Hadley Weiner- Love Canal Assignment

 My responses to the questions:

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

Answer:

 Yes, I was aware that these kinds of things still occur today. It is so sad, but there’s no way that every single one of these things can be prevented. Accidents happen. However, if there are plans in place to respond to such disasters, we could avoid a lot of future problems.

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

Answer: I think in order to mitigate these problems, we can ensure that we are as prepared as possible to cope with environmental disasters if they do occur. Like I stated earlier, if we have plans in place to deal with potential hazards, we will be able to deal with the problems quickly and effectively. Furthermore, if we know that something is potentially hazardous and could result in an environmental disaster, we should make sure that we are taking the steps to make sure it is as safe as we can possible make it.

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

Answer: Absolutely! Environmental hazards effect everyone around us, including our families. We should ensure that we all will remain as safe as possible and that future generations will also be safe from harm. If we ignore environmental hazards, we will destroy this beautiful Earth.

I posted the following article to my Facebook page: 

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/28/147559456/one-year-later-inside-japans-nuclear-meltdown

It concerns the nuclear meltdown that occurred in Japan after the tsunami hit. I then posed the following question:

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

1.  We live off the environment. We cannot afford not to be concerned at all times. This could happen again. Budget cuts could aid in hazards to our environment. The bigger problem is, who do we trust?

2.  I think we definitely need to be concerned about everyday environmental hazards. While news-breaking events like the Japan meltdown are devastating, there are smaller, more insidious environmental hazards that happen every single day. And if everyone were more cognizant about them and worked to avoid them, then the sum of everyone's small, combined efforts would benefit our environment, and our everyday standard of living! LOVE THE EARTH!     

3. Yes, we should be concerned with environmental hazards but things like the Japanese nuclear incident obviously don't happen everyday.. So daily concern would be more towards cars or littering, you're basic going green things.

4. We should be concerned about environmental hazards and especially be aware of the adverse effects of such hazards to our health. I don't think that we as a society should react to hazards with paranoia to the point where it becomes systematically unable for the people whose job it is to deal with that environmental hazard to execute their duties; Also reacting towards the industry accountable in a way that it negatively affects the immediate economical status of its workers. On a daily basis, at least be aware, educated, and concerned as to how the hazard will affect a community in terms of their health and well-being and how you can help to the best of your capacity. 

5. Of course we should be concerned about environmental hazards and take necessary precaution in all factories and plants that pose any sort of threat towards the environment and human health. Even though it is understandable that these do not happen every day, we should be concerned about them enough to do everything possible to prevent them.

6. Environmental Hazards are definitely something to be concerned about. We need to do whatever we can to prevent and prepare for them. We may not need to be worried on a daily basis, but it something we should be aware of and be protected against!

7. Environmental hazards are something to be worried about, but being concerned on a daily basis is too much. It would be more beneficial to focus our energy on increasing the efficiency and safety of these types of projects so something such as the Japanese meltdown doesn't happen again, rather than keeping it on people's minds daily. If we are aware of the dangers and are prepared to take action in the event something happens, it shouldn't have to be at the forefront of our minds.

8. We have an obligation to be good stewards of the land. We need to take reasonable precautions to protect the earth and ourselves from disasters. We must weigh the costs against both the risks and the benefits. Once we have made adequate preparations, we cannot live our lives in fear of what "might" happen. If I remember correctly, it was determined that a flawed reactor design was a major contributing factor in the Chernobyl disaster. In addition, it was being operated by inadequately trained personnel. Perhaps better preparation would have made it possible to avoid the meltdown entirely. When we look at the more recent problems at the nuclear power plant in Japan, following the tsunami, we see a perfect storm effect where pretty much everything that could go wrong, did. They had made appropriate preparations for things thy thought could go wrong but no one ever imagined that they would all happen at the same time. We can only hope that we learn from our mistakes.

9. I think environmental hazards are really important to worry about, but I don’t think we should have to worry about them all of the time. I mean, they don’t happen every single day. I agree that we should do all that we can to prevent them from happening though. This is our health and safety we’re talking about after all!

10. I think we should be concerned about anything hazardous, but these events don’t happen very frequently. There are other various things that happen that effect our environment, but being concerned on a daily basis might be a stretch.