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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Osmeña: Pollution is an economic problem
By Antonio V. Osmeña
Estatements
In the early 1930s, Ciudad de Cebu had a population of 10,034 people. The settlement clustered around the port and houses were mostly found along narrow estuaries, within a kilometer from the shoreline. Human settlement was confined by swamp and marshland.
At the start of the 19th century, the hinterland around Cebu was still basically underdeveloped and for the most part sparsely populated. But today, Cebu is no longer the island paradise it used to be.
Inhabitants have learned how to find and use more and more energy in their attempts to change and control the environment. Early Cebuanos had to rely on the power of their own muscle to survive. Agricultural societies eventually learned to use draft animals and later, wind and water power, to help them exert more control over the land and their food supplies.
In the 18th century, however, industrial societies made a gigantic leap in using energy after discovering how to unlock the chemical energy stored in fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. The gradual rise of industrial societies, fueled by these new sources of energy, has allowed the creation of many useful products and raised the standard of living of many people throughout the world.
However, these developments intensified many existing environmental problems and created new ones. By learning to put some of the earth’s chemical resources together in new ways, industries have produced metal alloys, plastics, agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, and medicine.
The pollution from DDT, lead, mercury, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), solid wastes, radioactive wastes, and a host of other chemicals has also increased.
Increased mining activities to provide industries raw materials has disrupted the earth’s surface and threatened the existence of plant and animal species.
By decreasing the need of many people to engage in agriculture, industrial society has caused massive shifts in population from rural to urban areas—creating a new array of social, political, economic and environmental problems.
The benefits of the industrial revolution are great. Very few people would propose that we abandon the technological achievements of the past hundred years.
Increasingly, however, our time, energy, money and new forms of technology must be used to correct the ill effects of earlier technological advances. We are learning that in many cases the more we try to control nature, the less control we have.
There are exciting and important indications that Cebu may be ready to move into a new phase of cultural revolution—the transition from an agricultural-industrial society where humans are pitted against nature, to a sustainable earth society in which people learn how to cooperate with nature instead of controlling it.
Today, our country, and Cebu, in particular, is at a critical turning point. People have an impact in the environment. The prospect of Cebu’s environment is both brighter and darker than at any time in history.
Are our inhabitants learning the importance of protecting the diversity of life on the beautiful islands in this archipelago we call home? As more and more inhabitants of Cebu try to use the island’s resources, increasing stress are placed on the forest, grasslands croplands, and on the air, water and soil.
We must bear in mind that population growth, increase use of resources and pollution are all interrelated. It is about time our political leaders appoint more high-level department officials, especially within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to address the matter.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 24, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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