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Adverse Impacts/True Costs
| True Costs Add Up |
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Using fossil fuels releases pollutants and greenhouse gases. How
much are healthy air, clean water, and a stable climate worth?
Dependence on foreign oil promotes conflict. What are peace and
security worth?
Almost all of the money spent on gasoline, heating fuels, and electricity
leaves local communities. What is a robust economy worth?
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Almost every aspect of daily existence in the Cape & Islands region and
elsewhere in the developed world is influenced by energy consumption and
the sources from which this energy is derived.
The ability of populations to extract and use energy resources, particularly
for electricity generation, largely defines their prosperity and quality
of life. However,true costsadverse economic, environmental, and social
impacts not reflected in the prices paid for energy commoditiesare becoming
increasingly evident on scales from the local to the regional to the global.
This page will document how the current energy situation harms local
communities. Listed below are the many possible true cost impacts:
Air Emissions, Aquatic Discharges & Solid Wastes
- Air Quality: effects of NOx, SOx, and particulate emissions, including
smog, regional haze, etc.
- Water Quality: airborne deposition leading to nutrient loading,
mercury contamination, acidification, etc.
- Water Quality: effects of chemical and thermal discharges
- Combustion By-Products
- Nuclear Wastes
- Ecology: bioaccumulation, eutrophication, anoxia, etc.
- Public Health: air quality, fish contamination, etc.
Quality of Life
- Cost of Living
- Traffic Congestion
- Visual Impacts
- Light Pollution
- Health: asthma, cardiovascular and respiratory ailments, mercury
poisoning, etc.
- Stress
Climate Change
- Sea Level Rise
- Aquifer Infiltration
- Storm Frequency/Severity
- Insurance Rates
- Coastal Properties
- Temperature & Precipitation Patterns
- Ecosystem Integrity
- Tourism
- Public Health
Land Use & Terrestrial Ecology
- Sprawl
- Habitat Fragmentation
Spills & Contamination
- Water Quantity & Quality
- Ecology
- Aesthetics
- Public Health: shellfish and groundwater contamination
- Economics: tourism, real estate, shellfishing, etc.
Economic Development
- Competitiveness
- Capital Flight
- Resource Allocation
- Tourism/Seasonal Residents
Fuel Security
- Price Volatility
- Supply Vulnerability
Foreign Policy
- International Relations
- Homeland Security
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