Ben+C+-POSITION+PAPER

We must Crack down on the laws we have created to help save environments.

When will we learn to share our world?

Ben Clark Sidor American Studies 8/16/12

The revolution of mismanagement and abuse of natural resources is a result from the human population trying to find the easy way out. We have destroyed forests, degraded soil, polluted air and water, and killed so many animals just to make our lives easier. Juliette Jowit states, "The Living Planet report calculates that humans are using 30% more resources than the Earth can replenish each year, which is leading to deforestation, degraded soils, polluted air and water, and dramatic declines in numbers of fish and other species.” If these resources are being depleted, then nature and animals wont have the resources to live anymore.

People around the world have been using natural resources to make our lives better, but as were using these oils, plastics, coal, and trees, we don't know what its doing to our environment, or we do know and we just done care. As we exploit these resources, we "made it possible to strip forests of trees, with or without regard for environmental effects on the cleared land or adjacent surface waters,"(transportation economics). Meaning that we are carelessly stripping our environment not caring what affect it has on the habitat. This carelessness has created a number of endangered species such as the polar bears, Siberian Tigers, Iberian lynx and many more species are being suffocated of their resources. The Endangered species act, enacted on December 28, 1973 "offers federal protection to a broad range of animals and plants threatened with extinction due to past environmental carelessness,"(Endangered Species Act). A few of these findings, purposes and policies include various species of fish, wildlife, and plants in the United States have been rendered extinct as a consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation, these species of fish, wildlife, and plants are of aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people, and the International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean. We are trying to green up the planet by placing laws, but it will only work if everyone participates and follows these laws.

This revolution impacts people worldwide. This is why "The federal government should be trusted to preserve natural resources because state and local governments do not have the financial capacity to do so and because these issues require a national response, rather than a regional or local one"(Natural Resources: Preservation or Conservation?). People around the world drive cars, use electricity, build houses, and use oil every day. Right now, I am using fossil fuels to electricity write this paper. Once we find alternate forms of electricity, obtainable through solar panels, water turbines, and wind mills we will help the environment. Though fossil fuels may be cheaper now, renewable energy sources will save you money in the long run. While using these energy saving instruments, not only does it affect you, but it has a small impact on the world, and if we can get so many small impacts, we can create a huge impact. This impact could save the lives of many species and the environments they live in.

In the recent past, we haven't experienced this problem of natural resource depletion and environmental effects, simply due to the fact that we haven't abused them as bad as we do now. In an article written by Florent Planas, it states that "Up until the mid-18th century, humans only exploited energies that were available on the surface of the earth: wood, wind, animal traction..."(Plantas). We were using the resources that were able to replenish themselves, but now that we have the technology to drill and obtain oil and petroleum from beneath the earths surface, were using resources that cant be reused, or replenished. An example of this exploitation is the BP and Exxon oil spills in both the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska. The Exxon spill, known as "the 1989 grounding of the supertanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound caused the worst U.S. oil spill ever and prompted Congress to pass stringent oil-pollution legislation"(Cooper) So were not only taking oils from beneath the surface, but were making fatal errors that are wasting a lot of the resources.

A question many people are asking, is how have we been affecting the environment, and what lead to this? There are many things that we do that create harm towards the environment, landfills, cars, deforestation, and acid precipitations are just a few of the many ways we hurt the planet. We might turn our attention to conserving these resources, rather than exploiting them. If we conserve, then our environmental issues may solve themselves. Circumstances such as an explosion in the automotive industry in China are causing us to use more oil, because in the past, a lot of people didn't drive cars in China. If we limit the amount of oil used, then our pollution rates will go down and well have more oil. Also, the increased world population created a larger need for land, resulting in mass deforestation in places such as the worlds rain forests. We are also in a garbage crisis, using too many packaged items in our daily lives causes us to make landfills. These are just a few examples of events that lead to environmental harm.

