Offshore Drilling: Not the Answer

Dear President Bush,

In dire times like these, when fuel and energy are of the utmost importance to the American wallet, it is easy to bypass what we would consider morally correct in order to find a quick fix to our energy crisis. Although, many people consider offshore drilling a great way to fix the growing need for oil, I would implore you to look past the need for an immediate relief and appreciate the ill effects that offshore drilling would have on the environment in which we live.

When a time of crisis reigns over a mass of people, many times they look for the easiest solution, in terms of energy this would be the equivalent of offshore drilling. Although offshore drilling may help account for an increase in oil production in the U.S; there is no need to destroy our lands in order to provide the people with more burnable fossil fuels. Many times during offshore drilling, the environment is ignored in order for our economy to thrive. Offshore drilling can account for oil spills in the waters in which we drill. Many times species that are unique to the area are killed due to oil spills. Every year thousands of sea creatures lose their lives, or are somehow disabled due to oil spills in the ocean, caused by offshore drilling. The other environmental downfall that results from offshore drilling is the production of polluted water. This water, that contains oil and other chemicals made during oil production, can be harmful to dump in the water. Each year marine life are subjected to harmful environments due to the ill effects from oil production. The marine lives are not the only species that can be harmed by the effects of offshore drilling. Drilling is one of the major contributors to pollution in the air, which can destroy the ozone and the air that we as humans breathe. With all the negative effects that offshore drilling has on the environment there is no reason why should have to resort to such feeble attempts to gain oil.

I believe in a movement toward a more “green America”. I believe that as a nation we can find a solution to two of the major problems in our country, the economy and energy, with a progress toward a more environmentally friendly world. The development of a green nation can provide millions of jobs for people during an economic downslide and also answer the energy crisis. That is why I implore you not to write any legislation in your last few months as President of our dear country that would jeopardize the environment and call for a beginning of offshore drilling. The incoming President-Elect has a system ready to be put in place that would help research for alternative sources of energy while providing jobs for millions. Offshore drilling is not the answer to our energy crisis, so there is no reason to implement this inhumane practice in the latter end of your Presidency.

A Loving American Citizen, Adam Scott Ivusich (Photo credited to Minerals Management Service, US Department of the Interior)

Mariner Pride

As I look out my window from the second floor of my home, I see the water. It has been there for millennia and it will be there for millennia after. It is the one constant in the ever-changing neighbor that is Joppatowne. My neighborhood is quite small, maybe 4,000 people at most. That is what makes the area unique; it is like one large family. The area of Joppatowne is defined by three distinctive characteristics: the land, the people, and the attitude that those people carry.

Joppatowne is its own little peninsula on the northern end of Harford County, making its people secluded from most of the other county. This seclusion leads to the feeling of isolation that brings the people of Joppatowne together in almost a familial sense. Joppatowne is unlike most places in the country because it doesn’t just follow one kind of geographical stereotype. It has everything from mountains to plains, from wetlands to barren fields. That is what sets this area apart from most others in the state. Rumsey Island is the part of Joppatowne that I live in. It is an area of natural beauty unlike any other. As I enter the Island from Shore Bridge, the eyes are first met with a thick infection of cattails. The wetlands then open and you see a huge mansion, built in the early 1800s. The area is full of historical points that have stood for many years. The wetlands in the area are protected by the government and hence have been untouched for years. After I pass the mansion, the area opens, as if it were a turning the page in a novel. The neighborhood opens to waterfront townhomes on the left and single water-view homes on the right. As I drive around the neighborhood, there is ever-present distinction of pride in the land. Many people take care of the wetlands in their front and back yards. The water is always in view on the left hand side of the island. As I exit Rumsey Island and enter back into suburbia, you leave the wetlands and are met with more concrete norms of suburban life. The geographical beauty of Joppatowne and more specifically, Rumsey Island is unmatched by most neighborhoods in Maryland. The fact that Joppatowne is defined by its geographical boundaries that offset it from the rest of its county, leave the people that inhabit it with a sense of connectedness within its community.

