English 1A Environmental/Holper

Dear Writer, my environmental interest stems from having lived long enough to see California's population nearly double and the world's population do the same (now approximately 6.5 billion)—a phenomenon that strains our increasingly fragile support system, the earth. I have watched as the Amazon rainforests have been decimated, as we've been faced with growing problems such as global warming, greenhouse gasses, species extinction, resource wars, life-form patenting, over fishing, over logging, corral reef bleaching, krill loss, a recent honeybee die-off, and the list goes on. Yet I have also watched as humanity has gradually shifted from thinking of the environment as something merely to overcome or to utilize to thinking of it as something to protect. I find hope in such recent trends to protect our environment; after all, we have seen the bald eagle re-emerge as a viable species, we have repaired the hole in the ozone, so not all is gloom and doom.

One of my concerns has been that both American conservatives and liberals have been all too content with the status quo of gas-guzzling SUVs, with energy policies that are bound to make us both dependent on imported oil, while simultaneously in conflict with those nations that export oil. And if that’s bad enough, no one doubts that eventually we’ll run out of oil—it’s just a question of when. Keep in mind that the US Congress has just taken the opportunity to improve the fuel efficiency on all new US cars (both imported and domestic) for the first time since the 1970s, primarily because of delaying tactics from the auto and oil/gas industries. As the Union of Concerned Scientists points out in its website, "Americans consume 25 percent of the world's petroleum but possess only two percent of the world's supply. In 2000, the United States imported 54 percent of its oil products, sending nearly $200,000 overseas each minute. Depending so heavily on energy imports leaves Americans vulnerable to oil's price volatility." (Growing up in the Bay Area, I can remember when gas sold for .33 cents a gallon!)

I write this letter also as a father who would like to see his children live in a world in which the environment is not continually degraded for profit. I would like to see my children inherit an earth that is not denuded of living things and natural beauty. I may be naive in my hopes and dreams, but I far prefer such naiveté to the greed and corruption that has continues to damage the planet that we all rely on.

I also write as a citizen who would like to see our government less beholden to corporations, especially when it comes to the environment. In the last presidential race, George Bush, Jr. has raised over 200 million dollars, money which obligated him to do the bidding of those corporations. And in the coming election, even the liberal candidates will be beholden to corporate interests, which will similarly obligate them toward policies that may not serve the average person's environmental concerns, let alone our national interests.

Yet I also recognize that to protect the environment is expensive. For instance, in looking at short term solutions, ethanol seems to be a somewhat promising alternative fuel; however, when you look at how much corn we’ll need to grow and to import, you begin to grasp that in replacing oil, we may become dependent on corn imports, not to mention the fact that people in the Third World will be affected reduced availability of food. Developing long term alternative energies, such as hydrogen fuel cells, may already have been achieved by scientists; however, retooling US car assembly lines to produce such cars, phasing out gasoline engines, and creating the infrastructure for a national fueling network will cost a fortune. Of course, this may be inevitable, but it is still a very expensive proposition. Then if you consider that our nation is currently nine trillion dollars in debt, one has to step back and wonder how all this will happen.

What this suggests to me is that, as a nation, we’re going to have to begin to decide what environmental future we want. Not deciding will leave us on a crash course with disaster: the disaster of not only environmental degradation and possible collapse, but also the problem of fighting over diminishing resources, such as fresh water, oil, etc.

Anyway, that's just a small taste of my environmental concerns. Now I'd like to hear from you.

Thanks for the read!
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Dear Writer, now that you've read about my environmental interests/biases, I'd like you to tell me about yours. The assignment is a nutshell is to write me a two page letter (double-spaced) about your environmental concerns. (You're welcome to write more, if you need to, but no more than three pages.) I'm particularly interest in your honesty. Just remember to be specific!

Other things you might spill (when you toss out the chips!):

1) Tell me about your history with environmentalism.

2) Tell me about your specific interests, especially what excites you or makes you angry.

3) Tell me about what you're curious about.

4) Tell me what you hope or fear for the future.