7A

Opportunity Statement: The environment is unable to flourish because of the excessive use of fossil fuels, which provide an abundant amount of energy and are easy to access.

·      The who: People in the United States

·      The what: The environment is unable to flourish because of the excessive use of fossil fuels

·      The why: They provide an abundant amount of energy and are easy to access.

Hypothesis: Fossil fuels are not sustainable and can be replaced with more environmentally friendly alternatives like solar power.

Testing the who: Due to the environmental factors that climate change has caused, people in the United States should reduce the use of fossil fuels in order to prevent more problems from occurring in the future. I feel like this situation applies to everyone living in the United States because it impacts everyone who lives here. Unfortunately, there are people who don’t feel this dilemma is important and feel like no change is needed.

Testing the what: People in the United States depend on fossil fuels for their electricity, heating, gas, etc., which are necessary things for daily life. We can’t give those up, but it is possible to use a new method to obtain the energy needed for these resources. Acquiring fossil fuels is cheaper and easier to access than any alternatives, but in order to save the environment from further damage, a change is needed.

Testing the why: Everyone should be aware of the impact the resources they use have on the environment. The energy generated from fossil fuels is necessary, but there are other ways to obtain this energy that are better for the environment. It is important that people understand the impact fossil fuels have and that they know there are more environmentally friendly alternatives.

I conducted my interviews by going to a public park in Deland and going up to random people that were willing to let me interview them.

Interview 1: This person was a middle-aged woman who has 2 kids. I asked her about her thoughts on the use of fossil fuels for electricity, heating, gas, etc. and she explained that she didn’t know much about it, but wished to know more. She believed that fossil fuels impact the environment a lot, but wasn’t sure exactly how this happened. She felt like the use of fossil fuels was necessary, but not good for the environment. She hopes there will be more research in order to find better alternatives for fossil fuels. I asked her what was a good reason to continue using fossil fuels and she explained that we can’t live without the things it generates energy for. She feels like fossil fuels are reliable as of right now, but they are a long-term concern and we need to be better prepared to use alternative methods. I asked if a shift from fossil fuels to solar power was possible and she said yes, explaining that the sun is a reliable energy source. She explains this situation by saying people are aware of the situation but aren’t willing to give up their ways to help find a solution.

Interview 2: This person was an elderly woman who has 2 kids. She believes people in America are super wasteful and are the cause of most environmental problems. She feels like the use of fossil fuels accounts for a large portion of the environmental damage that occurs. Also, she hates the method of fracking because of its harmful impact on the environment. I asked her if she thinks the use of fossil fuels is worth the impact they have on the environment and she said no, but doesn’t see any reliable alternatives as of right now. She stressed the main factor behind using fossil fuels and other resources that harm the environment is money. She believes switching to solar power is possible, but the government needs to be involved in order to make it a realistic possibility. She seemed worried about the fate of the environment but didn’t feel like she could make much of an impact.

Interview 3: This person was an elderly man who had 2 kids. He wants to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and wants to use solar, wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric power instead. He believes fossil fuels are a huge reason for the environment struggling and gives the example of millions of people in China dying from air pollution. He feels like fossil fuels are all we got right now because solar, wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric systems haven’t been perfected. He thinks the best reason to continue using fossil fuels is because of how inexpensive they are compared to alternatives. He does not believe fossil fuels are more reliable than possible alternatives because of the process of fracking and drilling needed to extract fossil fuels, which harms the environment. He believes a combination of solar, wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric is the best solution for this problem. Nuclear would be the best option, but they need to find a more efficient way to use this source of energy first. He feels like a change to one of these alternatives will occur within the next 8 years or so.

Interview 4: This person was a young man who is 20 years old and currently attending a Christian college online in hopes of becoming a minister. He believes we should be actively looking for alternatives because fossil fuels are nonrenewable and are going to run out eventually. He does not believe fossil fuels are the main cause of the damage to the environment because we have used them for so long and nothing catastrophic has happened. He feels like the use of fossil fuels is worth the impact they have on the environment because they enhance our quality of life. I asked him if he thinks fossil fuels are more reliable than any of the alternatives and he answered yes, explaining that weather is unpredictable and fossil fuels are abundant. He believes a shift to solar power is possible, but not anytime soon, says it could be 20 years from now.

Interview 5: This person was a young woman who is 18 years old and going to attend Stetson in the fall. She believes the use of fossil fuels is bad for the environment and that Americans use it way too much. She would be willing to have a worse quality of life if it meant switching to an alternative way to obtain energy in order to help save the environment. She feels like the main reason why we use fossil fuels is because we are lazy and are not willing to change our ways. I asked if she thought fossil fuels are more reliable than any other alternative and she said no because they are nonrenewable and will eventually run out. She feels like solar power is a possibility, but it couldn’t generate the amount of energy we use right now. She believes it will be at least another 20 years before fossil fuels are our main source of energy.

Summary of interviews: I have learned from the people that I interviewed that the impact of fossil fuels on the environment is not common knowledge, and most people want to know more about it. The majority of the people I interviewed don’t support the use of fossil fuels but believe it is our only option right now. The majority of the people I interviewed want to see a change to an alternative way of obtaining energy, but don’t think it is a real possibility. It was interesting to see the elderly throw out the idea that the government is needed in order to create a change, as I had never thought about it but that would be very beneficial. Also, the elderly man felt like a combination of solar, wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric power would be a better option than fossil fuels, which I agree with once they create an efficient way to make that happen. From their answers, I got the feeling that most of these people cared about the environment and were worried about the future, but didn’t feel as if they could do anything to help the cause.