Hailey Turpin

UWRT 1101-038
Sarah Lovin
November 4, 2015

Take a Stand for the Earth.

Carbon emissions, climate change and other environmental issues are not the hottest topic
when it comes to politics. However, we see it every day. Filling up our cars with gas, seeing
power plant smoke stacks in the distance, and watching our front lawn change from green to
brown are all major effects of carbon emission and ozone depletion. But why are our future
leaders not reaching out to this daily issue? What factors are causing these problems and what
can we do to help? Thomas Friedman, a New York Times opinion writer takes a stand for the
grandness of this issue and calls out the negligence from the government in this article and is
prepared to challenge the ideas that we all have about climate change.
Friedman explains in the beginning of the article that China and India are planning to
reduce their carbon emissions and this is concerning to him and conservationists. He brings up
the lack of knowledge from the future leaders of our country about this issue, and continues to
explain that the candidates for the upcoming presidential election have shown little to no
initiative toward this problem. He refers to the candidates as knuckleheads due to their lack of
stance on this idea and throughout this article chooses to take a more liberal approach to the
ideas presented.
As the article goes on, Friedman talks about the CNN G.O.P. presidential debate and how
the topic of Ronald Regans urge to get American industries more aware of ozone depletion, and
how Governor Chris Christie responded to the statements. Friedman brings up the damage

Hurricane Sandy did to Christies state back in 2012, and is believed to bring it up because it
contradicts what Christie said at the debate. As an informed citizen, I understand the importance
of being politically correct. But if you are able to talk about all the issues that make breaking
news and know exactly where you stand gives your campaign the diversity to reach everyone
from every group of people.
Friedman continues on in the article next with the phrase But hey, stuff just happens.
He added this line of sarcasm because it brings together how Gov. Christies ideas does not line
up with the forces of Mother Nature and ideas of ozone depletion. Friedman also uses phrases
like Dumb-as-we-wanna-be and climate skeptic to describe the republican candidates
because of their resistance towards the ideas. He also makes a bold statement about the future of
our planet, which reads and if you vote for a climate skeptic for president, youd better talk
to your kids first, because you will have to answer to them later, claiming that he intuitively
believes that republicans and conservatives do not care much for environmental topics. This
quote from the article is used to bring a factor of fear into play, saying that if we as Americans
dont start worrying, there may not be a place for our kids in the future.
The article goes on using more loaded language to bring emotions into the text. Words
like urgency, punishing and seminomadic are used to tell why we are faced with the
difficulty of climate change. The earth is forcing us out of the places we have built plantations,
factories and cities on, and we have turned our backs on Mother Nature and create chemicals that
hurt our ozone and cut down trees that give us oxygen. We have in turn put all of earths
ecosystems under stress and have caused many new problems like serious climate change,
chemical pollution, land and water degradation, and loss of plant and animal species.

With the way the earth is suffering like it is, we are decreasing the life span of the planet.
Friedmans use of loaded language shows the negative side to the effects of climate change.
However, our planet is smarter than it seems. It adapts to the stress we put upon it, by trees and
oceans absorbing the extra amounts of CO2, forests still providing enough rain and fresh water
and many other ways. But Friedman believes that we are continually exhausting the earth, and
could use up all of our natural resources we have.
Friedmans article explains the importance of interest in the environmental issues
and the future of our country. Not paying attention to environmental affairs will cause
consequences in the long run, and understanding the issues now will prevent the worst and
help our planet live longer. We as earth dwellers should be concerned for our time left on this
wonderful planet we call home. The problems of carbon and chemical emission have recently
become better known, and we as innovators and free thinkers should work hard to make
resources last longer and to become aware of the situations at hand. If everyone, including
conservative republicans, become more involved in our earth and work together with other
countries like China and India to reduce carbon emissions, develop cars that run on natural
materials and teach the public about earth and its properties, we as humans can live a better
quality of life and give future generations a better place to call home.