Air Pollution: The Counter Argument and Call for Action

Air pollution remains one of the serious problems the world faces today. Currently, it is a familiar environmental concern that possesses short and long-term effects on human health. From a broader perspective, air pollution leads to global warming, climatic changes, and acid rain. These effects adversely impact the environment, humans, and animal species. An obvious implication of air pollution that affects the local community is respiratory health problems. In the short term, air pollution causes respiratory infections, throat irritation, and allergic reactions. However, over the long term, the affected people develop respiratory disease, lung cancer, and heart failure (Manisalidis et al., 2020). Moreover, ambient air pollutants, more so those from vehicles and manufacturing plants, have been associated with respiratory problems and increased emergency visits (Szyszkowicz et al., 2018). In the long run, children and the elderly develop these complications, affecting their daily routines and capacity to live a healthy lifestyle. This paper examines air pollution in the community and provides alternatives to reduce its impact on the local community. Several manufacturing plants serve the local community and the State's economy at large. These companies provide employment opportunities to the local community and help to preserve the environment through charitable activities. Partnerships with the local government have proved fruitful over the past few years, and they promise to generate a significant impact on the preservation of the environment and empower the youth. However, these factories are doing little to reduce air pollution due to emissions of dangerous gases into the atmosphere. Therefore, the best audience to bring about air pollution change is the managers that run these factories. The managers of these factories are critical decision-makers that will have a significant impact on the change process. This audience will implement all the guidelines and recommendations this proposal puts across, and through their interventions, the local community would also benefit. Moreover, the managers are in a better position to formulate more policies that curb air pollution. Through the partnerships between the factories and the local government, implementing the recommendations will be an easy task, given that existing policies still serve the purpose. In any organization, leaders influence their employees and set an example of effective leadership. As such, the managers can train their employees on air pollution and its impact on the community's health. Moreover, they can collaborate with the employees to devise appropriate ensures to reduce dangerous gas emissions and adopt greener manufacturing approaches. Additionally, factory managers are better suited to address broader issues that will impact their business operations. Adopting greener manufacturing processes mandates changing the current business operations and technologies. Such operations' magnitude and success must encompass collaboration and coordination between the managers, their employees, and the local government. While the local community is the most affected by the impact of air pollution in the area, they cannot implement any significant change. Moreover, implementing change through the local community will take time and must follow due process. Therefore, the factory managers are the target audience for this proposal. Given the community's respect and position, their decision-making process will be critical to implementing the proposed solutions to air pollution. Curing air pollution requires implementing solutions that mitigate the emission of dangerous gases into the atmosphere. One alternative that could be implemented is imposing heavy fines on defaulters regarding set policies that control air pollution. Finning defaulters has been undertaken over the past several years. Yet, the government has been lenient on corporations that do not abide by their laws. According to Pedersen (2019), the recent imposing of heavy fines for defaulters demonstrates the urge to implement change towards air pollution seriously. The fines will be determined by the level of the offense, the impact of the damage, and the corporation's financial means. The money collected from corporations fined in the past has been directed at those affected by the pollution or charitable courses that improve the environment and surrounding communities (Pedersen, 2019). However, the enforcement undertakings have several drawbacks in curbing air pollution. A common question in imposing heavy fines on pollution defaulters is the fines after corporations are fined. Pedersen (2019) argues that despite the positive developments in imposing heavy fines, people cannot be sure whether the money has been used for the right cause. Moreover, most of these agencies that collect the fines are not scrutinized, or there are no accountability mechanisms in place to safeguard the process. From the corporations` perspective, enforcing heavy fines avoids criminal proceedings and saves additional costs and time. However, these drawbacks do not provide enough justification to rule out imposing heavy fines on pollutant defaulters. Another alternative to mitigating air pollution by factories involves embracing technologies that minimize the concentration and emission of dangerous gases into the atmosphere. While time is essential in solving the underlying impact of air pollution, technological advancements are making it possible to reduce air pollution issues by factories. Keohane's (2019) report on carbon removal technologies indicates that these negative carbon emission technologies have significantly reduced dangerous emissions into the atmosphere. These technologies, if implemented by factories that do not have them, will improve their carbon print. The main challenge in implementing these technologies is the initial cost. The factories must revamp their internal operations to accommodate these significant changes. Alternatively, the factories can adopt remanufacturing technologies that can significantly reduce emissions to the atmosphere. Imposing heavy fines on defaulters is the ideal solution to mitigating air pollution. While there are existing systems to fine companies that pollute the environment, imposing heavy fines will create change in the local community. Acknowledging law enforcement agencies' hesitation to impose heavy fines on defaulters, enforcing stringent measures and accountability mechanisms will solidify the alternative. Implementing the change mandates meeting all the managers and the local government to deliberate on the feasible solution. First, all parties must vow to mitigate their carbon emissions and implement technologies that foster greener gas emissions. Once that is agreed upon, all the parties need to understand the implications of air pollution and how their factories affect the environment and the local community. The prevalence of air pollution is an issue that needs stringent measures and regulations that remain enforced. The laxity of law enforcement agencies is a significant challenge that will undermine heavy fines on pollution defaulters. While companies are making strides to reduce their carbon print, those found flaunting these laws could seek alternative and illegal approaches to escape hefty fines. According to Pedersen (2019), imposing heavy fines on defaulters will demonstrate the issue's serious nature. The managers will understand the implication of not adhering to these rules. To ensure that these laws are effectively implemented, the managers, then the local government, and the public will form a committee that will oversee the imposing and distribution of fines. Additionally, the solution should also consider revoking the factories' operating licenses, especially those who continue to break the law on air pollution. In essence, the regulations and policies against air pollution are meant to create awareness of air pollution's impending danger and its impact on the local community. If companies continue to emit gases into the atmosphere since the fines are manageable, their licenses should be revoked. Pedersen (2019) acknowledges that these stringent measures should be seen as a cost-effective solution to secure all parties' compliance. The public's growing concern is that these manufacturing companies neglect the existing guidelines and policies that govern air pollution. The management of these companies takes little consideration in providing safety measures for their employees, the environment, and the local community. After interviewing several people regarding the issue, a major takeaway was that these factories do not care about their employees' health. Yamineva & Romppanen (2017) agree that most companies overlook their employees` well-being, preferring to pay heavy fines rather than putting measures to safeguard the employees. For instance, one respondent noted that a colleague died from respiratory illness, and the management was reluctant to address the employees' issues. Such business practices should not be encouraged in an era that is more cautious about the environment and the changing climate. Replenishing the environment that has been polluted can take a long time. Pollution is an ongoing process that does not stop in an instant. Hence, the impact of pollution also occurs over a long time, with some long-term effects having adverse implications for people's health. Imposing heavy fines on defaulters can be a form for the government to collect financial capital that, in turn, can be used to compensate the victims or replenish the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2020), severely punishing pollution defaulters acts as a deterrent, significantly reducing acts of violation by these companies. Zhou et al. (2018) believe that imposing heavy fines on defaulters will attract more contributions and partnerships from relevant authorities and factories to resolve the problem. Such actions and collaborations will demonstrate the seriousness of the issue by the local government and company managers. While imposing heavy fines can significantly lead to change, there is concern over the inevitability of some air pollution by these factories. Without emissions of gases, some industries cannot operate. At the same time, stringent measures to curb pollution can prevent potential investors from investing in these factories or opening up new manufacturing industries. A study by Cui et al. (2019) revealed that, while heavy fines can lead to negative concerns and actions by manufacturing companies, greener technologies' adoption should also be considered. Arguably, the negative impact of imposing heavy fines on companies will also impact job creation. The chosen rhetorical strategies are comparison and narration. These strategies will inform the stakeholders of the pending issues and the best solution to implement. The managers should understand that imposing heavy fines should guarantee a change in business operations and the incorporation of newer green technologies to impact the environment significantly. Moreover, these strategies will generate the needed public and private sector support in addressing air pollution and its underlying impact on the community.  

