Unfortunately the United States is not the only country that has environmental issues that is affecting individuals and the ecosystem. Nations with low socio economic possibilities are vulnerable to the interest of certain corporations that are only interested in making money. I described the environmental issues of Prince William Sound Alaska and Chester Pennsylvania, here in the United States. The nation with best laws to protect the environment, is neglecting certain communities intentionally. The United States, a well-developed country is overlooking inequality and injustice, to benefit certain interests. One can only imagine what is happening in second and third world countries, were environmental laws haven’t been enacted and human rights …show more content…
I will also explain if Environmental Racism played part in the pollution levels of these two cities. Meycauayan is the oldest town in the province of Bulcan and the entire Philippines, with a population of 199,154 residents. The city is surrounded by the town of Marilao to the north and Caloocan to the south. The town of Marilao is also in the providence of Bulcan with a population of 204,356 residents. According to the Blacksmith institute “Meycauayan and Marilao are the two filthiest places on earth” (Block et al., 2007). The two cities share a common river system, which used to provide a source of income from fishing. Now the Marilao River System holds toxic chemicals such as lead, chromium, cooper and arsenic, making the water very hazardous. The chemicals found at the river system come from different sources “However, it receives pollution from various domestic and industrial sources such as gold refineries, jewelry-making, tanneries, lead-utilizing electroplating, pyrotechnics, garments and textile, piggeries, livestock and poultry, and other manufacturing establishments”(Orejas & Reyes, 2008). There are approximately two thousand businesses in the vicinity of the river; most of them are part of the cause for the rivers
The environment is constantly being sacrificed for food production, toxic dumps, wood distribution, military testing, and other things such as these. And as usual, the root lies in profit. The corporations can’t afford to be concerned with the future well being of the earth and it’s dwellers. Also, environmental pollution can be connected to racism and classism because it is the poor communities that are used for toxic dumps and prisons, and it’s the poor people who work in the factories that require having contact with harmful chemicals and technologies, and generally the poor communities consist of people of color.
Environmental justice is usually refers to the belief everyone, regardless of their ethnicity or socioeconomic class, should equally share the benefits of environmental luxuries as well as the burdens of environmental health hazards. Environmental Justice is demonstrated using examples of environmental injustice, such as unfair land use practices, environmental regulation being enforced in some areas only, unfair location of harmful industrial facilities and the disposal of toxic waste on communities where most of its population are minorities. Many environmentalist have addressed the issue, for instance the essay “From Carrying Capacity to Footprint, & Back Again,” by Michael Cain reveals that ecological footprint show that people appear to be using resources more rapidly than they can be regenerated and its affecting mainly developing countries.
Case Study - Corporate Obstacles to Pollution Prevention. Overview This case focuses on corporate obstacles to pollution prevention. Pollution prevention can be complex, especially for large corporations. There are many different forms of pollution prevention, including emissions control devices and incremental changes in existing technology.
When one discusses acts of racism, slander or the stereotyping of a group of people may come to mind. However, the concept of environmental racism is rarely considered. This form of racism positions dominant environmental framing as racially driven, in which people of color (i.e. minorities) are affected disproportionately by poor environmental practices. Communities of color throughout the United States have become the dumping grounds for our nation’s waste disposal, as well as home to agricultural and/or manufacturing industries that pollute the land. Government regulations and cultural practices have all contributed to environmental racism. The government’s policies have also negatively impacted low income groups as well as people of color. Environmental justice is dependent on rethinking our environmental policies, and ethical environmental practices.
Our oceans take a large beating every day by the extremely large amount of pollution humans produce. Our society easily dumps their waste into the oceans to dispose of the excessive amount of garbage, sewage, and chemicals, but this small and simple solution is creating an even bigger problem. The way humans dispose of their wastes is causing the death of our beloved marine life. Not only are we killing off our animals, our food source, and our resources, we are also minimizing our usable water. By having a better understanding of the problem on the severe dumping, it will be easier to find ways to help minimize the pollution that is going into the ocean.
Everyone’s interpretation of environmental justice varies from their degree of belief and understanding of this serious subject. Though politics play a large role in the globalization of the world, it is those politics that have the power to accept or reject people’s notion. Though the characters in Edward Abbey’s book go about making their statement in an unacceptable way, to them, it is thought to make a difference in the amount of expansion they hope will not be made in the western states. As starhawk states, “we must have respect within to gain it” (30). With the respect of our selves, neighbors and our natural settings, there leaves no room for anything other than improvement.
