Environmental Issues

Root Causes of Environmental Issues
Kendele Sitter
SCI/275 Environmental Science
02/28/2015
Maria West

One root cause that I agree with is that we, as a country have become obsessed with economic growth. We have completely lost sight of our environment because of greed. Like stated in our readings this week (chapter 3), people are more worried about how big their homes are or what the latest fashion is. Everywhere you look, be it on billboards or in the magazine you’re flipping through in the waiting room, you see very successful models with high priced gadgets. Sure, you will see the occasional field and stream magazine, but what is inside of it? Men, with nice guns and big diesel trucks. This becomes a threat because we are cutting down trees to build these very large homes, and we are buying diesel trucks and polluting the air from the fuel. I know it may not sound like much but times that by the amount of people residing in your city, now state, and finally the country as a whole. All of this adds up. “The lesson here is an old one: Protect your capital and live off the income it provides. Deplete, waste, or squander your capital, and you move from a sustainable to an unsustainable lifestyle.” (Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability, 2004)
There is one root cause I do not agree with is human population. I believe that humans themselves contribute to the cause but not because there are too many. According to NY Times, the amount of babies born in the USA since the baby boom has steadily decreased. If that is the case then our issues should, by now, be residing themselves. Things should be getting done to protect our environment and they should be getting done much quicker than they have been.

References
Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/mcvay/ES204%20DE/ES%20docs/Living%20in%20an%20exponential%20world.pdf

Navarro, M. (2011). Breaking a Long...