Policies to Reduce Energy Consumption & Combat Climate Change - Essay Sample

Introduction

The governments play significant roles in reducing the rate of energy consumption within the country since the energy supplies are of utmost importance at national level planning. As such, it is the role of the government to set policies that will help them to control energy consumption in the country and reduce the severe effects of climate change. Furthermore, these policies will help to regulate the overall consumption without causing adverse effects to the commerce sector or the industries operating within the country.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Strategies

Additionally, it is the role of the government to provide strategies that will help to conserve energy or will help improve the processes that are already in place to save energy. This action can be done directly by the government institution or indirectly through partnering with other companies and institutions.

Although the government plays significant roles in the reduction of consumption of energy, they should leave the mandate to the markets due to the costs that will be incurred. According to London (2014), paying discounted prices between 4% and 6% will help to reduce emissions costs without the average citizen incurring substantial costs. As such, the market will be able to take care of the expenses incurred in reducing energy consumption.

Economic Growth

The primary role of countries is to continuously improve their rates of economic growth to ensure improved living standards for the people involved. As such, the states should avoid agreements that could result in severe impacts on their economic development. For instance, the Paris Agreement was developed and agreed to by over 200 countries aimed at engaging climate change and focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Briggs, 2017). However, the framework for this agreement emphasized the un-development of the industrialized world and may result in severe economic impacts for the United States.

The economic impacts of this agreement for the United States may include the death of employment opportunities due to the restricted use of carbon-based energy. Furthermore, companies will incur higher costs of operations, which will be reflected in the increased prices of products. As such, the consumer will buy fewer products, and companies will have to lay off other employees to avoid incurring losses.

World Health Organization

According to Schnirring (2020), even though President Trump’s allies have commended him for withdrawing from the WHO, the move has also resulted in increased criticism from other global health communities due to the possible adverse effects that could proceed from this decision. In my opinion, the United States should not withdraw from the WHO as it would be relinquishing its seat at a vital forum. Under WHO, the U.S has been at the head of many developmental processes that involve global health policies. As such, withdrawing from this action can result in a significant setback of the state’s global health priorities.

Conclusion

Thus, the United States may find itself isolated and having less influence in regards to international affairs. This outcome may be due to the reluctance of some countries to partner with the U.S, especially if they do not believe that the state will be able to deliver on its promises, especially during this challenging time of COVID-19 pandemic. As such, it is my opinion that the United States should have remained with the World Health Organization.

References

Briggs, H. (2017, May 31). What is in the Paris climate agreement? BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35073297

London, R. A. (2014, May 19). Weighing the future. The Economist.
https://www.economist.com/free-exchange/2014/05/19/weighing-the-future

Schnirring, L. (2020, July 7). US pulls out of WHO amid escalating COVID-19 activity. CIDRAP. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/07/us-pulls-out-who-amid-escalating-covid-19-activity.