The Love Canal Incident and BP Oil Spill
Q: How do environmental tragedies affect you on a daily
basis? Why should we care about them?
1). I think these
tragedies are living proof of how careless people and companies in specific are
getting with our environment. They are too concerned with money to put our
environment first. Our environment and the earth in general is the most limited
resource we have, and it is already dying away. And what is worse, is all these
poor animals have to suffer the consequences of our actions. What some people
don't realize is when you destroy one aspect of the environment, or just one
species of animal it sets off a chain reaction that will eventually catch up to
us. And when mankind realizes this, it will probably be too late; the damage
will be done. Amen. -Rachel
2). We should
definitely care about environmental tragedies, because ecosystems are connected
and damage in one area can be detrimental to other aspects. Whether the tragedy
was a result of careless human behavior, or an accident, our earth's resources
can be jeopardized in ways that are hazardous to all living organisms. We need
to be more attentive when dealing with something that can be dangerous if
misused. -Allie
3). As the world
population increases, we put a greater strain on the environment and at the
same time we need it more! Because the population will continue to increase, we
will need more resources in the future, but as we increase we pollute and
destroy the very resources we will depend on! It's kind of a scary thought
-Mitch
4). Environmental
disasters such as the Love Canal incident and the BP Deepwater Horizon offshore
drilling platform oil spill destroy not only animals and coastline, as well as
cause terrible birth defects, but they also cause million, even billions of
dollars of money to be spent on clean-up efforts. The Deepwater Horizon spill
killed millions of fish in the Gulf of Mexico and damaged the ecosystem,
causing thousands of fisherman the live on the Gulf to lose their jobs causing
their families great economic distress. These environmental tragedies can
affect so many people both directly and indirectly and everyone should be aware
of the risks they pose. -Will
5). Most people do
not see or feel or recognize environmental tragedies daily. Many of us are
going through our day to day lives oblivious to the effects and don’t realize
that our modern lifestyle has a lot to do with many of the disasters. Our need
for oil and some regulations has driven the suppliers of the oil to go deeper
and to more dangerous places and practices to meet the demand. The love canal
event was caused by greed and a lack of knowledge to the lasting effects on the
environment. (1920s) Once again many fail to recognize that our modern
lifestyle requires many very dangerous chemicals. Manufactures today, for the
most part, work to control their waste, but for decades this was not the case.
Why should we care about these events? The sooner people realize that their
cars, cell phones, batteries, etc. are driving the need for newer chemicals,
more oil and power to feed their demand, these kinds of events will never go
away. Are we willing to go back to biking and land lines? Are we recycling our
batteries or just throwing them in the trash? Would we be willing to give up
our iPhones to save the planet? Once we take responsibility for our part in the
environmental equation, then the real change will happen. -Doug
6).This story
seems to illustrate to me that if you're gonna start something, you very well
better finish it! It furthers tells me that people don't often think in
advance, and if they mess up, will try and cover up their mistakes rather than
fix them. They procrastinated the day of their repentance, and people died as a
result. And people lost their homes/ were relocated... There should have been
more qualified people o the job. -Tom
7). God created
the earth for us to inhabit. The resources on the earth are for us to use. Of
course, that being said, it is always terrible when environmental tragedies
like these occur. Whether due to ignorance or carelessness, it must be kept in
mind that God has made us stewards over the earth, and we will be responsible
for how we treat it. So it is obvious that preventive measures and reactionary
programs to such tragedies are necessary and appropriate, but a regression in
technology and advancements is not necessary for us to take care of the earth.
-Dan
8). Environmental
tragedies for my life mainly have indirect effects. Because of them, there are
more government agencies and more national debt, higher taxes, etc. Then with
oil spills and other events that affect oil availability, gas prices rise.
However, I think that we should care mainly to preserve our planet (as said by
others above) and also just to help people and be good citizens of our nation.
As in the first story listed (biased though it may be), the people involved
were in need of serious help! In other words, we care about environmental
disasters because we care about the people they affect (whether that be due to
personal connection or the light of Christ within us). -Kyle
9). Though I can't point out exactly how
it affects me today, I can say that sometime in the future I'll probably come
across a situation where the environment has been negatively affected in a
personal way; whether through a home being built in the wrong place or water
being contaminated, something will need to be done. The ill decisions made by
mankind in the past and present will surely come back to haunt us in the
future, and we would be well served to remember that. Unfortunately many people
don't look to the future and the possible consequences of their actions (as
shown in the Love Canal incident). It is my belief however, that if we did then
our actions would change to match our outlook. One of the reasons we utilize
the Atonement in our lives is because we are looking to the future, to our
lives beyond the veil and what we want there. If we do that, if we can look
into the next life, why can't we then look into our futures here, and live in
such a way as to create a better environment for our children? -Kito
10). Environmental
problems affect us because the effects they have on wildlife negatively impact
the food chain and anything else surrounding it. The oil spill might not really
affect us right now, but in years to come we might find that something that
happened to a species of fish is now a crucial tipping point, much like the bee
extinction scare-- while it might not seem like such a big deal, if bees died
out the world would be useless within a couple of years. Though humanity can
survive on our own resources for a certain extent, eventually it gets back to
nature and we need to care about the environment. -Erin
My responses:
Q: Were you aware that environmental tragedies of this
magnitude still exist today?
A: Though I was surprised that these kinds of disasters
still occurred, I was even more surprised and had no idea that the effects were
so long lasting. I was astounded to find that three years after the oil spill,
scientists are still finding adverse effects to the environment, in this case
the extinction of the amoebas. The fact that the effects linger so long after
the initial disaster is perhaps even more dangerous and frightening.
Q: Do you believe that environmental crises affect you/your
family today?
A: I definitely feel
like environmental disasters affect both individuals and families. Like in the
case of the Love Canal, the ones most harmed by the chemicals were the children
going to the school. An environmental disaster like that can disrupt an entire
family dynamic.
Q: How do environmental tragedies affect you on a daily
basis? Why should we care about them?
A: Even if environmental tragedies do not directly affect an
individual immediately, eventually they will come to have an impact on
individuals and affect their daily habits. Particularly, in the event of an
environmental disaster, health policies and procedures are changed and can
become quite life-altering, depending on the extent of the disaster.
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