Chase Jackson

I asked family and friends to read the Love Canal article and this link about the Colorado wildfires that occurred in 2012.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/colorado-wildfires-2012-v_n_1623695.html

They were prompted to respond to the following question.

Environmental tragedies still exist today; what can we do today to mitigate these problems?

1. Find ways to properly dispose of chemicals that harm the environment and the people within and surrounding the environment. Legislative acts are a great start in the  prevention of such tragedies but in order to mitigate the problem the general public should also be made aware of the effects that certain chemicals can have on their well-being and health.

I am assuming that the majority of these chemicals are necessary to the advancement of our society. If this is the case the government or companies are going to have to come to terms with the fact that just compensation is necessary. Either spend money on the expensive but proper way to dispose of chemicals or on compensating the families for any ills caused by the chemicals.

In the case of the wild fire there needs to be more public knowledge of what to do in cases such as these, especially to the tourists who have never seen anything like it before. One person stated that she had never seen anything like this before. Colorado is extraordinarily dry in the summers, unless one can figure out a way to keep the land from becoming dry, then the only thing I can say to do is prepare the people for events that may come.

2. Environmental tragedies still exist today; what can we do today to mitigate these problems?
I don't think environmental tragedies can be completely eliminated. I think the thing to do is to analyze the problems of the past and to then use that knowledge to prepare responsibly for the future. There will still likely be unexpected disasters that occur.

3. Be smarter about where we put chemical waste, and don’t build on or near these things. As far as fires, they can’t all be prevented but we can seek to be responsible fire users and make sure that the fire fighting squads have enough resources to stop the fires quickly.

4. For environmental threats, the government is the only organization that would effectively be able to reduce the negative effect these threats have on the environment.  Organizations such as the EPA can use the power they already have to set regulations on chemical waste disposal to ensure that these hazardous materials are disposed of safely.  Also, the government can offer aid to those who have been harmed by environmental disasters.

5. Most natural disasters occur because of forces that are out of our control, so the best way to mitigate these problems is by correcting the human factor.  In my opinion, specifications and guidelines of where communities should be built should be properly upheld. High risk areas such as the case of Love Canal, land covering a landfill should not be the site of large communities.  Homes should be built according to the legal requirements to sustain mild earthquakes and out of flood planes.  People should also be educated of how to put out fires properly and know of the consequences that can come from man made fires. 

6. I think in order for us as a country to mitigate environmental problems we need to do everything possible to take all known precautions. This will decrease many problems but there will be accidental problems or problems that were unable to be foreseen. With these issues we need to have a system in place to address the problem immediately and get the most help you can as fast as possible. This is a pretty general answer but I think this is a good start to answering the difficult question.

7. Regarding your articles. We need to make people aware of them. Like the 1st article said please don't use the word only to describe what's going on, we need to be forceful in our approach. Also if we are going to dump our toxic waste do so where it won't effect homes, families, or wild life. If there is already a dump site don't put anything near it. But most importantly we need to learn from history, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. :) does that answer your question?

8. Environmental tragedies do still exist today and they are surely a blight on society and on the world. But there are things that we as a community can do to mitigate these problems. First and foremost we all need to be aware of the problems that are surrounding our communities. When we have the knowledge we have a better chance of being prepared and willingness to change. Whether it's toxic waste sites or forest fires, being aware of the problem will help to find the solutions and make the problems better. Knowledge is key. The communities need to be taught how to properly dispose of waste or how to prevent fires from spreading. I use these examples since they were the articles I read. But when communities take an interest in what is going on, then solutions can be presented and problems eliminated. So the next step seems to be classes to take or knowledge spread somehow on the issues surrounding the communities in which we live. As more and more people become aware of the problems, or aware of the situations, than at least the problems won't get worse. They will only get better.

9. Pay closer attention to what's going on, and take action more quickly. if there are questions about safety in certain areas, those need to be explored first before anything is developed. We pretty much agreed, she added that people just need to be aware of what’s going on around them, like the fires probably happened, or were made worse by the fact that Colorado has been negligent in doing controlled burns, while everyone else has been doing them for years and keeping up on them helps prevent wildfires.

10. I think the best way to stop tragedies like this from happening is to create more small committees to be in charge of local and statewide protection. Im sure there are willing residents in small communities to volunteer to protect their homes. If not, the government should portion a budget to support the delegation of this task to protect our environment. Obviously some tragedies are freak accidents and unpreventable, however with our communities being more responsible for the protection and preservation of the world around them, we can sustain life on Earth.

Personal Responses

1. Why should we care about something that happened over 30 years ago?

History repeats itself. We learn from the past to prepare for the future and live in the present. I firmly believe that what has happened not only decades ago, but rather centuries and millennia ago is of the uttermost importance as we sort through all the challenges and difficulties of modern day society. As the world’s population continues to grow exponentially, we must ultimately come to terms with how we react and to the environment. We often take nature for granted and usually look to exploit natural resources for personal gain. Instead I think it would be wise to take a step back and realize how we can improve.

2. In your opinion are environmental hazards something we should be concerned about on a daily basis?

Environmental hazards often spiral out of control within a very short period of time. When a wildfire starts, it begins to burn a few acres, and then before you know it, thousands of acres are up in smoke and entire forests are lost forever. When an oilrig leaks oil, it causes small residues of oil but if not corrected quickly, often thousands of tons of oil is spilled into oceans creating havoc for wildlife and the environment. We need to be firmly committed to preventing such disasters before they even have the opportunity to grow. It requires a vigilant effort to keep a sharp eye out for any accident that is waiting to happen.

3. Were you aware that environmental tragedies of this magnitude still exist today?

At times I feel it is easy to get caught up in the business of life and neglect the world events that occur with the environment. But when I read an article or watch the news about such an event, my eyes are opened even more to the seriousness of this issue. I’m positive most of environmental disasters goes unnoticed and unheeded by the general public. I also think that giant tragedies start from many small ones. Maybe the media should focus on the smaller ones that we can fix early on.