Hastalospolos

The Earth is our home and we must do all we can to protect it. In recent years, pollution and other threats are hurting the environment and the planet we live on. We’ll discuss in more detail why it’s so important to protect the earth.

The earth has been around for billions of years and has provided a good home for us and the multitude of plants, animals, and humans which occupy it. We think the earth is very resilient and can handle just about anything we threw at (or in) it. This simply isn’t so. Earth’s ecosystem is a finely balanced system and has difficulties processing external agents like pollutants which were never present in the first place.

For example it has been shown that the excessive amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere are having a negative impact on the ozone layer. This layer exists at high altitudes and helps to filter out harmful radiation from space as well as create the greenhouse effect here on earth to keep our planet warm and comfortable.

Disruption in the ozone layer can allow more harmful radiation to shower our planet or make the planet too warm or too cold. Neither option is acceptable so we must do all we can to protect it.

Steps have been put into place to limit the level of harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. This must continue and ideally should be even more stringent. A major source of airborne pollutants comes from car exhaust. Therefore strong steps must be taken to greatly reduce exhaust emissions as well as encourage manufacturers to produce alternative energy cars like hydrogen fuel cells or electric powered vehicles.

Reductions in harmful emissions is also coming from natural gas powered vehicles and even clean burning diesel engine vehicles. These steps and changes are very important and certainly must continue.

The government plays a big role in these activities to protect our environment and they must step up and continue to ensure that the proper steps are taken. It is unfortunate for example that tax credits for the purchase of diesel fueled vehicles stopped as of last year. They provided a strong incentive for people to invest in clean burning and high mpg vehicles. These credits should be put back into place as soon as possible in order to encourage more diesel vehicle purchases.

And legislation which mandates clean burning factories as well as strict rules concerning dumping at sea and the disposal of harmful pollutants on land or sea must be further defined and implemented. Companies may say they are concerned about the environment but if the cost to do so is too high, they will avoid it at all costs.

This cannot be tolerated. It may require government subsidies to help offset the cost or other incentives to encourage businesses to enact the necessary steps.

Public opinion and government legislation are the surest ways to make certain that we do we can to protect our precious environment and keep our Mother Earth safe and sound for many years to come.