Why is everyone talking about switching to alternate energy when we can still drive our cars with the gasoline we get from pumps? The reasons are: continuously rising prices of gas and growing tension in countries from where we import gas like the Middle East and Nigeria. These two factors have made it imperative that we switch to alternate sources of energy if we are to survive in future. It is also a fact that cheap sources of oil, the ones that take least effort to dig, are drying out. Such cheap oil resources have already reached its saturation point and this can only mean that gasoline is going to be even more expensive, unless we find alternate sources of energies to light and heat our homes and run our industries. It is imperative that we find able substitutes for oil.  

We need to switch to alternate forms of energy because of the tremendous amount of damage that we have already caused to the world and the environment using fossil fuels. Though global warming may not necessarily be an after effect of such overuse of fuels and could be a natural cycle of events which needs proper handling, it is still a fact that we have done and continue to do irreparable damage to the environment as we live and work. We are running out of even a natural resource like coal. It not only destroys the natural environment but it also creates filth and muck. It is highly possible that we generate electricity, as much as we need using hydroelectricity power, which ensures relatively less damage to the environment when we build super dams. 

In this regard, developing nations need to put in extra effort to develop alternate energy sources as they have damaged the environment more than what US has done. The US, Japan and some countries of the EU are already deep into the research and development of alternate energy sources and are leading the way for the rest of the world to follow.