Before Monday’s class, I had no knowledge of the pollution problem in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. I think it is outrageous that all this pollution has occurred without any sort of regulation and attribution. Rio de Janeiro now has the privilege of hosting the World Cup and the Olympics in two and four years, respectively. I can see two distinct possibilities that could play out.

Hopefully, since the entire world will be watching, Rio de Janeiro will begin remedying the pollution problem in order to make their city appear beautiful, as it should, as opposed to a polluted mess. There is a problem with this scenario however, which leads into the other possibility.

Rio de Janeiro is going to have to spend millions and millions of dollars to prepare the city to host the World Cup and especially the Olympics. The city will have to work hard to build stadiums for the different events and clean up he streets in time for the thousands that will venture to Rio de Janeiro to watch the World Cup and the Olympics. Since all this money is going to be spent for preparation purposes, it is going to be difficult to find funds for cleaning up the pollution problem in the bay. Perhaps afterwards, if Rio de Janeiro makes a significant profit from all of tourists it attracts for the Olympics, funds will open up to fuel this project. If not, unfortunately this pollution problem will continue to grow and the bay will only get worse until the entire ecosystem is beyond repair.

This idea of money driving decision-making is crucial. We live in a time where people mostly care about themselves in the now, and could care less about paving the way for future generations. Since people only think about themselves, particularly big companies and corporations, most are willing to cut corners and take the cheaper (easy) way out, as opposed to the environmentally friendly alternative. A major example is the dumping of PCBs into the Hudson. This is an unacceptable way of getting rid of waste and needs to be regulated in a way that actually works including crippling fines. I think it is good that we have finally started removing the PCBs, and made a plan to ship them off to the Southwest. While this is not an ideal solution, it is the best one available. I do not like the idea of having these PCBs travel in railcars through half the country, but it is a necessary measure. Hopefully, this is the last we ever hear of PCBs.

Many people feel that there is no point in conserving now for the benefit of the future, because those of us living now will be long gone by the time we suffer the consequences of our current actions. While this is a very tempting notion, it is unacceptable. We need to change the attitudes of people to make them realize that it is our responsibility to conserve for the future. We were given the privilege of living during our time, and the least we can do is take care of our Earth, and pass it on in the same condition we lived in.

The idea of literally depleting the Earth of all of its resources does not seem real to anyone. In actuality, it is inevitable unless we are able to find some alternate means of energy. We have done this in the past, but we cannot expect to continually do it. People need to change their attitudes about conservation and the future, and start making changes. This all starts with the individual.