Would Phasing out Fossil Fuels Even Help our Environment?
Good news! It would take a lot of effort, but there’s a possibility fossil fuels could be phased out worldwide in about a decade. The bad news? We can’t control the weather– a major factor that contributes to air quality. So are we doomed to gas masks as a summer fashion staple? Or is cleaner air actually a tangible possibility? Well like most global issues, it’s complicated.
In 2014 the Toronto Star reported that the city was set to have the first smog-free summer in nearly a decade. How? In 2002 Ontario set a goal: they would completely phase out burning coal as an energy source by 2015. And they did; 1 year ahead of schedule. They were the first North American province or state to completely phase out coal by switching to more sustainable sources like wind, biomass, nuclear, water, natural gas, and solar. (They want to start phasing out nuclear power, too.) Ontario had good reason to drastically phase out coal by any means necessary: it was killing people. Prolonged exposure to smog can cause heart attacks, strokes, and dozens of respiratory issues.
So Ontario went coal-free in 2014, but experts weren’t celebrating yet. First of all, the majority of Canada’s air pollution was still coming from the United States— which created a larger issue to resolve. Also, phasing out coal wasn’t going to help change the weather– which contributes to toxic ozone at ground level. And the experts were right: in March of this year, Toronto was under an air quality alert. Due to– you guessed it– toxic concentrations of ozone at ground level. Ozone is “created” when heat from the sun interacts with pollutants from things like vehicles and air conditioning units. Yes, air conditioning units. So when residents have to stay inside on hot days cranking the AC, they’re actually making it worse. It’s a vicious cycle in every sense.
So back to the good news (yes, there’s some good news). According to Professor Benjamin Sovacool, Director of the Sussex Energy Group at the University of Sussex, with a disciplined and urgent approach, fossil fuels could be phased out worldwide in about a decade. How? Well like we’ve learned from the Toronto story, we need to get all countries on-board. One country or a hand-full of countries “going green” isn’t going to change much. China and the United States take first and second place for greenhouse gas emissions. In the past, switches to new energy sources have taken several decades. But with a sense of urgency and discipline, Professor Sovacool thinks we can accomplish a “clean switch” a lot sooner.
So what would it take to get everyone on board? Stricter global regulation. If we don’t have most major countries on board, companies who don’t want to comply with new energy regulations will just move elsewhere. As consumers we can potentially recycle most of our trash, but we don’t get much of a say in how or where it’s made. It just shows up in stores and we buy it. So if we wait for companies to “go green” on their own, we will be waiting until it’s no longer profitable for a company to use fossil fuels. And without regulations and punishable standards, who knows how long that would take?
Regardless, we still have to figure out ways to compensate for high concentrations of ozone at ground level. Which is a whole different story, so check back for that one!
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Randi Nord lives in Pontiac, Michigan. She is a journalist for the The Fifth Column and co-hosts a podcast about geopolitics.