I think our generation does have an
obligation to protect our future planet. According to an article
by Willis Eschenbach, “The only way to global environment stands a chance is if
poor countries can develop economically.” He makes a good point that only when
a country’s population is adequately fed, clothed and sheltered is when it can
start worrying about the environment. He talks about people in poor countries
doing whatever they can to survive; doing whatever they can to provide for
their family. Whether that be killing animals (sometimes even endangered) or burning trees, these people
strive to make ends meet, especially for their families.
I think it’s up to us to help these
countries out, economically. In doing so, they will be better fed, sheltered
and clothed which in turn will lead to them being able to care more about their
environment. They also will then be able to pay for and afford some of these
expensive environment-cleaning treatments. One of the methods used to fight CO2
was to discourage fossil fuel by making energy more expensive by taxing,
legislation and expensive subsidies. This expensive energy keeps these poor
countries poor and in poverty.
Obama has pointed out that people
who are worried about money don’t necessarily worry about the environment. When
someone is in money troubles, that is their main focus and they will do
whatever to combat those troubles. If you take a second to think about it, it
makes sense. If you can’t afford energy saving lightbulbs or solar panels to save
energy for the environment because you can barely pay your house bills, you’re not going
to care which type of light bulb you buy, as long as it’s cheap.
In the article on Blackboard by
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, she states, “Environmental issues indeed are not just
about the environment. When it comes to indigenous peoples, they are very much
about the health and well-being of not only our bodies, but also our cultural
survival.” She said this in relation to toxins in food and how we had to deal
with the cleaning of food and also the after math of the countries health. This
environmental degradation really affects our world in more ways than one and it
really is up to us to stop it from accumulating and polluting our future world.
The Dominican Republic’s
electricity consumption in megawatt hours (MW. h/yr) as of 2008 was 12,870,000,
with a population of 9,445,281 with an average power per capita per person of
155. In relation to Tunisia, with a similar population of 10,732,900 and an average power per capita
per person at 136. When we look at China, with a population of one billion,
their average power per capita per person is 458. Although China’s population
is much bigger, their power per capita is extremely high.
The Dominican Republic is also facing challenges with
biodiversity, deforestation, pollution, and of course poverty. The above picture shows the difference in the environment from the 1980's to today. There is obviously a big difference on both sides. Eight thousand
years ago our planet was covered with about six billion hectares of forest. Now
it is down to less than four billion. “From 1990 to 2005, Latin American and
the Caribbean lost 64 million hectares of forest surface.” -Dominican
Republic Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Environment.
The above picture shows the
‘hotspot areas’ for biodiversity as of 2008. According to the Dominican
Republic Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Environment, Factors such as climate change, degradation
of habitat, pollution of water, air and soil threaten biodiversity in the
Dominican Republic and endanger its long-term existence.
There are obviously a lot of
environmental issues throughout the world today and I truly do believe that it
is up to us to fix this problem for future generations before it gets even worse.
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