Activity 4.1 – Tragedy of the Commons: A Case Study
On February 3, 2023, there was a train in Ohio that derailed. That on its own is a tragedy, but this train was carrying toxic chemicals that burst into flame after the train crash. the locals had to move out of the town. There were reports of rashes, stomach aches, and tons of dead fish. There is currently a lawsuit on the train company but I can’t see how they are going to reverse the environmental effects. This information is coming from the Washington Post source. Out of the twenty-three carts or portions of training that crashed at least eleven of them contained hazardous material.
4.2
Descriptive explanation of the tragedy of the commons problem.
Not only was the hazardous material leaking into water sources making the water unsafe to consume there. Absolute! wonderful idea! I didn’t know Ohio was becoming a sink. To burn the remaining chemicals, releasing them into the earth's atmosphere. So not only is the water polluted killing the fish, but now they’re releasing it into the air creating an unsafe environment. life-support function has been polluted. They say it so that another explosion didn’t occur. It would’ve ended up in her area anyway but at least they would’ve been some use out of it. an extremely interesting quote was brought up ‘“Historically, preventing railroad accidents has rarely been a question of available technology; it has been the willingness of railroads to spend the money to implement the technology,’ said Richard White, a history professor at Stanford University.” I wonder if they would’ve known the impact it has on earth's well-being if they would have been more willing to develop better technology. The funny thing about all of this is I found this environmental disaster on TikTok. It caught my eye, and I spoke to several different people about this issue before this assignment had come up. I find it funny the congressmen are trying to take away the way our generation shares information. It’s almost frustrating to continuously see environmental, disasters, and tragedies happening. I’m sure one of my other classmates will bring this issue up because it is another very current event that will lead to our downfall. We can preach all day about saving the environment and reducing emissions in areas, such as farming and ranching, but if they continue to allow things such as the Willow project, we don’t stand a chance. Speaking out of what I feel I don’t want children because I don’t know the environment they will have to grow up in. And short, the willow project is allowing oil mining in the last few areas of untouched Alaskan land for petroleum. Corporations won’t change for the better the Earth will heal when we are gone. When we make the earth so inhabitable that we go extinct. Of course, this is only my opinion.
4.3
External Costs (Externalities) both positive and negative
Norfolk Southern’s stock was all over the place during this event. $27.9 million was given to the town to help clean up the area, but the Washington post claims that will still require more. This is one hell of a mistake. They are also looking to charge them, for the damage is done to the water supply against the clean water act.
4.4
Two solutions
Reading through what others have suggested the only way for this tragedy not to reoccur is to invest in better equipment for trains. If they are set on moving cargo in this manner and having such high stakes, if they were to crash, what is a better detection system to help limit this problem. Better brakes would also be an excellent improvement to this company’s problem. Another thing would be regular checks on carts in the train, especially ones holding hazardous materials. Since nothing was ever advance in the technology of trains. Anything would be a vast improvement. Truly, the only solution is no more humans, but I cannot simply suggest we are the cause.
4.5
Argument for and against the possible solution
Even if we were to fix the technology that is in these trains, there will still be accidents. I know somebody will say But these are all before the disaster is fixed. And they would be correct. I could say plant a tree to help alleviate the pollution that was pumped into the air when they decided to burn that toxic material. But as humans we would only cut that tree down just as we have done with millions of trees before.
4.6
References
Board, E. (2023, February 28). Opinion | here's how to fix freight rail after the Ohio derailment debacle. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/26/ohio-train-crash-rail-safety-solutions/
Cable News Network. (14AD). The willow project has been approved. here's what to know about the controversial oil-drilling venture. CNN. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/03/14/politics/willow-project-oil-alaska-explained-climate/index.html
Igini, M. (2023, February 13). Top 6 environmental issues the US is facing in 2023. Earth.Org. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://earth.org/top-environmental-issues-us/
Mufson, S. (2023, March 31). DOJ sues Norfolk Southern over toxic train derailment in Ohio. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/31/doj-sues-norfolk-southern-over-toxic-train-derailment-ohio/
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