No Longer Breathing Easy
Each year, the Department of Languages, Literatures, Cultures, and Writing at Slippery Rock University holds a contest for the best essays produced by students in the required Rock Studies course Critical Writing. Named after English Professor Emeritus Dr. James Strickland, the contest awards scholarship monies to students whose professors submitted their final essays as the best-of-the-best. Here is one of the three honorable mentions for the 2023 Strickland Scholarship contest.
By Hayden Fritz
Dr. Seuss’s book “The Lorax” is a classic from many people’s childhoods. It follows the exploits of the character named Once-ler as they build their business empire from the humble beginnings of chopping his first truffula tree to the final thwack of an axe felling the final tree to fuel his thneed factory. In the character’s pursuit of wealth, his only opposition is found in the book’s namesake character The Lorax in which he tries to persuade Once-ler to stop by showing his effects on the environment, driving away the bar-ba-loots, the humming-fish, and swomee-swans through the increasing pollutants in the air and water with the final nail in the coffin and the final whack of the axe bringing even the Lorax himself to have to carry himself by the seat of his pants away for the final time. While all of this is presented through a lens of whimsicality, the story does impart an important message of environmentalism to a young audience and even spawned The Lorax Project from its narrative. It is hard to deny that in the context of the story the driving problem in the world is abundant pollution and how it harms the most vulnerable. In the fictitious world it takes place in it is easy to write off the world’s problems as equally fake, however, this is not true as while reality does not have singing fish or trees with tufts instead of leaves, millions of people have to live with a “smogulous smog” that does not drive away but kills.
In a village close to the Bosnia-Herzegovina border, nearby multiple coal powerplants, a 42-year-old named Tarik voiced his concern for his parents’ health “The older people in this village are desperate. They put up with this air for months. They don’t get out, they don’t socialize, they can’t get groceries or medication. It’s a terrible existence” (Horne 1). This is a reality they and many others live in which the very air they breathe can be detrimental to their health. Additionally, this issue is not unique as Bosnia ranks only 5th in mortality rate for air pollution (Horne 2). Over 92% of the world’s population breathes air that does not meet quality standards and over 90% of the deaths caused occur in low-middle income areas (Wang 2). While this may appear to be an issue plaguing poor countries, economic titans such as China and the United States are not exempt with even smaller rural towns such as Slippery Rock dipping below standards on a semi-regular basis. The global nature of this issue and these conditions can be traced back to a common cause, fossil fuels, and should nothing be done, air pollutants will continue to kill millions each year.
When a fuel source like coal is burned, it releases microscopic particles which disperse throughout the air. These particles are detrimental to health with a variety of effects such as “heat-related illnesses, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, allergic conditions, vector-borne disease, pregnancy complications, and mental health disorders” and even death (Soloman 1). Including the impact of the 8.7 million yearly deaths, the disease burden puts an additional burden on healthcare systems throughout the world causing more deaths as the scarcity of care increases for those in need. This was especially apparent during the covid-19 pandemic in which hospitals across the globe were forced to repurpose massive amounts of resources towards intensive care units with places in Italy being forced to divert or simply not treat deadly conditions and emergencies (Lehman 5&6). Additionally, in a similar vein to covid, the economic
impact of pollution is apparent as it can limit employment and raise prices through the death toll in low-middle income areas as the intuitive logic follows fewer workers create less product which causes less supply with higher demand creating a negative feedback loop in which economic barriers to a healthy lifestyle or healthcare become insurmountable, with more death and fewer jobs filled. This includes those who work directly with fossil fuels in both extraction and usage with diseases such as black lung leaving them susceptible to the consequences of the work they do. While the effects of fossil fuel usage are apparent, the solution is simple, through the implementation of clean energy sources, countries across the globe can slash air pollution down to a trajectory that saves lives.
