The New York Times. (2022, February 2) How Spiking Energy Prices Complicate the Fight Against Global Warming. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/climate/oil-gas-prices-climate-change.html
Despite the fact that world leaders are claiming to scale back their use of fossil fuels, a significant increase in the demand for crude oil, natural gas, and coal could complicate this. Oil prices have soared to the highest price in roughly seven years due to fears of Russia invading Ukraine. This issue has led experts to recognize that although businesses are beginning to invest in low carbon energy sources, there will always be a need for fossil fuels. Unless the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy is very smooth and well managed, it is likely that incentives to switch to clean energy will be diminished, which would have a significant negative impact on reversing climate change.
I think that the geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine should be a spark in the initiative to work towards net-zero emissions. The fact that this issue has driven oil prices to the highest level in nearly seven years should serve as a reminder that our reliance on fossil fuels is a serious issue, and we need to begin the transition to clean energy as soon as possible. It is important that we do not continue ignoring this issue, as the longer we wait to make the change, the more likely we are to produce irreversible levels of atmospheric carbon.
I find this article very interesting because it relates to very current events such as Russia invading Ukraine. I think it’s also interesting to understand that there is a need for fossil fuels to a certain extent. I think the question would just be then what is that extent and how do we know if we are still using too much?
Thanks for the comment. I think that it is definitely important to keep fossil fuels in the loop, but we need to lower our reliance on them in case an event occurs and they become more scarce.
I really enjoyed this article as it relates to what is going on right now in a different light as it is including the event of war in our modern society as well. Do you think this will be a wake up call to the rest of the world in terms of our reliance?
Thanks for the comment, I think that it will definitely be a wake up call for the rest of the world.
It is interesting that the article takes such a negative approach to the situation. I feel like we are surviving eight now with higher oil and gas prices and even if it means businesses need to suffer slightly it is simply part of the process we need to go being serious about reversing climate change. How did you feel about the articles negative stance?
I agree with your point about the articles negative stance, but I think that it does a good job of pointing out the fact that we are too reliant on fossil fuels.