A Dying Earth
The earth is slowly dying because of human consumption
What is the social issue? A part of Louisiana named cancer alley has one of the most cancer related deaths in the country. “The 85 mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is home to more than 150 oil plants”(http://www.msnbc.com/interactives/geography-of-poverty/se.html)
Who is affected by it? Predominantly, poor black communities are being affected by the pollution from oil plants. Oil companies know that these communities do not have much of a voice to speak out on what’s going on. So oil companies hide their refineries in places where no one will see them except of course, poor black families who live just a stones throw away from the plants.
What are the existing solutions? With the rising pollution levels in the world, varying methods for pollution reduction rose to individuals attention. More subtle approaches and cheaper methods that have been used to inch towards decreasing pollution includes: reduce the amount of water and chemical based pestisides when you are gardening, using more effective energy home implications such as using solar power, and rather than driving to a destination you can always walk or ride a bike (https://www.epa.gov/p2/learn-about-pollution-prevention). There’s also ways the industry is working to avert pollution. which includes: The NPI(National Pollutant Inventory) is continuously encourangings the industry to use machinery that produces less waste and toxins, making “facilities report on cleaner production activities” , and “pollution control development” (http://www.npi.gov.au/reducing-pollution). Despite having a numerous amount a method to prevent this environmental crisis, pollution is still a rising manmade issue and we can all work towards stopping it.
What more needs to be done? In order for pollution levels to decrease we could end an excess amount of things. We could possibly start by spacing out the amount of oil plants in one area. There is too much space in the world to have an oil plant so close to neighborhoods where families live. We could use energy efficient appliances, don’t litter, recycle paper, plastic aluminum, and organize community group cleanups.