When considering solutions to decrease fossil fuel usage, many ideas come to mind. From increasing fuel efficiency to lowering production, the simplest and most effective option is cutting out fossil fuels altogether with clean energy. Clean energy, often called renewable energy, is all sources of electricity in which pollution is not a byproduct. This includes energy produced by solar panels, wind turbines, and dams which all harness processes which are neither dependent on finite resources nor methods that negatively affect the environment. All of this highlights the fundamental difference between the sources of energy that they use, the infinite battery constantly radiating power from the sky, the Sun, and the carbon-rich black gold trapped underneath Earth’s crust. Through this understanding of sourcing, the difference between implementation becomes clear. Clean energy can be implemented anywhere that the sun shines, the wind blows, or that water flows, and this versatility allows land that is otherwise unsuitable for agriculture, housing, or transportation to be purposed in an advantageous way. Contrasting this is how fossil fuels are obtained. The primary pollutants are harvested through mass mining which devastates swathes of land which is otherwise suitable for habitation or agriculture which
then further infects nearby areas. Comparing these two methods of supplying electricity to the world it is clear that clean energy is superior for its environmental impact, versatility of implementation, and long-term security, and due to this, completely replacing fossil fuels is undoubtedly a sound idea. However, while clean energy is better for maintaining a smog-free world, one may question how it could affect the current circumstances of pervasive pollution in the world.
Clean energy and air pollution are not mutually exclusive; however, this is not a bad thing. Unlike fossil fuels’ relation to air pollution, clean energy has an inverse relationship. In a study done in June 2022, it was found that through a clean energy model, pollutants could be reduced by 50% and “a rapid phase out from the fossil fuel-related emission could prevent millions of excess death due to air pollution with a cobenefit of potentially limiting global warming to 2°C.” (Sanyal and Wuebbles 16). This is monumental, both for preserving human life and for preventing global warming as preventing a 2°C warming in the context of the entire planet means preventing millions of people being displaced from coastal areas alongside fallout of agriculture, economy, and more as rising sea levels swallow the land. This long-term benefit of a non-apocalyptic future is not the only benefit as implementation of a clean grid in China has yielded and promised various benefits. In the Hebei province in China, efforts to deploy clean energy have already had tangible results with the reduction of particulate matter in the air as well as a decrease in disease burden with greater results predicted to be attained by 2030 (Guo 1). This is compounded by the larger broader efforts in China that are similarly effective in reducing emissions and effects (Yuan 1). The same study also finds that even greater measures will only compound the effects of the change as “When coupled with strengthened end-of-pipe control policies projected for 2025, both PM2.5 and O3 concentration could reduce evidently on the
national scale” (Yuan 8). This information is truly important not only as proof that these measures can and do work, but also as a foundation to extrapolate from as it stands to reason that the effects found in a sample size as massive as China, one of the largest countries in the world, can be applied elsewhere. Combining these short and long-term effects it is clear that the implementation of clean energy is definitively positive for combating air pollution and the symptoms it causes. Despite this the solution presented is still up for debate.
In the beloved classic film Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum’s character, a skeptic of what the park’s mission is, famously says “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”. While in the movie this refers to whether or not the scientists should revive dinosaurs from the dead, but in regards to clean energy the meaning changes. As with any issue there are questions as to whether or not a problem exists however in this instance the focus will be on those who oppose the implementation of clean energy. Rhetoric against clean energy largely ignores the efficacy of it but focuses on the economic side of job creation and deletion, weighing the costs of the change in jobs against the benefit of clean air. The fossil fuel industry employs millions worldwide to keep the furnaces burning, the oil flowing, and the lights on, and when considering how many jobs the industry contributes to the economy it becomes clear that the worry is how the disappearance of the jobs could affect unemployment. This anxiety is counteracted by the emergence of the clean energy industry as “the Bureau of Labor Statics projects that solar PV installers and wind turbine service technicians will be the two fastest-growing jobs in the United States from 2016 to 2026” (SB Innovation Weekly 4). This growth counteracts the losses while also providing more opportunities for investment and incentives in business. Job growth is not the only rhetorical barrier, however as with new jobs, new challenges follow.
