Environmental Issues

1. Environment (climate, change, and global warming) - You can’t say that our human activities like burning fossil fuels, agriculture and land use isn’t affecting our environment. Though global warming may be a natural occurrence, these actions are contributing to it. Also, greenhouse gas emissions let off carbon dioxide, which is essential to keep the Earth warm, but excessive carbon dioxide will be lethal for our planet.

2. Off-Shore Drilling – The U.S. is running out of oil, and running out fast. Our gas prices are reaching around $4 per gallon and it’s still increasing. We need oil to supply our country, but off-shore drilling comes at a price. When you off-shore drill, you put the environment in danger. Oil and other harmful liquids from the gas tanks could leak into the ocean, and since oil doesn’t dissolve in water, it floats on top of it. This results in killing off a lot of marine life. Also, birds that fly into the ocean to eat fish get their wings soaked in oil and they drown. Off-shore drilling will limit our fossil fuels since gas is such a high demand at the moment and there is not enough oil to meet the demands. Though off-shore drilling may harm our environment, we need oil.

3. Nuclear weapons – Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction. Two nuclear bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, have been used and they were both for war. When used, nuclear weapons let off harmful radiation, cause blast effects that kill hundreds of thousands of people, and cause thermal effects. These effects usually occur within seconds or minutes once activated. They also cause long-term effects like damaging the environment over time. Those reasons are why countries are deciding if they should have them at all and how much nuclear weapons they should have if allowed.

Political Stands of Candidates

John McCain: He is for protecting the environment and plans reduce the amount of CO2 released by the greenhouse emissions. McCain plans to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. John McCain supports nuclear weapons because he thinks it’s naive to say we’re never going to use them.

Barack Obama: Plans to protect the environment and using non-destructive resources by improving CO2 greenhouse emissions. Obama plans to make oil companies limit their use of off-shore drilling. Obama wants to greatly reduce the use of nuclear weapons.


Personal Reflection

When I first heard about the environmental issues, I didn't really know what they were until I researched. Now I understand why they are so important to us and why we need solutions for them. A solution to lessen the effect of global warming is to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, there won't be dangerous toxic chemicals floating around to the atmosphere. Off-shore drilling is another issue. A resolution to decrease the oil spills is to be more careful and fix the drills and machines so they won't spill and leak as much. The final problem are nuclear weapons. We should have them just in case. There could be a time when we might have a need for them. Who knows when we'll use them?