Whose Fault Is It?
Whitney: Hey, Jessica, have a seat. You always seem to be looking for a place to hide. It must be tough with your dad on the television almost every night now. Cafeterias sure aren't private, and you do have to eat!
Jessica: What a pain hiding from people sometimes! Still, dad's been in politics for awhile now, so I'm getting used to it. Brett! Lorrin! I'm over here.
Brett: Hi, guys. Jessica, that was a good report you gave today in Environmental Studies, even though I think you're wrong, of course!
Lorrin: You two never agree on anything!
Jessica: Well, I have the facts to prove my point. Dad showed me some of his research. Industries and factories are directly at fault for pollution. It is a simple as that.
Lorrin: Now, you two will drag me into this. I don't like it the way politicians push the blame off on those without the money or power to do anything about the destruction. We elect government representatives to fight for our rights and well being.
Brett: Well, I simply don't see it that simply. We are all responsible for our environmental destruction.
Whitney: Now that is simple. It seems to me that much of this environmental destruction issue is in our heads. Things seem fine to me. I don't see dead fish, breathe black air, or contract unexplainable illnesses, and neither do any of you that I know.
Jessica: I think you would feel differently if you saw EPA test results on the air you do breathe. The EPA sets limits on the amount of toxins that various industries, cars, and other polluters are permitted to release into the air.
Lorrin: Yes, but the EPA as a governmental agency only performs those texts once a year.
Brett: The EPA is underfunded and understaffed. Not only that, but when it does shut down factories, in many cases, the people who become unemployed complain about the lack of work and the factory is usually reopened. Similarly, when factories are to be inspected, they are usually informed weeks before the inspections occur, allowing time for temporary arrangements to clean up their toxic emissions and making the tests invalid.
Jessica: The EPA must give a company at least one day notice before an inspection.
Notice: Although this work was reviewed and by EPA and approved for publication, it may not necessarily reflect official Agency policy. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by EPA for use.
Via compliance with the law. The expectation as a public servant/administrator in government, is that you will follow the instruction of those in authority and the laws governing your organization. However, they also had an obligation to their department (EPA) and its design, and to the best interest of the public, to the environment and their life long work and careers.
Another example she uses to make her point is about coral. When thinking of coral, the idea that comes to most is it is a plant that lives in the ocean and provides a beautiful color. Coral provides more than that for the ocean as we see it provides “Thousands-perhaps millions- of species have evolved to rely on coral reefs, either directly for protection or food, or indirectly, to prey on those species that come seeking protection or food” (Kolbert 130). When carbon dioxide enters the ocean, it forms into an acid called carbonic acid, which has been eating away at most of the coral and not allowing it to grow or survive in the water. This other example used by the author showing humans how we are destroying important aspects to earth. We should be more alarmed to what is occurring in the ocean because we also depend on it for some of our resources. It also goes to show if we are capable of putting other animals in danger we are fully capable of erasing our own
The environment and the health of the surrounding population go hand in hand. The Environmental Protection Agency takes on this ever so important mission of protecting them both. The mission statement of the EPA states, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Small Business Programs is to support the protection of human health and the environment by advocating and advancing the business, regulatory, and environmental compliance concerns of small and socio-economically disadvantaged businesses, and minority academic institutions (US Enviromental Protection Agency, 2010).” The impact of its mission can be defined clearly as it examines the impact of contamination in the air, the water, and the land on human health.
The OSH Act gave OSHA the authority to come into work places and inspect facilities for health and safety risks. Due to shortages in personnel, OSHA inspects accidents and safety complaints that are filed, and those facilities that have a high volume of accident rates. If an individual state has an approved safety and health enforcement plan, than they may be exempt from yearly inspections by OSHA and have their own state personnel conduct the inspections. The Act sets a maximum penalty for safety and health violations, but OSHA has the authority to calculate fines. If an industry objects to the citation or fines, they can go before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. OSHA has been criticized on both ends, by industries for being too strict, and by unions for not being strict enough. In the 1980s, OSHA had instituted a policy that would exempt some workplaces from a complete inspection if they had a lower than average injury rate. However, that policy was abandoned when an employee died from a workplace that OSHA had not fully inspected. OSHA has implemented new procedures that have set higher penalties and increased the maximum fine for all types of infractions.
Humans can not be the only thing that is hurting the Earth. When you really think about it, Earth goes through a lot of natural disasters, which cannot be controlled. According to an activist, Tim Haering, “Tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, disease nature kills more than we kill each other.” Earth throws in all of these natural ...
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) was established in 1972 to oversee air, water, and noise pollution and to pass regulations to control actions that could cause them.
8) Brenner, Robert D. Testimony U.S. EPA before the Senate environment and Public Works Committee, August 1, 2000
Furthermore, it saves the company from fines and any chances of been shut down by OSHA. There are several ways in which one can find the latest information on OSHA. OSHA law states that some safety and health plans that have been approved by the federal government can be adopted by any organization or territory. On reaching the minimum OSHA requirements, any state plan on health and job safety becomes fully OSHA-approved and is entitled to funding by the federal government (Manuele, Fred A,
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has been helping to protect people and the environment they live in since 1970. They help get information out to the public about events that causes damage to the environment. They do this many ways, one of which they
Oil and Hazardous Materials Response (ESF #10): includes actions to prevent, minimize, or mitigate mainly the release of hazardous materials. In this case, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will coordinate with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to assess and detect the level of contamination in the water treated by the two plants of the MWW. Testing conducted will make sure the quality of water it is within the limits set by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Despite the fact the goal of the EPA is to protect the environment, citizens comes first. The Milwaukee Department of Health will make sure that health of its residents comes first.
Each of these people established that there were matters to be discussed in the environmental
This quotation opens your eyes, I know of no one who wants to destroy the earth either. The majority of man kind doesn’t think too much about what is happening to the earth due to their actions. When most of us drive a car or spray deodorant we don’t think of the consequences. It is the responsibility of those who create problems to help fix them and prevent them from happening again. In society today it i...
This persuasive speech was given in Rio de Janeiro, and was a plea to the individuals in attendance at the United Nations Earth Summit to recognize how they are contaminating the environment with hopes that these audience members will revise their future proposals.
My aim in this piece of work is to see the effect of temperature on the rate of a reaction in a solution of hydrochloric acid containing sodium thiosulphate.