Nathan Golightly - Love Canal

Reaction Questions:

Reaction to Love Canal Movie:

I cannot believe that these companies were able to get away with their actions so easily. What is worse than this is the fact that it took the government so incredibly long to respond or do anything to help. I believe that as citizens of this country it is our responsibility to take it upon ourselves to make the difference. We must be bold when in danger and not rely so heavily on the government.

To what degree do environmental tragedies affect you/your family on a day to basis?

I think that is often very hard to recognize these environmental tragedies. These disasters are unfortunately very unapparent until they are right before our doorstep. I think that we often feel sorrowful towards those facing disaster but unless these environmental disasters affect us directly, it is hard to feel fully in tune. For this reason, a day-to-day basis, environmental tragedies go mostly unnoticed. I hope to change this mentality and take steps to recognize those suffering from external disaster.

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

I think that the first step in mitigating these problems is to raise awareness. This is a typical goal in all public health fields. Awareness for those suffering is normally the first step we must take to stop such large-scale problems. It is otherwise difficult to understand the severity of many of these problems without directly suffering because of it. People must understand the prevalence of these disasters.

I posted an article for USA Today about the 2012 United States wildfire devastations and asked the following question: In your opinion are environmental hazards something we should be concerned about on a daily basis.

1.     Of course! We never know when we need to be prepared for such emergency situations.

2.    Actually, the wildfires drove my uncle out of his hometown. The smoke layer was so thick and the fires so unpredictable that they left for safety. We should certainly be concerned.

3.    Heck yeah!

4.    I don’t know, I feel pretty safe living in the places I have. People choose risks associated with the areas they live.

5.    There is a serious problem with awareness in this country. So many people are ignorant to the disasters that are constantly taking place around us. The media is largely to blame. I remember watching coverage of the BP oil spill and the minute that the leak was stopped, nobody cared anymore. The fact that there as still millions of gallons of oil in the Gulf seemed of no importance. People need to be less ignorant.

6.    Are environmental problems the thing we should be most concerned about? There are serious political problems that need our attention.

7.    I’m glad you posted this. We need to bring awareness to these issues.

8.    Yes. These hazards are everywhere we look. People need to be proactive if we want to really make a difference.

9.    Get off Facebook and do something!

10.  You bring up a valid point… I remember hearing about the fires and such but had no idea how crazy it was. I feel like if 7 million acres burn down that should be flashing in my face nonstop. I think there’s a problem with media in this country.