Pollution and Environment Essay - We Must Find a Balance Between Man and Nature

We Must Find a Balance Between Man and Nature

"America's beauty is truly unmatched by anything I have seen!" I thought with excitement and ecstasy when I first witnessed the splendor of American landscape. The majestic forests and azure lakes have surpassed the stories I heard while growing up. However, a puzzling sight hampered my sense of admiration when I arrived in New Mexico. Though the steppe around me was untouched, "No Littering" and "Save the Earth" signs seemed to be everywhere. It puzzled me why so much effort was put into preserving a land already pristine. At the time, I knew only of the splendor of American landscape and felt that it was only natural for people to preserve the pervasive gem I had witnessed.

Gradually, I conceived the ongoing battle to preserve the environment. On one side, concerned citizens strive for environmental restrictions on industries to produce a cleaner, less technological environment their descendants can enjoy. Their formidable adversaries, the economists, argue that these restrictions limit the nation's productivity, thus degrading the general prosperity. Having witnessed the effects of overpopulation and pollution in China, I concur with the need to safeguard the environment. Yet this movement to protect is flawed. Though many people push for restrictions on industries, they themselves do not truly understand what they protect. It seems that many citizens today mistake nature for a pure, untainted essence that humanity has not corrupted. Even worse, these people go through incredible lengths to seek its revitalizing touch when they lack an overall perception of nature.

Though nature is not the quintessence that many believe, it is nonetheless valuable to humans. For me, nature ...

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...apid growth in technology, many citizens are ignorant of what will and will not deteriorate the environment. It is urgent to increase the public awareness of facts so a delicate balance between human expansion and natural preservation can be established. Perhaps in the future, mankind will have a new home among the stars, and nature on Earth will finally be left to freely run its course.

Works Cited

Cronon, William. "The Trouble with Wilderness" The Norton Reader. Ed. Peterson Linda, John Breton, and Joan Hartman. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 651-654.

Eichler, Barrett. Personal Interview. 17 Oct. 2002.

Kentucky Coal Education. Coal Education Question and Answers Forum. 20 Oct. 2002. < http://www.coaleducation.org/q&a/default.htm>.

Pollan, Michael. "The Idea of a Garden." Reading the Environment. Ed. Melissa Walker. New York: Norton, 1994. 191-201.