Terminate Oil Industry, Find Alternative Energy

We the signers of this petition are writing you today about a change that will benefit our future generations. I feel that oil drilling, and oil use has become too poisonous to our planet, air, and population. We have to make a change soon or it%u2019s going to be too late. We%u2019re going to cause damage to our planet that cannot be undone. I don%u2019t want to see that day in my life time and I don%u2019t want to have to worry or stress about my children or theirs seeing it either. My main goal is to raise awareness in as many people as I can and to fight for my home, my planet and the future.

The oil we use to make gasoline for our vehicles causes harmful emissions which go directly into our air. It is very obviously harmful to human beings and animals. It causes bloody noses, coughing, sneezing, headaches, tiredness, irritation, nausea, and hoarseness of the throat, nose, and eyes, and it also causes the immune system to weaken and not fight off respiratory viruses and bacteria, as well as the long term effects including bronchitis, emphysema, elasticity in the lungs can decrease by 5%, chronic respiratory or pulmonary and heart disease, and asthma, etc. It also causes stress in the bodies of children with respiratory problems making it so that their bodies cannot fight off respiratory bacteria and viruses like it should.

I can go on and on all day long about the harmful effects of smog but the bottom line is, it's bad for us. There are healthier and safer solutions to this problem, one is electric powered vehicles. It is a simple and healthy solution to a huge problem. Also I'd like you to take into consideration the environmental effects smog has on our planet. Global warming is very real, and it is happening today. It has been happening since 2001. The planet is dying, slowly but it is. Everyone can see it, they know it but no one is doing anything and I can't stop wondering, why not? It took me five minutes to look up information on global warming and the effects it will have on our planet, and it brought tears to my eyes because half of the effects I read about have happened or are happening today. I'm scared for my future, your future, my loved ones future, and if we will have a future at all.

Oil drilling has had massive effects on our planet as well. First of all oil takes hundreds of thousands of years to form so eventually we're going to run out if we keep using it like we do. Oil drilling has caused so much environmental damage that I'm shocked we still do it. First of all lets look at the definition of Oil Spill. An oil spill is a release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. Now I am going to break down the key points I want to make, Due to HUMAN ACTIVITY and FORM OF POLLUTION. Now I can't even comprehend why building a machine that can have the potential to cause a disaster or pollute anything should even be built. Why should we pollute our planet, when we can be so beneficial to its health? Here are a few examples of the pollution we have caused so far.

Example one; The 1969 Union Oil Company blow out which leaked 80,000 barrels of crude oil into the Santa Barbara Channel. Example two; The BP Oil disaster of 2010, which leaked an estimated 53,000 barrels a day over a three month period of time. Do the math, thats about 4,770, 000 barrels total! All of it leaked into our oceans killing hundreds of thousands of sea creatures, tar balls continue to wash up on shore, wetlands marsh grass remains fouled and dying, and that crude oil lies offshore in deep water and continues to pollute and kill. I read about oil on the ocean floor that's just sitting there. Animals on the bottom of the ocean floor eat within the underwater earth so they in turn take in that oil adding to the animal death toll. I also found that a very large oil trail hundreds of kilometers long has been found by NASA in the Gulf. This accident which could have easily been avoided has caused billions in damage, and I am sure some irreversible damage to our environment which a scientist will later discover, that could have been avoided! People lives were affected whether it was temporary or permanent the fact that this disaster occurred at all is absolutely ridiculous and it is unfair to people everywhere who have no choices in the matter. Eleven people lost their lives to this disaster as well; their families have to live the rest of their lives without their loved one for something that could have been easily avoided. Put your self in their shoes, in the shoes of the unemployed, and the homeless people that this disaster has caused. It is unfair.

Burning oil for electricity pollutes our air, water, and planet as well. There are two major alternatives to this problem one being solar power. The sun gives and gives and gives. Everyday it rises and shines down on us and it never fails. It's always there! If we can harness the power of our sun for a non-polluting electricity source then why are'nt we? Another alternative to oil is wind power. Wind like the sun is always there. It never fails to come back and remind us over and over again that it is there. Wind can also be harnessed for wind mills for mechanical power, wind pumps for pumping water or drainage, and we can use sails to propel ships. We can use theses natural resources as alternatives to oil today but we don't and I can not help but ask why not??? Of course there's the problem with money, yes these alternatives mean demolition, building power stations, wind turbines, solar panels, etc.  But, the long term effects these alternatives will have are worth the money in my opinion if it means saving my planet and creating a healthier living environment for people everywhere.

I can go on and on about the negative effects oil has on our environment but the fact of the matter is that we need a change and we need it today. Our future generations are at risk, the human population is at risk. If we want a future at all we need to find safer healthier alternatives to the ones that just aren%u2019t working anymore. The fact that I am so young and I'm worrying about these problems is ridiculous itself. It is unfair to me as a person to have to stress about things I should'nt have to. Americans look up to the government to guide us and provide us with the best living conditions it can. But, I feel that my government just does'nt care about these problems at all, and I am scared that we are going to cause damage that cannot be undone. We need to make a change for people today, and for the people of the future, or there isn't going to be a future at all.