People Or Penguins By William F. Baxter

Decent Essays
• As human beings, we need things to survive and like all of us, all living things need natural resources such as water, fertile land, and minerals to live. But on the other hand, we are desecrating those natural resources we have in a careless way which is causing great harm to our ecosystem. Being as industrial as we are in todays society we demand more of those natural resources to mollify our unlimited wants and needs at a fast rate. Nature cannot keep up and recover from the damage we are causing as fast as we are demanding more production. William F. Baxter, the author of “People or Penguins” believed that our environmental issues should be centered around humans and cost beneficial; meaning he does not really have interest in preserving

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    William F. Baxter and Aldo Leopold both have very different views as to what it means to be human and where our place in the world is compared to other animals, plants, and the very land itself. Very briefly, Baxter argues that any form of environmental problems should be viewed solely through the understanding that it is “people-oriented” and that any animal or land preservation would be understood in this light and not, as some threatened penguins would fear, “for their own sake” (Baxter, 695). However, Leopold does not hold a similar view to Baxter and instead claims that it is “…an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity” to extend our ethical behaviors beyond just our own fellow humans and include all of life and land within…

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Have you ever heard of the West African Black Rhinoceros? As of 2011 this species is extinct and society could have prevented it (Gerkens). The species is thought to have died off, because of poaching, but taking precautions could have prevented their extinction. This is just one example of Earth’s deterioration with irreversible consequences that could have been averted. Societies use Earth and all of its resources and expects no repercussions.…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the main reasons that environmental issues have arose are due to excessive human use. “Totalitarian agriculture is based on the premise that all the food in the world belongs to us, and there is no limit whatever to what we may take for ourselves and deny to all others.” (Story of B pg. 260). Instead of nature, the people have…

    • 2018 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gifford Pinchot protecting the environment The environment is extremely valuable, once it is ruined, it will be very hard to repair and recover. In some cases, it would be impossible to turn back around. Once it happens the Earth would be stuck like that forever, or at least until the end of time. People like Gifford Pinchot, John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson saw this, and they decided to do something about it.…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lorax Pros And Cons

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Humans tend to take their resources for advantage and use them only to the benefit of themselves; which more times than not, leads to the depletion or extinction of said resource. Dr.Seuss’ The Lorax is a great fictional example of this issue. A non-fictional example would be Easter Island. In both cases, humans have completely exhausted at least one resource becausethey’ve used it to benefit their own lives. These resources have been used up solely because humans are only in it for themselves, they are either oblivious to what they’re doing or they refuse to believe it’s harmful, and if humans do realize that what they’re doing is harmful, the only solution requires them to sacrifice something important to them; which is unlikely to happen given the…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But when human influences grow to strong for ecosystems to handle, we are only speeding up the pace for full destruction of the natural world. We have to pay attention to the today's suffering species and plant our conservation footprint to promote change. Rewilding is only the beginning answer to saving our future. Visiting nature, nurturing it, and leaving the least harmful impact we possibly can is another principal step. Finding new ways to help ecosystems thrive and adapt to humanities interfering society is vital to keeping us alive.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend,” (Robert Redford). In the article, “Why Bother”, the author, Michael Pollan, discusses the importance of saving the environment and how it will not be easy to achieve. He believes that as a society we need to, “find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world,” (Michael Pollan).…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s world, global warming is common knowledge to most people. Every day global warming gets worse. Some people in today’s society are eager to stop global warming because they are aware of the problems that global warming is causing to people and the Earth. Across the world, people know that industrial smokestacks are a big cause of global warming in today’s society. Some people believe that by ignoring global warming that it will not affect them, and that they can’t make a difference.…

    • 2039 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the emerging values recognized by human beings is the concern for our environments and the living creatures that we share them with, but what would happen if human beings stopped caring for their planet and completely disregarded any other living creature outside of the human race? Expert biologist, Jeff Corwin, discusses this idea in his article “The Sixth Extinction,” published by the Los Angeles Times. He argues in his article that while there have been preventative programs put into place, human beings are actively destroying our planet and slowly killing off hundreds of species with every deforestation project, landfill, and black-market trade. For his article, Corwin uses real life experiences to strengthen his credibility. In addition to his easy-to-understand writing style, Corwin also pulls his audience into the root of his essay by providing shocking facts that give readers an insight as to what could happen if they continue to disregard their planet and the other living species that reside there.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A Walk in The Woods: The Disconnect from Nature The problem in our society is the disconnect from nature. Many Americans are uncultured in the wild world of untamed wilderness, thus must explore outside the civilized world of home. Nature is all around us and for many Americans nature is something that has not been experienced. With the lack of understanding nature, poor health has become a way of life for many.…

    • 1531 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some believe nature and environment are separate from humans. Nature impacts humans by creating obstacles and hazards, which humans must overcome. However, Earth has developed into a new age, the anthropocene, where humans can influence the environment. (Knox, 144) With centuries of fossil fuel emission, deforestation, and agriculture, humans altered, corrupted, and destroyed entire ecosystems.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Biomes And Environment

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It is interesting to note that modern humans have been around for a very long time and lived much of it without causing much irreparable damage to the environment. Finding renewable energy sources, and the conservation of flora and fauna are both examples of how human alterations on biomes has had a positive impact on the environment. There are, however, also some negative influences such as removal of trees to increase areas of cultivation, and the increase in use of chemical fertilisers, which deteriorate the environment. Human alterations have both positive and negative outcomes, which affect different aspects of the environment. An increase in population makes excessive demands on agriculture and livestock.…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people think that since the Industrial Revolution humans have been destroying nature. In Wendell Berry’s, “Getting Along with Nature” Berry goes into detail about the defenders of nature and their enemies. Berry believes that people cannot live without nature, but not like the complete wilderness. People also don’t like a totally human environment either, an equal balance is needed. Which comes from the start of the industrial revolution, and because of this, there are the conservationists.…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Anthropocene

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Introduction Humans have an enormous impact on our global environment. For centuries human activity has always been known to disturb the earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere. As we 've growth we made our footprint in our world environment. We alter more than 50% of the world land (Stromberg, 2013 ). One of the most arguable questions is when did human influence on the earth global environment began?…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine having summer all year long, being under the sweltering heat, breathing the stuffy, sick air, and conditions worsening as the day goes by. These harsh conditions are increased by air pollution and climate change through cars and factories; man-made inventions. These innovative technologies have been necessary in order to have a functioning and developing society and economy. However, the belief that humans are the sole cause of climate change is refuted by scientists, advocating that the change in the Earth’s climate is a natural cause. Earth formed over about 4.5 billion years ago, and it has changed ever since then.…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays