At the Gulf Coast Energy Summit in Biloxi, Mississippi, on March 12 of this year, Rick Santorum, when discussing the connection between energy and climate change, was quoted as saying the following about the increase in carbon dioxide: “The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is.”
Rick Santorum’s comments are true because as long as the world struggles to fight the menace of climate change, plants find it difficult to adhere to environmental rules and regulations. This means that many companies find it difficult to adapt other sources of fuel that are eco-friendly to run their machines due to excessive costs. For example, the use of electrical machines remains so expensive when compared to the use of machines powered by diesel. Therefore, regardless of knowing the effects of carbon dioxide on the environment, plants do not consider using environmentally friendly fuels to run their machines.
Organizations have goals that guide their operations and hence remain hesitant to invest in expensive machines meant to save the environment. For example, the use of electrical machines will raise their electricity bills, hence affecting their profitability. Rick Santorum was right when delivering his statement. In fact, the fight against climate change should involve all stakeholders to make an informed decision. This means that plants, which emit a lot of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, should be involved in finding a viable solution to climate change. These manufacturing plants should be given a chance to argue out the fear they have concerned with the use of energy that is environmentally friendly.
Plants should consider finding ways of minimizing or fully eliminating the amount of carbon dioxide they emit to the environment. Therefore, Rick Santorum knew exceedingly well that no matter how hard one tries to educate people on energy and the environment, the solution lies with plants. The reason behind this argument is the fact that plants are large-scale carbon dioxide emitters in any country. Diesel is a cheap source of energy, and this is the reason plants rely on it for their production. Therefore, despite the dangers associated with carbon dioxide emission, plants find it cheap to continue using diesel, hence maximizing their profits.
In a March 12th speech to supporters in Tennessee, Newt Gingrich commented on the government’s energy policy saying “The President said we have to be practical. Drilling won’t solve it. And then he offered his practical solution. Does anybody here remember what it was? Algae. Algae. I mean I think this summer as gas prices keep going up, one of our campaign techniques should be to go to gas stations with jars of algae and say to people would you rather have the Gingrich solution of drilling and having more oil or would you like to try to put this in your gas tank.”
Newt Gingrich’s comment about the government’s energy policy was ironic. This is because the government’s policy was concerned with adopting other forms of fuel to contain fuel shortages. In fact, there is nothing one can do by asking people to abandon the use of diesel and adopt that algae fuels due to the rising prices of gas. The government and other stakeholders in the energy sector should come up with a strategy to grow algae to produce biodiesel. The project should be based on a strategic plan aimed at helping the country to have sufficient fuel. After the adoption of algae fuels, the state should then come up with ways of minimizing the number of fossil fuels in the country.
This is the best way of changing sources of fuel because with time stakeholders will be evaluating the proposed sources to know more about them. For example, algae fuel may have its disadvantages, which the government can only understand upon its use. There can be a monumental mistake where the government stops drilling crude oil and start investing in growing algae. In case of algae fuels become ineffective, the government may incur a lot of losses in the economy because production may come to a stall due to lack of fuel. Therefore, the government should try to integrate the new product into the market slowly.
This will give them time to evaluate its efficiency and highlight areas of weakness hence coming up with means of fostering improvements. In fact, the government should involve everybody in the economy in making such crucial decisions. This means that the government should seek information from various stakeholders in the economy regarding the new source of fuel.