Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Business versus Environment Essay Example for Free
Business versus Environment Essay Businesses would always want to make more profit but this should be accomplished while also taking into account its social responsibilities. In the long run, there is an aggregate need for business entities to balance between profit and the adverse effects the business causes to the environment in its natural course of operations. Choosing not to consider the social and environmental costs associated with the business will result in less spending for operations but this in turn may affect the survivability of the business entity.            Many businessmen executives have realized that aggressive environmental programs result in profitability and competitiveness by reducing risks and avoiding additional costs from regulatory compliance programs. Environmental initiatives has its benefits for a business. It acts as morale and productivity boosters for the workers, enhanced brand image, streamline time-to-market and improved relations with regulators and the community. It is now understandable that an understanding of socio-economic, political and cultural processes and structures is necessary to understand environmental problems and in order to establish sustainable development.[1]            It cannot be denied that through the course of its operations, business does affect the environment in many ways such as pollution and introduction of new chemical compounds which may prove harmful to people or the environment, genetic engineering and others. How a business affects the environment may be deliberate or accidental but there are also some businesses that improve the quality of the environment.[2]            To cite, all countries are very much dependent on the oil industry and the industry is essential in any kind of economy. It produces huge amounts of profit for oil producing countries while non-oil producing countries have showed dependence on oil because of the need to run vehicles or to fuel industries. But with the production of oil also stems a need to provide funding to numerous environmental concerns that arise with it.            An oil spill is just one of the risks associated with the oil industries. It is a grave threat to the marine ecosystem and also to the people living near the coastline who depend on the marine resources for their food and income. In an oil spill near the coast of Guimaras Islands in the Philippines, one of the oil tankers of Petron carrying millions of liters of oil sank to the bottom of the sea floor. The incident was the worst oil spill in the country which affected the 40,000 people living on the island who are mostly dependent on the sea. Guimaras Governor Joaquin Nava was frustrated over the absence of commitment from the government sector and Petron to solve the oil spill. Greenpeace on the other hand has much fear that the remaining 1.9 million liters of oil inside the sunken tanker will cause more damage when released into the sea. There was public demand that Petron immediately raise the sunken tanker to prevent more oil spillage or to pump out the remaining oil from its tanks. Relief operations were also needed to compensate for the people of Guimaras Islands because of the loss of livelihood. Greenpeace urged that the local government should hold the oil company liable and that it should be accountable for the long-term rehabilitation of the affected areas including the marine sanctuaries, mangrove areas, reefs and coral ecosystems.[3]            The situation urged Petron to perform its social responsibility for the disaster or it would face charges from environmentalist groups or other consequences such as banning their products or paying fines if proven guilty when the case is brought to the court of law. Taking responsibility for the environmental hazards will even give the company a better image that it cares not only for profit but also gives importance to its social responsibilities. The business should see that environmental concerns could turn into an instant marketing opportunity.[4] Instead of having bad effects, this could make the people patronize their products and instead of adding more cost, it would add more benefit.            Environmental degradation, although the more devastating effect, is not the only concern brought about by oil spills. Fishermen are the ones that are greatly affected by such disasters because the fish are being killed. Oil spills also results in the ban of catching and selling fish and shellfish from the contaminated area to maintain market confidence and to protect fishing gear. Other industries that rely on seawater in their course of operations are mainly affected by oil spills. These may include hotel and restaurants that rely on tourist trade or water treatment plants.[5]            On the other hand, Transneft, an oil transporting joint stock company initiated the Baltic Pipeline System project which would would help in securing the safety of the environment through this pipeline system and also add a new transport route for Russian oil which is greatly needed. The system aims to minimize the negative impact of oil on the environment. The project is believed to be one of the most excellent projects in the history of Russia. In an ecological assessment of the construction of the Baltic Pipeline System, it was found out that the project complies with the environmental norms.[6] This action proves that safety measures can be done to ensure environment safety while also taking into account the needs of the economy.            Companies do affect people the same way that people affect the companies. Almost all countries have been dependent on oil and oil exporting countries have been gaining a lot of income from this. People rely on oil to fuel vehicles, run heavy machinery and others. The escalating prices of oil have urged many countries to find other sources of energy such as biofuels. This somehow reduced the dependence of mankind on oil.            