It has become evident to me in recent times that our country’s dependence on “dirty energy” is damaging us in ways we can barely even comprehend. Not only is dirty energy such as oil, coal, and nuclear power bad for the environment and our health, it can contribute to instability in the world. I tend to think that our country overestimates the threat that terrorism poses to our nation, but nuclear power plants certainly make an easy target for terrorist attacks and could cause devastating damage to hundreds of thousands or millions of people. Not to mention the threat of an accident happening in a power plant or the inherent danger posed by nuclear waste.

There is also the instability and economic cost that occurs because of our dependence on foreign oil. The United States spends $49.1 billion every year, not counting the Iraqi war, patrolling the Persian Gulf’s oil transportation routes. This is not paid at the gas tank, but by our taxes. Thus you cannot avoid this cost by reducing your own personal use of oil, although that is a great step to help the environment. You can make a change by speaking out and urging the administration to quell the nation’s addiction to dirty energy.

Only 2 percent of the electricity in 2000 was generated by renewable sources. We can easily do much better than this as a country. I can’t ask everyone to give up their cars and start riding bikes, but fortunately I don’t want or need to. Simply cutting back your energy use in moderate ways, urging the development of renewable sources (via letters to the editor such as this and correspondence with your Congressional representatives), and looking into purchases you can make that support companies that use more renewable energy (such as the Prius) can be of great help to our ecosystem.

Brian Whipple