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Sarah Jordan Final Essay 26 April 2013 Energy and the Environment Wrap-up At the beginning of the semester,

I was very unsure about what I would be learning in this class and if I would have the capability of fully understanding any scientific concepts. I had very little exposure and limited knowledge regarding energy and the environment, which corresponded to my weak view or opinion on what energy is, how it is used and the effects through usage. But throughout my time in this course, I have overcome that lack of knowledge and instead gained a ton of beneficial information regarding energy and the environment, more than I originally thought. At first, the mathematical homework assignments seemed very overwhelming since it forced me tap into a part of my brain that I havent put to work in a couple years; but once our classroom discussions tied into those homework's was what sparked my learning. Those in class discussions served as a significant foundation to understanding the reasons behind the need for environmental change and the current stalemate in making that need become feasible. That was one of the most important take-aways to me, was realizing that all social, economic and political sectors are involved in making an environmental change in regards to the global energy economy. The topic of energy is such a broad topic that is connected and carries over to all aspects of our lives so a balance is needed within those sectors to formulate a solution. Perviously, I did not understand the difficulty in switching to an alternative system of energy, not taking into consideration the possible political corruption that could stalemate the shift. Through reading those assigned articles was a huge eye opener to me to see how the short term

interests of shareholders in maintaining heavy investments in conventional energy industries for immediate profits can stop the need to reallocate investments to alternative purposes that would be more beneficial. I was able to gain insight of how the role of money in a business sector can drive the energy market down an detrimental path. Another insight I gained within this course was the need and benefits of research related to science. Being a liberal arts major most papers are lengthy theories and opinions, but I learned that writing a scientific paper is much more difficult and requires a lot of reading and research. I think the writing assignments were what I liked most about the class because it forced me to search and analyze information but most importantly gain insight and knowledge from reading papers from all different sources with different view points. I learned that you cannot come across one paper and believe everything written is true, you have to visit various other sites and reading many other papers to see if the information lines up. The best part was from all the research conducted for the semester paper and project helped me for my own opinion and stand point in regards to alternative energy, in a way I became an advocate for wind energy. Overall, this course was highly beneficial to me and most importantly I can walk away being able to say I fulfilled my goal of becoming more aware of my environment and surroundings. The greatest insight was realizing that solely one energy source does not yield a perfect solution in achieving a sustainable planet but our choices about the current and future energy sources will effect the developmental process. Environmental change in regards to energy consumption starts on an individual level and through careful monitoring and awareness progress can be made, idealistically yielding a proper solution that will effectively benefit all of mankind.

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