This week we briefly explored the relationship between the environment and social justice. We saw that, in many cases, a neglected concern for the natural environment affected certain populations more than others. I’d like to hear your thoughts as to why some areas and groups in Colorado suffer environmental ills (poor water quality, poor air quality, close proximity to heavy industry) and compare this local situation to the global community. This is a very broad topic, so choose a common theme or issue that can be seen in both Colorado and the world in general. Again, there is not a correct answer to this question; I’m more interested in seeing what kinds of connections you can make between our local community and our global community. Let’s make our responses at least a page long.
Thanks
Alexi Copeland
I think the reason that some parts of Colorado are suffering enviromentaly is the fact that people have no clue how to manage it. Forest fires are a natural thing and to prevent them causes a unhealthy forest. They dont understand that a human presence, even with good intentions, can harm the enviroment. Factories and the such pollute the air and further show that humans and nature dont allways mix. As for the rest of the world, I think that Colorado is fairly healthy enviromentaly in comparison, because we do not have as many heavy polluting factories. However, we do have a lot of people trying to help the enviroment without a clue what theyre doing, when things should really be left alone.
dylan McCarthy
Sorry about the first “comment.” Ok so I think that the problem Colorado and the world suffer most is poor air quality. Colorado probably has one of the best air around but it still isn’t perfect. Giant corporation for things like metal and plastic and glass all need to use heat to to make their products and if you use heat for something then you will obviously have smoke which usually just go through giant smoke stacks into the atmosphere and further contribute to the global warming epidemic. Also, cars put out massive amounts of exaust all put together, Colorado has a lot of bikers so it isn’t as much of an issue but it’s still something worth mentioning. Cars, in Colorado and around the world, put out massive amounts of exaust everyday which also puts holes in the ozone so UV rays can get in and causes global warming. I think that not enough people are putting enough effort into keeping our air and world clean. There are tons of alternatives to diesel. There are Hybrids which run on gas and electricity so not as much fuel is used, there is corn oil which uses no gas and is super cheap and you can also buy solar powered cars which you can sell the extra energy back to power plants. I just think that Colorado and the world need to put forwarth a much bigger effort to help the environment.
Brenda L. Hernandez Rojas
I think that the environment suffers some ills for many different reasons. One of the reasons is because the technology is increasing everyday and the community doesn’t realize that their are a whole lot of people in our environment who need our help to clean several things. The second reason is that their is a lot of litering all over the world which this includes the street, park, river, ocean, mountains, etc. Of course the water is at a poor situation because it has lots of different chemicals that need to be cleaned. The third reason is because their is a lot of pollution going on and it affects the environment not only that but, our community too. In my opinion I believe we should all work together to make a difference in the environment and make a effort to make the environment a better place for everyone!….
gabe freeman
Everywhere there is civilization there will be some problem with the environment. A lot of countries like India have huge amounts of pollution in their rivers, air, and water sources — far more than we in Colorado could fathom. They have such a high ratio of factories and industrial waste, compared to relatively few restrictions on disposal of chemicals, that the environment around them is suffering hugely. Around Boulder, we don’t have much heavy industry. We do have a lot of cars here, but compared to a lot of places around the world, our air and natural environment are pretty clean. We have our own issues, though. We are poisoning ourselves with Boulder creek and the reservoir, the park officials are struggling with invasive plants and out-of-control forest growth, and nearby Denver is choking itself in foul-smelling smog. Next to L.A. or a lot of bigger cities, we have it pretty well, though. Still, people get used to the pollution we have, and most of them aren’t bothered by it. Just like in India, the people in New Delhi (for example) are more concerned with their daily lives, and don’t really think about the toll the industry there is taking.
jesse
I think that Boulder has preety good air quality, but other places are doing very bad. Places like new york, L.A and Chicago have very bad air pollution because of companies using coal for power which then turns into global warming. Those cities also use an extreme amount of car pollution when you can use vegetable oil in almost an diesel car. I think that if the world just listend when we said global warming will come if we don’t stop it then we could delay it or even stop it entirely.