Environmental Science is essential for those who do not know about the dangers to the environment, and those who want to help.
Alok Kumar is passionate about the issue of the environment and started teaching environmental science in Oswego two years ago.
Kumar is concerned about energy preservation. "The prosperity of a country is based on its energy," he said. "It is important to advance a country. However, there is an issue of supply and demand. The resources are scarce. Oil will be exhausted in less than two decades. It is necessary to think about where future resources will come from."
These future resources are alternatives to oil. Most of us are unaware of these alternatives. Hence, education is a vital component of energy education.
"We can use solar energy, geo-thermal energy, and some form of nuclear energy," Kumar said. "Not the kind we are using right now because of the problem of radioactivity. We need fusion energy and not fission energy. We are not harnessing our energy efficiently. Sunlight is free but we haven't made use of it."
Kumar teaches PHY 305 "Energy and the Environment", which focuses on giving students the information on the energy availability and its implications on the environment.
"In the first two weeks, students are in disbelief about the environmental issues," Kumar said. "America constitutes for 5% of the world, and yet it uses 25% of the world resources."

As a part of the class, 90 students will write a paper on the nuclear plants in Oswego, the Scriba plant, Kyoto Protocol and its impacts today, wind energy and solar energy in our area, and biofuel.
" I try very hard to convince people that food is here to eat and not for fuel," Kumar said. "Hunger is increasing in the world because of this."
One of the students from his class is working on a project involving the production of coal and its dangers. June MacArthur says that her project involves critiquing "clean coal.
"There is no clean coal," she says. "Now they are blowing mountains and taking the coal straight out. Around 450 mountains have been destroyed to make coal. On the website www.ilovemountains.org; you can choose your state and see where your coal is coming from."
MacArthur has always been passionate about the environment. "My husband and I have always been involved with various organizations related to the environment," she said. "I hope they start making things more available to retired people to work for the environment." MacArthur has gone back to school at the age of 58 and will earn her BA before she turns 60!
One astounding statistic that Kumar unveiled is the fact that producing one pound of meat takes 2,500 gallons of water! "1/5th of greenhouse gases are coming from agriculture and 80% of that is coming from livestock."
He suggests eating less meat, reducing the thermostat, and using larger curtains as ways to preserve energy. Also, he is working on providing middle-school and high-school teachers the necessary resources to teach energy education to students.  The Department of Labor has approved this project.
Oswego students need to do their part for the environment. "It's the responsibility of every generation to help the next generation so that they prosper," he said. "The next generation will be our grandchildren after all."

Priya Ravindran-Class '09