Green Affects

ASHLY MCLAIN December 1, 2013

Green Affects December 1, 2013 Green Affects What do you think of when I say going green? Do you think recycling or riding your bike to work? Do you think air pollution, land pollution or water pollution? When I think of pollution I think of littering and car emissions. What we dont realize is that there is much worse pollution going on in our world than someone just throwing their trash out of their window. One example according to the New York Times is the emissions of Ethane gas in the U.S. Lets take a look at what the study finds and possibilities on solutions.

Before we discuss the study by the New York Times lets talk about what air pollution and the damage it causes. Air pollution occurs when pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere that can be safely absorbed and diluted by natural processes (Business and Society). Some air pollution occurs naturally by volcanoes and forest fires, but the majority is caused by human activity. Industrial processes and car emissions are a huge contributor to air pollution. Air pollution is harmful to human health and our natural landscape. According to the American Lung Association in 2008 it estimated that 42 percent of people were breathing unsafe air (Business and Society). The EPA has identified 6 components to air pollution and they are lead, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. There are also a few components that even in small doses can be harmful to you. In 2009 the hazardous pollutants became really controlled because of their cause on human health. There were clean air laws established and one company, BP, was going to have to pay $180 million to settle their debt for clean air (Business and Society). One really bad problem of air pollution is Acid

Green Affects December 1, 2013 Rain. Acid rain is formed when emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, byproducts of the burning of fossil fuels by utilities, manufacturers and motor vehicles, combine with natural water vapor in the air and fall to Earth as rain or snow that is more acidic than normal (Business and Society). Acid rain is very damaging to the ecosystems of lakes and rivers and damage forests. Measuring and regulating acid rain is very difficult so in 1990 the Clean Air Act was passed to regulate the emission of chemicals that causes the acid rain. An article in the New York Times calculated the emissions of methane gas into the air and what causes it. Lets take a look at the article and then discuss solutions.

According the New York Times (NYT) the human activity was approximately 1.5 times greater in the United States then previous decades. The largest readings came from Texas and Oklahoma because of the concentration of oil and gas production. The readings were 2.7 higher than the past years. The NYT states that their study relied on 12,700 measurements of atmospheric methane in 2007 and 2008. According to the EPA, the emissions of methane from man-made and natural sources have been declining since the 1990s. There has also been a decrease in methane discharge from gas production, transmissions, landfills and coalmines. The gas production from cattle and other livestock also appeared to be high in 2007. The NYT states that one of the author of this study, Scot Miller of Harvards department of earth and planetary sciences, states that the uproar in the methane gas is the cause of our rising temperatures. The study also says that carbon dioxide is a major cause of our greenhouse gas troubles but methane is so much more potent that it causes a 21 times greater impact than carbon dioxide. The

Green Affects December 1, 2013 conclusion of the study in the NYT stated that the emissions were 1.5 times greater and that livestock and oil and gas emissions were the greatest emitters of the methane gas.

Solutions to pollution are simple and grandiose. There are simple solutions such as recycling or riding your bike to work, but there are also things like regulating emissions and taxing companies for their pollution emission. Companies need to be better regulated and taxed higher for their emission and harm they do to the Earth and people. They need to have an information disclosure on their websites and company stats for all to see. There should be environmental standards and caps on the gas emissions. The fees and taxes that companies need to be charged need to be high enough to make a difference because if they are too low then companies will just pay and move on. Companies should also have a hand in helping restore the environment they destroy.

Pollution is really hard to regulate but as we have discussed it is affecting our Earth and population with the negative effects. We need to get a handle on emissions before we cant handle them at all. The New York Times raises a great issue that needs to be addresses, so what are You going to do about your emissions?

Bibliography: Wines, M. (3013). New York Times. Emissions of Methane in U.S. Exceed Estimates, Study Finds. Retrieved from

Green Affects December 1, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/us/emissions-of-methane-in-us-exceed-estimatesstudy-finds.html?ref=energy-environment

Lawrence, A. Weber, J. (2011). Business and Society Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy: Managing Environmental Issues. New York: McGraw Hill.