Question: In your opinion are environmental hazards something we should be concerned about on a daily basis?
1. Yes, we should, because we don't know the lives that could be saved from caring about the earth and its inhabitants. We should each participate in keeping the world we live in suitable for all.
2. No, I think that in a situation that is as big as the oil spill, a single individual does not make a big enough difference on their own to prevent such events, unless in a position of authority. Long-distance worry does not help anyone.
3. Yes, we are stewards of this world, and as such, have a responsibility to the future residents of this planet to preserve and protect the environment. Most environmental accidents are preventable with proper care and consideration.
4. I believe that the prevention and minimizing of the impact of environmental hazards should be discussed daily. They are inevitable in the world we live in and although I feel we shouldn't feel overwhelmed by the potential risk for them, we should indeed bear responsibility where possible. Thus, better knowledge of past incidents as well as plans and preparation for future events are crucial. Finger-pointing for such disasters should not be the foreground of these disasters, but moreso who and how quickly will we and the government respond.
5. I think we need to be conscious of our environmental impact on a daily basis, as far as recycling, proper waste disposal, etc. goes. I also believe it's important that society is educated on pollution and the effects of chemicals, waste, etc. on the environment. However, I don't think we need to live in fear of environmental hazards or be concerned about them on a daily basis.
6. Latent environmental hazards, such as the one described in the Love Canal article, share similarities with natural disasters. They are unexpected events (at least to those who bear the damage). Natural disasters cannot be controlled, but preparation and education can minimize injury. Likewise, preparation and education with regard to environmental hazards should be a priority -- and in the case of many environmental disasters, they are preventable. Therefore, I believe that (as a society) we should keep environmental hazard prevention as a key priority, on a "daily basis" so to speak, through education, checking of imprudent development, refinement of environmental assessment techniques, and historical mapping of past errors.
7. The environment is of critical importance. Without it, our lives, and our children's lives, will be drastically impacted. Though I don't believe we should protect the environment at all costs, I do believe we should make its protection a high priority. It is easy to say this, but very hard to do.
8. I have a hard time feeling very passionate about environmental issues. That being said, if the "we" in that question refers to our society as a whole, then yes. I do believe that *somebody* ought to be looking our for the well-being of our world and environment. But I don't believe that every single person within our society ought to be concerned with it on a daily basis.
9. Yes, environmental hazards are something we should be concerned about on a daily basis. However distance the damage was, our world is so globally connected that the impacts will affect us. We only have one earth and we need to be stewards over it the same way we are stewards over other things.
10. I do not think that environmental hazards are something we should be concerned with on a daily basis (as individuals). The chances of something bad happening around us (oil spill, radiation, etc) is probably pretty low. So you and me probably don't need to worry about that living here in Utah. That being said i think more and more we are faced with lower level environmental hazards as time goes on b/c of population increase and just more people using technology. Take for example the inversion this year, at certain points it was worst than the air pollution levels in China, that is pretty bad! It probably won't kill us but it certainly doesn't help our bodies and I don't think anyone really knows its true effect.
But just because we don't have any responsibility individually. We can do little things and I think everyone should to make sure such disasters do not happen. This often means workers need to be more careful than most working with potentially harmful chemicals, materials, etc. But for most people being aware daily means that we should be conscious of the small, slow changes that take place. An earth like in Wall-E doesn't happen overnight or probably ever as I hope we would have a little more sense than that (sorry if you haven't seen Wall-E) but just like it is often small choices/changes that ultimately determine the kind of lives or people we are, I think it is the same about everything.
So what am I saying, we probably don't need to be worried an environmental disaster will happen tomorrow, but we should be careful so that little things don't eventually create a much bigger problem.
My responses:
Why should we care about something that happened over 30 years ago?
The past is our way of learning from our mistakes. If we are to make a time limit for how long we can learn from our mistakes, some of the most important lessons in history would be disregarded and our mistakes would be repeated over and over again. Even though the love canal tragedy occurred over 30 years ago, it can remind us of why we need to be aware of our relationship between us and our environment.
Do you believe that environmental crises affect you/your family today?
I believe anything that has to do with the environment affects all who inhabit the earth. We may not see it directly, but even the fact that because of these crises we are able to prevent countless more, affects us. We are too blind to see the things that do not happen, because of proper prevention. Without those who prevent these events, many more would occur and affect myself and my family.
Comment with your reaction.
I was honestly shocked when I leaned of the love canal tragedy. Because it was many years ago, and because of the laws and precautions that have been set in place since, it was hard for me to believe that such a thing would be allowed to happen. This is easy to say in retrospect, however, we have more knowledge today because of these mistakes. We know better now, and with each mistake we are getting better at preventing further environmental disasters.
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