ES 10 - E 07-3177
on EPA’s Pasky Pascual’s lecture
Comparison
Mr. Pasky Pascual’s special lecture last Monday, September third, was not only a talk regarding the detrimental effects of bumper sticker on the fate of our trees as what the lecture was entitled. An alumnus of the Ateneo de Manila himself, Mr. Pascual stressed the importance of individual action in order to help solve the global problem of environmental degradation.
As part of the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency, his lecture was centered around how his agency submits and applies various environment policies, which is through studying its economics, its science and the law. By doing so, they can calculate and weigh the consequences that may come with the implementation of their programs.
While listening to him talking up front, the first thing I noticed was the practicality of the United States’ strategies on the implementation of different environment laws. Comparing theirs to what the Philippine government is doing, it’s pretty obvious how far the US is in terms of laws and strictness since their laws holds specific instructions starting from the national level down to individual level. Although the Philippines do support the Kyoto protocol unlike the United States and we do have the Philippine Clean Air Act which promotes cleaner fuels, bans public smoking and encourages motorists to release less polluting exhausts, these are not being strictly put into operation. Another difference will be the necessity for companies and industrial establishments to have an environmental protocol and the need for them to really plan their actions while considering its effects on the people and on the environment. This is done by consulting with the EPA and with employees like Mr. Pascual.
Anyway, this is the same way the EPA works. They consider every little detail, like externalities, risk assessments, and laws. I believe that’s what the Philippine government is lacking and it is exactly what they should be developing - the proper government sector who can competently and relevantly deal and cope with the need for environmental policies so that we can utilize and protect our resources in a productive way wherein both the people and our environment agrees with.
Still, despite of the EPA and the US government’s efforts in passing bills and programs, it’s still not enough to decrease the United State’s effect in the global destruction of our environment because they’re still number one regarding the production of greenhouse gases. I think this is because of the political and economic interest which the administration prioritizes above the interest of the environment.
Although the Philippines doesn’t have enough policies on environmental protection and pollution reduction, on an overall and global scale, we still produce less greenhouse gases and we still pollute the environment less compared to the United States. The only part where we perform poorly would be on protecting our floral and faunal species.