References 

Cui, C., Wang, Z., He, P., Yuan, S., Niu, B., Kang, P., & Kang, C. (2019). Escaping from pollution: the effect of air quality on inter-city population mobility in China.  Environmental Research Letters ,  14 (12), 124025.  https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab5039 

Keohane, N. (2019).  Carbon removal technologies to help tackle climate change? Here’s what it’ll take . Environmental Defense Fund.  https://www.edf.org/blog/2019/02/12/carbon-removal-technologies-help-tackle-climate-change-heres-what-itll-take 

Manisalidis, I., Stavropoulou, E., Stavropoulos, A., & Bezirtzoglou, E. (2020). Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution: A Review.  Frontiers in public health ,  8 , 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00014 

Pedersen, O. (2019).  Punishing the polluters: Why large fines are an important step towards cleaner corporations . The Conversation.  https://theconversation.com/punishing-the-polluters-why-large-fines-are-an-important-step-towards-cleaner-corporations-115727 

Szyszkowicz, M., Kousha, T., Castner, J., & Dales, R. (2018). Air pollution and emergency department visits for respiratory diseases: A multi-city case crossover study.  Environmental Research ,  163 , 263-269.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.01.043 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2020).  Air pollution: Current and future challenges . US EPA.  https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/air-pollution-current-and-future-challenges 

Yamineva, Y., & Romppanen, S. (2017). Is law failing to address air pollution? Reflections on international and EU developments.  Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law ,  26 (3), 189-200.  https://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12223 

Zhou, C., Li, S., & Wang, S. (2018). Examining the impacts of urban form on air pollution in developing countries: A case study of China’s megacities.  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ,  15 (8), 1565.  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15081565