[00:00.00]UNIT11
[00:12.89]Acting Today for Tomorrow
[00:15.08]Protecting the natural environment,
[00:18.14]the ecology of a country,
[00:19.68]is a major concern
[00:21.21]for every country these days.
[00:22.74]It is mandatory not to
[00:25.14]minimize the importance of clean air,
[00:27.00]clean water, and clean land.
[00:28.97]It is a sad commentary on today's society
[00:32.14]that industries have been permitted
[00:34.44]to contaminate our natural surroundings.
[00:36.42]A dreadful discrepancy exists
[00:39.04]between the importance placed on economic development
[00:41.55]and the protection of the environment's heritage.
[00:44.29]If allowed to proceed unchecked,
[00:47.25]the public will eventually inherit a major catastrophe.
[00:51.07]Even countries who practice strict pollution
[00:53.79]control measures may still be affected
[00:56.09]by countries adjacent to or adjoining them,
[00:58.93]when air pollution permeates the air.
[01:00.80]It is important for media coverage
[01:03.97]to compile accurate data
[01:05.61]to enable the public to boycott
[01:07.47]increased irresponsible industrialization.
[01:10.32]To disguise the people's safety calling it progress
[01:14.03]will eventually lead to many casualties.
[01:16.66]Canada has a land and water mass of 9 970 610 km2,
[01:24.64]with a population of 30 million people.
[01:27.27]This is a country where the ratio of people
[01:30.11]compared to the mass of the land is very low.
[01:32.52]Can you conceive that
[01:34.60]in such a gigantic land
[01:35.57]that a garbage problem exists?
[01:37.43]I wish that I could reassure you that
[01:39.73]the answer is in the negative.
[01:41.16]The commodity most needed
[01:43.13]to address this problem is space.
[01:44.99]However, as urban areas grow,
[01:47.61]the abundance of waste also increases.
[01:49.90]Where once ample disposal sites were available,
[01:53.19]now every municipal government
[01:55.27]is scrambling to comply with
[01:57.02]and uphold local and national health regulations.
[01:59.97]Large metropolitan cities
[02:02.38]are having an especially difficult time.
[02:04.24]Local recycling programs have been authorized
[02:07.31]in many localities to safeguard the country's ecology.
[02:10.47]Even after the establishment of such token measures,
[02:14.19]reports from five consecutive years
[02:16.82]have indicated only negligible progress
[02:19.55]in solving this very perplexing problem.
[02:21.96]If we are to seriously address the problem
[02:25.03]we will need to minimize
[02:26.67]the amount of refuse we dispose of.
[02:28.31]New areas will need
[02:30.28]to be allocated for this purpose.
[02:31.81]The database of information collected
[02:34.32]should be detailed enough
[02:35.47]to responsibly direct our future actions.
[02:37.66]Every community, whether large or small,
[02:41.16]is searching for a solution to this problem.
[02:43.57]Municipalities, in attempting to appraise the situation,
[02:47.40]have spent countless years in research,
[02:49.48]expending both time and money,
[02:51.66]looking for a homogeneous answer.
[02:53.85]The public, hoping to avoid the tragic consequences
[02:57.46]of a manipulated decision,
[02:59.11]refuses to give enthusiastic support
[03:01.73]to most proposals.
[03:03.15]Solicitors are hired to prepare confidential reports
[03:06.55]to convince the public to accept the municipalities suggestions.
[03:10.05]The choice of a specific piece of farmland
[03:13.33]as a landfill site often causes
[03:15.74]an instantaneous hysterical reaction.
[03:18.14]At local meetings citizens reproach
[03:21.09]government officials yelling their disapproval
[03:23.06]at the choice of a specific site.
[03:25.25]They vent their anger
[03:27.00]but are not always able
[03:28.53]to mobilize sufficient public support
[03:30.18]to effect a wise and acceptable decision.
[03:32.80]Even though researchers claim that
[03:35.86]lined pits will not cause a drainage problem,
[03:37.94]the room for error is marginal.
[03:40.24]One flaw in the plan could be responsible
[03:42.97]for an epidemic or worse,
[03:44.72]causing multiple deaths.
[03:46.47]Any leaching from a landfill pit
[03:48.88]will create recurring difficulties
[03:50.53]in polluting a farmer's well and the ground water.
[03:53.15]Polluted water flowing into lakes
[03:55.78]will affect fish and wildlife
[03:57.64]and will hinder the sportsman's pleasures.
[03:59.93]To articulate their concerns beforehand,
[04:02.89]will hopefully avoid grief in the future.
[04:05.18]A veiled threat to public health
[04:07.59]immediately creates a bias
[04:09.34]towards protecting the people's safety
[04:10.77]and interests and establishing an educated suspicion. |
