Kira Lemley

10th Grade Humanities

Energy Justice Monologue

No Easy Solution

As a society we can not agree on one singular thing. Take politics for example,
where one can get pulled in so many directions, arguing over how to best run the
country. How we view the world is based on our values, and a huge value is justice. Yet
justice isn’t something that is easily determined, there is no clear definition. You have
theories like utilitarianism, with doing the greatest good for the greatest number, or
libertarianism of freedom of choice as a personal right. These both have the aim of
justice, but going about it in completely different ways. Similarly, there is no clear
solution to the ever pressing energy issue within our country.
By now we all know that something has to be done about fossil fuels and
climate change. The conversation of how coral reefs are dying as our world is heating
up from all of the co2 that we are emitting. Or how we are absolutely destroying the
environment with coal plants and oil pumps. How we are making irreversible changes
to our planet. Yet there is more, like mountaintop removal to gather coal, which is
drying up streams, and polluting the water and air. Which not only is hurting the plants
or animals but the people too.
So what is stopping us from creating the most just way to balance our energy
and economic needs, human and environmental health, and the protection of sacred
lands? These are not new concepts, and we have been making progress, yet over and
over we are told that we aren’t doing enough. But there are two sides to every coin, it's
not as simple as “stop using fossil fuels, it will fix all of our problems.” As shown in the
movie “From the Ashes” so many people rely on the coal industries for jobs. And if
those shut down, all of their income is lost. Renewable energy also may not be the
solution we can fully rely on. Yes it is much better for the environment, and we do not
currently have the storage technology for the unused energy gained throughout the
day. Along with that there needs to be a lot of space for solar panels or windmills that
would very easily disrupt the ecosystem in those areas.
An example of how there is no easy solution, is the Hesperus solar project. This
is a project that will be installing solar panels over 1900 acres of land in La Plata
County. 2/3rds of this land will be locally owned, so the land will be leased to the solar
company. It is also able to power 56,000 homes. But of course, there are several issues
with this project, as nothing is ever that simple. These solar panels are being placed on
a big migration path for elk. In the words of Maureen Truax, who lives in Hesperus,
states, ”That's not going to work, let's be real, the elk will not migrate through [the
corridor]” The solutions aren’t going to work, furthering how difficult this all is to
balance. The solar panels also could destroy the ecosystem in the area, decrease
property value and become a serious fire hazard.
Not all hope should be lost, we still need to do something, we can still do
something, whatever that may be. This could be basing it off of your value of justice or
what you think is right. You may not be able to create something where everyone is
happy, but we still need to start somewhere.
“If we could do better, better would be coming,”(From the Ashes).

Works Cited

Bonfiglio, Michael, director. From the Ashes. National Geographic, 2007.

“Maureen Interview .MP3.” Google Drive,

drive.google.com/file/d/1_-OMwgb-BYWSRxByeGW6fo6InM3s_K2b/view.
Accessed 9 May 2023.