Today's waters are constantly being treated like sewage dumps or trash cans. We use them as garbage cans every day polluting the water more and more. "Pollution is often by way of rivers, drains and outflow pipes." Causing an outflow of sewage into our ocean waters. This is not only affecting the community but also the marine life and other sea creatures living in the ocean." This pollution includes human sewage and domestic waste water, factory outflows of acids and poisonous metals, engine oil from roadside drains and garages, farm chemicals washed off the land by rain, building-site rubble, nuclear waste from power plants, and oil from wells, refineries, and tankers." Stating that most of today's waste is from factory or factory ran products that shouldn't be polluting the water
Since the beginning of all recorded history human beings have been dependent upon mother Earth to supply us with our needs. We have cultivated the earth for crop production as well as domesticated animals to better suit our needs; for labor and even for food itself. Sustainability was never in question and land, crops, and animals were always in plenty if taken into consideration. A simpler life where survival through food, shelter, water, and reproduction were all that mattered. However, through time things have changed. From hunter and gatherer sects to farming communities; from small towns to booming civilizations; maybe most importantly has been the change of ideology. We as a society have changed from a simple nature of self sustenance into a society of greed. Greed that is represented in the forms of money, power, land, and politics. The effects of this greed are devastating to the environment. Since sustainability doesn’t necessarily formulate into the ideology of those who are greedy it has been pushed to the side. This has resulted in the Earth’s resources to be exploited, stolen, and in some cases even have led to bloodshed; these things only leading to people being able to line their pockets more deeply. One main culprit of these “crimes” is the oil industry.
As an environmentalist (or a "radical" environmentalist, as I am often labeled by members of the mainstream environmental movement), I feel it is my duty as a protector of the Earth's well-being to write this editorial as a means of bringing into the American consciousness a variety of frightening environmental issues. Though some of you may be aware of these problems, I know many are not, and thus may be shocked to learn about the degradation of our Earth and the people living in it. Indeed, I truly believe that "since the dawn of the industrial age, America has behaved like an alcoholic with a good job—prospering despite a lifestyle that jeopardizes the future and ruins much of what is good with irresponsible behavior.
The protection of the environment however has just recently become the major issue that it is in today’s society. People worldwide have slowly begun to realize and become aware of the blatant destruction and deterioration of the environment and ozone. As well as the consequences and side affects, that we, as a society have created. The majority of people are just becoming aware of the frightening reality of the situation. As society becomes more informed on the issue of the environment, they too become more impatient, and feel that in the snap of fingers, the damage can be reversed and future damage can be stopped instantaneously.
Research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that species in the ocean consume a projected 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year in the Pacific Ocean (Nall, 2014). Pollution of recyclable materials in the oceans is one of the leading causes of why some marine species are nearing extinction. Many authors of articles and books analyzing this topic tend to agree that pollution of our oceans is a problem. The future of this problem is where their ideas tend to differ. The following four literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support my belief that pollution is getting worse in the ocean and more marine life ecosystems are being affected, but there are things that we as humans can do to change this. Imagine a world where we didn’t have to constantly worry about the vicious cycle of humans affecting animals and then animals in turn affecting us through consumption.
Earth is the only known planet in our universe that is able to sustain life, yet we choose to carelessly mistreat the environment which supports us. Pollution and waste are quickly beginning to have lasting effects on our environment. Environmental sustainability is a topic most choose to ignore. This is because we indulge in short term comfort, and choose to ignore the long term consequences our selfish choices have on the environment. The poorest nations and societies of our world feel the biggest impact from these long term consequences. The environments they live in are continually becoming uninhabitable due to the lack of environmental justice that they receive. Environmental sustainability is also hindered by the pressures of political
Today talking about environmental issues lately to be like a common topic discussion until people take it for granted. However, the world facing a complex environmental problems related to each trouble that connected to one another and come out with greater impacts to the environment and humans. This is because the effects of environmental only can be seen in long term period rather than immediately result show up. Environmental issues must become one of the controversial matters in the society in order to make people know the truth what the world currently facing. There were a lot of environmental disaster happened such as climate change, global warming, various of pollutions, earthquake and etc. the rise of environmental issues begin with this urban development occur through several countries following with the technologies equip along. For sure, development will cause a huge negative impact to the environment if it deals without a care. Besides, the environment is the place in the ecosystem to hold and use in finding resources to continuously survive in this world. Thus, the finding and digging for the resources which happening extensively without preservation will not restore the surrounding similar with before. But then, the change cannot be refuse and people need to take an action to save the threaten the world and the ecosystem from being extinct. If each country has own output in causing an environmental problem, then consider the world to hold all the damage occurred. Exposing the effects of environmental issues throughout the world, make people realize the important to take care the environment.
People have to start off understanding what environmental sustainability means. Allie Sibole author of, The Ethics of Sustainability: Why Should We Care?, shares a perfect example, “Sustainability is a moral response to an incredible gift” (Sibole 1). What she explains is, our planet is the beloved gift. People need to not take
We all belong to the same world and all of us have the same responsibilities towards the world and its environment. This fact might be hard to digest, but if we continue to pollute the Earth at the current rate, all of the world’s ocean waters will become one-hundred-thirty percent acidic. This means that the ocean will be unable to sustain most of its marine life and only a few creatures will be able to survive in the water. A big population of people think that they do not or have few responsibilities towards the environment. People think that the governor of a country should take steps to help the environment. They leave it to scientists since they have the technology to prevent pollution, or that is what most people think. There are more responsibilities to the world each individual has than most of realize. The amount of negligence and ignorance of humans towards the Earth is taking a heavy toll.