Caitlin Ide

Political Science 1100

Persuasive Essay
As seasons change, pollution does not. For the state of Utah, it is all too common to see a
winter that brings snow the color of cigarette ashes; which, is one of the many problems that
causes this black slush. What is this to say about the entirety of the world if Utahs slogan
legitimately states, Greatest snow on Earth? If this planet has succumb to the greatest snow on
Earth being the color of death, there is a problem. Sadly, as pollution increases, so does the
temperature, even during the winter months, which will be discussed later. Although, this
pollution does not just occur in the winter. As the temperatures rise to above 100 degrees in Utah,
the pollution finds itself in the ozone layer, the air in which humans breathe!
Most do not see the invisible threat, due to how it is not as observable during the summer
months. One does not need to see the ozone layer in order for there to be a problem. According
to Standard Examiners Leia Larsen, Unlike the wintertime particulate pollution that forms
during inversions, ozone is a gas and often hard to see.... If you breathe [ozone] in persistently, it
acts like a sunburn on the lungs"[1]. The threat may be invisible at times, but that does not mean
it should be ignored. In order for the United States to decline the rate of climate change, it needs
to start in one area and rapidly diffuse. In this essay, the topic will focus on one specific
community, such as Salt Lake City, and stretch onwards to the top cities of the United States.
Due to how Salt Lake City is in a valley, it is a prime example for reform one, and due to how it
is on the top ten list of most polluted cities in America[2]. However, the reforms mentioned will
change the United States of America as a whole, and will shift the world into a greater good. In

order to decrease the insistent climate change we need to enact three reforms: requiring pollution
masks, increasing the use of solar and or wind energy, and completing carbon capture.
As pollution increases, multiple things arise. One of the major dilemmas that arises is
climate change; which, will be a long and difficult process in order to change due to the habits of
society. Thus, before society can start making changes to stop climate change, society needs to
be protected from what has already affected us, the pollution. The first reform that should be
enacted to end the increasing rate of climate change deals with those that suffer the most from
the hazard: the community. As individuals travel into the outdoors to breathe in a breath of fresh
air, that fresh air is actually poisoning their lungs on a bad air day. The best thing that society as
a whole can do in order to not develop health conditions due to this pollution in the air would be
wearing masks on increasingly bad air days.
This issue needs to be addressed immediately before health problems increase in the
community. According to Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, high air
pollution can cause immediate health problems such as: cardiovascular and respiratory illness,
added stress on the heart and lungs, and even damaged cells in the respiratory system[3]! With
such possible damage to the body, such as cells being damaged in various systems, our body
could develop cancer or even die from all of these hazards! Though if individuals simply wore
masks, they would decrease their chances of all of these illnesses, due to how the pollution
would be trapped in the mask and not their lungs. By simply wearing a mask individuals would
address the pollution issue that would be harming their entire body.
Though, the issue that would arise with this reform would be that some individuals of the
community would state that the government does not have the ability to make society wear
masks. Thus, this reform would need to focus on making it mandatory for healthcare

professionals to advertise and hand out the proper information and materials, such as a free
pollution mask with every visit. The reform would have to involve multiple sets of professionals
in order to persuade the community to partake in this new law. Another argument that would be
made would possibly be how the mask would not be considered fashionable. All that needs to
be said is: is fashion worth your life or the life of a loved one?
However, this next reform could be considered fashionable for the Earth, due to how it
would limit the spread of climate change with each installment. The second reform that should
be enacted revolves around forms of renewable energy. Individuals have all heard of Elon Musk's
hyperloop train that can go 700 mph with using a vacuum tube mechanism, though that is as
complex as it gets, so why not start with something a tad less complicated? Why not start with
solar energy? As the most heard form of renewable energy, it only accounts for 0.4% of the net
electricity in the United States. Specifically, the reform that needs to be put into place should
state with every year, the renewable energy levels such as solar and wind should increase by
10,000- 15,000 megawatts in a year. With the first quarter of 2016, the United States installed
1,665 megawatts of solar PV[4]! This may seem too big or too small for various individuals, but
at some point fossil fuels will run out, gas prices will go up, and for what? Fossil fuels are the
leading cause of climate change, and it needs to be stopped sooner rather than later.
According to the authors of the Great Transition, with fossil fuels being used, it increases
the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere; which, in turns raises the earth's temperature,
providing just one of the many forms of climate change[5]. If we continue using fossil fuels, by
the year of 2100, the global temperature could rise 11 degrees Fahrenheit! Though solar and
wind energy do not release any carbon dioxide, it uses the resources from the sun and wind that
we already have and takes them for energy! There have already been steps made, which makes

