Countries Begin to Explore their Energy Options

Rather late in the day some countries are beginning to develop energy policies in line with the needs that have been identified nationally. Typically these policies will focus on the need to maintain the citizens within a comfortable bubble so that they can continue to vote in the same governments over and over again.

Those who try to offer an alternative energy policy are shut down as being anti business. In fact many of the green parties have some wonderful ideas about energy policy but they have been effectively shut down by the presence of the right wing lobby which closes its eyes to the plight of those people who are unable to access rich energy sources.

There is some secrecy about the energy policies of certain countries because they are unethical or hurt the political and imperial ambitions of those nations. Thus when wars are ostensibly staged to bring peace yet the underlying issue is the access to the oil reserves; one loses confidence in the whole energy policy debate. It has become nothing more than a smokescreen for naked imperialistic ambitions and glory hunting. Those who point out this trend are shut down as being unpatriotic or somehow naive in their assumptions about the machinations of their governments.

Going Beyond Good Intentions

The debate at the moment is not so much about the existing energy policies but rather an acknowledgement that many governments have never had a policy in the first place. They relied on the ability to manage the crisis as they come about without looking at the long term future of their nations. The case of Ukraine is telling because energy for them has become a ransom for a powerful neighbor. The neighbor is able to switch the energy on and off depending on the relationship at the time. The relationship must cause alarm for those countries which do not have sufficient energy reserves. They will have to subjugate themselves to the energy suppliers in order to get any relief from the drought of energy resources.

In discussing the energy policies one must not forget the role of the consumers in creating demand for energy. If people do not take ownership and responsibility for the issues that happen to them in the energy cycle, then they will place additional burdens on their governments to deliver alternative energy sources. The development of an effective energy policy has to come from the people themselves rather than relying on the services of other government agencies to implement what is considered to be good practice. If both the governments and the individuals concerned understand the implications of their energy policies, it will make the planet a safer planet.

The creation of an energy policy involves rather more than mere sound bites and pontifications. It requires that the leaders do their work and inspire the rest of the community to join the battle for energy efficiency. The battle can be won and must be won in order to secure the future of the earth.

Energy as an Environmental Issue

The protection of the environment has become a priority for many national governments due to the influence of various pressure groups and the commitments that have be given out to the general public in terms of enforcing responsible government whenever possible. The ability to use the planet in a responsible manner is no longer the preserve of a fringe of campaigners who have spent a lifetime trying to convince the general public that it is not prudent or responsible to waste all the resources that are due to go to the future generations.

Some nations are addicted to the use of energy in all its forms. For example they will buy cars that are not energy efficient and which put an additional burden on the oil resources that the country may be able to access in the long run. They also mean that the use of oil has an impact on the disposable income that is available to the nation in terms of building economic growth. There are also other benefits in terms of reducing the impact on the state which has to subsidize those citizens who are unable to afford the essential things in life.

It therefore seems that the protection of the environment has to necessarily be tied up with the energy policy of a country. There are many leaflets that tell the community about the various energy saving systems that are available to them in the short term and which can improve the standing of the economy if done on a consistent basis.

Balancing Energy Policy

One of the things that are very worrying is that there are vast sways of political persuasion which refuses to acknowledge the impact of human activity on the environment. Their mantra is to spend and spend until they get their fill. For some people this is an unacceptable use of resources and does not foster the type of responsibility that is crucial for the economic development of the nation. However it must be remembered that these conservative voices have been on the wrong side of history when it comes to different elements of the histories of the world. It then seems that they will continue this pattern when it comes to energy policy.

An effective environmental protection policy also has to consider the fact that the nation has a real need for energy in order to foster economic development. This is the type of commitment that has build economies over time and ensured prosperity for the Western world. It would then appear to be entirely counterproductive if the powers that be decided to stop the use of energy for economic development. Environmental issues are important but they cannot be more important than the duty to maintain a certain minimum living standard for the general population. The failure to plan for the energy needs of the community has brought the nations into the situation of global warming. At the same time they cannot afford to go back to being the underdeveloped economies of the past.

Cooling Down on Proliferation

Although politics and a hint or racism is at the heart of the Iranian conflict with some Western powers at the behest of Israel, it seems that energy could be one of the issues that drive this relationship. According to Iran they would like to become a recognized nuclear power because they use the power for energy purposes.

The veracity of these claims is rather shaky given the reputation that Iran has built over the years in terms of ratcheting up the pressure and refusing to comply with the instructions that are being imposed on it. However nuclear power can be an interesting source of energy.

Rather than fighting one another both Israel and Iran might decide to have some sort of energy creation system that would feed the entire Middle East. The dependence on oil is already crippling some economies in terms of their income and the ability to implement an independent foreign policy. That is why the use of nuclear power as a source of energy is quite attractive. Traditionally the nuclear power has been associated with the sinister motives of developed countries but now there is an avenue to rescue it into modern economic life.

