theenvironment

The Environment

From the Left:

The environment is very important. Though, it is sure that the Right cares about the environment, they put other issues ahead of it. While there is many important issues in the world today, the enivronment is, and should be, one of the most important. It effects us all. Our air, water, food, communities- we are all effected when our environment is harmed.

Life is interdependent. That means all life. Human life too. Though we live in technologically advance times, we are still tied to environment. We must never forget that. We need tough regulations when it comes to the enivornment. Not just to save the spotted owl, or the whale, the icecaps, or the snows of kilimanjaro but to save ourselves. Fine, forget the bunnies and the trees, and only think about yourself- still you should be moved to save the environment.

Why? Because when a company pollutes mecury into the water, you are effected. When cars get 21 miles to a gallon, your air is polluted. When pollution causes your child asthma, you are affected. When your community smells from the chemical plant down the river, and the river isn't safe to go in anymore, your affected. Clean Air. Clean water. This affect us all- our health and children are at stake here.

People say that having environmental regulation is bad for the economy. But then tell me this- is the fisherman not affected when there are no more fish or is the logger not effect when there are no more trees, the farmer not affect when the soil is too polluted to grow crops? When their are no more coral reefs, aren't all the people who rely on those visitng tourists hurt also? Many parts of the world rely on tourists who come to places to look at canyons and parks not concrete buildings. I say it can be both our economy and our environment. Plants will upgrade and new technologies will be created. Business will adapt to the new regulations and the ones that don't will die away. Its the wonder of capitalism. It should not be cheaper to pollute than to install new technology.

Thinking long term, its important that we save the rainforest and the whales. The rainforests are called "the lungs of the earth", they support huge amounts of life and help get rid of carbon dioxide from the air. The ozone keeps harmful radiation out. When the whales die, not only do we lose something we love to go see but an important peice of the ocean's cycle of life is gone. When you look out at the mountains and see clear cutting or smog or mines, aren't your repulsed by its ugliness? Their is beauty in nature.

I care about the whales, the spotted owls, and the rainforest. They are first and formost in my thoughts. However, even if your not that altrustic, think about the effect on your own health, safety, and children that a poor and unhealthy environment has. Is money so important that sacrificing 1% economic growth in the short term for just a better world a bad thing? I say no. I say the world and people and the rest will follow.

From the Right:

Obviously Republicans see that the environment is important. We realize preserving this earth for our children is one of the major concerns among voters. However, we also understand that most people have a hard time caring when they're struggling to put food on the table, or wondering what kind of education their children are recieving.

It's not that The Right sees those things as more important. We just believe that, in order to reach out to people we should meet their real needs first. After voters see more money in their pockets, their children getting a better chance at an education, and their homeland protected, then they will be more willing to listen about the environment.
 
We have atleast four volumes of environmental regulations on file. That is thousands, upon thousands of pages full of laws placed on corportations, businesses and even the government. How can creating more possibly be beneficial? How will stricter regulations solve the problems at hand?

The Left likes to point out that many American jobs are being outsourced to places like India. 
Placing restrictive laws on business will only create more outsourcing. Strict guidelines will force businesses to seek out another state, or even another country, that will not make them adhere to ridiculous laws when there are already several on the books that virtually do the same thing. If we are so intent on keeping jobs in America, we should do our best to consolodate or eliminate these regulations. 
 
I would also like to point out that our air and water is cleaner than it has been in the last 50 years. The water quality of Lake Michigan is ten years ahead of where scientists ever thought it would be. The Coyahoga River off of Lake Erie used to catch on fire because of all the junk that was constantly being dumped in there.
The naturally occuring arsenic that we are finding in the water is at the same level it has been for hundreds of years.
Obviously, the laws we have are working, but are people taking notice?
 
When talking about the environment, many on The Left use the argument, "it's for our children." My counterpart even cited children with asthma as just one of the reasons to work to help our environment. This is an argument based on feeling, and not hard evidence.
Though nobody really knows the exact causes of asthma, accoring to www.ikickasthma.com/asthmainfo.htm  as well as the CDC, the environment itself isn't one of the major triggers. The CDC also claims that, "higher rates of hospitalization and emergency room visits were reported in the northeast; and blacks reported higher rates of emergency visits, hospitalization and deaths." ( http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r980424.htm ) 
There has to be an explanation for this. But, we must ask real questions, and look into the lifestyles of people afflicted with this disease to find the real answers. 
 
We also find among the passionate pleas of environmentalists everywhere, the cry of "Save The Rainforest!" 
For years, we've seen shirts, posters, and even restaraunts use this ploy. The claim is that the rainforest is "vital for maintaing stability and balance of the earth." However, we find that (see link) at the end of the last Ice Age (12,000-18,000 years ago) the tropics were savanna grasslands that would routinely catch on fire. In fact, there are more rainforests persisting now than existed then. 
( http://www.probiotech.fsnet.co.uk/trf.html Here you can read a rebuttle of the "lungs of the world" comment given by my coutnerpart)

No matter what, we still have a moral responsibility to protect wildlife from illegal logging, fires, and other poor practices. But, first and foremost, we must find reasonable solutions. We cannot create more laws and sacrifice the livelihood of our nation. We must realize that nature has a way of correcting and protecting itself. And, we must look to real science instead of flimsy or made up "evidence" to support our arguments.
That is the only real way to finding a solution.

Areas of compromise:

While the most exteme sides of this issue will never agree, we should try to reach some agreement for the sake of our children and the future of us all. Here are some points we feel that both sides can agree on:

Increase tax incentives for Renwable energy and tax credits for consumers who buy "green" products
Restart the superfund but have the the companies clean themselves and have the EPA supervise.
Increase the penalties for polluting- Don't make polluting cheaper than upgrading a facility.
Increase co-operation between business and government to work together to promote energy efficiency along the lines of the Energy Star Program.
Support local and state inititives that increase awareness of enviromental action regular citizens can do such as recycling.

Recommended Reading

Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth by Lester Brown
Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John Ryan and Allen Durning
The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg
Global Warming and other Eco-Myths: How the Evironmental Movement uses false science to scare us to Death by Ron Bailey
The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken

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