this process much easier. As nuclear energy decreases, solar energy is already on the rise with the
Solar Revolution, meaning this reform should be easier to enact!
However, the one issue that individuals will mention is the cost that comes from
renewable energy. With information provided by the Great Transition, in 1972 the global price
for solar panels cost over $74 dollars per watt. Though, in recent years such as 2014, the prices
were below $0.72 a watt! The prices for solar panels and windmills are decreasing rapidly from a
previous state, and individuals definitely get their money's worth. When individuals partake in
being solar, they earn the ability to sell back the power they earn from the solar panel to the
utility company. Thus, if individuals feel that they have too much power, they can gain back the
money they spent on the solar panels by selling the excess energy!
Although, the second reform is only one of two ways that society can solve global
warming. The third reform would state that the damage done to the air needs to be removed in
the form of carbon capture or carbon sequestration. In order to have a successful reform, it would
need to specifically state that carbon items need to involve a higher taxation on them in order to
provide money for carbon sequestration. According to the second edition of the book Dire
Predictions: Understanding Climate Change,
There are two ways to mitigate global warming: we can reduce or eliminate fossil-fuel
carbon dioxide emissions, or we can remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
When we attempt the latter strategy, and remove CO2, it is referred to as carbon capture
and storage(CCS) or Carbon Sequestration.[6]
If both of these strategies were put into reforms and passed by the government, some immediate
change would be seen across the country of the United States of America.

Sadly, just as with a lot of other reforms, that largest difficulty in putting this plan into
action is finding a source of economic incentives for emission reduction. This is especially hard
for nations with the largest emission rates, one nation being the United States. A way to gain
economic support for this plan involves taxation. As stated in Dire Predictions, Taxation would
not only reduce consumption, but also provide an incentive for the development of non-carbon
energy sources. If individuals were taxed on items, it will most likely lower the amount of
consumers, while at the same time providing money for a better solution of cleaning the air.
Overall, the best way to create change is to involve the community spending more money on an
object that they do not need. If the taxation for carbon increases to the point where it costs more
than solar and or wind energy, then it would be very likely that they would levitate towards the
cheaper option. In this case, the cheaper option would also be the better option for the
environment.
In conclusion, these three reforms need to be enacted in order to change the outlook of
the future climate change. With the first reform of requiring pollution masks on bad air days, one
must start small in order to protect the people in order to set a path for change. With the second
reform of increasing the amount of watts with solar and wind energy, it will limit the amount of
carbon entering the ecosystem, which will also pave the path for the third reform. The third
reform, involving the removal of the already present pollution in the air, would make it possible
to cease the future existence of fossil-fuels due to the taxation. Without each and every reform
that has been mentioned, change would not occur throughout any society across the globe.
References
1- Larsen, L. (2016). 4 things to know about summer ozone pollution in Utah. Retreived from
http://www.standard.net/Environment/2016/06/14/Four-things-to-know-about-summer-

ozone-pollution-in-Utah
2- Kirkpatrick, N. (2015). The 10 most polluted cities in the U.S. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/30/the-10-mostpolluted-cities-in-the-u-s/
3- Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. (2016). Air Quality Information
for the Sacramento Region. Retrieved from http://www.sparetheair.com/health.cfm?
page=healthoverall
4- Solar Energy Industries Association. (2016). U.S. Solar Market Insight. Retrieved from
http://www.seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight
5- Brown, L. R., Larsen, J., Roney, J. M., & Adams, E. E. (2015). The Great Transition: Shifting
from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy.
6- Mann, M. E., & Kump, L. R. (2015). Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change.