Both science
and technology have allowed society’s growth in many aspects: education, health,
and economy, among others. They have also led to the enlargement of industrial
areas in many cities, and this expansion sounds good because of the big leap it
means for the economy, but have you thought about the cost?
Living conditions
in industrial parks are far worse than in other areas of the city. People who
live near refineries, thermoelectric plants, and other types of factories are
exposed to several chemicals that endanger their lives in many different and
critical ways. It is common to read a piece of news saying that X amount of
people were intoxicated because X problem occurred in a factory, and most of
the times, this information refers to people who do not even work in those
plants. Another type of news that is not uncommon to read relates to people who
have been hospitalized because of lethal diseases that these factories produce.
Moreover,
the government pays little attention to these issues. For instance, in 2008, the
USA TODAY conducted a research
regarding the identification of schools near toxic spots. Do you think the U.S.
government was interested about this? No; in fact, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency never undertook such investigation.
It is good
for a country’s growth to have factories and plants of any type; however,
previous analysis and studies should be mandatory before their construction. If
the government does not pay attention to this, who is going to do it?
If you are interested in the USA TODAY's article, check this website.
I think nobody is going to do it. People do not put much interests in these things, because they are not informed enough about it or they are just worried about other issues unless their lives are affected. We can see that, sometimes, the goverment hide this kind of information, or they take part of it in very neglected way. We could think about what happened in Quintero long time ago. People were intoxicated with the air that contains toxic chemical having a lot of health problems. Nevertheless, the goverment was worried and make those factories sign a letter with a commitment to have a cleaner city and take much more care of the community. Until now, changes haven't been seen; we hope that factories keep engaged with this problems and take the matter into their hands properly; we expect this from the goverment as well.
ReplyDeleteI have little hope that any government, not only the U.S government, is going to led an investigation in which the results can directly affect their industries and business; it is not worth it, they lose too much money. What Joaquín just showed to us, is clearly one of the many bad managed operations that the government have done, where the lack of control in such operation are affecting people's lives, and even worse, the future generations' lives.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed true that it may help the production and development of a country, but at what cost? I don't think any project is worth having if human lives are in danger.