Monday, June 1, 2009

The Earth Wins One

With so much negative and passive attitudes towards the world’s current greenhouse gas and ozone depletion, an Op-Ed columnist has decided to focus on the positive, saying that “The earth has finally won one”. The author of this article explains that after many years poor environmental conditions, President Obama is finally trying to give back to the earth’s atmosphere what we as humans have taken away. Obama’s attempts at improving the environment by raising the standards for automobile emissions and mileage were very much praised by the author of this article, and it can be assumed that the he or she holds some contempt for the past Bush administration. Though the author may be simply stating that things are finally turning around for the environment, it seems as though he is focusing more on the political aspect of the whole ordeal.

The style of this author can be explained as persuasive and generally one-sided. Though in this particular article the purpose was to ultimately explain that we as a nation are taking a step forward rather than another step back environmentally, it seemed to me that the author could not resist to slyly “take a stab” at the previous Bush administration’s failure to be proactive in the environment. The author referred to Obama’s environmental plan as “aggressive and imaginative” and to Bush’s as “wearying and unproductive”. Though true or not, no matter what side someone may be on politically, a win for the earth is never considered a bad thing.

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