Unethical Energy Sources

• Coal: Burning coal to produce electricity sends many pollutants into the air, water and soil, including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, mercury and particulate matter.

• Oil: Burning oil for energy has many of the same issues as coal in that it sends many pollutants into the air, water and soil.

Oil isn’t used much to generate electricity, but it is used to heat our homes and run our vehicles. Oil is burned in the form of gasoline in our vehicles and this adds many pollutants to the environment. Only 20 percent of the energy in our gasoline is used to actually move the car. The rest floats away as heat so it’s not very efficient. Some people think ethanol is part of the solution. Granted, it will help us use less oil in our cars, but it is not clear that ethanol is an ethical solution.

• Natural gas: Natural gas was originally a by-product of drilling for oil and has become an abundant source of energy. However, it has many of the same issues that burning any of the other fossil fuels has. It pollutes the air, water and soil. However, it emits half the carbon of coal for the same amount of electrical energy produced.

• Nuclear: Nuclear energy doesn’t produce pollution in the same manner as burning fossil fuels, but it does produce a by-product that is highly radioactive for thousands of years and no one knows how to dispose of it safely. Because of that it is hard to call nuclear power an ethical energy source.