“The American people have a right to air that they and their children can breathe without fear” — Lyndon Baines Johnson (Pollution). One should be able to inhale the air. It’s a fundamental necessity for everyone. Filling the lungs to their satisfaction and breathing out in relief. The cycle continues day and night. Water is just as vital for human life. It’s used for cleaning, bathing, cooking, and most importantly, drinking. If the water was filthy, or even harmful, it would ruin lives. This is happening right now in Flint, Michigan. “Flint switched from Detroit’s water supply to the Flint River water” (Sanburn). The Flint River was found to contain eight times more chloride than Detroit’s water which is highly corrosive to metals (Sanburn). This caused lead to leach into the water. Seniors, adults, pregnant women, and children are suffering from lead poisoning. Lead poisoning can cause many hazardous issues. Switching water supplies was a terribly bad decision. Flint’s financial complications led to the state’s takeover in 2011 (Botelho). The Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, is to be blamed for the Flint water crisis.
Snyder knew
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He was the one who ordered the change of the water supply in the city. Citizens of Flint were complaining about the stench and discoloration of the water, although the city believed the water was safe to utilize. Two months after the switch, Mayor Dayne Walling announced, “It’s a quality, safe product…I think people are wasting their precious money buying bottled water” (Sanburn). Months after Walling declared the water was no harm, the Environmental Protection Agency notified the city that there happened to be a very high lead content found in the water. It may seem as if this entire situation is Kurtz’s fault, however it was Snyder who appointed him to his position. Therefore, Snyder is guilty of poisoning the residents of
The Flint water crisis has been a well known life-threatening issue for nearly three years, and yet has still not been solved. The problem began in April, 2014, when the city of Flint, Michigan switched their water supply to the Flint River in order to save money. Almost immediately after the switch of water source, residents complained about the quality of water, while city and state officials denied the possibility of an issue for months. As time went by, the supply pipes had corroded and lead began making its way into the water supply, potentially endangering the Flint population, as high blood lead levels are especially harmful to children and pregnant women, and can cause “learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and mental retardation,”
He believes the only way to save the lake is if a federal intervention
John Wells was driving near the mouth of Middle Fork when his car was covered in black wastewater. He saw that the valley below the dam was covered in an ominous layer of black waste. Wells tried to warn the residents of Buffalo Creek of the impending disaster but was unable to use the phone due to power outages. He was powerless to warn Buffalo Creek of the impending disaster. The water raged towards Buffalo Creek until the wastewater finally emptied into the Guyandotte River fifteen miles later.
NAME: Zain Choudhary DATE: April 17, 2017 455: Response #4: Partnership and Ethical Challenges In the article “What Went Wrong in Flint” by Anna Maria, she talks about a major public health issue, where the tap drinking water was contaminated with high levels of lead all over the city affecting everyone in the area. She tells a story, where families noticed that throughout the months of drinking tap water, they have noticed many negative physical changes to their body. People started to have stomach problems, losing their hair and developing rashes throughout the city.
President Obama. After interviewing with aNebraska news reporter, President Obama addressed that adding the pipeline will accommodate Unites State economy and will produce thousands of jobs, but the health and safety of the American people comes first. No need to build the pipeline that will be a danger to American citizens. The Pipeline will go through the Ogallala aquifer, which supplies one forth of drinking water key sources in Nebraska and the Midwest. Nebraska residents also supports the president and they will choose their children’s safety over a few jobs added if it will harm their kids by drinking potentially hazardous water that would damage their
Perhaps the most glaring fact presented in this segment was the declaration that there are literally no ambient air standards, either on a state or federal level, requiring companies to limit the amount of hazardous air pollutants they release into the air. This disturbing lack of laws regarding clean air is an issue of Houston Mayor Tom White who stated that, “nobody has the right to chemically alter the air that somebody else breathes without that person's consent.” He has pledged to reduce toxins in the air, even if he has to play hardball to do
On the shores of the Attawapiskat Lake, about 18 hours north west of Barrie, lies the band of the Neskantaga First Nations, where only a portion of the population remains. The other portion leave, because of the large amounts of poverty and the isolation. This First Nations Community has been under a water boil advisory for over 20 years. Their current water filtration system hasn’t worked since 1995, and even when it did work it removed sand and grit, but left in harmful chemicals. The government gives the Neskantaga people $250,000 annually, which goes towards running a water treatment system that continuously tests positive for harmful chemicals after being filtered.
