WK1: Community Environmental IssueUniversity of Phoenix
SCI 275
May 11, 2014
Community Environmental Issue
The main issue in the state of Ohio would be power plants. There is one really big power plant that my grandfather has worked at for the past 28 years of his life. He states that they have currently started changing things up so that it is more environmentally safe for our environment. This paper is about the power plant issue and how it is an environmental sustainability issue, and who it will affect, what causes the issue, and how the government can regulate or not regulate it, and the solutions that can be proposed to help with this issue.
The issue is that power plants cause many additional problems to the environment just so people can have electricity. Fossil fuel-fired power plants are the nation’s largest source of carbon dioxide, the leading global warming pollutant” (Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center, 2013). “In the United States, warmer temperatures caused by global warming have already increased the frequency and severity of heat waves and heavy downpours, resulting in more intense wildfires, floods, droughts, and tropical storms and hurricanes” (Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center, 2013). “In 2011, power plants were responsible for 42 percent of all U.S. global warming pollution” (Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center, 2013). “Power plants use water for cooling, reducing the amount of water available for irrigation, wildlife, recreation or domestic use” (Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center, 2013). The power plants are drawing more water from our lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers to help with cooling the plants and it takes away from the population (Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center, 2013).
Power plants are a huge environmental sustainability issue because they use large amounts of water and create harmful air pollution. “Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity pollutes our…