A reduced dependency on foreign oil leads to economic problems for the oil producing countries. Low oil prices are good for oil consumers because it means less spending for petroleum products but this has adverse effects on oil producers such as the countries in the Middle East which is reflected in the performance of the economy.[7]  On the other hand, effects of rising oil prices can be seen when the US experienced oil shortages in 1973 and 1979. During these instances, the US reacted harshly and its citizens even get into fights at gasoline stations until an effort to conserve oil was established by the president.[8]            Oil companies are expected by the the people to take responsibility for any environmental hazards caused by the company. One example is Shell Oil which has initiated and participated in many environment and social campaigns. However, the company still faces a lot of accusations that it still contributing greatly in the destruction of the environment and its refineries, depots and pipelines threaten human civilization.[9]            A report states that Shell has been overstating its social and environmental performance and despite of adhering to its public commitment which is sustainable development, Shell has been putting the environment in much more trouble.[10] The report shows scenarios from different countries wherein Shell allegedly does not address social and environmental problems caused by faulty pipelines and others instead of going by its adherence to environment safety and sustainable development.            In Canada, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn explains that there should be a balance between the environment and economic growth. He also said that the two are intertwined. He agreed that the solution to address the needs of the environment is balancing the its needs with the needs of the industry. He also emphasized the production of clean energy technology such as tidal energy. Other environment-friendly projects that Canada would pursue are development of clean coal, improvement of biofuel technology and technology that would reduce green house gases emissions and pollution.[11]            Logging is another industry that greatly affects the environment. It is very harmful to the environment especially illegal logging. The loss of many trees result in many adverse effects such as the loss of habitat for many special of mammals, birds and other animals. It also contributes to global warming and other natural disaster such as flash floods and land slides.            In the Philippines, illegal logging was a major factor in the loss of lives due to flash floods and even land slides during the rainy season particularly in the provinces of Quezon, Nueva Ecija and Aurora. Government hydrologist Richard Orendain said that it may be hard to determine whether floods may be attributed to illegal logging or just because of heavy rainfall although it is safe to assume that illegal logging has in a way contributed to the natural disasters while Vice President Noli de Castro directly blamed illegal for floods and other past cases of flash floods and land slides.[12]            In Indonesia, many people rely on the forests for their source of livelihood. According to Edward Pollard from the Galung Palung National Park, illegal logging is the major industry in the region. It is the main source of income for many citizens. However, despite economic gains from timber companies, the entire community does not receive much benefit with the diminishing resource. Illegal loggers constitute to a large decrease in forest resources and no taxes are being paid to fund development projects for the citizens. People who work as loggers usually come from poor families and logging is not a permanent and a stable source of income and with the rate of the depletion of the forest resources, people will have to find other sources of income in the future.[13]            Indonesia has been plagued by illegal logging particularly caused by poverty and corruption. The exploitation of the natural resources was a vital factor in the economic development of the region but the government does not reap all the gains because of illegal loggers that contribute greatly to the depletion of natural resources but do not pay the necessary taxes which could have been used to fund various environmental problems.[14]            Loggers should be responsible enough to aid environment because this is where they get their income. The rapid loss of forest resources which contributes greatly to global warming and loss of biodiversity would also affect the loggers. Instead of clear logging in which all the trees are being cut down in an area, loggers can resort to selective logging which is much less harmful and would give the forest time to recuperate.            In the end, there is a strong need for businesses to balance between their income and social and environmental responsibilities. It may not seem beneficial and actually results in more spending for the company. However, taking to account the social and environmental responsibilities of the business would prove beneficial in the long course of business operations. Just like in the logging business, taking aggregate measures to avoid total destruction of forest resources will ascertain that the business will not run out of available resources. Likewise, oil production, which is associated with many adverse effects to the environment, may still choose to have an environment-friendly image which could boost its marketing drive. These additional costs should not be considered as expenses but rather as investments. Bibliography Al Marashi, Habiba, Business vs. Environment, March 19, 2002, Retrieved 23 March 2008 from            