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Environment as the Governments Top Priority There is a question frequently ask by many people: why is environment so important to peoples lives? It is a matter of fact that life-support systems health is told to be maintained by species which build up the whole atmosphere. It is necessary to admit that their survival is really interconnected and depends on each other. For example, different bacteria break down all organic materials and in such a way the soil is produced and then it nutrients the growing plants. And so on.
The process taking place between environment and species is too complicated and vulnerable, therefore environment and its protection is of great importance for peoples lives. If humans cause the extinction of certain specie, it will lead to extinction of others. (Coll's 2002) It is necessary to support the natural balance and protect nature, air and land from pollution which is one of the most serious problems not only in the USA, but also in the whole world. Environment should be cared for by the government by people, otherwise they will face the awful consequences of the actions taken. Environment is life-support system for all generations. That is why the government should make emphasis on the environment protection in their policy.
The government should provide tools which will reduce change of climate, which will be useful for cleaner fuels. Government should implement, for example, fuel cell technologies, hydrogen power, alternative energy resources and electric vehicles. (Coll's 2002) Most people think every policy which included environment is more expensive than usual. People also don't like to put most of their money in environment, that doesnt do any good for their current living. But it is the greatest mistake, because nature provides great benefits to the economic growth and actually for peoples health. It is impossible to completely estimate the value of the environment and nature, because it is priceless. What is more important is that environmental scientists and economists have evaluated in dollars what it would cost to accomplish the services nature provides.
If to estimate in multiple databases, economists estimated that environment and nature provide approximately $ 30 trillion worth of every year services. In other words it is about twice of the annual GNP (Gross National Product) of the all countries of the Earth. That is why people and government should put money into the environment protection, because people want to live in clean world. It is known that forests prevent erosion of the soil and flooding, they maintain relative purity of water and air, they temper climatic fluctuations, etc. If to retain the necessary moisture content, the healthy forests will be able to prevent spreading of fires.
It is a pity, but the content is nowadays significantly declining. In the result fires become prevalent throughout the world. Economists say that government should pass new bills concerning environment protection, because many ecosystems (wetlands, deserts, mangroves and oceans) provide unique benefits. For example it is necessary to stimulate development of the U. S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). (Chasek 2000) The serious problem of the environment is American schools which produce tones of trash every day.
Trash actually leads to air and water pollution. Outdoor and indoor pollution of air and water can and will damage students and teachers health. But it is a common knowledge wherever students are, there is lots of garbage. And where students appear, it seems that garbage is growing exponentially, especially in schools which gather trash collections. Schools usually have stuff dealing with cleaning, but anyway trash causes serious problems to environment. If to reduce level of trash the environment would significantly benefit.
It means that more sums of money would be spent not on trash eliminating, but on salaries, suppliers and maintenance. On order to reduce the amount of trash schools may use Internet and i-books instead of paper books, may cut food waste by putting food into re-closable plastic bags. Schools have to eliminate straws and lids, for example. It is important to explain student how environment is important for everybody in the world. If any of the mentioned measured is taken, environment will benefit anyway. (Coll's 2002) It is necessary to say that nowadays there are some paperless schools which are useful for environment protection. For example, one of such high schools is situated in Arizona and is called Empire High Schools.
Students of this school started their classes without usual textbooks. But the reason was not funding crisis. The high school issued i-books and laptop computers for every student (total number of students is about 340). Empire High School is the first public school in the USA which has rejected printed textbooks. School officials think that such measures will firstly protect environment from trash and garbage and secondly will get students more engaged in the process of learning. Students are provided with text-free environment.
Empire School has completely changed the way that public schools operated. But the school is not absolutely paperless. As other schools it has a library where students can find necessary materials. (Norton 2005) The government should think about the idea of eco-friendly schools, which are almost same as normal schools. It is apparent that design of such eco-friendly school will costs more, but it will significantly reduce energy bills.
The first environmentally friendly schools exist in the USA. Everything in the school building is told to be designed environmentally friendly. The better job is when the impact on the environment is lower. Such eco-friendly is school is provided with enormous windows allowing the sun to light the building indoors. It is possible to use also daylighting and solar panels. The unique fact is board policy of the school which includes green features in new eco-friendly schools.
Such schools will reduce the water usage, limit noise, preserve natural resources and provide efficient heating and lighting. Eco-friendly schools will save money, because they save energy. (Norton 2005) The next problem is that numbers of cars on the road are polluting our environment every day. The largest source of air pollution in the USA is transportation involving public and personal transport. Pollution from cars causes about two-thirds of carbon monoxide, quarter of hydrocarbons and actually third of nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere.
