The Pros And Cons Of The Environmental Protection Agency

It required the Environmental Protection Agency to develop and enforce regulations to protect the public potent air quality which could be hazardous to human health. The Clean Water act established a basic structure for regulating pollution which is discharged into the waters of states in the United States. This act also Gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs. As a result of the “Silent Spring,” federal legislations were passed as a call to action to change the habits of humans before we destroy the thing that gives us all

In “The Tragedy of the Commons,” the author, Garrett Hardin, explains how we should deal with environmental issues including but not limited to overpopulation and pollution, by giving us an example of the commons; in this case land that is shared among people. Each person wanted to gain revenue regardless of our narcissistic nature. This leads to the environmental issues that we have today, and the dilemma that the Once Ler created in “The Lorax.” Garrett Hardin, brings up the question, what should we maximize? Should we maximize the space of the commons, or the production of products to compensate for the growing population?

Third, I do not agree with the belief that Global warming does not exist and that it is merely a natural change in the temperature. Again, as an environmentalist, I believe Global warming is real, and that it is man’s responsibility to help the environment by promoting recycling, as well as, other environmentally friendly systems. Fourth, I disagree with the gun control policy.

Topic: This research proposal relates closely to the textbook, Garbology, Our Love Affair with Trash. Edward Humes discusses how current landfills are constructed to protect the environment from leachate in several chapters, but in Chapter 4, “The Last and Future Kingdom,” he writes about the dangers of landfills built before the 1990s (2013). Landfills built before the 1991 regulations are not required to install barriers that protect the groundwater from carcinogens. According to the American Cancer Society, prolonged exposure to carcinogens in the environment can lead to cancer ( “Known and Probable,”2017).

Section 404 of the CWA requires industries such as construction or agriculture to obtain permits from the Army Corp of Engineers or an authorized state before dumping waste from an identifiable source like a pipe, ditch or factory. While the Clean Water Act has done much to improve the health and quality of our waterways, the Act only protects surface water and does not protect groundwater from contamination. Also, the wording of the Clean Water Act has been challenged in several lawsuits, and the Supreme Court has ruled the EPA has no jurisdiction over wetlands that are not bordered by bodies of water that are wide and deep enough for ships to pass through. This could be disastrous for inland wetlands like the Prairie Potholes of the Upper Midwest (located in Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Montana and four Canadian provinces) which are home to more than half the migratory waterfowl in the United States. In addition, the potholes absorb and hold excess water, which reduces the risk of downstream flooding, they provide grass for livestock and recharge the groundwater which supplies water to wells and farmlands in the area.

The principle of utilitarian benefits is an ethical principle that holds that you should never take any action that does not result in greater good for society (Williams, 2015, p.76). We must take this principle beyond what is best for Iowa City as a whole, but also what would benefit the greatest amount of people within the Chocoholics Anonymous community. We believe that not firing a full-time employee would support both communities. As stated before, officials from the local chamber of commerce and local economic development group asked to minimize layoffs, for they feel that would be best for the community as a whole. Jeremy Bentham, grandfather of utilitarianism, remind us that utility is impartial and agent-neutral (Driver, 2009).

Even though regulations for car emissions have been put in place, there are still issues due to lack of enforced regulations and the amount of destructive gas that is produced from these metal beasts, which is still harming the environment. One of the first attempted victories in this war was when the United States implemented the Clean Air Act of 1963. In summary, this act was passed to regulate the cleanliness of the air on a national scale. So far, it has worked fairly well for the past 53 years. However, there have been modifications to it throughout the years.

There is a quote by President Barack Obama saying, “To truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy,” (“151 Inspiring Environmental Quotes”). He believes as many due that nonrenewable resources are harmful to all aspects of life. The energy we use now is harmful to our planet, to humans, and to animals. Scientists are taking steps to making the world a better place. They found sources that replenished naturally in a short amount of time and are less destructive in all aspects.

However, Dominon Spokesperson Frank Mack, say the company has a longstanding safety record and has to comply with safety regulations like air and noise quality controls put in place by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. "We obviously can 't assure or guarantee safety but we do have a variety of programs and methods that asses the integrity of the pipeline," Say Mack. He continues saying they have someone who monitors the pipelines 24/7 and have ongoing areal and foot patrols around teh compressor station. The natural gas will go to National Grid distribution areas. For allowing the compressor station to be built, Dominon will pay tax revenue to Chemung County, the Town of Veteran and local school districts.

Monsanto, new and old alike, have a moral obligation to society since it utilizes technology to enhance human lives. Essentially, it would have been in the best interest of the company to continuously protect society and the environment from the potentially harmful consequences of its products. According to ethic experts Hartline and Ferrell operating under the “Old Monsanto” regime, in 1970, the company introduced a chemical named Agent Orange to our military and it was drastically used as an asset in the Vietnam War (2014, p.309). In addition, Agent Orange was used to deforest thick Vietnamese jungles, assisting in United States advantage; however, Agent Orange contained dioxin, which is extremely hazardous and causes cancer (2014, p.310). Researchers confirmed that the Vietnamese food and crops were contaminated with dioxin, and

So why do some politicians want to completely shut down the EPA? Often, it has little to do with disdain for the environment, and more to do with state’s rights. The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution states “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” (The). Most of the people want to abolish the EPA because they feel it is an agency of big government, and believe that the power of the EPA should be returned to the states. Take Bill Johnson for example.

I truly believe we should be protecting it as much as we can. According to Goodine (2011) in her article “Fracking Controversy,” Krugman was right that companies don’t have to disclose the chemicals used for fracking. This is wrong. Taxpayers’ money also shouldn’t be going to the repairs due to this practice. It seems the pros of renewable energy outweigh those of natural gases.

One of the most controversial projects for the United States to decide on was whether or not to build the Keystone pipeline. This topic forces the government to decide if economic development is worth the cost of endangering the environment. Though this pipeline will allow the United States to rely less on foreign oil, the pipeline’s lasting effects prove to be a factor that cannot be easily overlooked. The Keystone pipeline should not be built because it endangers the environment and has the ability to create catastrophic damages through pollution and habitat desecration. Pollution is a major factor that has to be considered when referring to the Keystone pipeline.

Environmental justice is in many ways a safety net used when humanity has destroyed the earth to the point humans no longer can live a healthy life style. This coincides with mother cultures perception. The taker mentality views the world as centered on humanity, for the earth is nothing more than a, “…human life-support system, as a machine designed to produce and sustain human life”(59). In other words, the world is meant to sustain man and nothing more. Therefore, humans do not have to take care of the earth, the earth is meant to take care of humanity.

With the proposed Keystone XL pipeline there are many environmental and safety standards that would be enforced to ensure that concerns such as oil leaks are detected, fixed and cleaned up properly and quickly. If the US government fails to approve the Keystone XL pipeline then they will have no control over enforcing the environmental safety standards for the transportation of Canada’s oil to the other countries that want to purchase