Introduction
Environment refers to the sum total of the conditions that surround people and other living organisms. The thriving or survival of many organisms, including human beings, depends on the conditions of the environment. A poorly conserved environment presents great hazards to its inhabitants. However, if well conserved, environment gives invaluable benefits to those it supports.
The energy crisis that the world is currently facing is due to the pollution, over exploitation and depletion of natural resources; therefore, there is an urgent need for the concerned parties and organizations all over the world to endeavour to conserve the environment to ensure its sustainability. This essay focuses on efforts that the Crude Oil film and Week Three Tapped movie apply to sensitize the population about environmental conservation.
The Crude Oil Film
Summary
Directed by Wang Bing, the Crude Oil movie is a documentary whose main theme revolves around the need to conserve the environment. To conserve the environment, the documentary advocates for the urgent need to prevent pollution of the environmental resources.
In particular, the movie focuses on pollution that most companies and renowned corporations cause in quest for energy. It gives the Ecuadonian Amazon (rainforest Chernobil) as one of the natural resources that large organizations have destroyed in the pursuit for energy.
It seeks to inform such companies and organizations of the dangers of using crude oil as energy sources without coming up with measures aimed at preventing pollution to the natural oil resources. Through this movie, Wang Bing argues that if the current trend continues for a considerably long period, then a major crisis is inevitable.
The environment will not be habitable, which will make life and living unbearable. Therefore, those who are sensitive towards the environment should not only make direct efforts to conserve it, but also sensitize the rest of the world about the need to conserve it.
Opinion
I vehemently agree with what Wang Bing is trying to put across through his documentary. It does not require much conviction for one to realize that the modern society faces a major crisis emanating from the wanton depletion of natural resources for short-term benefits such as production of energy.
With time, more and more industries are emerging and the population exhibits an ever-increasing trend; consequently, people continue to destroy natural resources like crude oil resources to meet their energy requirements. Therefore, the natural resources are becoming insufficient and the situation worsens by the day.
In order to avoid the looming environmental crisis, individuals and organization have to observe strict measures during the use of natural resources to prevent pollution and unnecessary depletion. Besides, there should also be efforts to use alternative sources of energy to avoid overdependence on crude oil whose exploitation leads to environmental destruction.
In addition, governments should protect natural resources like the Ecuadonian Amazon by imposing strict guidelines on companies using coal products as their sources of energy. As a result, the environment and its resources would be able to sustain the needs of the current generation and generations to come.
Week 3 Tapped
Summary
The director of the movie, Week 3 Tapped, seeks to sensitize the world about the harmful effects of using crude oil and its products as the main source of energy. The movie also awakens the audience about the potential harm that bottled water has on human health. It focuses on companies for example Nestle and Coca-Cola that obtain water on a free basis and sell it to people after cleaning it.
Clean water forms only 1% of the earth’s surface but due to the exploitation of crude oil resources, some of the harmful substances contained in the crude oil find their way to water resources. PET, for example refers to a chemical substance called parazyline from crude oil and this chemical normally finds its way to water products such as coke, dasani and nestle.
In addition, PET contaminates air, soil and underground water. Therefore, the director of this movie suggests that the exploitation of crude oil results in contamination of natural water resources, which is a constituent of many consumable liquid products.
The director further reveals that the immediate effects of these chemicals on the human body are minute and initially unnoticeable; however, these minute amounts accumulate and harm the body after considerable period. Therefore, it is important that governments be aware of the potential effects that the exploitation of crude oil has on human health.
Oil has become a necessity for most activities ranging from car construction to industrial production. Oil has even attracted wars, for example, the Iraq hinges on the desire by nations to control oil reserves as a means of gaining power. People around the world therefore need to halt the exploitation of oil resources and adapt alternative energy sources.
Opinion
I concur with the message that the director of this movie sends to the audience. First, it is worthy to note that indeed, oil as a source of energy has forced nations to scramble for power.
America, for example, has in the past tried to control the oil rich Iraq, which ended up in war. The Bush administration fostered good relations with oil companies to control this rare resource. If things stay unchanged, then a major global crisis is imminent. The demand for oil will escalate to supersede the supply and the world will plunge into uncalled crisis.
Consequently, prices for the little available oil will shoot up making it affordable for only the rich people in the society. The future generation will suffer greatly since an energy crisis usually affects all sectors of the economy. People will not be able to afford basic commodities and industries that depend on oil as the main source of energy for example air transport will stall resulting into a global crisis. Indeed, there is need to seek alternative sources of energy other than oil.
Conclusion
The use of crude oil as a source of energy has become a common practice in the modern world. The reason behind this trend is population increase and emergence of many industries. Overdependence on crude oil as a source of energy has led to energy crisis due to high demand and limited supply.
The exploitation of this energy resource has also led to the degradation of the environment. Some harmful chemicals present in crude oil find their way to consumable resources like water. Unfortunately, such chemicals are known to affect the health of the human beings negatively.
If nations continue depleting crude oil resources for energy production, then a global energy crisis is imminent. Therefore, there is a dire need to sensitize governments to put stern measures that either restrict exploitation of oil reserves, or ensure that people take important measures that seek to conserve the environment and protect human health.