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Currently, the world regards the United States as a global polluter, a threat to the environment, and a rampant consumer of valuable resources. The Bush regime was also recently buffeted for its absence at the World Earth Summit. President Bush and his cabinet have been under harsh criticism for the environmental policies. Industrial interests may have partially influenced the Bush policy; however, the American people and their way of life should bear equal blame. The US administration is the focus of this blame, but these government actions stem from the wasteful and extravagant habits of its people. The earth cannot sustain the American way of life without drastically diminishing the potential of others. Simply put, the American way of life must change for the welfare of the global ecosystem.
American habits, and lack of conscience when using resources, combined with its materialistic society makes for the reprimanded environmental policies of its leaders. We are a society in which hygiene standards have been taken to extremes; the average American family has eight loads of laundry per week. This translates to more water usage and demand. American kids leave the television on when they are not watching, they leave lights on when no one is present, and they turn the heating up to 65 F in the winter. These factors result in extensive energy usage and demand. When your average high school senior demands his own car, how can you expect decreases in gas consumption? The American life is prosperous, therefore it can afford to be wasteful, but in being wasteful, this way of life has made the conservation demands of the world inapplicable.
The only way to rid of this extravagance would be to educate others on the effects wasteful usage have on our society. Americans should be made aware of the difference between their living habits and that of the world, or otherwise incur the consequences of their present profligacy. I dream of a world where water is deemed precious, though it is available at the turn of a faucet. I dream of a world where energy conservation is habitual practice and all children, men, and women appreciate the miracles their lifestyles are dependent upon. So perhaps, in the circumstances of this environmental dilemma, activists should turn to the roots of the problem rather than to the responders. US environmental policies can only be reformed for the better through the general activism of the American public.
American habits, and lack of conscience when using resources, combined with its materialistic society makes for the reprimanded environmental policies of its leaders. We are a society in which hygiene standards have been taken to extremes; the average American family has eight loads of laundry per week. This translates to more water usage and demand. American kids leave the television on when they are not watching, they leave lights on when no one is present, and they turn the heating up to 65 F in the winter. These factors result in extensive energy usage and demand. When your average high school senior demands his own car, how can you expect decreases in gas consumption? The American life is prosperous, therefore it can afford to be wasteful, but in being wasteful, this way of life has made the conservation demands of the world inapplicable.
The only way to rid of this extravagance would be to educate others on the effects wasteful usage have on our society. Americans should be made aware of the difference between their living habits and that of the world, or otherwise incur the consequences of their present profligacy. I dream of a world where water is deemed precious, though it is available at the turn of a faucet. I dream of a world where energy conservation is habitual practice and all children, men, and women appreciate the miracles their lifestyles are dependent upon. So perhaps, in the circumstances of this environmental dilemma, activists should turn to the roots of the problem rather than to the responders. US environmental policies can only be reformed for the better through the general activism of the American public.
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H Wu
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