Transcript
The icebergs are melting. Polar bears are losing their homes. The poles are losing land. Why? The answer is global warming. Global warming has become a serious issue that needs to be addressed. Global warming is causing more fires in nature. In the early months of 2020, Australia was on fire. Bushfires were covering the continent. The conditions created by global warming fueled the fires which then helped them spread to nearly every Australian state. By the time the bushfires were stopped, 33 people were dead and 12 million hectares of land burned. Global warming is also causing droughts. California is hit especially hard by them due to global warming. The droughts in California have been intensified due to much warmer summers and winters caused by global warming. Many countries are taking steps to help combat global warming. However, there are still those against the United States government’s involvement. But, if America’s government were to get involved, global warming could improve. The government should foster green practices so that the world can be a healthier place.
The American government needs to make an effort to foster green practices. America is responsible for causing roughly 20% of global warming; however, it only has about 4% of the world’s population. Something needs to change. Someone needs to take charge. Thomas Freidman believes America needs to take charge. “America is always at its most powerful and most influential when it is combining innovation and inspiration, wealth-building and dignity building, the quest for big profits and the tackling of big problems” (Friedman). America will need to make some changes, but it can be done. America will need to rejoin the Paris Agreement. Nearly all countries in the world joined, including Singapore. Singapore’s government has made many laws to help combat climate change. America’s government could model laws after those.
Singapore’s government is helping Singapore go green. For example, Singapore has laws to regulate gasoline and automobiles to promote their more energy efficient mass transit system. “Gasoline is scarce and expensive,” so Singapore makes “car buyers pay an annual tax that specifically punishes high-powered, gas-guzzling engines” (Webber). The government also requires car buyers to pay a large sum for a permit for their cars. The money gained from buying the permits “goes into supporting an efficient, highly developed mass transit system” (Webber). Basically, Singapore’s “tax policies... encourage conservation and punish waste” (Webber). “Singapore is only one of many places in the world that is making energy conservation and auto management a priority” (Webber). If Singapore and other countries are going green, why can’t America?
In addition to the laws on gasoline and automobiles, America’s government needs to help push America away from the oil industry and into a greener solution. America can create “new laws that force companies to find green alternatives” (Winters). Hopefully, America can eventually create laws that outlaw the oil industry, given that fracking, the main way of extracting oil from the Earth, is very harmful to the environment. For example, if America and the rest of the world were to ban the oil industry and “every oil-producing nation was suddenly left without any viable resources because the world suddenly switched to another form of energy” (Winters). “To destroy [the oil] industry now costs us money and jobs” (Winters). But, “creating new environmentally friendly products and refitting the world with such items will create new jobs” that can replace the old ones (Winters). Therefore, what is the harm in removing the oil industry and replacing it with a more green option? It will not cost jobs that can not be replaced. It will not continue to harm our environment; instead, it will help make the world a healthier place.
The world would be a healthier place if the United States government were to get involved and lead the world in helping to foster green practices. In 50 years, will the world be heavily polluted and out of fossil fuels, or will the world be green and healthy? It all depends on whether governments help combat global warming or do nothing.
