Open AccessThe Problem with People
Author(s) -
Daniel E. Campbell
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
earth common journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1929-8706
DOI - 10.31542/j.ecj.5
Subject(s) - climate change , fossil fuel , natural resource economics , energy supply , global warming , energy security , energy (signal processing) , climate change mitigation , greenhouse gas , business , environmental impact of the energy industry , primary energy , energy policy , environmental resource management , environmental protection , environmental science , economics , engineering , renewable energy , waste management , ecology , mathematics , electrical engineering , biology , statistics
Climate change has become a critical political issue in the past twenty years. However, there is a related issue that is often overlooked by governments, industry, and the public: energy supply security, defined by the IAEA (2007) as “...the ability of a nation to muster the energy resources needed to ensure its welfare” (n.p.). Conventional energy requires the burning of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide, the primary driver behind climate change (Pulles & Amstel, 2010, p. 4). Because of this, the problems of our dependence on fossil fuels and carbon fuelled global warming are interrelated. As such, solving the climate change problem may mitigate energy concerns. However, the potentially disastrous consequences of climate change will not be felt immediately while energy is critical to our daily survival; so, energy issues are arguably a more pressing concern.