Analysis Of Robert Glennon's 'Fouling Our Own Nests'

Improved Essays
Failure of Our Water System: “Fouling Our Own Nests” Analysis
Robert Glennon’s “Fouling Our Own Nests” addresses the gravity of our nation’s current situation regarding water. Glennon’s work thoroughly examines “water pollution [as] an acute national problem” and supports this statement with two main sub-claims: water pollution as an origin of immense risk to human health and water pollution as the compromising source of future water supply. Although the two sub-claims are addressed in distinct places, the work is not structured around these claims. Glennon instead chooses to organize this chapter by addressing the different sources of water pollution, therefore organizing by grounds rather than sub-claim. Glennon supports his central claim very thoroughly by detailing sources of contamination. His grounds are structured in that each of these sections can be broken down into four main components. The first component provides general information as to how a specific problem or action leads to water contamination. For example, the first section relates the lack of sewer services to higher levels of nitrates and the presence of E. Coli in the water supply. Another main component to his argument involves presenting a specific example of that contamination. In the case of lacking sewer services he
…show more content…
Throughout the majority of the chapter this can be inferred through the specific grounds Glennon uses; though he does not specifically refer to the future until the end of the chapter, statements such as “skyrocketing use of nitrogen fertilizer” and references to the “’dead zone’ …where fish, shrimp, and other marine organisms die from the lack of oxygen” create the sense that tomorrow’s water problems will be more severe than

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Water is constantly changing. According to Charles Fishman, the author of The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, he states, “Water is unpredictable. Water is fickle. But that is water’s nature. The fickleness, the variability, is itself predictable” (319).…

    • 1658 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should Canada Export Its Water to the United States? Whether or not Canada should export water to the United States has been an ongoing dispute over the past few decades. The U.S. has been through a number of terrible droughts but it seems as though they are reaching the point where some drastic changes will need to be made. Three of the endless amount of reasons why Canada should not export water to the U.S. is because of the cost, no benefits, and damaged ecosystems.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    As Americans, we have come accustom to having clean fresh water at our disposal, and not having the worries that several other countrys do. One American city, has been forced to learn the hard way about how valuable the water they once took for granted really was. Flint, Michigan for nearly two years now has been dealing with the water crisis. They turn on their taps and their showers only to find nastily, discolored water. Additionally, along with the discolored water, tests have revealed that the water contains things that make it unsafe It all started when a Michigan politician made a decision to redirect Flints water supply from the Hudson river to the Flint river.…

    • 2485 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tom Standage is a notable British Journalist, author and economist who wrote the book A History of the World in Six Glasses, in which he described the historical significance, environmental importance, ecological foundation of water being the main source of life. Along with these factors, he further explained the commercialization and industrialization of water over the last few decades. In the article, “Epilogue: Back to the Source”, Standage specifically focuses on the water being the source of all lives and the first beverage that humans drank along with the absurdity of trend of buying bottled water in certain parts of the world. Furthermore, Standage’s argument will be analyzed from political, sociological, environmental and economic point of view to assess the credibility of the claims he is making. Analysis and Evaluation Standage, right in the beginning of this article created an emotional engagement with the readers by claiming that the “drink of the future” is none other than the drink human beings have tasted for the very first time as basic necessity of life i.e. water.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Water Pollution In Texas

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hi, I’m Alexis Vo and I’m writing to you about an issue I am currently concerned about: damaging and polluting our surface waters. Recently in Texas, our state’s natural waters have been polluted which damaged our wildlife with toxins and trash. Due to the pollution, 9,400 miles of our streams and a total of 1,412,000 acres of lakes and bays in Texas alone has been considered “impaired”. Surprisingly, Caddo Lake is the only natural body of water left in East Texas that has not been yet polluted nor damaged.…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The effects of the environmental damage on the navajo nation was that there was a giant waste spill tainted rivers on August 25 in southwestern Colorado. Which this caused damage to the people, river, and life blood. 88,000 pounds of metals poured into the rivers, EPA has taken full responsibility. This was mentioned on page 2. Pages 1 and 2 talk about what has happened and what they are going to do to fix the issues and if they will do anything.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Flint Water Problem

