Eng 101 Summary Paper

English 101- Summary paper

In the Dark

There are many challenges that Africa and much of the third world are facing today. Much of the world is aware of the problems like AIDS and debt relief; however there are struggles that are going unnoticed. One challenge that is ‘in the dark’, so to speak, is the energy poverty that places like Africa are dealing with. This is the main idea that Thomas L. Friedman discusses in chapter seven, “Energy Poverty”, of his book Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

Friedman points out that one of the main reasons for the lack of awareness for an energy shortage comes from the lack of celebrity backing. He discusses how people see Angelina Jolie on television fighting for AIDS, but there is no big name asking for society to bring light to Africa. Think about it. There is no one pointing out the fact 1.6 billion people, which is about one out of every four people are without access to a source of power (155). People need some source of heat and the most commonly used alternative are open fires within the home. This alternative is responsible for 1.6 million deaths (155).

Many factors have led to this current energy dilemma. According to Friedman a recent economic rise and population increase has resulted in a number of people that is greater than the current supply can support. One reason that the current energy demand cannot be met is because the world presently has a shortage of facilities capable of producing power. While production problems are mainly attributed to a lack of funding, the real fault comes from Africa’s constant misgoverning and a state of continuous civil war (156). With government pushing funds and efforts in the wrong direction, attempts to correct the problem have been feeble.

The largest section of the chapter focuses on why it is important to keep making attempts to correct the problem of energy poverty. Friedman writes, “Energy is like any other economic good…Without reliable energy virtually every aspect of...