Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Keith T. North view on: How Society Can Assess Natural Resources

 Environmental Studies
Warner Pacific College
July 29, 2014

                                         How Society Can Assess Natural Resources

            Assess of natural resources should be discussed in a college classroom setting, but should as well be discussed on a national level, with a national audience. Our natural resources are and have been, at a minimum, morally mismanaged by irresponsible, ambitious, profit seeking companies, who’ve had, “malicious hallucinations of the American dream.” History has demonstrated that utilizing monetarily effectiveness in managing sustainable resources is much more cost effective than a restoration of the lost resource. In one recent article released by the city of Los Angeles understood that, “materials can be recycled and reused over and over again, saving resources from going into landfills or incinerators, safeguarding natural resources, and creating a viable and profitable alternative for our trash. (Don’t waste.com2014).”  Los Angeles has proven that effective management of natural resources can provide their community value and morally acceptable dividends.

      What are natural resources? The USGS defines them as, “water, minerals, coal, oil, gas, living things, and the land itself - are this Nation's treasures.”(USGS2014). Our nation’s treasures, a true profound statement! The resources we use every day are truly our nation’s treasures. Our industrial and military domination in the world today would not be as effective without the influence of what those natural resources have provided. Authorization of consumption for these plentiful resources is a rough road cautiously traveled by our nation’s leaders. We are a nation of abundance, but we understand that an abundance of one is not enough, we must manage it.  The United States still dominates most countries in natural resources, except for Russia, but at the same time we are a nation of glutinous users.  
     In regards to oil, the world’s number one natural resource, (Greenbang.com) states that, “as of 2010, the United States used 19.15 million barrels of oil per day — more than doubles the figure for the consumer in second place: China, with a daily demand of 9.06 million barrels per day.”
We double the use of oil compared to the next industrialized nation below us.
What can we do as a nation that will impact our culture?

     I believe we have activated the process.
1.     We have and are being convinced by our leaders that as Americans we cannot sustain this current lifestyle of use. If we don’t practice conservation of natural resources they will run out.
2.      Our Government has enacted rules and regulations that provide incentives for conversation.
3.     The American auto makers are creating an atmosphere of choice with the ability to make a difference. We have chooses now to go either fully or partly green with economical selections available for all.

            The Bureau of Land Management is the initial provider for companies and organizations seeking opportunities for obtaining the fuels of our nation’s natural resources. The bureau in the past provided these resources basically for anyone who had a financial interest in the land, over utilization and desolation of the land was not a priority. We know this as we followed the lumber industry history of logging in BLM lands. Today’s BLM is much different. The job of managing the resources continues but BLM has instituted a “Socioeconomics Strategic Plan.” It is a plan that provides dynamic involvement of the public interests along with the ability to provide the social involvement it desperately needed within its management decision core.
The BLM has a soul now!

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