Environmental Justice

The Environmental Justice topic was a bit hard to swallow.  Living in the United States with a nice farm house and a cabin up north, going to a nice private college, I have it pretty easy.  Sometimes I lose sight of how the convenience I have, has a negative affect on the environment, and people in far off places.  Argentina seems so far away.  I have only been out of the country once, and that was to go to Canada when I was little.  It is amazing to me to think about how the oil companies that provide me with gas for my car so that I can go to my cabin, house, the mall, etc., can have such a negative impact on the people in Argentina.  In the book Flammable, the two authors delve into the thoughts and feelings of people living in a shantytown near a compound containing multiple companies such as a petrochemical company and a chemical company.  The pollution and contamination that they face everyday in their environment and their bodies is horrible.  I can't imagine visiting a place like that, let alone living there.  It makes me think twice about my gas consumption, plastic usage, etc. because of all the damage to the environment it causes.  No one should have to live in a place like Flammable.  "We ought to respect the rights of others and live up to the responsibilities that each of us has individually" according to DesJardins (pg. 225).  While it is difficult to determine the responsibility each of us has individually to fixing the situation in Flammable, we should consider our consumption and reduce it in any way possible.  There are a lot of problems in this world and we can't fix everything ourselves, but it is best if we all begin to take at least some responsibility for our actions.  The convenience that we experience may have a much higher price than we realize.