful to the environment. People are being encouraged to develop alternative products that are renewable because if we continue to use our natural resources faster than we can replace them in future we will run out of raw materials.
The campaign for environment conservation has been enhanced by the introduction of paperless transactions which goes along way in reducing the waste that is disposed into the environment. In fact it is illegal to dump waste without appropriate authorization.
In essence, governments have been on the frontline in the battle against waste disposal. Manufacturers are being held responsible for their waste and this means that they must collect the waste after have finished using their commodities.
In some countries like Japan there is hardly any waste that is disposed because they use the same waste to generate fuel and they ensure that the volume of gas that is released into the air is not toxic and thus it does not harm the environment. Implementing effective energy and environmental policies would require political resources, economic ability, major cultural attitudes, and international influence.
References
Cochran, C.E., Mayer, L.C., Carr, T.R. & Cayer, N.J. (2009). American public policy: An Introduction. (9th Ed). Stamford, CT: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Finon, D. & Midttun, A. (2004).Reshaping European Gas and electricity Industries: Regulation, Markets and Business Strategies. San Diego, CA: Elsevier.
Morgenstern, R. & Portney, R. (2004). New Approaches on Energy and the Environment: Policy Advice for the President. Washington DC: RFF Press.
Morvay, K.Z. & Gvozdenac, D. (2008). Applied Industrial Energy and Environmental Management. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.
Sperling, D. & Kurani, K. (2001). Transportation, Energy, and Environmental Policy. Washington, DC: Transport Research Board.