The United States is an Energy Hog :: Energy Environmental Issues Essays

The United States is an Energy Hog The Unites States consumes ninety-eight quadrillion Btu’s of energy annually, which is over one-fourth of the world’s total energy consumption. (â€Å"Country Analysis†) For me, this fact is startling, but not surprising. I grew up in a residential sector, an energy-consuming sector that consists of living quarters for private households (â€Å"Definitions†), and I have been taught to conserve as much energy as possible. My mother, a teacher with bachelor and master degrees in science, has always told, well, nagged, my brother and I to â€Å"turn out the lights every time† we leave a room. Many times I have entered the house to find my mother ironing or cooking dinner in a very dark room. Before I even greet her I automatically flip the light switch and ask, â€Å"Mum, why are you in the dark?† She always reminds me that electricity costs money. She also reminds me that my Grandma was eleven years old before her family even had el ectricity! Once in a while, mom will consider what it must have been like for Grandma to grow up without electricity. She always mentions that Grandma had to take cold baths and use the restroom outside. Of course, Grandma couldn’t grab a cold glass of milk out of the fridge or shoot her cousin an email. My mind wanders from Grandma’s life to my own when I think what an inconvenience it would be to be without energy, specifically electricity for lights. Without lights, my lifestyle would be entirely different. Lights enable me to study into the evening. Without lights driving would be impossible. It’s difficult to accept that, where I live, I would inevitably be trapped at home-sometimes when it’s only seven or eight o’clock at night! This would surely alter my hobbies, extracurricular activities and friends. When I was younger, I would think my mom just had trouble â€Å"keeping up with the times,† but, I now know that my mom was accurate when she encouraged me and my brother to conserve and appreciate energy. I can rest assured that another reason that my mother encouraged me to conserve energy was because of expenses. The ten month average of electricity costs, in 2004, was 8.