Introduction
This paper is a discussion of the argument that; not only individuals but government and other social organizations should engage in maintaining and conserving the environment. These other parties that arguably should engage in environmental protection include the state as a policy making body and social organizations among other parties. The environment can be defined as the surroundings of a person or an object; that include the bio-physical environment; the built surroundings that include transport networks and the physical systems that interact within the surroundings to exchange energy and mass among other properties. The other major aspect of the environment constitutes the natural living and non-living things that exist without the influence of human activities including living organisms; and natural features like water masses. Discussed in this paper is pollution, which is the introduction of foreign compounds or energy forms to the environment; and climate change which is the shift of climatic and weather patterns or their distribution. (Cat, 2009)
Main Body
As a personal response to the argument; the individual’s involvement in environmental conservation is not enough as there is need for policy and regulation enforcement where he can only give advice to the federal government on issues of environmental protection policies and planning; give the government and other authorities’ advice on the scientific and technological actions that affect the environment; and to prepare intervallic master plans for the advancement of environmental science and expertise. The individual is also supposed to advise environmental conservation enforcing agents of; the financial requirements necessary for the execution of environmental plans; provide support and promote cooperation on environmental conservation issues with environmental conservation agencies including the international bodies related to environmental protection. The individual has a legal right to live in a clean favorable environment; therefore should take the responsibility to report matters of environmental degradation to conservation agencies; keep activities and sources of energy that result to the least environmental pollution that can be achieved by adopting environmental friendly sources of energy and specializing in environmentally friendly socio-economic activities. The individual has the initiative of cutting down on pollution through proper waste management; recycling of resources; and through using materials that are bio-degradable. (David, 1994)
The government on the other hand has the responsibility of conserving the environment in the following ways: The creation of liberalism that will allow for improvement of property rights, personal freedom, and the rule of law that in-turn lead to an increase in environmental protection. The government should also participate through formation of policies to do with absolute limits on carbon dioxide and funding of systems of alternative sources of energy that discourage environmental pollution. Governments should engage in coordinating efforts to buy, and defend biodiversity hotspots around the world through policy formulation; adjust to the increased instances of natural disaster through planning and risk management that come into action when risk strikes; address the issues related to localization of industries that result to an extended risk of environmental degradation and pollution in the different parts of the countries. Governments should also seek to address the question of conflicting political powers on issues of environmental degradation; review the areas of federal mandates to ensure that authorities responsible are in full control of environmental pollution; formulate policies on resource use to ensure that non-renewable resources as well as endangered species are conserved to avoid exhaustion and extinction. Governments should support and finance the formation of national pollutant inventories that provide information to the different parties about the release of substances and instances of pollution into the air, land and water. Governments should also put in place an environmental news network that seeks to pass and distribute information about sensitive issues on environmental protection as well as supporting local environmental protection groups and organizations that are limited in finances and manpower (Fleming & Bethany 2006).
Intergovernmental organizations; NGOs; and other social organizations, are helpful in environmental protection because they are represented in policy formulation, program planning and funding and therefore can be helpful in promoting environmental conservation in their capacity of authority. Hybrid organizations as well can be useful in influencing governmental decision making and funds allocation to favor environmental protection. As these organizations are involved in development planning, they can also influence the development programs to take environmental friendly forms in the promotion of environmental conservation. These organizations can also help in conservation through making partnership with institutions that specialize in environmental protection. (Fleming & Bethany 2006)
Pollution is the introduction of contaminating components into an environmental resource or factor that brings about disorder, unsteadiness, uneasiness or harm on the habitats of the given ecosystem. The different ecosystems that are affected include; land, water and air. Environmental degradation also takes the form of waste disposal that is said to take place when there is inappropriate or poor waste management. In the current industrial society waste takes the form of plastics; chemical waste and nuclear energy that can be recycled to become useful and not become a threat to the stability of the environment. The other area of concern in environmental conservation is resource depletion that refers to the run out of certain resources within a given region; both renewable and non-renewable. Resource depletion is mostly experienced in the fossil fuel and mining industries that form over centuries through fossil accumulation. As a measure to keep resource depletion down, organizations and governments are championing for recycling of these resources or the use of alternative renewable resources. (Fleming & Bethany 2006)
Climate change is an environmental threat and therefore an initiative of the government and individuals in environmental protection. Climate being the geometric circulation of weather over durations of time; that vary between decades to millions of years depicting changes through the variation of weather patterns or distributions of weather events. The human causes of climate change include the effects of irrigation farming on humidity quotient and the increased amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted by fossil-fuel burning machinery and industrial plants. Human activities are the major cause of climate change therefore measures by the individual and governments are needed. These measures can be achieved through policy formulation and responsible living on the part of the individual. (David, 1994)
However the causes of environmental degradation can be attributed to the activities of individuals; therefore this leaves the issue of environmental conservation solely to the individual and not the other parties that include the government and social organizations; as proposed to this study that proposed that for environmental conservation to take place the government and other groups should be involved. As a justification to the need for the involvement of the government and other social organizations; the government plays the role of formulating policies that address the different areas of concern under environmental conservation; and these institutions often fund local environmental protection groups and functions like environmental awareness seminars.
Conclusion
In summary it can be argued that, the individual is not the sole actor in environmental conservation as his efforts towards environmental conservation maybe insufficient due to the lack of the enforcing power of policies and funding that may not be available to the individual. Environmental protection agencies also form an important role in the funding of local environmental protection groups as well as environmental awareness tools like seminars.
Reference
Cat, L., 2009. “Light, Dark and Bright Green Environmentalism”. Green Daily. Web.
Cunningham, W., 1998. Environmental encyclopedia. Gale Research. London. P 312.
David, U., 1994. “London’s Historic ‘Pea-Soupers”. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Pg 45-53. Web.
Fleming, J., Bethany, R., 2006.“History of the Clean Air Act”. American Meteorological Society. Pg 128-154. Web.
Pelletier, J., 2002. “Natural variability of atmospheric temperatures and geomagnetic intensity over a wide range of time scales”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.99: 2546–2553