Atmospheric Pollution and Other Issues Essay Example

Introduction

Before addressing the issue of environmental pollution, it is necessary to provide answers to the question: 'how does atmospheric pollution occur?' To have a clear understanding of how atmospheric pollution occurs, one has to familiarize with the planet's surrounding. Earth and life in itself depend on a blanket of mixed gases termed 'air.' The air (atmosphere) is about five hundred kilometers thick which a combination of odorless, colorless and clear gasses that the force of gravity at play. Because air is intangible, man has always ignored it, making it susceptible to easy, intentional and unintentional damage by man. Is because of the continuous damage that man has caused to the atmosphere that there has been a never-ending political, legal and scientific debate over the 'Greenhouse Effect.' The Greenhouse effect debate is founded on the concern of an ever-rising atmospheric level of carbon dioxide which causes a combination of emissions, fossil fuels and other gases such as chlorofluorocarbons, methane and nitrous oxides.

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Human activities have introduced new chemicals into the air thus disturbing the natural distribution of atmospheric constituents. However, man has taken nature for granted. This leads to a question of whether the government and businesses care about environmental protection. Because of the issue of air pollution, this paper also raises an issue that Canadian ecological law is not doing an excellent job in their fight to conserve the natural environment. Although there could be environmental law particularly in Canada to protect the environment but another issue raised in this paper is that the law is not strict enough; therefore the Canadian administration should take more action to protect the future of its people.

Purpose of Environmental Law

To intertwine the issues presented in this essay, it could be necessary to ask; what is environmental law, who uses it and what is its purpose? These questions are being raised as issues to understand the background of the subject not just to have an understanding of environmental law but to provide an in-depth analysis of this discussion. According to Benidickson (2000) 'Environmental law', the subject can be defined as a combination of primary legislation, secondary legislation, judicial decisions, common law principles which are transposed into state law. One primary function of environmental law is not for a complete elimination of pollution but instead to create legislation that allows equal pollution levels with gains of economic growth. It is from this phenomenon that the concept of 'sustainable development' is born.

According to the Bruntland Report (1987), sustainable development is defined as 'the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising that of future generations.' In simple terms, what the Bruntland report recommends is that they should use the planet's resources in a manner that will not endanger how those coming after we could use the same funds. An example of showing a lack of sustainable development is evident in the Communist states such as Poland where the state favors economic development and production rather than environmental protection. In simple terms, if this growth is not controlled, then there is a high likelihood that it will cause danger to the environment.

Canada Not Doing Enough to Protect the Environment

One way to prove that the current government of Canada is not doing enough to protect the atmosphere around its environs is through statistics. Using current statistics, it is evident that air quality in Canada is growing worse by day. This is one of the environmental law issues that should be discussed in any forum to stimulate action from government legislation. In a report released by Mastroianni (2016), the ground level ozone layer and the quality air in Canada were measured and the results compared to previous years. According to this report, the air quality of Canada is deteriorating because harmful pollutants in the atmosphere have increased by 16 percent since 2003. The most unfortunate discussion is that with an increase by year since 2003, the quality of air in Canada for the rest of the year is set to be on the decrease regarding quality.

From this issue of statistics and negligence of Canada's government, another problem that needs to be discussed is the short term effects of atmospheric pollution. With the statistics that the future could be worse concerning air pollution, a percentage of citizens think that it is only future generations that will suffer. Unfortunately, there are short term effects of atmospheric pollution which include irritation to the nose, eyes, and throat as well as feeling nauseated and having headaches. Long term effects of atmospheric pollution include heart disease, brain damage, lung cancer, and even premature death. Greenhouse gas emissions have been rising while Canada's government is not becoming efficient. In simple terms, it is evident that there has been a clear indication that as time progresses, the quality of air in Canada keeps decreasing because more people are set to die prematurely over the next decade due to breathing problems and poor air quality. (The Canadian Press, 2017). All this is happening under the governance of current leadership. It thus means that authorities should take more action to save the surrounding for the sake of the future.

