Sunday, February 12, 2012

Opinion: What should the Administration be doing right now with regard to the environment (if anything)?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-administration-weighs-political-cost-of-environmental-rules/2012/02/07/gIQAvJzx8Q_story.html?hpid=z1

By the way, our Wednesday after-school practice session has to be moved to Thursday this week because my Uncle Roy Pirrung will be speaking to the track team Wednesday. If you want to hear him speak too, feel free to show up. It's interesting and inspiring. His bio. is below:
http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/MountainUltraTrail/Pirrung_Roy.asp

25 comments:

Chris DeWinter said...

If the government should do anything about the environment right now they should stop Iran from causing a nuclear winter. Right now Iran is making a nuclear weapon they will use against us that will no doubt destroy the environment. I think the administration should put all of its effort into preventing Iran from getting a nuclear device. Right know this is a far more pressing issue than global warming or any other topic. We will pay dearly in the very near future.

ANichols said...

In my opinion, after reading the article posted I think the government should not do anything right now regarding the environment. As Mr. DeWinter said, I agree that we should stop Iran from causing a nuclear winter. But as of now, I do not think the the U.S government should do anything regarding this because in reality, the stuff that is going on in Iran is not afftecting people's daily lives in the United States of America. As a result, I believe that the government should hold off on doing anything about the enviornment and just let everything play out for now and see what will happen in the future. But, if things get out of hand, I think the government should step in and stop Iran from creating this nuclear winter.

jblommel said...

I think that although imposing environmental regulations is something that many people would like to see done, it is of secondary importance considering the economy right now. With the economy the way it is right now, imposing vast environmental regulations would create costs that would cause us to backtrack from the little progress we have made. Regulations about the emissions and fuel economy of vehicles might save consumers some money at the pump, but the costs of building these new cars isn't free. In this economy, Americans need affordable cars, and by forcing all manufacturers to make cars that get incredibly high mileage, the price of these cars will be driven up beyond the budget of the average American, which will devastate the economy even more.

jblommel said...

I think that although imposing environmental regulations is something that many people would like to see done, it is of secondary importance considering the economy right now. With the economy the way it is right now, imposing vast environmental regulations would create costs that would cause us to backtrack from the little progress we have made. Regulations about the emissions and fuel economy of vehicles might save consumers some money at the pump, but the costs of building these new cars isn't free. In this economy, Americans need affordable cars, and by forcing all manufacturers to make cars that get incredibly high mileage, the price of these cars will be driven up beyond the budget of the average American, which will devastate the economy even more.

Jwolf said...

I think that the Obama Administration should focus on the economy rather than the environment. First, Americans need more jobs in order to support themselves as well as families. Second, the Administration should have addressed the issue with the environment a while ago. I think that America should use American oil, which would cut down the cost of gas and possibly releave some tensions with the Middle East. Although climate change is an issue, this should have been a topic that the Administration discussed long ago while most people were concerned with it.

Kelly M said...

I beleive that the government should be focusing on the economy but i also beleive that it should be focusing on the environment as well. The environment is a major issue and could have a large impact on our lives in the future. Government should be promoting environmental friendly alternatives .

jboyle said...

I believe that the administration should be making plans on how to make cars more environmentally friendly. while doing this I also believe that the administration should be focusing on the economy.

tFugarino said...

I believe the administration should be concentrating there focus on the economy and finding a way to get back on track. That should be there main priority at this time.

J.Mason said...

If anything, the government should tell us the truth about what is really going on. If there really is global warming, or is it just something to keep us busy. I feel the government doesnt truely tell us the truth about any environment problems that have happend or might happend.

neve57 said...

I believe that the government should be trying to prevent global warming and saving the rainforests!!!! lol. Seriously though, they need to do something about the pollution levels and toxins because everyone is going to start getting sick.

skerns said...

The issues with the environment are very important issues and can not be taken lightly. I feel the Obama administration should not hastily rush into any important decisions before they enter the campaign. These issues are too important to be rushed.

TPassow said...

As has been stated before I believe that the government should, instead of focusing on the weather, be looking at our economy and how it has plummeted and how jobs are being lost. Also, they should focus on a potential nuclear attack against out country. The weather is fine, I'd rather have a good economy and live to see it happen.

JakobL said...

I believe that the environmental problems could give the United States a great chance to get back on track and to get the economy going. While doing that the government could create a lot of jobs for example in alternative energies or developing environment friendly cars. That would solve environment problems while providing more jobs for the American people.

Paige said...