http://www.dqg.org/qcentral/dqg_events/seminars/mar02/business.asp Petron oil spill affected 40,000 people says Governor, InfoShop News, 2006 Retrieved 23 March 2008,            from http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006082101433380 Economic Impacts, The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited, 2007, Retrieved     March 23, 2006, from http://www.itopf.com/marine%2Dspills/effects/economic%2Dimpacts/ Baltic Pipeline System, Transneft, 2002, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from            http://www.transneft.ru/Ecolog/Default.asp?LANG=ENID=219 Koepp, Stephen, Oil Prices, April 1986, Time Magazine, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from            http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961087-1,00.html Refinery Reform/Global Community Monitor/Friends of the Earth, Behind the shine the real impacts of Shells work around the world, June 23, 2004, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from            http://www.refineryreform.org/PR_062304.html Behind the shine: The other Shell Report 2003, 2003, p.2, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from            http://www.refineryreform.org/downloads/shellreport_behindtheshine.pdf Barlow, John, Tories want balance in environment and economy, June 30, 2007. Vol. 32 No. 44,            Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.westernwheel.com/070606/news-tories%20want    %20balance.htm Terra Daily, Illegal logging a major factor in flood devastation of Philippines, December 1, 2004,            Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.terradaily.com/2004/041201072557.jj82upor.html The Timber Mafia, Consequences of Illegal Logging: Environmental Implications,2002, Retrieved       24 March 2008, from http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber_mafia/resources/ [1]  Al Marashi, Habiba, Business vs. Environment, March 19, 2002, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.dqg.org/qcentral/dqg_events/seminars/mar02/business.asp [2]  Al Marashi [3]   Petron oil spill affected 40,000 people says Governor, InfoShop News, 2006, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006082101433380 [4]  Al Marashi [5]  Economic Impacts, The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited, 2007, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.itopf.com/marine%2Dspills/effects/economic%2Dimpacts/ [6]         Baltic Pipeline System, Transneft, 2002, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from            http://www.transneft.ru/Ecolog/Default.asp?LANG=ENID=219 [7]  Koepp, Stephen, Oil Prices, April 1986, Time Magazine, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961087-1,00.html [8]  Koepp [9]  Refinery Reform/Global Community Monitor/Friends of the Earth, Behind the shine the real impacts of Shells work around the world, June 23, 2004, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.refineryreform.org/PR_062304.html [10] Behind the shine: The other Shell Report 2003, 2003, p.2, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.refineryreform.org/downloads/shellreport_behindtheshine.pdf [11] Barlow, John, Tories want balance in environment and economy, June 30, 2007. Vol. 32 No. 44, Retrieved 23 March 2008 from http://www.westernwheel.com/070606/news-tories%20want%20balance.htm [12] Terra Daily, Illegal logging a major factor in flood devastation of Philippines, December 1, 2004, Retrieved 23 March 2008 from http://www.terradaily.com/2004/041201072557.jj82upor.html [13] The Timber Mafia, Consequences of Illegal Logging: Environmental Implications,2002, Retrieved 24 March 2008, from http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber_mafia/resources/     resources_consequences1.htm [14] The Timber Mafia
Monday, January 20, 2020
Media and the Writing Process :: Television Media TV
Media and the Writing Process When looking at a work of media, ones tries to find something that would enhance the writing process. Television, as well as cinema often lends to this process. One example of this is with the John Carpenters’ Vampires, which incorporates the use of suspense and anticipation to lure the viewer into concerning themselves more in to the story. Another example, is the television documentary Hitler’s Henchmen which uses a systematic, chronological method to tell the story of Adolf Hitler’s main Architect, Albert Speer. Of course literary works also can help in enhancing the quality of one’s work. A River Runs through it, Norman Macleans’ personal memoirs, lends to the reader the idea of the metaphor to pursue plot. Another literary work The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger tells the story of a doomed vessel lost at sea and does so through the use of creative language. Cinema is often overlooked as an outlet for literary enhancement. On the contrary, however, many films often tend to use or incorporate ideas which can be transferred with success to a literary piece. The film, Vampires uses many literary devices to progress its story and plot. The devices which were used most extensively, those of suspense and anticipation, can easily be incorporated to enhance a literary piece aesthetically. Television, again, like Cinema is a media which is overlooked when searching for methods to enhance ones work. A television documentary, recently aired, Hitlers Henchmen used a technique which is perhaps vital to a successful literary work. Displaying a information in a systematic, or chronological fashion, as done in the documentary, often clears the path for the reader, or the viewer in this case to make their own assumptions, or judgement of what they have seen. The most important of all media to be used to enhance ones’ own work of course is another piece of literature. The metaphor, as in Norman MacLeans’ work, A River Runs Through It is an excellent device used to give more meaning to single ideas, and can easily enhance a work.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