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Flint, one of the largest cities in Michigan, has been recently in news for its very high lead concentration in drinking water. The problem started when the city temporarily changed its water source as a cost saving measure. Lead in Flint’s municipal water came from the old lead pipes, which reacted with highly corrosive Flint River water in the absence of proper treatment measures. Lead concentration in Flint water is found to be so high that it can be easily considered as hazardous waste. Although, the residents of Flint were complaining about their water from the very beginning, neither the local and the state government nor the EPA considered that as a problem.…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Flint Water Crisis depicts the inevitable consequence of allowing the continued construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. The polluted water calamity is flooding one of Michigan’s poorest, blackest cities. This disaster is littered with racism and the detrimental results of poverty. The city is approximately 57 percent black and terribly poor; it’s citizens have been consuming and interacting with water that contains enough lead to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of “toxic waste.”…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A Murky Situation: The Flint Water Crisis Most Americans would readily agree that all people deserve the right to clean water, but the when they realize the large monetary commitment this requires, the water becomes murky, both literally and figuratively. This phenomenon is pronounced in Flint, Michigan. The downturns of the auto industry in the 1980s wrecked havoc in this prominently black city to the extent that today about 40% of its citizens live under the poverty line. In 2014, Flint sought a new way to reduce its spending: switching their source of water. Before this, Flint got its water from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD), but the price to acquire their water from Detroit continued to rise.…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The lack of clean access to water has dramatically impacted the livelihoods of those who reside in these areas. For instance, being exposed to water that is contaminated with lead has severe health consequences. For the residents in Flint, Michigan, we may also not know the full extent of these hazards to their health, and how continued exposure to this water will affect them in the long term. The negligence of the local government has only negatively impacted the health of the…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This has led me to be interested in issues about water. I had to endure bad bad and polluted water that caused different illnesses and diseases like cholera. This is an issue that always gets my attention regardless of where I am. I would hate to continue to live in a community that has problems with its water (1). After all my research I discovered the Santa Clara Valley Water District as they deal with issues about water and even complaints from members in the Santa Clara county (2).…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Do they actually know how much harm they are causing? Water cleanliness today is going down the drain. In America, it’s recorded that 40% of the rivers and 46% of the lakes are polluted. These bodies of water are considered unhealthy for swimming, fishing or aquatic life (Rinkesh). A person may wonder why, and question what the causes could be.…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fighting Back Against Water Pollution Water pollution needs to be reviewed as the increase in toxins in possible drinking water has increased in the last 20 years. Through the use of our technology and use alternative renewable energy sources, re-evaluating our usage and methods of disposing waste preserving both fresh and marine water in the United States. A common discrepancy that is brought up when discussing water pollution is whether the cost will become too large to even begin creating change, that the amount of resources required to implement could be used elsewhere for a more immediate impact. The discussion of environmental problems is a topic of many political debates, but throughout the years scientific evidence has documented the…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Millions of gallons of water are used daily for domestic uses, irrigating crops, and industrial processes, not to mention miscellaneous activities such as swimming pools and water-sports centers. Despite the dependence on water, society uses pristine waterways as a dumping ground for all sorts of waste, and do very little to protect such a vital resource. Several factors contribute to why water pollution is becoming such a large issue in the world. The biggest contributors to water pollution come from the…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many places across the globe are being affected by severe environmental changes. Water is something humans cannot live without and when it is polluted there becomes major problems with human’s health. Water pollution is a huge issue in a variety of areas in the world but especially small communities in Africa. These communities are suffering with limited fresh water. The scale of water pollution is somewhat vast in these communities as diamond mining is a huge driver of this problem.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays