Introduction 

Chinese philosophers use the term wei-ji to describe a pattern of change or crisis, which is translated to "danger and opportunity."  This term best describes a transition phase that is necessary for sustainability on this planet.  The time has come for us to transition from using fossil fuels to alternative energy sources in order to drive our economy.  Developing renewable energy sources is an exciting field that includes harvesting the wind, the sun, and hydroelectric power.  It includes developing bio-fuels, such as soy, ethanol, or vegetable oil, to fuel our cars.  The transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources will take years, but in the long run, will benefit the planet with fewer emissions, leading to a more sustainable environment.  It will benefit our economy by creating jobs at factories where these resources are harvested.  This is one instance where economic success will have a positive effect on the global environment.  The issue of global warming—and the ongoing debate on its causes—has become much more of a 'hot topic' (no pun intended) in recent years as climate change becomes more obvious.  Hurricanes, mudslides, typhoons, earthquakes, not to mention longer, hotter summers, are becoming more frequent.  There is no question that the ice caps are melting.  But the blame game that the political parties are playing (whether humans or solar warming is predominately responsible) does nothing but divert attention from the real issue—what can we do to slow or even stop the process?     

Global Warming 

Any discussion on the environment has to first start with global warming.  Its causes will be argued for a long time to come.  But at this point, whether it is due to manmade initiatives, greenhouse gas emissions, relatively high solar activity and sunspot cycles, or volcanic eruptions is not the crucial issue.  We have to first recognize that global warming IS a problem.  This is not just an issue in the United States or a small country in Africa, but an issue that has to be embraced by the world community!  The abundance of gases that have been contributed over the years has caused an increase in global temperatures, resulting from the greenhouse effect.  The greenhouse effect is caused by gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and CFC's) that are natural and anthropogenic, emitted into the atmosphere by humans, plants and other animals.  When these gases get trapped within the surface-troposphere system, they magnify the sun's rays and do not allow heat to escape.  The result is an increased global temperature.  Greenhouse gases are not always a bad thing, after all, without them this planet would be so cold that it would be uninhabitable. 

Incentives For Being "Green"

Next, we must recognize the serious dependency that we have on oil.  Most importantly, we need to realize that more oil drilling is not a long-term viable solution!  Our demand for oil will always overshadow our available supply, and this fuel source is not endless.  It is being depleted at an alarming rate.  It is obvious that oil is a major driver in our economy—driving it straight down.  So if not for the health of the planet, maybe feeling the pinch in our wallets will motivate us to actively develop alternative energy sources to provide opportunities and sustainability for our great grandchildren.

An energy bill from 2005 provides tax incentives for a number of solar and energy efficiency measures. The US government provides tax incentives for businesses and homeowners to install solar power and use clean fuel vehicles.  A tax credit reduces the amount of income tax you have to pay. 

Energy Star classifies energy efficient products as products that may cost more to purchase, but will pay you back in lower energy bills within a short period.  Improvements around your house can also get you tax credits.  For example, replacement windows, water heaters, and certain high efficiency heating and cooling equipment can translate to big savings. Tax credits are also available for purchasing hybrid gasoline-electric, diesel, battery-electric, alternative fuel, and fuel cell vehicles.  The tax credit criteria is based on a formula determined by vehicle weight, technology, and fuel economy, as compared to base year models. 

Florida Power and Light (FPL) is offering to help their "green" consumers by reducing electricity costs and providing renewable energy.  By interconnecting the consumer's renewable power system to FPL's power grid, FPL will install additional metering equipment to measure any excess energy sent to the electric grid and the value of any extra energy not used will be credited to your bill based upon the as-available energy rate.  The world oil production has already reached its peak in 2005.  With the growing demand for oil and the steady increase in prices, oil production has decreased over the past three years.  Oil is getting more expensive to produce and more scarce.  It's obvious that we just can't keep up with demand.

In 1970, we imported 24% of our oil.  Today it is nearly 70% and still growing.  As our imports continue to increase annually and world prices steadily rise, the amount of money we send to foreign nations every year for oil is huge.  Currently, we send $700 billion dollars out of the country just for this year.  For comparative measures, that is four times the cost of the war in Iraq.  The projected cost over the next ten years is ten trillion dollars.  On a daily basis, there are 85 million barrels of oil produced around the world, 21 million of those barrels are used here in the US.  We consume a quarter of the oil produced and only make up 5% of the world's population.

Pickens Plan

Boone Pickens' widely publicized plan pushes for utilizing wind, solar energy, and natural gas to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.  Natural gas is the cleanest transportation fuel that is available today.  Natural gas vehicles (NGV) are already available, such as the Honda Civic GX, which is rated as the cleanest production vehicle in the world.  Out of the 7 million NGVs currently in use worldwide, only 150,000 NGV are in the United States.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), vehicles make up 60% of carbon monoxide pollution.  NGVs are increasing in popularity, not just because they are cleaner than petroleum vehicles but also because they are less expensive to fill up.  Natural gas is significantly cheaper than gasoline or diesel.  In places such as Utah or Oklahoma, prices are less than $1 a gallon.  Building wind facilities from the Texas panhandle all the way to North Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States, costing $1 trillion (plus a one time cost of $200 billion dollars to transmit that energy to cities and towns).  It seems like a lot of money, doesn't it?  But compare it to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year. 

Locally

The vast majority of people do not realize the serious impact that the burning of fossil fuels has on our environment.  Burning gasoline not only pollutes the air we breathe, it also contributes to greenhouse gases, and contaminates the water that we use daily.  Imagine a tiny water droplet being blown around thousands of feet up in the air.  As this tiny water droplet collides with other water droplets, it becomes so heavy that it eventually becomes one large rain drop and falls to the Earth.  Now suppose that this rain droplet lands on Interstate 275. It will be slipping and sliding all over the oily buildup that has accumulated from the traffic since the last rainfall.  It will join up with billions of other toxic raindrops to form what is called runoff.  It will then travel down I-275 into a runoff water drain.  This toxic runoff then gets deposited into the local rivers and reservoirs to eventually be digested by humans.  We digest these toxins by drinking tap water from our faucets or by eating fruit that we pick off of our trees in the backyard!  Pollutants contribute to waterborne diseases and can compromise the functioning of vital organs, not to mention also our digestive systems.  Does this thought leave a bad taste in your mouth?  It should. 

By acting locally and thinking globally you can contribute to a more sustainable and healthier environment.  Although locally, (St. Petersburg) it is not as easy as it seems.  There is an ongoing debate on whether or not to provide free curbside recycling.  St. Petersburg is one of the largest cities in Florida without free curbside recycling!  Those that oppose curbside recycling think that the fuel burned from the garbage trucks to pick up the recyclables would do more harm than good to the environment with weekly pick-ups.  Some people think that not enough recyclables can be produced by each household to require weekly pick-ups.  Others would rather improve the collection centers that we have in downtown St. Petersburg rather than have free curbside pick-up.  It makes it very difficult to be "green" and contribute to a more sustainable planet when you have to pay to recycle or find transportation to the collection centers, especially with the cost of gas today.  

The term green is being used more and more frequently.  The word is being used to identify or support environmentalism.  I believe many companies are taking advantage of this term by advertising a green (with emphasis on "green") product whether or not it is actually good for the environment.  What is considered green to one person may seem red to others, it is purely subjective.  Being green is an obligation that everyone must fulfill.  Act locally to contribute to the health and well-being of not just yourself, but to the health of the environment as well.  By using community literacy as a tool to provide direction and education to what can be done locally is a good starting point.  There are some local corporations and organizations that are using new technology to reduce cost and consumption.  Many corporations have converted from using hard copies to using computers or electronic databases, which is known as green computing, for documentation.  This can save thousands of dollars a year by reducing the demand and cost for paper. 

Recycling Steel & Metal

Recycling steel scrap saves energy and natural resources.  In a single year, the steel industry saves the equivalent amount of energy to electrically power 18 million US households for a year.  By recycling one ton of steel, the following materials are conserved: 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone, according to the California State University.

With the increasing value of steel today, we will no longer continue to see car junk yards. Ads in the newspaper are sent out daily for scrap dealers to come to your home to haul old cars away and pay you for the scrap price for the car.  The same is for the old decaying and vacant buildings; they are being torn down for the steel, aluminum, and copper for recycling.

