Proactive Thinking, Fracking & LEED
I always wondered how New York was able to achieve having such clean tap water. There must have been something different that New York has done in order to achieve this, and indeed there is. Rather than spending billions of dollars on water filtration plants, NYC and the EPA agreed on watershed management. The local government bought thousands of acres of land upstate to protect the watershed and maintain the water. This type of forward thinking is the type of thinking that we need the government, corporations, and the individual to utilize. With this type of proactive thinking, there will be fewer problems arising and a higher quality of living.
Although some residents in the Catskills argue that this buyout of prime real estate hinders their economic growth, I believe that this waterway protection is very much needed. Had the government not purchased the land along the waterway, there would be corporations polluting the river and New York would not have the clean water that it has today. Yes, some may say that we could create water filtration plants, but those are extremely costly. Not only do they cost $9 billion, but they also cost $300 million a year to maintain. By that token, it only cost the government $1.5 billion to purchase 1,026 acres of land along the waterways. A smart investment if you ask me. There will always be trade-offs in life, and I believe that the benefits of protecting the watershed highly outweigh the benefits of economic growth in the Catskills. Not only is clean water provided for millions of New Yorkers, but the natural environment is also preserved allowing for ecological diversity.
A huge issue that remains today is the issue of fracturing shale underground to release oils and natural gas. Even today, fracking has not been deeply explored by scientists and the hazards are not concrete. Many corporations claim that it is safe due mostly in part to the composition of the fracking fluids. They claim these fluids to be “safe” because they are composed of 90% water, 9% sand, and only 1% chemicals. However, of that single percentage of chemicals, there are at least 29 known carcinogens including benzene. Nobody in their right mind would want to get anywhere near these chemicals, so why would corporations be allowed to pump this fluid into the ground? Sure, they say it is safe, they say that the shale is so deep that the chemicals will never reach the groundwater, but there is no hard proof that their claims hold true. In my eyes, this seems just as bad as giving mercury to those in third world countries to pan for gold. People in poor areas are being exploited so that businesses can make as much profit as possible at the expense of others. Fracking is just another non-renewable source of energy, and eventually this source of energy will be used up. I see no sense in pumping hazardous chemicals into the land, potentially rendering it unusable, just to obtain this non-renewable energy.
We must shift to renewable energy. We must become sustainable. Most adults spend their time working, so it would make sense to start creating buildings that are sustainable. This is where the LEED standard comes into play, which I think is a brilliant idea. By creating buildings that are efficient in water savings, energy consumption, building materials, indoor quality, and site development, a huge movement will be made towards sustainability. Although it may seem like one green building is not doing much to help the environment, all of the green buildings in the world significantly reduce the harm that we are doing to the earth. However, the individual can make an even greater impact. Although something as small as recycling a plastic bottle may not seem like a lot, it is ultimately up to the individual to help change the world.
