With the recent shift in political power a lot of things have been changing. One thing that I am personally worried about is the loss of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The United States of America is already has the second largest carbon footprint, without the EPA there would be no regulation of the carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. We already have very lax regulations on sustainability of businesses and industries. The Earth is already damaged enough, due to our lack of practicing sustainable principles around the world. There needs to be regulations to help halt the damage done and to prevent future damage. The EPA plays a role in protecting the land in our country (by land I mean the land this country occupies). So without further ado, here are four reasons why our country needs the EPA.
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Global climate change is real and carbon gas emissions coming from our practices are causing the Earth’s temperatures to sharply increase. This trend would be even worse if regulatory bodies like the EPA were not in place. Also global climate change is not a “belief” it is a fact shown by data collected over the past 35 years.
2. The environment is extremely important to maintain the lives of living organisms. If the environment was not protected, we would not be able to go outside and enjoy plants, trees, birds, squirrels, baby rabbits, sloths, and any other kind of organism you could think of.
3. THIS INCLUDES US! We are living organisms aren’t we? We depend on the environment to be favorable to us and to be able to manipulate it for food, water, and shelter. Guess what? These things would be lost to us if there was no such thing as the EPA. We would be drinking contaminated water, we would starve as well because the land where our crops grow would not yield enough food for all of us.
4. The Environment provides many services to us that we do not even realize! The environment is a place that serves us both aesthetically and practically. The Earth is beautiful and peaceful to be a part of when you need to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. But the environment also plays a practical role in our everyday lives. The environment gives us air to breathe through photosynthesis of plants. If the environment was destroyed and all the plants died, we would die too. No oxygen would be in the atmosphere, and last time I checked, oxygen is pretty important to us. The environment also needs to be healthy in order to produce food for us. The environment also controls climate and disease, if functioning correctly. If the EPA no longer existed, it could lead to some lethal consequences for everyone in the USA.
The environment and its functioning is very important to me and I think it should be important to everyone else too. This is our Earth, our environment and we NEED to respect and take care of it.
Have a great week and stay green, it is for your own good!
Want to know more about how the environment is directly tied with our well being? Look below!
National Wildlife Federation:
http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-conservation/ecosystem-services.aspx
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):