Dear Next President,

As you know planet Earth is in the middle of a crisis. We as a country are using more resources, like oil, per person than any other country. This is leading to problems that are causing worldwide effects such as global warming and is causing harm to the planet. I’m only 15 years old, and I can see the condition that the world is in and what your generation has done to it. We’re left to fix your mistakes. It’s our duty as a country to change, because if we don’t the planet we live in will be destroyed.

I’d like to start off with the fact that planet Earth is rapidly dying. We’re on the brink of a 6th mass extinction according to biologicaldiversity.org, and humans are the main cause. Our use of oil, natural gasses, and pollution are all causing serious damage. According to the NRDC, the United States contributes 16% of the greenhouse gas emissions, but only accounts for 4% of the global population. We are really doing a number on the planet. On top of that, oil companies that supply our oil have caused oil spills that have caused harm to ocean life. We are already starting to see the effects of oil. For example, oil contributes to the rise of ocean levels, extinction, air pollution, weather anomalies, and the destruction of habitats etc. The thing is companies also refuse to stop drilling because it’s what makes them money. The top oil company makes nearly half a trillion dollars every year. That money could be used to research other energy alternatives instead of relying on our limited oil supply.

We’ve already started implementing solar energy. So far it’s very effective and it provides renewable power. On the other hand, oil is not renewable. According to BP we only have 53.3 years of oil supply left for the world. My proposal is that the United States should start another big project. The idea is solar panels. There are many factors that play in into solar power production. One of the factors is that places that don't have much sunlight are not a very good option to put solar panels. Ideally, we need a place where we have access to sunlight 100% of the time. The only place I can think of is in space! There are several spots called Lagrange points between the sun and the Earth. These spots are called Heliosynchronous orbits, meaning it has access to the sun and orbits around the earth. This would provide solar energy to the satellite for 4.5-5 billion years according to phys.org. Sure, this would be ridiculously expensive, and hard to do. But if we work as a group, combine efforts, and spread the word we can do it. If we make the panels modular, and slowly but surely keep adding panels into space, we can eventually the goal. This is not to benefit us! This is for our future children that will one day live on this planet.

On the other hand of the argument, people think we absolutely need to rely on oil. As of now, over a billion cars run on gasoline, says green car reports. That is a lot of cars, and if we stopped supplying gasoline (Which is a byproduct of oil), then that billion number of vehicles would be useless. But let me tell you this, some scientists are already working on it. One of the solutions is small modifications to the car engine that make it run on other things. I was thinking, but maybe if we find a material that expands when a current is applied and contracts when it’s not, then we could use it to push the pistons in a car engine. Another solution is a hydrogen fueled car. Those cars emit zero pollution but the only way we can get the hydrogen causes pollution. We as a country can fund projects and you as the president can guide the American population to use less oil. Not only will we be saving the world, but you’d be inspiring millions of kids to pursue an education in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Therefore, I urge you as the next president of the United States to consider the consequences that oil usage can cause. The solution I’ve suggested are theoretical and could be very expensive, but the reward, in the long run is worth it. The last big project that the United States did, and that I can remember, was the Apollo mission where we carried humans to the moon. We need a new project that will carry humanity beyond what it has already accomplished. You’re just the person who can give the country, and maybe the world, a push. If we don’t start acting now, there will be no future. We’ve gone so far as a species, and energy crisis and the destruction of our planet isn’t going to stop us. It’s up to the younger generations and support from the older generations to fix this world.

                                                                                                                             -Sincerly, Cesar Castro