No matter how political the issue of deforestation and the subsequent coral damage gets, there is always a set of real, on-sight people affected by politicians' decisions. Each set of people have a specific and unique idea of how they solve, or ignore, the supposed deforestation endemic.
The politicians, while generally not affected by the outcome of their decisions, tend to have inherit views in coordinate with their party. It is this way that way with every governmental policy (Student News Daily 2005). Leftists are usually about conserving the forests no matter the economic repercussions (Student News Daily 2005). Rightist believe that the economy comes first; trying to fix ecological problems before economical would cause further problems (Student News Daily 2005). Also, conservatives tend to reject the effects of deforestation while liberals do not (Student News Daily 2005). The succeeding articles are fabricated position pieces by members of these political groups:
Leftists, Liberals, Democrats
Deforestation and the subsequent death of coral reefs should be one of the biggest concerns of today's world leaders. It shouldn't be a debate of politics and economic capability. The loss of trees, while still an extremely pressing matter, isn't the only effect deforestation has. The runoff of dirt from the unrooting is killing coral reefs and damaging the natural beauty. About 60,000 different species live and thrive in coral reefs, and deforestation damages their homes (Stanford College 2012). Humans have made enough impact on the world. We need to stop uprooting the world's precious oxygen creators, and save the reefs. If we don't, how would we possibly live with ourselves knowing that we are killing forest dwellers, a fourth of the world's marine life, and the world (Stanford College 2012). Rain forests used to cover 14% of the world's surface area; they now cover 6% (Rain-Tree.com 1996).
Rightists, Conservatives, Republicans
The U.S economy should be the main focus of America's resources. We are hurting more than we have since the great-depression and there is no sign of it ever slowing down. How would the loggers make money if we stopped tree farming? Also, this isn't just happening in America. We would have to exert a tremendous amount of money and resources we don't have. Also, liberals make deforestation out to be something that it isn't. Since 1960, the forest land in America has increased (U.S Department of Agricultural 2001)(Figure 1). The government needs to focus of getting the economy back on track, not chasing red herrings.
As mentioned before, politicians make the decisions, but their decisions hardly ever affect them. The real people affected by the deforestation/coral reef endemic debate are loggers and people who make their living off of coral reefs like the coastal indigenous people. These are their stories.
Logger
I make my living off of tree farming, and so do my co-workers. The world needs wood: paper, housing, fire, furniture, etc. We collect wood because the world needs it. We don't do it to harm coral reefs or anything on this earth. We take extreme precautions to prevent environmental impact and have regulations that limit farming to certain areas (EPA 2012). Adding more regulations would make it harder and more expensive for us to log, and thus making wood prices skyrocket. Also, it would force us to different areas where our logging could take even more affect of the environment. The human need for wood is greater than the earth's need for coral reefs.
Costal Indigenous People
The death of coral reefs from deforestation affect so many people that it could prove fatal if not taken care of. I live in the Caribbean, and coral reefs thrive off the coast of my country. The people of my village make a living off of the fish and diverse community of the reefs (Rare Conservation 2010). The fish provide a source of protein and food to the people of my village, and without it, we would starve. The big logging companies do not care about our safety. They care about money. The runoff from the unrooted areas are covering and killing our reefs, driving off the fish that we so desperately need (WWF global 2004).
Works Cited:
Greg Laden's Blog. “How many people live near the ocean?.” http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/10/18/how-many-people-live-near-the/ (accessed February 11, 2013).
Microdocs (Stanford College). “Species on Coral Reefs.” Stanford College. http://www.stanford.edu/group/microdocs/species.html
(accessed February 11, 2013).
Student News Daily. “Conservative vs Liberal Beliefs.”http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/.(accessed February 11, 2013).
Summit County Voice. Coral Reefs in Caribbean damaged by development and deforestation long before feeling the heat of Global Warming."B. Berwyn. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/03/31/coral-reefs-in-caribbean-damaged-by-development-and-deforestation-long-before-feeling-heat-of-global-warming/reef-4/. (accessed February 19, 2013)
U.S. Department of Agriculture. “U.S. Forest Facts and Historical Trends.” Forest Service. http://fia.fs.fed.us/library/briefings-summaries-overviews/docs/ForestFactsMetric.pdf (accessed February 11, 2013).
WWF. “Deforestation threatens the cradle of reef diversity.”Jessica Battle. http://central-america.panda.org/about/countries/belize/?uNewsID=16870 (accessed February 11, 2013).
Works Cited:
Greg Laden's Blog. “How many people live near the ocean?.” http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/10/18/how-many-people-live-near-the/ (accessed February 11, 2013).
Microdocs (Stanford College). “Species on Coral Reefs.” Stanford College. http://www.stanford.edu/group/microdocs/species.html
(accessed February 11, 2013).
Student News Daily. “Conservative vs Liberal Beliefs.”http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/.(accessed February 11, 2013).
Summit County Voice. Coral Reefs in Caribbean damaged by development and deforestation long before feeling the heat of Global Warming."B. Berwyn. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/03/31/coral-reefs-in-caribbean-damaged-by-development-and-deforestation-long-before-feeling-heat-of-global-warming/reef-4/. (accessed February 19, 2013)
U.S. Department of Agriculture. “U.S. Forest Facts and Historical Trends.” Forest Service. http://fia.fs.fed.us/library/briefings-summaries-overviews/docs/ForestFactsMetric.pdf (accessed February 11, 2013).
WWF. “Deforestation threatens the cradle of reef diversity.”Jessica Battle. http://central-america.panda.org/about/countries/belize/?uNewsID=16870 (accessed February 11, 2013).