Another facet of the opposition to the transition to clean energy is the matter of job retraining. This is a common issue in the modern day job market across many fields from factory work to the mechanization of truck driving. This is an issue plaguing Australia in which the fossil fuel industry is being phased out with efforts to supplement a new clean energy workforce with “the country’s first wind power training tower, where students and ex-coal workers can use a 23-meter-high platform to acquire the expertise needed for roles in renewables” (McKay 5). While this issue appears daunting it is insufficient to stall the solution to pollution as effective efforts are already in place to counteract the issues that arise. Overall, opposition to clean energy is largely unfounded in reality with any short-term detrimental effects either insignificant or already in the process of being remedied, proving that the implementation of clean energy is the best solution to the crisis of air pollution.
When understanding air pollution, it is important to understand that it is both a problem and a symptom. This understanding allows one to see the entirety of the issue, from the health issues and the deaths they cause to how fossil fuels cause and perpetuate them, making the solution and its necessity clearer than the smog filled skies over Beijing, clean energy. The benefits of clean energy are nearly boundless, holding the advantage over fossil fuels in versatility, environmental preservation, and simply being infinite in energy production all on top of the positive effects on air quality. Additionally, opposition to clean energy over fossil fuels is shaky at best, clearing the way for the newer industry to take over in job growth and retraining. The only caveat to the entirety of the issue of and solution to air pollution is the care to change. At the end of The Lorax, the narrator of the story, the Once-ler imparts one final message to the reader “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not”. A final call to action, that without those who care, knowing the solution to a problem will not change a thing, that taking the action to make a change wins the day.
Works Cited
“Clean Energy Jobs Now Outnumber Coal, Gas Jobs in 30 US States.” SB Innovation Weekly, Feb. 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy-sru.klnpa.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eih&AN=127924999&site=ehost-live.
Guo, Xiurui, et al. “Quantification of Reduced Disease Burden Resulting from Air Quality Improvement by Clean Energy Deployment in Hebei Province, China.” Energy Policy, vol. 159, Jan. 2021. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxy-sru.klnpa.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112584.
Horne, F. (2022, September 7). Air Pollution Kills Millions every year: Action needed. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/09/07/air-pollution-kills-millions-every-year-action-needed?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1ZGcBhCoARIsAGQ0kkrwRICSQRpV3sMmf9FYIMv50pMVSbbztrTqK9DzJy9aZx3E6aH4BKoaAgyZEALw_wcB
Lehman, E. (2020, July 8). Lessons from Northern Italy: Why even great health systems collapse under covid-19 case load. Harvard Global Health Institute. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://globalhealth.harvard.edu/lessons-from-northern-italy-why-even-great-health-systems-collapse-under-covid-19-case-load/
McKay, Georgina. “Australia Begins Long Road to Retraining Thousands of Coal Workers for Clean Energy Roles.” Bloomberg.Com, Apr. 2022, p. N.PAG. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy-sru.klnpa.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=156393527&site=ehost-live.
Sanyal, Swarnali, and Donald J. Wuebbles. “The Potential Impact of a Clean Energy Society on Air Quality.” Earth’s Future, vol. 10, no. 6, June 2022, pp. 1–20. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxy-sru.klnpa.org/10.1029/2021EF002558.
Solomon, Caren G., et al. “Fossil-Fuel Pollution and Climate Change – A New NEJM Group Series.” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 386, no. 24, June 2022, pp. 2328–29. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxy-sru.klnpa.org/10.1056/NEJMe2206300.
Wang, Yu, et al. “Construction of Multipollutant Air Quality Health Index and Susceptibility Analysis Based on Mortality Risk in Beijing, China.” Atmosphere, vol. 13, no. 9, Sept. 2022, p. 1370. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxy-sru.klnpa.org/10.3390/atmos13091370.
Yuan, Renxiao, et al. “Coordinated Effects of Energy Transition on Air Pollution Mitigation and CO2 Emission Control in China.” Science of the Total Environment, vol. 841, Jan. 2022. EBSCO
