While many people believe that self-isolation will cause less pollution due to the fact that people will not be driving, out of the house, and at work. Somehow the government figured out a way to even reverse that. The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that major companies and organizations will not receive sanctions for polluting either the water or air. They added a loop-whole in which these companies are allowed to ignore environmental regulations as long as they say it is because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The thinking behind this is that it makes it hard for companies to keep running and not letting go of employees. In my opinion, this is ridiculous. I believe that this is nonsense and the backlash they are getting is justified. Somehow we cannot let the environment be in peace… even if it is only for a few months. The government should be smarter than this and create better stimulus packages for workers. This would allow workers to not have to work and still get paid, who would be taking the hit would be the big companies and big business. Why does the government see it fit to be able to harm the environment further when we already have done so much harm. One example that demonstrates what is going on is that oil rigs do not have to report and disclose their carcinogenic benzene emissions. And according to various articles 10 rigs have already surpassed this limit. Do you think this is a good idea from the government or no?
NABIL OPED
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-gardner-china-pollution-20140422-story.html This OP-ED is by Daniel Gardner and published on the Los Angeles Times. This op-ed is essentially discussing how China’s urban development (urban sprawl) is actually very awful for the already poor environment in china. Despite the fact that the title of this article includes the words “OP-ED” in the title, someone could tell this is an op-ed from the structure. It is much more free-flowing and isn’t as formal if that makes sense. The author has a straight opinion on the issue is not afraid to share it. Less factual and more emotional based.