Why should I worry about saving energy when it won't run out for hundreds of years?

Question

Why should I worry about saving energy when it won't run out for hundreds of years?

Answer 1

what?

Answer 2

you shouldn't fossil fuels are going to run out but untill the situation gets serious alternative fuels will only be a thought

Answer 3

"Energy" per se won't run out as long as there is wind, water, food, etc., but the sources of most of the energy we use will run out, and some of it well sooner than hundreds of years.  In the meantime, it is reasonable to conserve energy for any number of reasons, including:

1) cost to you-- you can save your own money by conserving

2) cost to the earth-- most sources of energy result in pollution, so we can reduce pollution by using less of it.  Moreover, we are having to mine deeper and deeper to find usable energy and to develop more expensive means of extracting it.  We're figuring out how to extract more usable oil from the sludge that is left when an oil reserve is otherwise "dry", but we're paying for the technology of extracting and converting that sludge into usable oil.  With coal, as well, we dig deeper and deeper and then find new places to mine -- which is dangerous work for the people who do it and destroys that part of the earth for other uses (and for our aesthetic pleasure). I'm not naive enough to think that your or my contribution to turning off a light we aren't using is going to affect our mining operations, but I feel better doing my little part to not contribute even more than I already am to the problem.

3) The more expensive extraction and decreasing availability of energy has a social/societal inequity element, too.  Richer people and people living in richer countries will pay more but still have access to enough energy (and people more developed countries use a much MUCH greater percentage of energy already), but as it gets more scarce, the poorest will be the most affected, without access to basic heating fuel, etc.  

4) Geopolitical considerations figure into this, too.  If we used less oil, we would have a much different relationship with the middle east-- we would be less dependent on them and would probably seem less exploitative to them.  If we weren't so bound to Saudi Arabia, for instance, we might have been able to take a stronger stand against the terrorism and hatred of the U.S. that is fostered in the madrasas there.

5) You could also decide that we are responsible for future generations and should take an active role in trying to leave them a better world.  

Those are just a few things that you could worry about.  On the other hand, it is all relative-- I do worry about all that stuff sometimes, but, like most people, I haven't made these concerns a big priority -- I continue to forget to turn off lights sometimes, to drive too fast and burn more fuel than necessary, to keep my house at a comfortable temperature....   I'm using probably 1000% more energy per year than a poor family in a developing country is, so my marginal efforts to reduce my use really are silly in that context....  Hmmm.

Answer 4

This sort of attitude explains why a barrel of crude oil is trading near $100.  Supply concerns and growing economies such as China and India will soon be thirsty for oil as well and your idea of not running out for hundreds of years will be much sooner.  Why is China drilling off the coast of Cuba and buying any oil company they can get their hands on?  Because the more people using oil liberally depletes reserves and we can't even get an accurate reserve estimate out of the Middle East so who really knows the amount of proved reserves out there.  Some day when you go the gas station there may be nothing to fill your car up.  We need an alternative fuel to break away from our oil dependency and ethanol (corn-based) is definitely not the answer.  I suppose only time will tell but I have a feeling $3 a gallon gas could be the "good old days" soon.

Answer 5

No , why should you  ? You live in one planet and I live in another . Your planet will be filled with filth , polluted air ,water and plough down forests , all animals and plants species heading towards extinction , all human has lifestyle diseases and illness from the use of radioactive plants . My planet will be green , people living in harmony with the environment , old forests  and animals are healthy and alive , people work hard physically and not opt for the modern convenient lifestyle , everyone is happy in the fresh air . That's the difference , you have chosen your planet and I have chosen mine .

Answer 6

You should care because what you save will remain available to other people on the planet, allowing the energy of Earth to last longer than the rate scientists have calculated. If everyone wasted it, then the amount of energy available to us would run out much faster than "hundreds of years", and if some save and some waste, we're left with the life we live now, with the people who're saving struggling to get the ones who waste energy to see the other side and to conserve. If you hadn't been born at this point in time, but hundreds of years in the future, wouldn't you be upset by the fact that your ancestors had said, "Who cares about you? I'll just use all the energy for me and me only." You'd miss out on all the luxuries of today, and the world would be a place of acid rain, toxic fumes, nowhere to go since you'd be living in garbage, and the dreaded thoughts that haunt you,"someone from the past could've changed this outcome... my life."

Answer 7

Troy has the right idea.  The sooner they run out of the damned stuff, the sooner they'll find something else.  So don't feel guilty.  Burn, baby, burn!  It's the only way we can solve the problem!

Answer 8

If you save energy, you save money