Collegiate Times

The post-graduation future appears to hold more uncertainty than promise for many college students. With the possibility of another recession looming overhead like a dark cloud, difficulty finding and keeping a job seems imminent. Some are looking to higher education for an escape, but for many that also means racking up expensive loans.

Now, more than ever, is the time to make a serious investment in the environment. Our generation has the opportunity, and I would say responsibility, to save our economy by saving our planet. As students and soon-to-be professionals, it falls on us to provide an efficient and effective solution to both of these pressing matters.

Our population has more than exceeded the Earth’s carrying capacity. Statistics show 60 percent of the world’s coastal waters are polluted, and 20 percent of the world’s population suffers from considerable water shortages. Precious natural features, such as the rain forests and wetlands which are necessary for our survival, are being destroyed for timber and human development. Non-renewable resources including oil, coal and gas are being depleted at a devastating rate. The 1970s witnessed the peak of oil, and in the past decade the increasing gas prices attest to the nose dive in oil supplies. As for coal, many argue that the lifespan of existing coal reserves will last less than a century.

Our staggering population and severe dependence on dirty energy sources to fuel lifestyles not only add to the degradation of our planet, but also compromise the economy. Our government spends nearly $1 billion per day on foreign oil. We could be putting that money toward investing in clean energy sources and reducing our debt to foreign nations. Not only is coal one of the greatest pollutants, the mining takes place predominantly in small towns where individuals rely on blue collar jobs for their livelihood.

Ruthless coal mining companies challenge the financial and physical stability of these individuals by polluting their air and water, and subsequently causing serious ailments such as lung cancer and brain tumors. Those spared the aforementioned hardships are often forced off their property because of its resource rich character. If the working class is the backbone of our economy, are we not jeopardizing our future by placing greater value on a dirty energy source than on the health and homes of these individuals?

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A version of this article appeared in the Sep 1 issue of the Collegiate Times.