Although there is a wide range of people that inhabit Joppatowne, the people tend to always get along. There is barely any hostility between people. Even if people do not know each other they show a sense of friendliness in that people will hold conversations with strangers and are always open to meeting new people. On any given Sunday morning while walking through the grocery store, the very routine trip could be elongated by a conversation with a coach or a neighbor. The area is so close-knit that everyone knows everyone by name. On that same Sunday morning, as I chat with a friend many people will pass by that know me by name. In addition to seclusion that the land provides, the people of Joppatowne have established connectedness with one another. Most families are in tune with everything that happens within the community and they strive to make the area a better place for everyone in it. People in Joppatowne tend to look out for each other and have one another’s back, which gives the sense of familial love within a community. Growing up in Joppatowne has given me a place I can hang my hat on and trace my values back to. Being raised in such a close-knit community in which people are so closely connected, has molded the type of person I am when it comes to the type of relationship I make with others.

People of Joppatowne are always optimistic, through even the worst of times, which has taught me to always look at the glass as half full in any situation. They are also very proud people, taking pride in their community and holding its reputation in high regards. Sometimes Joppatowne is looked down upon by the rest of the county, for superficial reasons such as bad test grades from our schools or a heightened crime rate in our community. But the area is not as bad as it is portrayed in the minds of others. The people within the community generally seem to be optimistic about the area they live. In 2003, a hurricane destroyed a lot of the property in Joppatowne. Against all odds, people stuck together to help rebuild the community rather than watch it crumble under stress. It is a testament to the character of our community that through hard times, the people stuck together to bring the community out of the rubble. You will most likely never see a person from Joppatowne with their head down; in general as a community, we see the glass as always half full.

A community is a combination of many things, from the people that inhabit it to the land itself that the community lies on. Joppatowne is molded by not only its geographical landscape, but the people that live there and the attitude that those people hold. The seclusion that the peninsula provides for the community and the close-knit atmosphere within the people give the community of sense of family. That sense of family has been instilled in me and even now that I am out of Joppatowne the values the community has taught me still mold the way I interact with people today.

Brains or Brawn: The Basis of Survival

People have argued the importance of both instinct and intelligence in terms of the survival of a species, but which is more vital? I believe that both are equally important for survival but each characteristic tends to produce different species over time. The wolf has been around since the earliest men on this earth. Those certain wolves that befriended man in the beginning, after years of breeding, came to be known as dogs. Dogs and wolves come from the same genetic lineage, but each personifies a different characteristic: intelligence in the dog and instinct in the wolf. Although both species have survived over time, the survival of the wolf has relied heavily on its natural impulses on how to live, while a dog’s intuition and intelligence has been the key to its’ survival, producing two distinct animals out of one genealogy.

After befriending man, the dog been able to use circumstance and smarts to secure its’ survival throughout time. It has taken advantage of man and used us in order to have us take care of them. Whether intentional or not, dogs use their looks to get their way in almost as a sense of flattery. The term “puppy eyes” has been derived from the look a dog gives his or her owner when it knows it has made a mistake; showing that dogs can read people’s emotions and be able to evaluate situations. Many dogs will return to a home after they have escaped realizing that they have it better where they were rather than being out on their own. More importantly, dogs can also find their way home, showing a simple form of memory. Dogs also form relationships with man, which their counterparts do not. The only part of instinct that dogs show is in terms of mating. Dogs mate using the animal instincts imprinted in their genes. The majority of the dogs existence is based on intelligence while only a small part, mating, derives from instinct. Although dogs are not as intelligent as man, they can use a simpler form of aptitude in order to outsmart man and take advantage of its circumstance in order to get taken care of by man.

The dog’s more animalistic counterpart, the wolf, uses its imprinted instincts to feed, hunt, and pass its genes throughout history. The wolf is a hunter in nature, stalking and killing its prey, using its simple impulses in order to feed itself. Although a bit of intellect is needed in order to capture its prey, the instinct of the wolf is the basis of its survival. Wolves also travel in packs, which is based on their impulse for attachment. Wolves are very impulsive animals that tend to act on reflexes. Place a hand in front of a wolf and when I pull it away I might lose a finger. In contrast, place a hand in front of a more docile cousin, the dog, and he might sniff and lick your hand. Wolves tend not to take their time to think through situations, rather when they see an opportunity for food, they take it. This causes wolves to be seen as reckless because they don’t always think through situations. Wolves also use their animal character when it comes to mating. Much like dogs, wolves find a mate and then proceed to pass along their gene to secure its survival over time. Although wolves use intelligence in certain circumstances of hunting, much of the survival of their species is based on the instinct a wolf has for mating and feeding.