For all the Tea in China by Sarah Rose Essay
â€Å"For all the Tea in China -How England Stole the World’s Favorite Drink and Changed History †as the subtitle foreshadows the story already. Before I had even read the book I assumed it would be a journey of betrayal, action and only closed off to the events that occur re’s as Robert Fortune underhandedly takes china’s precious tea right from underneath they’re own noses. But little did I know that it Sarah Rose has incorporated all the events essential to the to cultivation of tea in the mid Nineteenth-century. In Audition to this Historical non-fiction story that may be boring to others, or as one of my fellow classmates would put it â€Å"I’ve been spacing out throughout the book†I Believe that Sarah Rose Has painted a Vivid image of the nineteenth century, with out a single page, paragraph, or sentence wasted with unnecessary knowledge to the reader’s view from how the Royal Horticultural Society of England and the Eas t India Company affected England’s economy, traditions were also created based off of tea shipment such as the Annual Tea race. And how World Changed England’s East India Company to officially close down. Robert Fortune, a Scottish gardener, botanist, and world’s best plant hunter, famously known for his The British tea Heist which Sarah Rose writes passionately and was inspired by Scott Anderson in this book, and in audition famous for bringing back and documenting new oriental plants from China to England. Such as lovely tree peonies, and the uniquely streaked ornamental plant Hosta Fortunei. which was named after Robert fortune himself along with some other oriental plants found under his own travels not during the multiple expeditions he was sent to do by the East India Company. Fortune while undergoing the process in sending India seeds that are healthy and germinated†¦.. but how?Fortune had realized that transporting the seeds in side package’s while shipped doesn’t stop the life cycle so the seeds that were in anything but soil were unsuccessful because the environment was unsuitable for the next step of its life which was the sapling. Buy having the tea seeds in the layers of soil and in the warden cases protected from sea spray forced the seeds to germinate with little watering because, of the warden cases the water that evaporated would just collect and drop back to the tea plant because of the morning due. Which has never been done before and changed the way of transporting seeds across seas for decades to come, and also solved the problem of transporting larger plants such as towering red woods and,England were now able to transport a whole species in there easy to tend to seed forms. The reason why Fortune had to take on this task of stealing China’s tea secret was because. In the early nineteenth century China and Britain had a shaky relationship of trading England’s opium that China was so addicted to for they’re finest tea which grew high among the finger like mountain karsts of Wuyi in the Fujian provenances. But it was China who Threaten to grow and sell there own opium, and Britain couldn’t let that happen because England relied on that finance to fund there tea budget And so if China wanted to play that way so will the British, therefore they sent Fortune. Poorer Qualities of tea already existed trying to compete with china’s finest tea in the Experimental grounds a part of the Himalayas in India run by the British. But could not duplicate the process of making tea itself or how its grown with out the precious knowledge china was keeping from them world. When Fortune succeeded it had Put Britain at the center of trade because there companies would produce safer qualities of tea because the Chinese where slowly killing people with dyes and pigments used in paints to color green tea, which sealed Britain’s choice with the already popular black tea. And also the hold of opium production as well as tea production, and civilization helped. Fortune’s First 12 mont h period trip was spent traveling to the Zhejiang and Anhui provenances for Green Tea. He had to disguise himself as a well paid merchant which wasn’t enough to get noticed but held enough respect he usually was given. He needed to do deceive the local Chinese and Tea producer’s in order to get the information but there was no detail in how he did it, which I thought it would be a lot more exhilarating to know the master plan of how he was able to deceive so easily and to be trusted with that much valuable information, and most importantly needed the information of how to process and grow tea or it would be useless to get the thousands of seeds and saplings necessary to start a growing tea profitably with out having a clue of doing so and let them die. Also During Fortune’s Expedition it would be impossible to travel the multiple provenances of China with out a Guide or Help to carry his Warden cases by him self hence he had to hire servants a collie whom preferred to be called that and Wang a business negotiator which served well but was easily influenced into trouble to a common trait that most Chinese did at the time it was called the â€Å"Squeeze†which was extracting mone y illegally from someone trying to earn a few bucks. And handful of trouble came from Fortune’s servants betrayal because Fortune would treat them as any regular employee as they made mistakes or bad decisions that would jeopardize his goal he would punish them fairly but backfired. Another tradition the Chinese have Is called Face which is the equivalent of dignity or prestige, but the actual way it works is still really foggy due to lack of detail about this subject. So when Fortune’s two servant were hired to serve him and he relied on them a lot which gave them a large amount of face, but because of a situation when his collie pulled a â€Å"Squeeze.†It Jeopardized his masters safety but it was fortune who settled the feud by having him return the money and apologize which humiliated Collie that caused him to lose face. During Fortune’s second expedition to retrieve black tea from the Steep mountain of Wuyi, since both teas were so different and should be treated as two different plants there for Fortune was ordered to take two separate trips. Fortune had hired another servant named Sing Hoo he wasn’t was a collie but he was strong and he was intelligent but not a businessmen man, the new loyal servant of Fortune’s â€Å" had once been in the service of a high-ranking mandarin affiliated with the imperial family at Peking.†and also bore arms of his former office of the imperial court signified as a flag and serves as a passport throughout the country, it was a gift from the a former master. And during this second trip Fortune disguised himself as a high ranking mandarin from beyond the Great Wall of China which I thought would be hasty compared to lying low on the first trip. Also I thought it was amusingly clever that he chose the people from beyond the Great wall because, they were known for being abnormally taller height than the rest of the population in china which gave an explanation for Fortune’s height while infiltrating China. If not for Fortune’s treacherous task and constant awareness no matter what might of happened to make Fortune hate the country, he could probably hate every single thing in china but I doubt he would never be able to hate China’s beauty from there great dense bamboo Forests off they’re proud mountains to the peaceful city of serenity named Zhejiang. Fortune was also a naturalist who was touched, and changed, by China and its treasures largely unseen by western eyes, in which found even more beautiful than the landscape of his own country. Green Tea was a failure because they had withered even before it had reached India of the improper shipping technique. Even though it had failed Black tea was a success which Changed history Forever in Britain’s favor Trade wise. I had also thought even though its not a picture book I would recommend a diagram of important people of the East India Company and The Royal Horticultural Society of England. And definitely a Map of Fortune’s Travel’s Both trips to India and Maybe that trip to Japan.
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Biography of Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp Essay - 4038 Words
Biography of Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was born on March 19, 1848 in Monmouth, Illinois. His father Nicholas was a lawyer who preferred a life of farming. From an early age, Wyatt learned from his father to stand up for what was right. When Wyatt was two years old, the family moved to Iowa. In 1861, the Civil War broke out, and Wyatts father and three older brothers joined the Union Army. Soon after, Wyatt ran away to enlist, but his father caught him and sent him back home. In 1864, Nicholas left the army, and the family set out for the West. It took seven months to travel from Iowa to California. On the way they encountered Indians at Fort Laramie. The Earps settled in San Bernardino, where Nicholas bought†¦show more content†¦Drinking establishments, like Brennan’s, welcomed these dealers and gave them a percentage of the house take for the trade they generated. Both of the Thompsons were crooks; and they were killers. Wyatt had heard of them and, although sensing the gamblerâ₠¬â„¢s urge many an evening, avoided their tables. Wyatt had been in town only short term when he found himself at odds with the Thompson brothers. Lingering in the shade of a balcony outside Brennan’s Saloon one afternoon, he became aware of loud name calling bouncing back and forth between two men inside the gin mill. From what he deduced, it sounded like a simple case of card-game larceny. He didn’t pay much attention to the disturbance until Sheriff Whitney and two deputies appeared on the boardwalk and turned into the saloon. A cowboy was telling the sheriff that he had been swindled out of money by the fast hands of gambler Bill Thompson. Both the Thompsons denied it. But, when the lawman threatened to break up the game once and for all, Bill produced a double-barreled shotgun from below his chair and, at point-blank range, fired a volley into the sheriff’s chest. Horrified and dismayed, Wyatt watched the pair of deputies cower into the sidelines, then sulk out the side door without even the decency to take their boss’s body off the floor. It was more than Wyatt could take. What kind of a town is this? he snapped at the deputies who now stood meekly across the square. Between them, equally timid, wasShow MoreRelatedBiography of Wyatt Earp Essay896 Words  | 4 PagesBiography of Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp, born Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp, was born on March 19, 1848 in Manmouth, Illinois to Nicholas and Virginia Earp. When Wyatt was two, his parents moved him across the Mississippi River to Pella, Iowa. He was considered a great western lawman. His first experience as a lawman was as a constable of Lamar, Missouri for four months in the year 1870. In April, 1875, he was appointed to the Wichita Kansas police force only to be released from that job on AprilRead More America Essay5829 Words  | 24 Pagesmovement is that of the lawman, the marshal, and the peace officer. Wyatt Earp is the legendary lawman who has been continually portrayed in Westerns as the ultimate American Hero. Wyatt Earp killed men in the name of honor while wearing a badge. Wyatt Earp has had more than twelve major movie productions based on his life (and a numerous number of B films), his own TV series, and countless variety of biographies written about him. Wyatt Earp’s life is no longer with mortals, but America has used it
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