Recent studies have shown that the water in Flint, Michigan has been contaminated by a horrible health impact, lead. This has happened because nearly two years ago, the state of Michigan decided to save money by switching Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron, to the Flint River a notorious tributary that runs through town known to locals for its filth. This has led to many terrible effects shown in both children and adults. The many effects lead has on children and adults are very drastic if not taken care of properly they could have lifetime effects. Dangerous effects lead can lead to that effect children.
In The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury warns specifically of human greed which causes environmental damage. In other words, humans strive to fulfill their own needs and wants, overlooking the environmental consequences to achieve this. Furthermore, this can be seen in the real world with pollution which is a by-product of cars, planes, factories, mines, and human waste. For example, in an article from Newsela which documents concerns of polluted mine water, they point out: “About 3 million gallons of water filled with cadmium, lead and arsenic poured into tiny Cement Creek and from there into the Animas River. Colorado and New Mexico officials cautioned people to stay out of the water” (“After Years of Holding Back” Newsela)
Governor Rick Snyder caused one of the biggest disasters in Michigan. The flint water crisis. Governor Snyder switched the Flint water system which was connected to the Detroit water system to the Flint River. And right away people started noticing severe changes to their water. This was caused from the water pipes corroding and lead leaking into the water.
Following the Clean Air Act of 1970, air pollution had significantly decreased in statistical levels, even corroborating the fact that Americans experience longer and healthier lives, with better visibility due to diminished smog and fog levels. On a broader note, even crops and farm animals saw a benefit in this Act, with cleaner and fresher air to use in many processes, like respiration and photosynthesis. In response to the Clean Water Act of 1972, the loss of wetlands have significantly decreased, and the bodies of water used for leisurely activities, such as fishing and swimming, have seen an increase. More impactfully, billions of pollutants have been eradicated from national waters, purifying and cleansing it for public use. Furthermore, public advocacy efforts such as the protests seen in the New York Times post in Document 3, and the speech given by Hansen in Document 5, have set the stage for global climate change activism.
The Buffalo Creek Disaster written by Gerald M. Stern helped me understand the different decisions a lawyer must go through to help their clients. The Buffalo Creek Disaster was a man-made disaster that occurred in February 1972. The Buffalo Creek Mining Company’s coal waste refuse pile collapsed, leaving over 125 people dead and 4,000 people mentally distraught. The Arnold & Porter law firm was reached out to by survivors for help and Gerald M. Stern was appointed as the lawyer for the case, who eventually won $13.5 million for the survivors.
An example of air pollution that has become more prominent in the last few years has been acid rain. Acid rain had increased the marginal social cost on the American people through its risks of a persons health, however, most people only realize the marginal social benefits that it represents, like the goods that are made, with the rain as their product. Title IV of the Clean Air Act is where we find the laws that regulate Acid Deposition, which occurs when sulfur and nitrogen emissions combined with other substances, are changed in the atmosphere and then dropped back on Earth in a form that is very harmful to a persons and the environments health. The Clean Water Act was put into place in order to create a system so that there aren 't too many pollutants released into the U.S. 's water supply and to make sure that the water is deemed as safe for Americans to use and drink from.
Castil, Czarina Beata N.11-HA1 Informative Speech Outline Topic: Air pollution Specific Purpose: I will inform where air pollution takes place, how it affects us economically and how we can help keep the air cleaner. I. Introduction a. Attention Material: Breathe in. Now, breathe out.
There are many problems that threatens society and one problem in particular, air pollution is a problem that threatens everyone. Air pollution is the contamination of air with pollutants that are harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. It began to be a problem when humans discovered the uses of fire and then the amount of air pollution exponentially grew after the industrial revolution, and is still a problem even today. The largest causes of air pollution are from human activities such as burning of fossil fuels and gas emissions from manufacturing plants. There are ways that ordinary people can help contribute to prevent air pollution and or else face the dangerous consequences of polluted air.