Role of Private and Public

What is the purpose of public and private institutions in environmental law? In the 60s people had no idea about environmental regulations. They did not know about the consequences of human activity on the atmosphere and the environment until the beginning of the 20th century. In the early years of the 20th century, citizens were permitted to sue those who caused damage to the environment. Later, the KVP Act was passed to limit the rights of people to have polluters arrested because arrest may affect the company's profits and productivity. The Canadian government saw environmental protection to be less critical compared to economic growth, and by 60s, environmental damage was evident. Instances of atmospheric pollution became severe. It was through collective action that new laws had to be introduced but under 'public law.' Although it seemed that the government had significantly intervened, it is not believed to be a significant intervention.

This means that the intervention from the government is very because they do not cover big projects that could potentially harm the environment. The environmental rights are also weak which generally makes the government weaker. The created Bill of rights was like a token to the public from the government to allow the public to participate in any efforts to restore environmental protection on their own. The issue with the bill is that it is just a compilation to the government, making it less effective. This puts the environment at the priority of the public because even in the past, members of the public made more attempts to help the situation compared to private institutions which have done a poor job till today.

Role of Political Parties

According to Benidickson (2000), the federal application of environmental assessment on a legislative basis is controversial. This is enough evidence that the Canadian government is not doing good enough to protect the environment. The political parties in Canada make the environmental problem worse because conservatives have always been on the opposing side against any measures to protect the environment. Since political parties were introduced to Canada, those on the opposing team have eliminated about 20 programs meant to reduce emissions on the environment. This is why the government of Canada cannot publicize important health reports on the nature of damage to the environment due to climate change (The Guardian, 2012). , and it is the same government that Canadian citizens tax to expecting quality services. Other than violating the rights of its citizens regarding environmental law, the government of Canada is immoral and not doing the best to conserve the air. The government with the help of certain political parties hides vital environment information from the public because they know the damage is quite shocking. Environmental Acts in Canada are not so strong, and at the same time the government is not willing to involve the public, how can atmospheric pollution be stopped?

In the case of British Columbia v. Rascal Trucking Ltd, there is proof that the Canadian government does not care about air quality (McDonald, 2011). City council officials' permitted Rascal Trucking Ltd to drop soil on some land to conduct processing operations. Members of the public complained about noise and dust emissions. Later, the municipal council ordered the firm to remove the soil and discontinue testing practices. The court of Appeal handling the case quashed the case and declared the soil being a nuisance must be removed immediately. However, at this time, the case had been in court for four years, the neighborhood had suffered all these years. In as much as the court had come to the aid of the public, it had taken too long confirming the claim that the Canadian Government is not doing well enough to protect the environment.

Atmospheric pollution is an old phenomenon and is getting worse by day because governments are not concerned about the case. The Canadian Government is a culprit and needs to work on their environmental law particularly in the field of atmospheric pollution and develop stringent measures that save both the present and future generations from destruction. To increase the quality of air in Canada, the Government including political parties and relevant authorities must decrease the amount of air pollution and act quickly on cases reported about the same. Conclusion

The government should be free to share reports on atmospheric pollution to the public as one way of involving citizens. By doing this, cases similar to that of British Columbia v. Rascal Trucking Ltd would be avoided in the future. The natural gases in the air are needed for the sustenance of humanity and day to day survival of animals on the planet. Therefore, the government of Canada still has so much to do to ensure that the existence of humanity and wildlife is not jeopardized.

References

Benidickson, J. (2000). Environmental law, 4th Edition, Irwin Law.

Brundtland, G. (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. [online] Available at: http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf

Mastroianni, B. (201). Air Pollution takes a deadly toll Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/air-pollution-kills-more-than-5-million-people-worldwide-each-year/

McDannold, G. (2011). Court of Appeal rejects major industry tax challenge Retrieved from http://www.sms.bc.ca/2011/05/court-of-appeal-rejects-major-industry-tax-challenge/

The Canadian Press. (2017). Air pollution causes 7700 premature deaths in Canada each year: Report Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/air-pollution-results-in-7700-premature-deaths-in-canada-each-year-report/article35173752/

The Guardian. (2012). Oh Canada: the government's broad assault on the environment Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/02/canada-government-assault-environment