Hello All,

The main problem that exist within developing countries in regards to the use of natural resources and energy is, in my opinion, the lack of strategies to offset the usage of the earth’s resources. Consumption of both renewable and non-renewable resources have been misused for a long time, with no real strategy on how the population should sustain itself with more energy efficient means. Limiting the use of resources based on what is needed vs what is not a necessity, managing the way energy is used, and taking advantage of resources that can produce energy in a more environmentally friendly way should always be the priority. There should be more concentration on how the world can utilize the earth’s resources in a manner that will lessen and eliminate the emission of gases that ultimately cause damage to the earth and the health of the population. Windmills and solar panels have been known to produce energy with no affect to the earth’s atmosphere, yet the requirement for construction of buildings to utilize such sources have not been addressed.

Transportation has been know to cause harm to the environment, but, there are also many ways to counteract this issue, such as making the production of vehicles (including public transportation) that are environmentally friendly, using less oil and gas. The resolutions are there, yet there is no governmental mandate to see that the transportation and construction industries use these resources. Rather than mandating the changes needed, the government has only provided small incentives to homeowners for making their homes more energy efficient. It appears that “population control” is the best answer to the energy-climate crisis, but the problem is much bigger than that. Even in a decrease or slow down in population growth, resources are still being used that cause harm. Lessening the harm by controlling how many people misuse the earth’s resources is not the answer. What logical sense does it make to focus on lessening the amount of people that use energy vs how energy is being used and in what ways are we misusing and over using resources for things that are not a necessity.

Developed countries have a bad habit of over production and using beyond the needs. There are many groups or people that live and survive solely on the land and only take from the earth what is needed, while replenishing what is taken. The answer to the energy-climate crisis would require the collective to evaluate their individual lifestyles and forcing their respective governments to make the mandated changes needed to control the use of energy. There is no lack in the sun, water, and wind, all of which produce energy in their own way. The increase in population did not cause the energy crisis, rather the desires of man to develop their world in ways that did not consider the affects of their work. Poor management and proper acknowledgment in the lasting effects will always be the issues to address.

What are the ramifications of excessive extraction of oil and what are alternatives to doing such extractions? We live in a world that relies heavily on the convenience of things, which tend to overshadow the responsibility that each person has on the preservation of the earth. Developed countries are more interested in ways to increase production and wealth, and are less concerned about the causes and effects of the energy-climate crisis. While the climate crisis affects the world, the poor are less contributors to the crisis. That alone speaks volumes, in my opinion. For the betterment of the world, one would have to make sacrifices to the way we live, collectively, across the globe. For example, how many privileged people would vote for a mandate to cut off usage of certain resources at a particular time during a given day if it meant that the earth and population would benefit from lessening its use? Many would probably selfishly decline, because they have developed a need that supercede the value of the resources provided by the earth.

Larger populations need to take responsibility for the crisis that they’ve caused, and begin to implement mandated ways to control the use of energy.

Nathonia Wood