Science in the political process:
In the political process, science is a very important factor. It brings up lots of issues that the candidates must state their opinion on and will affect us when that particular person gets into office because they will be making decisions on what to do with these issues and changes how we must live with them. Three of these important issues are nuclear power, offshore drilling, and greenhouse gasses. Nuclear power is made by extracting energy from the atomic nucleus through nuclear fission which is done by splitting the nucleus to get amounts of energy from free neutrons and making kinetic energy and radiation. Today, more than 15%of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear energy and it is used in 31 countries with United States as the #1 user of this resource. Coal and gas is projected to be over 4 ½ times the price of nuclear energy by the year 2013 and nuclear energy does not release the radiation caused by burning fissile fuels but instead releases free neutrons. Offshore drilling is where you extract oil off the coast of a landmass by using a platform that is often hard to get out in the ocean. This job requires a lot of money and is potentially hazardous to the ocean. There are often many oil spills that occur while transporting the oil by pipe or ship to shore. It is also hard to separate the sand and water from the oil once it is extracted. Greenhouse gases keep the earth’s temperature level at a balance. If there are too little gasses, the temperature would get cold but if there are too many, it would be too hot. Carbon dioxide is a gas that can add to the temperature and today there are many industries that are letting off high levels of carbon dioxide therefore increasing the temperature. Many scientists believe that the rising temperatures will melt the polar ice caps and drastically raise the sea-levels.
The candidates for the 2008 presidential election, Barrack Obama and John McCain, have chosen where they stand on these issues which helps the American voters decide who they want to be running our country. Obama’s opinions on nuclear power, offshore drilling, and greenhouse gasses are as followed.
Nuclear power: he wants to find safer ways to use and store nuclear power and wants to explore this as part of the energy mix.
Offshore drilling: he was at first against the idea of continuing it but later made a statement saying that he is not sure that it will bring down the gas prices but is a good scientific factor that will help us make oil decisions in the future.
Greenhouse gasses: he pushes for the U.S. to be the #1 country in trying to keep the greenhouse gasses down to lower the temperatures. He would introduce a global warming partnership and set a low carbon fuel standard. He would also have top scientists bring up climate friendly technologies to other countries. He would also reward farmers who plant trees that can take in the carbon dioxide from the air.
McCain’s opinions on the same issues are as followed.
Nuclear power: he plans on eventually having 100 nuclear plants and at least 45 by 2030 and believes that politics is holding back this energy. Wants to provide safe storage and give the host states interest so that they could have benefits. \
Offshore drilling: he motivates the states that permit the offshore drilling and wishes to remove restrictions. However, McCain said that he does not wish to remove restrictions in the 2000 election.
Greenhouse gasses: wants to tremendously reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses and find alternate resources including nuclear energy. Introduces the climate stewardship and innovation act.
In my opinion, nuclear power is a very good energy source and should be used more often. It is a lot more affordable and contributes little to the rising temperatures. I do think however that it is very hazardous and dangerous. I think that they should lift restrictions on offshore drilling because it will lower tensions between us and our current oil suppliers and lower the gas prices. I think that we should also find better ways of transporting the oil so that it is less harmful to the ocean. I do not think that greenhouse gasses are necessarily a problem because I believe that we are going in a cycle and that the temperatures always fluctuate. I do believe however that we should reduce the amount of strong chemicals like methane because they are polluting the air a lot. People may often overlook how big of a role that science plays in politics but most of the issues actually deal with science such as these three.
In the political process, science is a very important factor. It brings up lots of issues that the candidates must state their opinion on and will affect us when that particular person gets into office because they will be making decisions on what to do with these issues and changes how we must live with them. Three of these important issues are nuclear power, offshore drilling, and greenhouse gasses. Nuclear power is made by extracting energy from the atomic nucleus through nuclear fission which is done by splitting the nucleus to get amounts of energy from free neutrons and making kinetic energy and radiation. Today, more than 15%of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear energy and it is used in 31 countries with United States as the #1 user of this resource. Coal and gas is projected to be over 4 ½ times the price of nuclear energy by the year 2013 and nuclear energy does not release the radiation caused by burning fissile fuels but instead releases free neutrons. Offshore drilling is where you extract oil off the coast of a landmass by using a platform that is often hard to get out in the ocean. This job requires a lot of money and is potentially hazardous to the ocean. There are often many oil spills that occur while transporting the oil by pipe or ship to shore. It is also hard to separate the sand and water from the oil once it is extracted. Greenhouse gases keep the earth’s temperature level at a balance. If there are too little gasses, the temperature would get cold but if there are too many, it would be too hot. Carbon dioxide is a gas that can add to the temperature and today there are many industries that are letting off high levels of carbon dioxide therefore increasing the temperature. Many scientists believe that the rising temperatures will melt the polar ice caps and drastically raise the sea-levels.
The candidates for the 2008 presidential election, Barrack Obama and John McCain, have chosen where they stand on these issues which helps the American voters decide who they want to be running our country. Obama’s opinions on nuclear power, offshore drilling, and greenhouse gasses are as followed.
Nuclear power: he wants to find safer ways to use and store nuclear power and wants to explore this as part of the energy mix.
Offshore drilling: he was at first against the idea of continuing it but later made a statement saying that he is not sure that it will bring down the gas prices but is a good scientific factor that will help us make oil decisions in the future.
Greenhouse gasses: he pushes for the U.S. to be the #1 country in trying to keep the greenhouse gasses down to lower the temperatures. He would introduce a global warming partnership and set a low carbon fuel standard. He would also have top scientists bring up climate friendly technologies to other countries. He would also reward farmers who plant trees that can take in the carbon dioxide from the air.
McCain’s opinions on the same issues are as followed.
Nuclear power: he plans on eventually having 100 nuclear plants and at least 45 by 2030 and believes that politics is holding back this energy. Wants to provide safe storage and give the host states interest so that they could have benefits. \
Offshore drilling: he motivates the states that permit the offshore drilling and wishes to remove restrictions. However, McCain said that he does not wish to remove restrictions in the 2000 election.
Greenhouse gasses: wants to tremendously reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses and find alternate resources including nuclear energy. Introduces the climate stewardship and innovation act.
In my opinion, nuclear power is a very good energy source and should be used more often. It is a lot more affordable and contributes little to the rising temperatures. I do think however that it is very hazardous and dangerous. I think that they should lift restrictions on offshore drilling because it will lower tensions between us and our current oil suppliers and lower the gas prices. I think that we should also find better ways of transporting the oil so that it is less harmful to the ocean. I do not think that greenhouse gasses are necessarily a problem because I believe that we are going in a cycle and that the temperatures always fluctuate. I do believe however that we should reduce the amount of strong chemicals like methane because they are polluting the air a lot. People may often overlook how big of a role that science plays in politics but most of the issues actually deal with science such as these three.
1 comment:
Wow. Great Job on that paragraph. You really went in depth about where the candidates stand. GO NOAH!!
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