Recycling Bottles & Cans

Opponents use the argument that it would cost more tax dollars to set up recycling.  It would cost store owners money to put in the self help can and bottle recycling machines.  Then, they would have to hire extra help to move the cans to the trucks that take the cans away. Residents say it is an inconvenience to store the bottles and cans in their garages, and then take them to the store for recycling.  The state of Michigan recycles 99% of its refundable cans.  California leads the nation with recycling over 14.7 billion beverage containers in 2007, which was up from 13.2 billion the previous year, according to the Conservation Department of California in Sacramento.

Here are some plastic bottle recycling facts:

·      In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 23%. That leaves 38 billion water bottles in landfills.

·         Bottled water costs between $1 to $4 per gallon and 90% of the cost is the bottle, lid, and label.

·         According to the Beverage Marketing Corp, the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976 and in 2006, that number jumped to 28.3 gallons.

·         It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to manufacture a year's supply of bottled water. That's enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars.  

·         8 out of 10 plastic water bottles become landfill waste.

·         In 2007, we spent $16 billion on bottle water. That's more than we spent on iPods or movie tickets.

·         Plastic bottles take 700 years before they begin to decompose in landfills.

·         If everyone in New York City gave up water bottles for one week, they would save 24 million bottles from being land filled one month would save 112 million bottles and one year would save 1.328 billion bottles from going into the landfill.

Doing our part on recycling plastic bags

Knowing how long it takes a plastic bottle to decompose at a garbage dump or by the side of the road, it's also important look at the number of plastic bags that are used once and thrown away. San Francisco recently enforces a ban on plastic bags, forcing a shift back to paper bags.  According to the American Chemistry Council (Moore Recycling Associates), paper bags increase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and waste. Other major cities have chosen plastic bag recycling for their communities, claiming it's a myth and that our cities would be saving more oil by banning plastic bags.   

Thus, we need to promote plastic bag recycling. In 2006, plastic bag recycling increased 24% nationwide to 812 million pounds. There is a growing realization that plastic is a valuable resource. Plastic bags can be made into dozens of useful new products, such as building and construction products, low maintenance fencing and decking, and new bags. Some grocery stores have added plastic bag collection bins and some communities have drop-off centers or curbside programs where you can drop off unused bags for recycling.  

Overconsumption

Overconsumption is a major problem in the US that is a consequence of greed and ignorance.  New technologies result in products that are more advanced, making it more marketable.  I bet not that many people have a cell phone older than 2 years or a laptop older than 4 years.  Everyone "needs", or should I say, "wants", the newest or the best product out there.  The only problem is the demand for that product goes up when your Zack Morris cell phone was fully functional.  Overconsumption can also mean over-consuming energy, which is also a major problem on this planet, especially in the US.  According to Amory Lovins, an energy expert, the population of the world is about 4 billion, but we utilize enough of the earth's resources as if there were 200 billion.  The US uses 250 times more than the Nigerians.  The reason it's important to control population is that with each person born in the US, it is equal to using around 50 times the amount of the earths resources compared to the rest of the world.  The US also contributes to 36% of the CO2 pollution in the world and only makes up for 5% of the population on earth.

Conclussion

It is very important to be active in the community and use community literacy to enforce your opinions and beliefs on the next step to maintaining a sustainable planet.  Oil is depleting at a rapid rate so it is important to look at this Pickens Plan seriously.  Participate in the Pickens Plan and push for the utilization of wind energy, solar energy, and natural gas.  This could be a huge stepping stone and bridge us from one generation to the next. Natural gas fuel stations are not as widespread as petroleum fuel stations but natural gas stations will expand as the popularity of these vehicles continues to drive forward. The Indians and English use a seventh generation logic, in which they think of the consequences of what they do and the effects it has seven generations away in the future. It is a useful and logical way of sustaining a healthy and environmentally friendly economy.  Also, every species has a unique set of needs that it is dependant on; it is important to realize that one's needs can affect the life of another species.  However, it is impossible to fully resolve this problem and leave everybody satisfied.  The concept of sustainability, of using resources in a way that leaves less of an environmental, social, and economical footprint, can be a type of compromise.