Earlier generations have taken trash problems worse than we have. During Colonial times, America's waste elimination techniques were hardly sophisticated, if sophisticated at all. They "Believed that the supply of land and natural resources was boundless, the colonists simply dumped their waste in a convenient spot or burned it as a source of fuel"(Griffin). So as you can tell we weren't worried about this centuries ago, but it’s coming around to haunt us. As for the garbage crisis, "In the past two years, waste-management companies have built or proposed more than 30 disposal sites on either side of Interstate 80 in eastern Pennsylvania"(Griffin). Things are being done to try and help the management, but the trash is never ending. The solutions for these problems include protests that have been held world wide to help prevent deforestation in the worlds rain forests, safe transport of oil from overseas to meet our energy needs. Right now, we aren't trying to make a solution to this oil problem because many people don't think that we have one. As long as their car can run they don't care what the environment is like. These acts of carelessness, however, are causing many animals to perish. Various birds and otters were killed in the oil spills, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, this "makes tanker operators more directly liable for spills and outlines procedures to shorten the cleanup response time"(Cooper). For the reasons above, this problem is still significant today.

When someone asks, "When will we learn to share our world?" I think of keeping species and their habitats healthy, and helping ecosystems sustain themselves, We need to do anything we can to save the animals and their habitats, and this means we must crack down on the laws that we have created to help make environments healthier. I think this partly due to the fact that I love animals, always have and always will. Seeing some of the greatest creatures on the verge of extinction makes me think why would we even think about putting other organism’s lives at risks just to make ours better. This all tracks back to the revolution of using our natural resources here on earth because were not learning to let animals have their share of resources like plants, water, and food. My position on this problem is the same as World Wildlife's, the vision "to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature,"(World Wildlife). This addresses the my prompt in a way which shows that if we can share with our world, our world will be healthy. This will be accomplished through working together. If we work together, "we can strengthen communities ability to conserve the natural resources they depend upon, change markets and policies to reduce the impact of the production and consumption of commodities, and over all mobilize hundreds of millions of people to support conservation" (Roberts). Like I said in Memo 2, if our community makes a small impact on the world, and we can get so many small impacts, we can create a huge impact on the world.

The benefits of my perspective is that people will become more healthy, because without using cars and other vehicles that use gas, people will find alternate ways to travel, and it will also make the air we breathe cleaner. Polluted air can cause "chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys" (Effects of Air Pollutants). Also the less we cut down trees, the cleaner our air will be. Which will also help our bodies since the trees will be helping cleans the air. If people reduce their carbon footprint, or "the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) created by their activities and consumption patterns,"(Billitteri) then we can truly help out the world.

