Our Environmental Responsibility to the Next Generation

Modern man had done much progress in the study of the Solar system. At the same time we still did not find any planet with life conditions familiar to our native planet. Only the Earth gives us natural resources, which create conditions suitable for life. Unfortunately, we estimate only things that we loose. At the present moment we perceive our natural resources for granted and do not think about future generations, who may be deprived of all these resources because of our thoughtless attitude.

Being an industrial country with developed industry and economy, the United States of America definitely carries a great deal of responsibility for the wrong use of natural resources. Due to great territory, which the U.S. occupies and due to rich natural resources, this country must recognize  its great responsibility for  the right use of natural resources. Unfortunately, at the present moment too little attention is paid to this important problem. During the last 100 years the U.S. produced a lot of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide and as a result of it the average temperature has warmed up by over half a degree. Burning fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and gas influences our atmosphere and so the responsibility for the global warming in the 20^th century lies industrial countries including the U.S. Nowadays the air surrounding the earth has become much warmer because the heat can’t go back into space. Extra greenhouse gases increase the greenhouse effect. Burning fossil fuels is not the only source for extra greenhouse gases. While driving cars and cutting down forests people also heighten their contents in our atmosphere.  In addition, modern world faces several other important problems in the 21^st century and oil overconsumption is definitely one of the most important ones. In the modern world oil is the primary source of energy. Unfortunately, the U.S. overuses natural resources and pollute the environment. Amount of oil, which is extracted from the earth each year, approaches maximum amount which can not be increased by determination. If people break this limit, the amount of oil in the ground will decrease forever without any possibilities to improve the situation. Oil production statistics prove that most oil fields show one characteristic curve. They reach peak in oil production when half of ultimately recoverable oil is produced. After this half-way point is reached aggregate rate goes down till all oil is produced. Hubbert has also predicted that the United States of America will reach its peak in oil production by 1972. Jean Laherrere, a famous petroleum engineer and world famous oil analyst, predicts that oil production will decline between 2010 and 2050. The development of modern economy is closely connected with the growth of transport industry. Most modern transport systems are based on oil. Statistics show that two thirds of all petroleum used in the US is used for power transportation. “At present, transportation fuels account for roughly half of the world’s oil consumption.  Transportation’s share increases to 60% if we include bitumen for road asphalt, along with lubricants and the energy used in refinery production of diesel and gasoline. Oil use in the transport sector will thus remain a driver of total global oil demand” (Mandil, 3). The growth of transport sector will naturally lead to the growing needs in energy for transport vehicles. What is notable, despite extremely important role, which energy plays for economy, the rise of prices for energy will not result in bigger supplies of gas and oil. As soon as the production of oil reaches its half-way peak supplies will gradually decrease while the prices for oil will grow. This will definitely have negative effect on transport sector in particular and on the world economy in general.

Despite the situation is serious and even dangerous, there is still time to think about the dangerous consequences and correct the situation. Since the United States of America has one of the richest resources in the world, it must also have the biggest opportunities to use these resources thoughtfully and think about future generations.