The Letter was written to the editor of Medford mail tribune criticizing environmentalists. The writer is reacting to a supposed decline in exploitation of the countries resources, for the call of environmentalism. He/she tends to disagree with environmentalists labeling them as extremist in their views and actions. In a serious tone, the writer upholds his firm stand against these environmentalists.
One can argue that the writer did not give the topic critical thought before submitting the letter. Despite the fact that he/she has the right to opinion, he/she should note that environmentalists are concerned with the well-being of the environment and he/she should label them as extremists as extremists would even sacrifice their lives to achieve their goal. He/she tries to show how he/she critically thought of the topic by reading about it every day but fails to touch on the positives of environmentalism. The writer can thus be labelled as extreme by issuing a firm stand against them while not evaluating the other party. By saying that environmentalism does not save humanity the writer expects to see more physical developments, he does not try to envision a world without environmentalism. He/she should note that environmentalism is based on the long term ecosystem state, which will pass on to future generations. He tries to site examples of how Siskiyou mountain range, Diamond peak and Brown Mountain have been turn into monument land and wilderness but fails to appreciate their positive economic impact to tourism. He further accuses the environmentalists of creating these sites unacquainted that. It is the central and federal governments that approve the creation of these sites. The writer maintains a selfish view; he says that they should be given their country back from the environmentalists ignoring the citizens that appreciate environmentalism. He appreciates how forests have been well preserved but sarcastically talks about how he enjoyed them for the past 40 years not seeing any ‘huge’ change. Maybe he should have tried to visualize a world without forests. He further argues that his country has the largest oil reserves which is false as Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves at 20% (Bridge & Le 2013). He says the Environmentalists will lead to a decline in exploitation of natural resources; this is untrue. Statistics show that 70% of U.S forests are classified as timberlands and that there was an increase of 39% in oil reserves in the U.S between the years 2008 and 2011(Benson 2010). Concluding his letter he talks about the Chinese coming to their country to exploit these resources without care on land conservation laws. He fails to put into consideration the Chinese tradition of preserving previous cultures and their respect for ancient civilizations.
This letter can be deemed not constructive for publication as the writer only shows contempt for the environmentalists and the views expressed only of his own. The writer did not give critical thought of his topic before submitting this paper which leaves so many question unanswered. The writer would have argued his thoughts as portrayed below.
Dear Editor
The call for environmentalism needs to be viewed with a critical eye. This is because a lot of articles exist emphasizing on the need for one to save or conserve a component of the environment.
Does environmentalism consider saving humanity? The Siskiyou range, Diamond peak at highway 45 and Brown Mountain at highway 150 are protected sites for their natural beauty and biodiversity. Does their protection oversee the need for man to log trees build mines or even nuclear plants? A carpenter without a passion for biodiversity may have a different view. Are environmentalists pushing too much in their quest for conservation? Maybe logging with a clear-cut afforestation plant would satisfy both parties.
The positive impacts of environmentalism cannot be ignored. However, man requires timber for construction and oil for energy. A balance needs to be achieved between natural resource conservation and utilization. It would be sad to find this country in the dark ages resulting from extreme environmentalism while other countries boast of infrastructure and advanced cultures. Let us consider this as we enact laws and legislation on forest management.
References
Bridge, G., & Le, B. P. (2013). Oil. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Benson, S. (2010). USA. Footscray, Vic: Lonely Planet.
