Manmeet Poonam Sandhu Considers the Politics of the Green Movement
Environmental protection, despite being characterized as a wrench in job growth, is now taking a more prominent place in the political arena. Manmeet Poonam Sandhu knows that this is largely due to the fact that environmental damage is more obvious.
NEW YORK, NY, August 01, 2012
High pressure hydraulic fracturing and the increasingly strong green movement in China have captured the attention of environmentalists and politicians alike. According to an article by Steven Cohen in The Huffington Post, environmental protection has deeper roots in American politics than assumed. Manmeet Poonam Sandhu, an environmentalist based in Washington, DC, believes that this increased awareness regarding green initiatives--and the damage of some business practices, such as fracking--is due to the obvious environmental damage that has already taken hold.Cohen sheds light on the fact that what he calls the "not-in-my-backyard syndrome" is prompting many communities to block environmentally hazardous activities from taking place in their neighborhoods. He cites upstate New York as a prime example. In dire economic straits, this region is preventing damaging natural gas extraction from occurring despite the jobs it would create.
"I love this quote," enthuses Manmeet Poonam Sandhu, "'The average person has the clear sense that the planet is more crowded and its resources more stressed than they used to be. This is not ideology, but reality. Seven billion people use up more stuff than three billion people.'" Certainly, notes Sandhu, it is impossible not to discern that resources are becoming strained.
"Cohen makes an outstanding point that the average person is starting to notice overcrowding and resource stress," comments Sandhu. "There was a time when environmental damage was a thing only scientists could see. But now the average citizen of the world can see, feel, and hear the effects of environmental damage. Look up into the sky, do you see a haze? That is pollution.
Notice the number of people reaching for bottled water rather than tap water because they are worried that their water is polluted. Or hear daily warnings of record-breaking temperatures experienced in America, which is the finest indication of climate change. Environmental damage and the resultant climate change are now so advanced that they are clearly visible all around us."
Manmeet Poonam Sandhu hopes that, through the political arena, green advocates can continue to protect the environment. Climate change is already taking place; it is too late to stop past environmental damage from affecting the world's population. But preventing further damage is still an option.
ABOUT:
Manmeet Poonam Sandhu, a student at The George Washington University, is currently working toward her Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Science and Policy. Dedicated to her academic endeavors, Manmeet Poonam Sandhu is also committed to her environmental ventures and is a part of the entertainment industry. While at The George Washington University, Manmeet Poonam Sandhu developed Diversion in DC, which is a waste diversion research project that is targeted at improving awareness regarding the diversion of waste and enhancing the availability of recycling and composting at public events.
Website: http://manmeetpoonamsandhu.net