Reasons Why We Need to Ditch Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels have been around for ages for as long as man became civilized. It has powered industries in all nations, and it continues to do so to this day. However, fossil fuels have a limit; at some point, they will run out, and when you add that to the fact that it is the leading pollutant to ever exist. Due to all these reasons, there’s a strong need for the world to find new alternatives to fossil fuels, and the following are the reasons why man has to ditch the use of fossil fuels.

Wrecking the Environment

Science has already confirmed that the use of fossil fuels has accelerated global warming around the world. As of 2020, there were an estimated 290 million cars active on the planet, with a good number of them using gasoline. These cars give off harmful fumes that have contributed greatly to the pollution of the air. Some of the world’s largest cities, like Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York, have recorded some of the lowest air quality in the world to the point where people have to wear masks to reduce respiratory diseases. Unless alternatives are found as fast as possible, the world may reach a point where reversing the effects of these gases will be impossible.

Fossil Fuel Companies Value Profits More

Much of the environmental destruction seen around the world is a result of deliberate negligence at the expense of profits. Many oil companies don’t really care about the effects their operations are having on the planet, and the one thing that’s fueling their negligence is their greed for profits. They are actively engaged in suppressing any alternatives being created in order to preserve their monopoly on the energy industries.

In retrospect, however, the fossil fuel industries have created opportunities for other industries to also exist, and this has created employment for people. The manufacture of XHVAL industrial valves, for instance, has created a chain of retailers, distributors, experts, among many others.

Environmental Injustices

There have been many cases where oil tankers carrying tons of oil have had accidents out at sea, spilling all their oil into the water, destroying plants and animal life around the spill area. This has led to a lot of difficulties for the people who live in such coastal areas as they depend on fishing for their sustenance. Efforts to get them justice have always been met with silence and insufficient compensations. In most instances, the surrounding areas never recover afterward, and people are usually forced to relocate to other areas in order to survive. The most glaring fact is that these oil spills usually contain toxic wastes, and they happen to take place in areas with vulnerable communities that have no power to demand justice.

Unfair Pay

People who work in the oil industries are among the most exploited, forced to work for peanuts in one of the most dangerous working environments. The machinery used to refine oil is huge, and there’s a lot of heat involved; this provides a working environment that’s dangerous for humans to work in, yet people are subjected to these conditions without proper gear due to the fact that many oil industries try to cut down their cost to create as much profit as possible. To add salt to injury, the companies force these workers to sign unfavorable contracts that absolve the company of any liability in the event that the workers are injured or get sick as a direct result of working in the oil industries.

Fossil Fuels are Expensive

When you factor in the equipment needed to drill for oil, the personnel required to run those operations, and the many tests that have to be run to tell if the oil in that particular area is viable, you’ll find that drilling for oil is a very expensive affair. This is the reason why many oil companies try cutting their costs in other areas to increase their profits. This usually comes at the expense of worker safety and the local community’s exploitation without any regard for their social responsibility agreements.

Alternatives are Cheaper and Unlimited

When you think of electric cars, wind power, and solar energy, what you see is just the tip of the iceberg. The truth of the matter is that there are countless better alternatives to fossil fuels, but the reason why they are not being pursued is due to the fact that big oil companies are funding governments around the world to stop them from adopting clean energy options. People have to start standing up to these greedy companies and force their governments to start paying attention to cleaner alternatives. All that governments need to do is fund research into these options, make solar and wind energies a part of their plans for the future, and offer incentives to the people to encourage them to ditch fuel cars for electric ones.

Conclusion

Sooner or later, humanity will have to deal with a dying planet that will quickly become inhabitable, all because a group of people is unable to check their greed. There’s an urgent need to ditch fossil fuels and embrace cleaner alternatives before it is too late. This can only be achieved when all people from across the globe speak with one voice and stand up to the oil companies; after all, without the people, these companies will have no one to sell their products to.