How many wars, uprisings and terrorist attacks would have been prevented?
How many lost lives, maimings, crippling injuries and lost limbs would have
been averted?
How many health problems, acute and chronic illnesses, heart and lung
problems, and cancers would have been avoided?
Currently, control of the Middle East oil fields gives immense wealth,
control and power to these nations. But with such power should have come
responsibility. Unfortunately, most of these nations have shown little
propensity for responsibility. Had our own oil companies put national
welfare over greed, many alternate sources of renewable energy would have
been developed and brought to market decades ago. Who knows how many
patents are languishing?
The fundamental issue is the energy "mix" that we use. The problem with
cars is that gasoline is still the easiest way to fuel them. Until hybrids
or electric cars really catch on, or whatever, we're stuck. Ethanol from
corn seems to take more energy to produce than it's worth currently, but
at least it cuts down on oil. Using wind to replace oil heating or to
replace natural gas or oil-fired electricity-generating plants makes sense.
It's certainly cleaner.
In addition, since this is allegedly a medical column, lets take a gaze and
glance at the plethora of medical illnesses associated with car exhausts
and gasoline. And let's credit one American company (General Electric) that
is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into developing renewable energy
sources.
EXPOSURE FROM GASOLINE AND CAR EXHAUST
Gasoline is a complex mixture of petroleum hydrocarbon. Typically, gasoline
contains more than 150 chemicals, including small amounts of benzene,
toluene, xylene and sometimes lead.
Gasoline is used mostly as fuel for motor vehicles, though sometimes it is
used as a solvent.
One is exposed to gasoline or its vapors in the following ways:
-
From garages, especially if they are attached to a home. One study
indicated that levels of benzene concentrations inside garages were 16
times higher in the summer than outdoor levels and three times higher in
the winter.
-
By drinking contaminated water. With about 1.4 million underground
storage tanks (USTs) (possibly some 20 percent to 35 percent leaking),
there is a good chance that water supplies could become contaminated The
air in an average home is likely to be no more than 6.7 ppb of benzene.
However, if there is a contaminated water supply from a leaking gasoline
source, the average exposure could be as high as 42 ppb.
-
By driving in traffic. Benzene exposures while commuting increase
the longer one is in the car. One study calculated that while in the car,
exposures increased to about 30 ppb during each commute.
HEALTH PROBLEMS CAUSED BY GASOLINE
Health problems caused by gasoline can either be acute, which occur
immediately or within a few days of exposure, or they can be chronic, which
are long-term health effects. Exposure to gasoline can result in:
irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat (repeated exposure can cause
permanent eye damage), often with headache or nausea; coughing, wheezing
(repeated high exposure may damage the lungs); skin irritation
(dermatitis); drying and cracking of the skin; and when used as a
degreaser, gasoline removes the protective fat from skin.
Higher Levels of Exposure May Cause:
Fatigue, blurred vision, dizziness, weakness, slurred speech, confusion,
seizures, convulsions, coma, death, possible liver or kidney damage, and
cancer (possible kidney cancer).
If the liquid reaches the lung, damage to the lung tissue may occur,
causing a 'chemical' pneumonitis.
A GOOD NEIGHBOR
According to the Stamford Advocate, January 6, 2006, "GE [is] Committed To
a New Generation [of] ecomagination."
"GE's renewable energy portfolio includes solar, biomass, hydro, wind and
geothermal power."
General Electric Co.'s Stamford-based GE Energy Financial Services is
delving deeper into renewable energy with a $51 million investment in a
wind power farm located on an Indian reservation in California.
The 50-megawatt Kumeyaay wind project near San Diego will produce enough
power for about 30,000 homes and will save about 110,000 tons a year in
greenhouse gas emissions. After eight months of construction and a month of
testing, the farm's 25 turbines began churning out energy last Friday,
feeding power into the San Diego Gas & Electric grid. GE Energy Finance
partnered with the project's sponsor Babcock & Brown, a Australian global
investment and advisory firm, which has six wind facilities in the United
States that soon will go into service.
This recent investment reflects the GE unit's growing interest in renewable
resource energy generation fits into the company's "ecomagination" strategy
- a company-wide initiative to expand its portfolio of "cleaner" energy
products. The unit invests about $3 billion a year in energy projects and
several hundred million dollars of that budget goes to renewable energy.
To the energy portfolio these writers would like to add nuclear power. We
have discussed our advocacy for nuclear sources in previous columns as well
as address the unfounded fear factors of the those who oppose it.
In sum, our leaders should spend less time enriching themselves and their
buddies by warring for oil - and more in developing alternative cleaner and
or renewable energy sources. This will not only rectify our nation
socially, economically, politically and morally - but also immensely
improve our health and quality of life.
IMAGINE all the wars, deaths, limb losses and illnesses we could have
prevented.
Editor's Note:: Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., wrote this week's punditry