These pollutants led to a global problem of air polluting and forming of ozone holes in the atmosphere in the whole world and can cause allergy and even cancer. Cars pollute the air during distribution, refining of oil and manufacturing. Cars cause both primary and secondary air pollution and negatively affect environment. Primary pollution is told to be emitted directly into the atmosphere while secondary pollution is the result of chemical reactions in the atmosphere. The serious pollutants are ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, toxics and sulfur dioxide, etc. : Ozone is known to irritate the respiratory system and it causes choking and coughing and in such a way reduces the capacity of the lungs. Particulate matter is the most serious threat to peoples health, because it penetrates deep into the humans lungs.
Nitrogen oxides can irritate lungs, weaken body defense against influenza and pneumonia. Nitrogen assists forming of ozone. If to inhale carbon monoxide, it can block the oxygen passing to the heart, brain and vital organs. People with chronicle diseases and children are more susceptible to its effects.
Toxics are emitted by cars and they account for half o fall cancers which are caused by pollution of air. That is why transport is considered the worst pollutant of the atmosphere. (Coll's 2002) The problem of pollution from transportation is a great concern of the USA government. They realize that there is a necessity to improve the situation as soon as possible. There are many opportunities. For example, USA transport may use alternative fuel and energy resources. It is know that in Japan it is very popular to buy clean alternative-fuel energy cars, which, as it was told, dont pollute air.
And businessmen are even provided with tax breaks in case they buy such cars. It is one of the ways to fight pollution. Japan is also famous for its electric cars. USA is only in the beginning of such transformation, but society realizes its usefulness. (Coll's 2002) One of the most cognitive documentary films concerning the importance of environment protection is Who Killed the Electric Cars? the film sheds light on the complex economic, technical and social issues of automobile use.
Rather surprising is the acquittal of batteries in the film. The film showed that battery technology continued to improve, but even the current batteries were not able to lead to satisfactory performance. Americans demand not only fuel economy, but also interior attributes such as luggage space, safety and automatic feature which consume more power. The idea was to develop hybrid vehicles which will consume less power and use alternative fuel. Such alternative cars are considered such as dont pollute air, but people have changes in behavior and regulatory policy in order to implement such new clean technologies. It would be the new stage of environment protection and new step of development.
The last sources of pollution are business and industry activity which produce also tones of garbage, pollute water and air, gases and harmful particles. Particles are considered passive pollutants and they accumulate on the surfaces and cause dirtiness. Active particles can cause corrosion of surfaces. It is necessary to note that gases are very dangerous for nature, because they damage trees leaves, their metabolism and heat balance. In such a way gases prevent refining of oxygen.
The most spread pollutants are sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides which were discussed above. Smokes, particles and gases produced by plants are very harmful for natural balance. Waste products can lead to soil erosion and in such a way to decrease its fertility. All businesses and industries are trying hard to get the highest profit. They would rather choose profit than environment. But businessmen have to take care of environment protection.
Government should oblige businesses to take measures of nature protection such as refining plants, for example. Government should fine companies which dont install refining arrangements if their industry is considered dangerous for environment. And government has to provide, for example, tax breaks for those companies which really take care of environment and implement protection programs. The very important step would be implementing of clean cars, because the staff of large companies is very large. One more possible way is to oblige businesses to plant flowers and trees as they refine the air: petunias refine all oxidants, tulips are used for florid, etc. (Coll's 2002) In conclusion it is necessary to say that government laws and regulations are the main tools to protect the surrounding environment. Nowadays government should realize that environment takes a turn for the worse, because the problem of pollution is too serious and evident.
Government should consider environment protection as the top priority and to pass protection laws and programs. Nevertheless many laws are passed to improve the environment: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act, The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act, The Endangered Species Act, Food Quality Protection Act, The Occupational Safety and Health Act. Environment should be governments top priority, because it is necessary to support the natural balance and protect nature in order to preserve life on the Earth. Government should implement, for example, fuel cell technologies, hydrogen power, alternative energy resources and electric vehicles. Works cited Chasek, Pamela S. The Global Environment in the Twenty-First Century: Prospects for International Cooperation.
Contributors. New York: United Nations University Press, 2000. Coll's, Jeremy. Air Pollution. New York: Spon Press, 2002. Norton, Carolyn.
Post details: Eco-Friendly School Design Costs More, But Reduces Energy Bills. South Newspaper, 2005.
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