My view of this environmental problem is that we need to do anything we can to help save habitats and species, others however are being left with no jobs as a result of endangered species living in their workplace. Taung Ming-Lin is a grower of melon and bamboo trees. When he bought 723 acres of California scrubland, he wasn't aware of the endangered species that lived within. The government told Lin to stop plowing to avoid disturbing the protected animals habitat, but Lin said that he never got the letters. In February 1994, state and federal agents raided Lin's farm, took his tractor and filed criminal charges against him for violating the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Fresno attorney Anthony Capozzi states “This is one instance where it showed that the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act was being taken to an extreme.”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This look on the endangered species act is completely opposite of mine because Lin thought that protecting the animals wasn't as important as growing his trees for a living. I think that the agency had the full right to go in and stop what he was doing to help save the species. While Lin was not aware of these species, we weren't aware of what he was doing to the habitat. For all we know he could be contaminating it with plastic, fertilizer, and other inorganic products. The endangered species and wetlands protection regulation laws have been given expansive interpretations. So if Lin knew about these species, and was ignoring the laws, law enforcers doing their job caught him.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Lins view is understandable, but he also has to recognize what he was doing to the environment. Either way he was wrong because he was hurting the habitats species. My viewpoint is the one that lets you be confident that we are helping the species that need it. There are no exceptions and if there were, then we would not be making any progress. The Endangered Species Act now monitors public or private land that threaten rare fish, animals or plant life and is backed by severe consequences like shown in the Lin case. I think that this is the way it should be.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The Government cracking down on laws to help save the environment gives us a good feeling about what we are doing, there is no question. The Endangered Species Act "ensures that species facing extinction be saved and robust populations be restored"(Barringer). In my book, The Endangered Species Act is completely necessary and its restoring life to our planet. On the other hand, Robert D. Thornton, a lawyer for developers and Indian tribes in Southern California, has argued for years "that the government goes too far to protect threatened species and curtails people's ability to use their own land"(Barringer). He is saying that the act is for the good, but we take it too far, almost depriving people of their right to the property they own. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">I oppose Roberts’s fears saying that they don't exist. If we are taking peoples land to make it better for the species then we are doing a good job. There is no limit to how clean our earth can be, and I think we need to increase what we do to help these species. Even if this means taking away their equipment, or land, that's what the act is supposed to do, right? The view of cracking down on our laws not only helps the environment, it will help us in the long run too. It will increase population of foods, make the air cleaner for us to breath, and it will help prevent pollution. That is why I think that there is no such thing as taking the environmental act to extremes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Many people disagree with trying as hard as we can to help make the planet healthier. People state that we take the endangered species act too seriously, and that the government is invading peoples land even though they had no recognition of the species. Stephen Meyer states, "that endangered species protection has hobbled state economic development and performance," (Meyers). We are spending too much money on this issue and its affecting how other parts of our lives function, and it may be having a negative effect on our country. Meyer’s fears are to me unfounded, because if we help the environment become what it once was, it will stimulate trade and lifestyles around the world. We will have more organic foods and more resources such as lumber and oils.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This statement is wrong for the reasons above. I still suggest that we do all that we can to save species such as the polar bear, grey fox, and and environments such as the Rainforests and the Taiga. My position will help stimulate economic growth all around the world, making more organic foods to trade is just one of them. Saving species may have one or two downsides, but hobbling economic development is not one of them. I still stand by my position of cracking down on laws that we have already created to help save environments.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Taung Ming-Lin, Robert D. Thornton, and Stephen Meyer all are against my idea of cracking down on laws that we have created such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to help make our environments healthier. They thought that we are "violating property rights" or "hobbling state economic government and performance." In my mind we were just trying to save ecosystems and organisms that need to be saved. The point is that we are using natural resources that affect our environment and we aren't doing enough to help stop the harm. We are next to abusing polar bears, Siberian Tigers, Iberian lynx and many more species being suffocated of their resources because we just keep taking. Fish, mammals, and birds alike are dying because of pollution. Animals are eating plastic and dying because they think its food, and they cannot help it. So here is the real question, "What will you do to help the environment?" Recycle; ride your bike instead of driving a car? Anup Shah states that "Unfortunately, despite the effort put into conservation by organizations and activists, their work can easily be undermined by those who have other interests." If we don't fix a lot, fast, then we could end up facing the problems that we have caused

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 30px;">Works Cited:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">-Anup Shah. <span class="wiki_link_ext" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">"Nature and Animal Conservation <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">." //Global Issues//, N.P., 10, November 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2012

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">This news article is a secondary source written by Anup Shah, the founder of Global Issues, a website that is founded on his broad interest in global issues and is now used as a reference worldwide in various institutions and publications. This article explains the threats we make to animals when we pollute their environments. This article is being used for my project because this is the article i found that sparked my interest.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Barringer, Felicity. "Endangered Species Act Faces Broad New Challenges ." //The New York Times// 26 June 2005: 1. //The New York Times//. Web. 26 Apr. 2012. <<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://www.nytimes.com >.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This news article is a secondary source written by Felicity Barringer, a long-time reporter and editor for The Times. In this article, Felicity talks about the endangered species act and some of the people who agree and disagree with it. I am using this article to express my conflict against Robert D. Thornton's view on it.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">-Billitteri, T. J. "Reducing your carbon footprint." //CQ Researcher//. N.P., <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">5 December 2008 < <span class="wiki_link_ext">http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ >

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">This article is a secondary source written by Thomas J. Billitteri, a freelance journalist in Fairfield, Pa., who has more than 30 years' experience covering business. In this article, Billiteri talks about more and more consumers trying to change their behavior so they pollute and consume less. This is relevant to my topic because it shows that people are trying to cut back, but not enough people are cutting back to make a difference.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-Cooper, M. H. (1992, January 17). Oil spills. CQ Researcher, 2, 25-48. <<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ >

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">This written paper is a secondary source written by Mary Cooper, a staff member of CQ researcher who specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues. In this paper, Mary addresses the more important oil spills that have occurred over time and what the U.S is doing to prevent them. I am using this article because it shows just how bad the problems we have with the exploitation of resources and it relates to environmental issues.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-"Effects of Air Pollutants - Health Effects." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 29 Jan. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://www.epa.gov >

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">This article is a secondary source written by the EPA, or the environmental protection agency. In this article it shows the affects/diseases that air pollution are associated with. I am using this article for my paper because it shows that pollution isn't just an idea, but its effecting people around the world physically.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-"Endangered Species Act (1973)." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">ABC-CLIO,2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">This law is a secondary source created by the united states to address the problems that we and the world are having. This article is being used in my project because it shows that the U.S is trying to become a greener planet, its just a matter of people following the laws created by them.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">-Griffin, R. D. (1992, March 20). Garbage crisis. CQ Researcher, 2, 241-264. <<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ >

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">This written paper is a primary source written by Rodman Griffin, a Manager of Environmental Defense Fund. In this paper, Griffin states our current trash problems and what we are doing to try and fix it. He talks about landfills, recycling and so on. Im using this source for my paper because it has to do with environments and animals alike in how it affects them.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Jost, Kenneth. "Property Rights." //CQ Researcher Online//. CQ Press, 16 June 1995. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://library.cqpress.com >.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-Jowit, Juliette. "World Is Facing a Natural Resources Crisis Worse than Financial Crunch." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 Oct. 2008. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. <<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://www.guardian.co.uk >

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This news article is a secondary source written by Juliette Jowit, a political correspondent at the Guardian. In this article, Juliette addresses the problems and scares that can happen due to the misuse of natural resources. This article is being used for my project because she addresses all the problems associated with this topic.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Meyer, Stephen. "Introduction." //The Economic Impact Of The Endangered Species// //Act On The Agricultural Sector// (Oct. 1995): 5. //Mit.edu//. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.<<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://web.mit.edu/polisci/mpepp/Reports/esaagr.PDF >.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This article is a secondary source written by Stephen Meyer, MIT political science professor. This article shows the negatives that the Endangered Species Act has on America. Specifically, the economic blows it has cost us. This is relevant to my topic because it shows a negative on trying to do what we can to save our environments.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-Planas, Florent. "The Exploitation of Natural Resources." Association Un an Pour La Planète. Web. 11 Apr. 2012

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This article is a secondary source written by Florent Planas, the president of Un an Pour La Planete, or One year for the Planet. In this article she gives readers an inside look on her opinions on this issue, and I am using this for my paper for the same reason, she gives an interesting look on the worlds environmental issues.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-Roberts, Carter. "Who We Are." WWF. World Wildlife. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <<span class="wiki_link_ext">http://www.worldwildlife.org >

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This article is a primary source written by Carter Roberts, the president of World Wildlife association. In this website article, Roberts states the vision and plans of the world wildlife association. I used this article because i have the same views as him, to help save the world through the unity of the people.

<span class="citationText" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-"**transportation economics.**" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">9 Apr. 2012.

<span class="citationText" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This article is a secondary source written in the Encyclopedia Britannica. In this article, it shows what sources were using and what parts of our environment it effects. I'm using this source because it directly supports my point of how we need to help the environments.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">-Vaughn, Jacqueline. "Natural Resources: Preservation or Conservation?: Federal Control is Better Than the Alternatives." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society.Web. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This article is a secondary source written by Jacqueline Vaughn, a professor of political science at Northern Arizona University. In this article, Jacqueline shows that only the federal government can be trusted to make a change. This is a big deal because if we cant fix it piece by piece than we need someone big enough to fix it as one. I'm using this in my project because it shows how big of a problem the natural resources have become.