John Locke
Karl Knotoff 2/6/2013
Env 115 Professor Barker
Air Pollution
The Reason this article was chosen is to show the “catch 22” of slowing and hopefully preventing the crisis of air pollution and all other aspects of environmental crisis. This article talks about the prophet of Republicans Ronald Reagan expressing his concerns over air pollution and the emissions of greenhouse gasses. The catch 22 is that in this world of profit margins and marketing schemes we live in there is only one true way to convert and persuade people, corporations and governments to change their ways and help the ongoing effort to slow the impact of mankind on the planet and that is too prove they can save money. One can sit and tell an automotive company for years about how said company is damaging the environment and how it is negatively effecting the ecosystem around them but all they will do is dismiss you and move on to figure out how they can sell more automobiles. But if one were to go to the same company and show them how they could decrease there yearly energy cost by perhaps switching to solar powered facilities there eyes will widen and they will begin the transition as soon as possible. Mr. Reagan calls this situation “cost-benefit analysis” and from what I’ve come across in my experiences and in talking to men who are involved in environmental law it is the only way to change anything about the world around us unless of course people themselves are being affected negatively for instance the people becoming ill from Beijing smog crisis currently going on. When people think of air pollution and ozone depletion they almost always and only think of exhaust from cars and factory smoke stacks but that is another reason this article stood out which is the fact it states in that “The electricity sector is responsible for more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States”. This is important to note because electricity doesn’t just come from
Env 115 Professor Barker
Air Pollution
The Reason this article was chosen is to show the “catch 22” of slowing and hopefully preventing the crisis of air pollution and all other aspects of environmental crisis. This article talks about the prophet of Republicans Ronald Reagan expressing his concerns over air pollution and the emissions of greenhouse gasses. The catch 22 is that in this world of profit margins and marketing schemes we live in there is only one true way to convert and persuade people, corporations and governments to change their ways and help the ongoing effort to slow the impact of mankind on the planet and that is too prove they can save money. One can sit and tell an automotive company for years about how said company is damaging the environment and how it is negatively effecting the ecosystem around them but all they will do is dismiss you and move on to figure out how they can sell more automobiles. But if one were to go to the same company and show them how they could decrease there yearly energy cost by perhaps switching to solar powered facilities there eyes will widen and they will begin the transition as soon as possible. Mr. Reagan calls this situation “cost-benefit analysis” and from what I’ve come across in my experiences and in talking to men who are involved in environmental law it is the only way to change anything about the world around us unless of course people themselves are being affected negatively for instance the people becoming ill from Beijing smog crisis currently going on. When people think of air pollution and ozone depletion they almost always and only think of exhaust from cars and factory smoke stacks but that is another reason this article stood out which is the fact it states in that “The electricity sector is responsible for more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States”. This is important to note because electricity doesn’t just come from