Celery Fields

Have you ever thought about how your actions or opinions affected the environment around you? We’re constantly unaware of what we do that impacts the environment’s condition. One author named Wendell Berry blames the public in his article regarding the way society and the industry has treated the environment and its natural resources. This raises concerns whether we should be putting more importance on the economy or the land that we live in for the sake of our future survival. While I agree with most of Berry’s points and perspectives I slightly disagree with a few of his opinions, but nonetheless he brings up a great matter in today’s modern society.

After receiving many calls from the Audubon society, the police sent a squad car to the local park. There stood 13-year-old Gary Parsons. With a BB gun in his arms and lifeless pigeons dangling from his belt loop, he was guilty. The police escorted him home and banned him from the park for shooting birds. The very next night he took revenge on the Audubon society, blowing their brand new birdhouse to pieces with a homemade cannon. No one expected Gary to become the devoted environmental activist that he grew up to be. Without Gary Parsons, the Choctawhatchee Bay watershed would not be what it is today. At 72, Gary dedicates his time and energy, striving to better the environment.

The corporate deconstruction of green – green crimes are the result of behaviours displayed by groups or a single individual. Corporations play an integral role in the term green because of the influence they have on various environmental movement groups through donations, funding and political strongholds.

“The fact of the matter is that today, stuff-selling mega-corporations have a huge influence on our daily lives. And because of the competitive nature of our global economy, these corporations are generally only concerned with one thing…the bottom line. That is, maximizing profit, regardless of the social or environmental costs.” —David Suzuki

I just got done with reading "A Canadian Threat to Alaskan Fishing" by Brendan Jones I hate what is happening to our rivers and water ways that these dangerous mining practices that leach chemicals and heavy metals into the water. This has been going on for years. But the worst part is that there is an agency called the International Joint Commission that there whole duty is to protect American and Canadian water ways from becoming pollution from each other country. We have a clear and present danger that is affecting the Stikine, Unuk and Jaku rivers and people that can stop it haven't. This is just another example in how big corporations can buy influence to persuade governments and when there are regulations put in place they don't realy

Some argue that, economically, the mining operation will be a net gain in money for the working class and that 75 to 80 percent of the jobs in northern Minnesota will be local [1]. However, for the project to fully go through, it requires “$200 million to $400 million in financial protections, and would overall be a financial liability for taxpayers” [2]. So despite how many jobs the project will create, it could result in a net loss of money for the people living in that area. Another problem that PolyMet thinks they have solved is the mass amount of pollution that will surface during the mining process. They say they will “use the most advanced mining procedures to extract the materials and prevent pollution during the mines 20 year life” [3]. Not only is this solution incredibly vague in its description, but many argue that “the pollution will be a problem long after the mine plays out and PolyMet is gone. The latest studies shows a possibility that the mine’s wastewater could flow north to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness” [3]. The argument that advanced procedures would be used against pollution falls short of satisfactory when their description is so ill-defined.

These environmental costs are evidently known to negatively affect the animals and also the citizens in regions around such buildings and facilities. Again, the company Entergy, for instance has made a hefty amount of money functioning as a Nuclear Power Plant that produces electricity. Initially the plant had a 30 year license to operate, which was supposed to expire in March of 2012. But in March 2011 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) extended the license to operate for another 20 years. But more recently this has changed and as an example of how beneficiaries have been less able to put environmental costs on others. The continued operations of this power plant specifically have become complicated/ compromised very recently and on August 28th 2013, Entergy announced that economic factors, particularly the lower cost of electricity provided by competing natural gas fired power plants, had led them to consider stopping operations and schedule the closing of the plant at the end of the year 2014. This is however, is in some ways a misstatement because when asking Angela Mrozinski about this she

On the morning of June 23, 2014, Henry and his family went to the marshy swamps of the Everglades. Once Henry stepped out of his car, he noticed a ravishing egret fly over his car. Right away he took a massive deep breathe of the astonishing place. It had a musky smell of plants and rotting wood. However, he noticed a pungent smell of reeking trash in the air. Anyhow, he continued to stroll along the sidewalk until he reached an enormous visitor center. Inside, he learned many fascinating facts about the animals that lived there. He also learned on how he could help stop pollution of the environment. Bored by the tedious words, he decided instead of reading about the Everglades, he was instead going to go see it. So, he and his family

Garrett Hardin’s article, “Tragedy of the Commons”, discusses the idea of the exploitation of public resources, or the “commons”. This results in the resources becoming unusable, due to the overuse by the public (Hardin). The 1972 TV Movie, The Lorax, tells the story of a fictional forest being being exploited, resulting in the loss of the public resource due to waste, pollution, and deforestation (Seuss). While the literal story of The Lorax is fictional, Tragedy of the Commons is constantly occurring to public resources. One of the many areas where Tragedy of the Commons is currently being demonstrated is in the overfishing of the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico (Binns).

Corporations and the government are the bad guys in all of the films in the Unit. Crude, Food Inc., Koyaanisqatsi, Gasland, and Fuel all have one thing in common, both caused by industrial production lead by companies and corporations. Every single film in this Unit shows different stages of the environment. The environment is pure and undisrupted by human and they hit us with the reality that the future is toxic and bleak if humans continue abusing the environment. We all should be held accountable for the destruction of the environment and nature, where or not we feel directly or indirectly

Large corporations that do not think about pollution, or more importantly, do not care about what pollution does to the environment, could conceivably end up being victims of eco-terrorism.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss depicts a world ravaged by deforestation and suffering from other environmental crises. In the town of Thneedville, an aspiring capitalist begins to sell his new product and as a result of booming business, the cornerstone of his business pays the price. The trees, the only natural resource used in production, are harvested to the point of extinction. The lack of trees leads to soil erosion, air pollution, and species extinction. While this is a children’s tale and Dr. Seuss’s illustration may be quite extreme, it is a reality for future generations of our planet. Human involvement in ecosystems by clearing land for urban development, logging, and agriculture have all exacerbated the rate of decline in the region’s natural systems. The deforestation of rainforests for the cultivation of palm oil is causing the possible extinction of orangutans and exacerbating air quality issues in Indonesia.

The economy today runs on an antiquated ritual of exploiting, plundering, devastation, and manipulation of land for material wealth, profiting the wealthy and condemning the poor. This mindset is no more sophisticated than feudalism, a system so bad it had to be outlawed along with witchcraft. The idea that exploitation of land is justified has brought plastics to the ocean and leveled rainforests. Large corporations have grown larger by manufacturing and production, depleting the planet’s resources in the process. Now, companies must make a combined effort to put the environment first, before profit. Because of their harmful practices, consumers have the right to know where products come from, how they’re made, and the impact on the environment. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the large corporations to change their harmful practices, to make strides towards ending climate change and use clean, sustainable methods.

Ethics is the study of what is right and wrong in human conduct. Environmental ethics studies the effects of human’s moral relationships on the environment and everything within it (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008). The ethical principles that govern those relations determine human duties, obligations, and responsibilities with regard to the Earth’s natural environment and all of the animals and plants that inhabit it (Taylor, 1989). The purpose of this paper is to reveal environmental issues that are threatening the existence of life on Earth, and discus our social obligations to refrain from further damaging our environment, health and life for future generations. I will discus the need for appropriate actions and the ethical

As a 17-year old teenager going to high school, contrary to the environmental activist, David Suzuki’s, remarks about the ignorance of humans about nature, I receive much information about these kinds of problems at my school, from dedicated assemblies, eco fairs and special days that address our responsibility to deal with nature in a more responsible fashion. Yet, when the school day is over, all of the information seeps out of the roof of the school; plastic water bottles are still found in the corners of hallways and leftover Tim Hortons cups are still present in the desks of my former Business class. Even when I step inside the door of my house, the disconnection from nature is apparent. Most of my time at home is spent looking at a screen and doing homework and the only sign of nature would be the fly