I think that efforts should be put towards clean energy sources. Cars are such a high cause of air pollution, and a clean gas source would definitely help. I heard some experimentation was being done with rice ^^ Could be interesting.

Also it would be a good idea to have the study thing during lunch, since we all have the same one anyways. Just saying.

aspone said...

I believe that although the environment is an important issue, there are other larger issues that should be dealt with first, most notably the economy. Right now, creating environmental regulations is not a wise use of time or resources. The American people should come first.

sli said...

My 10 years old cousin didn't understand what is global warming before, but now he did because it only snow few times this year. I agree with Paige's saying that the cars are a high cause of pollution.In the city, if the transpotation is more convinient, like having subways and more buses, I would say more people would choose those that would cause less air pollution instead of driving by themselves.

Anonymous said...

Like Chris said, the "nuclear winter" is a big enviromental priority but also we need to cut back on the country's dependence on fossil fuels, as does the rest of the world. We could also cut back on heavy pollution in big cities by making guidelines for those factories to follow. More important, is the the economy. I think that the economy is in the worst shape and should come first.

KKotecki said...

In my opinion, there is not much that the government can do regarding the environment without there being a disadvantage. However, many pesticides are one of the biggest factors of pollution and if the administration could restrict the use of some pesticides or put greater regulations on them, pollution could be greatly reduced. Lately, electric cars are being made, however, these cars are not affordable for everyone. They need electric to run and in order to get electric, power plants are needed which cause emissions. Also, because electric cars usually only go about 13 miles and then the gas kicks in, the battery will need to be recharged quite often, using more electricity in addition to the gas it used after the battery died. The batteries in electric cars also do not last long and when the batteries are recycled, they still can cause air pollution. Big businesses also pollute a massive amount and they could probably reduce their pollution, but if they become taxed too heavily the cost could essentially become the consumer's problem as costs of every day items rises due to the increase in taxes on businesses. Although the environment is an issue, I think that right now there are larger issues facing our nation that need to come first.

jryan said...

The environment should be one of the last issues on the government's mind right now. Instead of worrying about environmental issues such as the unlikely chance of Iran launching nuclear weapons at us the government needs to focus on reforming our infrastructure and decrease the ever looming deficit.

awichgers said...

The government is already in so much debt that I don't think spending more money on environmental issues is wise spending. There are much greater issues at hand and that's where the funding should be. As other students said, I agree that stoppinbg Iran from causing a nuclear war would be something that the government should be worried about. That is something that will affect us directly and substantially. (I'm not really sure if that last sentence made sense, but I couldn't think of any other words to use so I hope you get what I meant). All in all, the environment is a small issue compared to the million other things going on right now; and, with the growing debt and poor economy, it would not be wise to spend money on environmental issues at this time.

Big Al said...

The enviorment in America, is sustaining life plants, animals, and a further developed animal, the human. I feel that some precautions should be looked at, but as it stands right now it is not in urgent need. I think local levels of government could get more involved, but the national government will decline in speed to the point a turtle, a sloth, and a snail would run laps around it. If local governments helped by planting trees in a park, or created a recycling program would be great. As of now a national plan is not needed. Also appologies for not having this blog on sunday, my parents dont let me use the computer when i am ill.

Sfrasher said...

As stated before I believe in previous posts I believe that the government should focus on things that are high priority right now in our world. Those things are the economy and nuclear warfare. The earth has been here for thousands of years, and I really don’t think that is going to change anytime soon due to the environment. Honestly, I think all this environment spending is not necessary and since we are in an economic crisis I would like to see that money go somewhere else (but I am not saying wipe out environmental spending all-together).

Andrew Salo said...

There are a lot of problems that the administration should be fixing right now, and the enviornment is one of them. Whether it is more eco friendly cars, or something else, I do believe that the government should at least try to help the enviornment.

Andrew Salo said...

There are a lot of problems that the administration should be fixing right now, and the enviornment is one of them. Whether it is more eco friendly cars, or something else, I do believe that the government should at least try to help the enviornment.

APrichard said...

The world environment is in a down spiral and has been so now for quite sometime. With the amount of deforestation occurring within South America and numerous other countries the supply of oxygen produced by nature is decreasing at an incredible rate. At this point if the Obama Administration will come to act before the presidential election it may actually increase his chances of becoming re-elected. The Obama Administration should hold a conference with the U.N. to help construct world guide lines or limits pertaining to the deforestation occurring in the world, it will require the effort in its entirety of the world but may become possible.