By Kara Headley
Much of the world’s energy comes from the use of non-renewable resources, which, as proven in the past decades, is terrible for our environment. Carbon emissions have caused many problems. There are many who have seen this, and they have chosen to fight for renewable energy resources. South Africa is one of the nations that is trying to switch to renewable resources. According to Treehugger, over the past few years, the use of wind energy in South Africa has increased by 1900% (2016). Leaders in South Africa saw how high the amount of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere every year was, since they were burning coal, and decided to make the switch to wind energy. Although much of the country’s energy still comes from coal, the fact that they are making the switch to wind energy, even if slowly, is an incredible feat.
South Africa is showing the entire world what a few well-placed individuals can do. Those who are fighting for this change are making an honest effort to get the country to switch permanently to renewable energy. Renewable energy is much better for our world; it doesn’t release harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or destroy the land where materials are extracted. Many countries have yet to make an effort to switch, without a real reason not to. South Africa is showing the rest of the world that- with effort and time- making the switch to clean, renewable energy is entirely possible.
If you know something is bad for you, usually you’d stop doing it. So why don’t we treat using non-renewable energy resources in the same manner? These are things the leaders of the world should take into serious consideration, or else we run the risk of permanently damaging our environment.