Making Money not War

The use of nuclear power for energy purposes is both practical and ethical because it taps into the natural resources that a country has and then matches them to the need within the country which creates a perfect balance for economic development. It also turns nuclear energy away from the sinister motives of weapon manufacture. That way those people who have been campaigning for the voluntary reduction of nuclear weapons within the world will get their wish and there will be plenty of energy for other developmental purposes.

The one thing that tends to derail any efforts at bringing the nuclear question to a halt is the presence or absence of political will. The issue with political will is that most countries have been frightened into believing that when they stop gathering weapons, their opponents will successfully attack their nations. In fact certain nations freely admit that the residual nuclear weapons that they have are all for the purposes of acting as a deterrent.

The upkeep of nuclear weapons is very expensive and has left some wondering whether it is really worth it to continue to keep those systems when there has been no major attack in so many years. The proponents of nuclear weapons then counter by saying that the mere fact that there has not been an attack is proof that the deterrent is working and must never be removed. The debate will continue to rage on depending on which side of the arguments the reader has chosen to fall on. The bottom line is that the problems that are related to the energy industry and nuclear power will not go away and each super power has to come up with a strategy to reduce its output. If the funds happen go into making energy then it will be a win for the economy.

Conserving Energy

A number of communities have come up with interesting methods of preserving the little energy that they have and ensuring that their children have a bright and prosperous future. The conservation of energy is not limited as a responsibility but covers the entirety of human existence and practice in an effort to reduce the impact on the environment.

It also avoids the natural wastage that happens when people are not well informed about the impact of their actions on the energy consumption levels. In order to achieve balance some governments have let the people use the energy as they see fit but have place in some controls which are meant to prevent the over exploitation of natural resources.

When one is looking at the usage of energy within the home it becomes clear that there is something very wrong with the attitudes of the majority of the population to the reality of energy policy. Some people are quite happy to leave the lights on all night just because they can afford it. In an effort to highlight the ethical implications of such attitudes, various governments have come up with schemes that target specific energy uses. This is done with the express aim of getting them to acknowledge their responsibilities to the general community and their abilities to deal with the realities of the modern environment.

Energy Efficient World

Dealing with energy conservation measures does not have to be limited to big government initiatives. There are great examples of various people who have successfully reduced their impact on the environment through common sense approaches to living in the modern age. Government legislation and initiatives should be the last refuge of those who wish to implement energy efficiency policies on a national basis. Living in a family home is all about compromise and therefore there can be some compromise when it comes to the usage of energy. There is no reason to leave the light bulbs on when no one is working at home. Likewise it seems a waste of energy to boil water when no one is going to use it.

If more and more families buy into the principles of energy efficiencies some of the difficult energy problems that the world is facing can be resolved in a relatively short space of time. However if we continue to insist on laying the blame for energy efficiency problems at the doorstep of the government the problems that we face will never end and it is likely that the environment will punish us for this. The great thing is that the younger generation has started to take notice and it is insisting that the older generation stops ignoring the situation. This is a welcome development that can only lead to great results for the world community at large.

With the better use of energy the world can look forward to a time when people will only use items for the purpose for which they were intended. They will also use those items in a socially responsible manner.

Democratizing Energy Resources

One of the key battle grounds for all nations in the future will be the use of energy resources. As the world population continues to grow beyond the resource base that is available at the moment, it has become clear that some measures will have to be taken to restore the balance of resources and human need. These resources come from a variety of indicators including the natural resources. Politicians are not talking about energy independence as if the world is on the verge of ending. The process of moving towards energy independence might involve the forceful acquisition of assets that belong to other countries we have seen some of the resultant chaos in Iraq.

On the other hand it would appear to be unsustainable that some countries are relying on their natural resources to hold the world on ransom. Energy is an essential item for those countries that lie within the colder areas of the world. If no effort is made to democratize the energy sources for them one can safely say that they will be in a great deal of trouble.

Revolutions have been implemented on the basis of energy needs. When the winter hits, the elderly start to die if they do not have an adequate energy source. This then becomes a heated national security issue that can lead the different parties into outright war with one another.

Energy in a Global Village

The United Nations Organization does not seem to have a unified strategy for dealing with the issues of resources. Rather they rely on local agreements to settle individual disputes between countries. It is only in the recent wake of the climate change disasters that serious consideration is being given to the implications of the policies of the big powers in relation to energy usage. As it appears that the Middle East will not let go of its oil so easily, the problem of energy reserves will have to be dealt with from the perspective of a domestic strategy.

Whole economies will depend on the ability to mobilize the energy resources if they are going to survive into the future. The principle of the survival of the fittest will have to test the nations seriously. There is talk of alternative energy sources but the arguments are not particularly convincing and the target market is not particularly enthusiastic. Moreover the costs of modern technology are so high that many people wonder whether they can be delivered to the majority of the human race.

Those who have a social conscience outside their self interest recognize the dire straits that the human race finds itself in when we talk of energy resources. There are choices to be made if the politicians can get off their pulpits and get working. For example we might decide to use the energy resources that we have and hope for the best. Alternatively we might try to conserve until the reserves run out. The other solution is to find new sources of energy.