Although these two animals have branched from the same common genetic traits, each has harbored the majority of a different characteristic in order to survive: the dog has relied on smarts and intelligence, while the wolf has remained more animalistic. Yet both have been able to successfully pass their genes through time. This shows that although an animal may rely more heavily on one characteristic than the other, both attributes are present in both animals. All animals have instincts and impulses that they follow no matter how intelligent the animal may appear to be, and no matter how instinctive an animal may seem in order to survive it must have some capacity of learning and intellect. One genealogy has produced two different animals in the dog and the wolf, but the genetic makeup of each animal contains both intelligence and instinct, which provides the sanctuary of their pedigree throughout the rest of existence.

Deforestation: Savoir or Sin?

(Photo Credited to the AFP)

Flying over the dense, unpopulated jungle of southern Mexico on my way home from vacation, I looked out of the airplane window only to be disgusted by the sight. Amongst the beautiful landscape of the Mexican jungle lay an empty space just to the left of it that had been cleared for the use of agriculture. The Mexican government had sacrificed the beauty and nostalgia of their land for economic reasons, a perfect example of deforestation. Deforestation is a worldwide epidemic that is causing the natural resources and land of the world to decrease at an alarming rate. There are many reasons why a nation would use deforestation. It is economically productive giving new sources of energy, room for agriculture, and a boost of food production, but an increase in deforestation can lead to a harmful effect on the atmosphere, the water cycle, and the ecosystem.

In most cases, the main reason for deforestation is that the forest is not a good economic resource. With the growing population of the world and the blatant need for energy, forested areas are being sacrificed for the "betterment" of society. When trees are cut down on a large scale, it makes way for an increase in farmland, which can help bolster a new country economically. In many third world countries, agriculture is important in their economic infrastructure so the maximum amount of space for farmland would correlate to the maximum amount of money that would be available in that area of the economy. An increase in wood extraction for the use of energy is also a main factor contributing to deforestation. Since wood is cut down and moved for the use of fuel and energy it is easy to see why cutting down more trees would be useful for humanity. But probably the largest reason for deforestation is the need for increased food production. Easily put, forested lands cannot produce food at a higher rate than cleared land. The cleared land leads to the afore mentioned increase in farmland and cropping leading to an increase in food production. The food production also plays an integral role in the economical value of cleared land, since the sale of food can help buttress a growing economy. As the world grows over time, the need for a strong economy in the world picture becomes increasingly important, and since the forested lands are not economically productive, countries are more apt to turn the cold shoulder to their forests and let them be cleared.

Although the cutting down of trees may help an ailing country in an economic sense, the ecological consequences that accompany it are too many to discount. Deforestation negatively impacts the atmosphere, the water cycle, and the ecosystem. Since trees take carbon out of the air during photosynthesis when they are incinerated during clearing the extra release of carbon into the atmosphere can causes a fluctuation in amount of greenhouses gases, leading to the greenhouse effect on the atmosphere. Without trees in the area the carbon will find its way into the atmosphere without anything to take it back in and turn it into oxygen. Trees are also influential in the water cycle, taking the groundwater and releasing it into the air. Without this step in the cycle, there would not be a sufficient amount of water in the air leading to a drier climate. Also, with the absence of trees, there would be no way for the area to trap rain and other types of precipitation leading to flooding. The last and most important negative effect on the environment caused by deforestation is the interruption of ecosystems. When trees are removed it is not just the tree that is being taken, but also a habitat is being destroyed. The destruction of ecosystems leads to a degraded environment and smaller biodiversity in certain habitats. In general, as trees all over the world are being cutting down, the face value of these effects may seem minimal, but the underlying impact on the ecosystem, the water cycle and the atmosphere can play a huge role in a diminished standard of living for all.

The biggest question involved in the ethics of deforestation is whether the economic advantages outweigh the environmental consequences of clearing lands. Although deforestation can lead to an increase in farmland and help with the growing need for energy, its environmental drawbacks have a far greater impact on the world. Deforestation may seem like a quick fix for the needs of many around the world, but its negative effects may be felt for generations to come. If we proceed to allow deforestation to continue at the rate it is, the environment will never recover. Habitats will be destroyed causing the world to lose unique animals and the atmosphere will suffer leading to a less healthy world to live in. The best thing for everyone in the world, both man and animal, is to discontinue this act of butchery towards the environment because it causes more harm to the environment than it does good to a failing economy.