"AS A LAWYER, WHAT EXACTLY CAN I DO TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY

INSECURITY?"

Amoroso, Arriane Marie S. 11353678

Undeniably the world today is not as simple as it used to be. Through the years,
modernization has taken place with the uprising of technological advancements here and there.
Now question is, what are some of the biggest challenges faced by the world at present? Health
problems like finding the cure for diseases, controlling media and technology altogether,
preventing war and nuclear disasters, overcoming poverty and malnourishment, preventing
economic depression and providing education and jobs are one of the prominent among the
millions of problems all of which fall in the social concerns worldwide by every country.
Addressing such problems is feasible. However, one thing we cannot control is nature. Humans
need to learn how to live and coexist with nature. If we cannot do so, we will destroy not only
earth as a planet, but our very species as well.

Earth’s biosphere has been sick and put to risk by the environmental toxic brought about
by the mindless actions of humans. People forget that they do not own nature. Rather, they are
part of nature. These actions unfortunately have resulted to damaged ecosystems and life
support systems, putting the whole human race at risk. There is not a single doubt that earth
has been getting warmer. The rising of the temperature is due to the excessive amounts of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused by man-made activities such as burning of fossil fuels
and deforestation. The Industrial Revolution human activities have aggravated and profoundly
affected the natural greenhouse gas effect which initially was the one maintaining the planet’s
natural temperature at a safe level. This was the one making it possible for humans and other
sources of life to exist. The excess of CO2 in the greenhouse effect cycle has ultimately led to
the increase in earth’s surface temperature, both in land and water, as well as the atmosphere.
This phenomenon is the dilemma faced by us humans today and is called global warming.
Global warming is a worldwide crisis and has had and has been affecting many countries
around the world. An alarming effect is that it is accelerating the natural melting process of polar
sea ice, glaciers and permafrosts, all causing the sea level to rise as the oceans absorb more
and more CO2. It has also resulted to change in the weather patterns and precipitation, making
some places experience unusual drought or unexpected rainfall. All of which threaten the food
and water security of the human race. These changes distressed both the society and nature,
undoubtedly will persist to have increasing severe effects as the harmful emissions in the air
continue to grow at its rate today. Many have been concerned on the availability of fossil fuels.
So much because the world heavily relies on oil, many fear that we are almost at the peak of
fossil fuel and oil extraction and production. This is energy insecurity. Energy insecurity is the
alarming concern regarding the depletion of fossil fuels and oil. It is the reliance on the
alternative and foreign sources of energy for survival. Energy insecurity combined with the crisis
of global warming bring about threats to the natural and global security of the human society.
They are related because burning fossil fuels are one of the main reasons why global warming
exists in the first place. This adds an excess of carbon dioxide in the earth’s biosphere which
affects the natural greenhouse gas effect, resulting to the increase in the earth’s temperature
known as global warming. Thus, the dependency on fossil fuels plus the mindless wasteful use
of resources will aggravate climate change. This will furthermore endanger earth’s ecosystems,
give rise to sea levels and even affect food production. These will lead to scarcity on our natural
resources.

As a future lawyer in the making, a contribution I can make in solving the crisis of global
warming and energy insecurity is that I can constitute environmental laws for the public to
follow. These environmental laws will govern threatening environmental issues concerning the
society and business and government entities These laws include banning of the dumping of
toxic and hazardous wastes of big oil companies in all forms of water and air. I will also include
an annual cleanup of the polluted rivers as well as planting forests to salvage the ones that have
been destroyed by humans. There will also be laws that will reprimand individuals and
companies who will violate these environmental statutes. This will provide a veil of
environmental protection to the prospective buyers of environmentally impacted properties.
These environmental policies will be passed to the congress and in turn, must be upheld by the
citizens of the country when approved. Being in my line of profession, I can also use this as a
platform to raise awareness to the cultural problem of human society. Limiting the fictitious
portrayal as humans as the supreme race to the media and instead showcase the state of the
earth will brought about change in the actions of the people. Proposals on the addition of
environmental awareness as a subject in both high school and college levels will also be part of
the plan. Proper education is key when it comes to saving the environment and that starts in
school. Energy security is different depending on the country. In countries dependent on oils
and gas, supply is the concern. Whereas in countries rich with oils and gas, demand is the
concern. Geopolitical issues now come into play. My suggestion for this are policies related to
population growth. Aside from that, countries developing or not, should pursue a more
wholesome path of progressive development that will be less wasteful and harmful to the
environment. A suggestion would be an investment on alternatives such as solar, wind and
wave power. The government should fund this project because it will be more efficient and
environment friendly to nuclear power plants and the conservation of fossil fuels.