Fact: The planet is warming up. The nine warmest years on record have been in the last 10 years.
The scientific community say it's down to us - Globally, Mankind emits over 33 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. Nature can recycle about half of that, but the rest of this greenhouse gas goes into the atmosphere, year-after-year, causing the rising temperatures.
At present, this is causing effects like 80% of the world's glaciers in retreat, some rapidly, and a rapid loss of ice in the Arctic. The future could bring expanding deserts, more droughts, more flooding, sea-level rises, more powerful hurricanes, mass extinctions, food shortages (due to the droughts and floods), wars, and increased health risks. What's not to hate?
2) Peak Oil
Defined as the point in time when global oil production reaches it's maximum, after which it goes into gradual decline.
It doesn't sound very interesting but it could seriously effect all of us. Basically, once peak oil is reached, oil prices become more volatile, leaping up any time an oil producing country has a crisis such as a war, internal unrest, or production problems. That obviously effects petrol prices but, added transport costs also push up prices of goods across the board. It's eventual effects could even make the current global crisis look like a stroll in the park. More about peak oil.
Two scientists have analysed oil production figures over the years and come to the conclusion peak oil is with us already (See here), because production figures seem to have hit a ceiling whilst oil prices have leaped up in response to the Iraq and Libyan wars. If they're right then these prices hikes can only get worse.
3) Energy Security
Every country should be entitled to cheap and plentiful energy to keep it's economy moving. Trouble is, when the source of their energy is in the hands of unstable countries, or ones inclined towards manipulating/withholding the supply, and the source is increasingly expensive, your country no longer has control over it's destiny.
At the moment, most of the world's oil and gas comes from the Middle East, Russia (The top producer of both fuels by far), South America, and Africa. Worrying, isn't it?
Renewables like solar, wind, biofuels, nuclear, and hydro have the potential to become cheap, plentiful, and, most importantly, controlled by the countries that need them.
4) Pollution
Burning coal leads to smog, acid rain (from sulphur dioxide), and airbourne toxins like mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium. The various pollutants can cause bronchitis, asthma, heart disease, and even premature death.
5) Modernisation
Oil, gas, and coal are basically dirty relics from the Nineteenth century. We are surrounded by chimneys and exhaust pipes belching pollutants into the air we breath. It's about time we turned our back on them and converted to the clean, endlessly renewing fuels of the 21st century.
6) Jobs
If governments are looking for a way to rejuvenate the economy and create huge numbers of jobs, then supporting green technology is the way to go. Jobs from designing the equipment, building it, fitting it, and maintaining it. Jobs retro-fitting buildings to make them more energy efficient. Jobs inspecting homes to reduce their carbon footprint. Billions in export revenues from selling the technology and expertise abroad. On and on it goes.
7) Price Stabilisation
Peak oil or not, you've got to admit we're all being battered by rising oil and natural gas prices at the moment, and there seems no end in sight. Switching to renewables would stabilise energy prices. There will be some initial costs to establish the technology, but then the costs will start coming down as the tech is improved and becomes more efficient. Eventually we'll have cheap, clean, and plentiful energy for good.
8) Environmental damage
Exxon Valdez, Torrey Canyon, and Deepwater Horizon, these, and many other oil spills will go down in infamy. In the Appalacian Mountains of the U.S., they're removing tops off mountains to to get at coal deposits. In Alberta, Canada they're ruining an area of prestine forest the size of Florida to get at the 'tar' sands.
In short, our insatiable appetite for fossil fuels is ruining the environment
9) Cheaper To Do It Sooner Rather Than Later
The aim of climate deniers is to delay dealing with climate change as long as possible. But the longer we put off sorting the problem out, the more it'll cost you and I to do so. The solution is well within our means at the moment and would cost far less than business-as-usual.
10) Oil Runs Western Foreign Policy
It's said that the biggest reason the West invaded Iraq was to secure the massive oil reserves there. When you look at it like that you begin to question why we supported the uprising in Libya and not the one in Syria. Could it be because Libya has lot more oil?
Our addiction to oil forces us to do this. Do we really want to go on like this?
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