The Earth Is Dying and It’s our Faults!!!!! 

This is my position paper. Position papers are used to inform the general public as we as tell the government on the importance of sustainability. I will be talking about the importance of clean water, explain terms, as well have news/ experiments on the seriousness on this topic. to the general audience. I will convince the audience on the impotence of sustainability.

Governor Hochul’s FY 2023 Investments in Clean Energy Infrastructure, Climate Resilience, preservation in this idea that the Governor has she plans to have clean water and air. As well as changing a lot of things such as changing buses into electric buses.  New York has had a series of issues involving garbage on our beaches.  Which can attract animals, bugs, rats. This is a danger to us and ocean life as well. It takes away people’s ability to have sustainability as well as having a negative effect on are mental state. New Yorkers should take a firm approach on these issues for the problem will grow and grow until there is no turning back. 

  The beach is full of glass bottles, bags, diapers, etc.   “Poor water quality in New York City’s beaches stems mostly from raw sewage that overflows from the city’s outdated sewer system, and pollution from the streets that makes its way into the harbor when it rains, environmentalists who spoke with City Limits say. The degree to which each form of contamination affects a particular beach depends on location—some are closer to sewage overflow sources than others” (Simões & Pullido, 2023). This was an article published in May 2023 more than a year after the governor posted her plan for improving our Environment. She does address the injustice in certain communities and how there is a lot of trash not being picked up. However, we are forgetting other places like beaches which we have a close connection with the animals who live there as well.  February 2023 it has been very noticeable for New Yorkers that beaches aren’t being well managed as they used to be and there is more garbage which attracts more rats to beaches making people not want to go. Additionally, not only is it making it dangerous for people to swim but also, the sea life as well. It’s stated in the article the “entanglement and ingestion of plastic debris by marine animals contribute to distressing ecological consequences, affecting populations of fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. The persistence of plastic waste in the ocean also leads to the release of toxins and the disruption of food chains, further destabilizing delicate aquatic habitats” (Thesustainable. Life & Thesustainable. Life, 2024). The quote tells us the negative impact of us not recycling properly. This has been an issue for ocean life since every animal is important to keep the ecosystem of the ocean-going, every animal has their own part just like animals on land. If it becomes unbalanced things such as dirty waters, animals die in the process. Adding on to the damages “an earlier, widely publicized study in 2015 estimated that about eight million metric tons of plastic was entering the ocean each year from rivers alone. The new research might seem like good news, but the full picture is complicated: The amount of plastic in the ocean is still increasing by about 4 percent every year, according to the study”. Even a small increase each year adds up to a huge accumulation over time. Within 20 years, the amount of plastic on the sea surface could double, the authors found” (Erdenesanaa, 2023). This quote us that if we want to end pollution we have to work together because just a small amount of pollution can make a big difference in the future. 

I have been doing a lot of research that involves understanding both sides of the situation regarding recycling. I’ve read the issues that contradict my ideas from starting and continuing. First and foremost, the idea I would like to zoom in on is just simply the other projects that have been going around New York City from the governor including funding money for new buses and new trains as well. So, because all the money is being funded towards that, it will be a lot of money replacing all those forms of transportation. It will be hard to make the beaches a big center point to help with recycling. The best we can do is complain and tell the Governor that Recycling should be everywhere instead of one aspect like low-income communities. Recycling should be a normality 

This is a chart of water being tested and how safe it is for people to swim in it (Simões & Pullido, 2023). The overall safety limit tells us how safe the water of beaches are. Clearly there not safe. 

As we continue living our lives more water is getting polluted, many sea animals will slowly start to be endangered and there will be irreversible damage to the earth. As things around us start to get so polluted that we can’t go outside, the idea of sustainability will be a story of the past. We don’t want that sustainability to continue not only for ourselves but for the animals to continue the circle of life we have on earth. Without them everything will start getting more and more difficult. Take advantage of all the recycling bins around your area and recycle. 

Sited Pages 

Simões, M., & Pullido, R. (2023, May 30). Beach season is here. How clean is the water in NYC? City Limits. Retrieved May 30, 2023, from https://citylimits.org/2023/05/30/beach-season-is-here-how-clean-is-the-water-in-nyc/#:~:text=Poor%20water%20quality%20in%20New%20York%20City%E2%80%99s%20beaches,rains%2C%20environmentalists%20who%20spoke%20with%20City%20Limits%20say. 

Thesustainable.Life, & Thesustainable.Life. (2024, January 3). What happens if we don’t recycle? The Sustainable Life | Join the Circular Living Movement ♲. https://thesustainable.life/what-happens-if-we-dont-recycle/ 

Erdenesanaa, D. (2023, August 7). There might be less plastic in the sea than we thought. but read on. www.nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/climate/plastic-pollution-oceans.html 

Governor Hochul announces transformative investments in energy affordability, building efficiency, and clean air and water. (n.d.). Governor Kathy Hochul. https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-transformative-investments-energy-affordability-building-efficiency