What's the biggest environmental issue in your opinion?

[NorthwestSolar]

I think that dependence on fossil fuels gets top billing and ties directly to the climate issues which are hard to ignore as another large storm devastates the Southern United States.

Overpopulation is rapidly becoming more of an issue, but the truth is still that right now we have the technology to produce enough food and water for everyone on the planet. The problem comes in the fact that we don't use the technology to improve the planet as a whole. We use it for selfish reasons and have developed a sizable gap between the haves and the have nots.

Human nature and greed may very well be the biggest factors holding us back from creating a world that everyone can live in and turning the tide back towards a planet Earth that we'd all like to be a part of. Imagine for just a moment if we stopped building SUVs and used those billions of dollars worth of investment to better the living situation of people who have been exploited to develop the resources needed to make and power them.

[Gooeen]

One of the simplest environmental issues that irks me is litter. Plain and simple. I see people littering their cigarette butts like it's no thing... Well, those things are made out of plastic and take years to break down!! Also, every other kind of trash under the sun... bottles, cans, fast food this and that. Humans suck. So unappreciative and selfish. How hard is it to throw away your trash? This to me is the sickest environmental crime being committed... simply because it's so stupid.

[NorthwestSolar]

Originally Posted by Gooeen

One of the simplest environmental issues that irks me is litter. Plain and simple. I see people littering their cigarette butts like it's no thing... Well, those things are made out of plastic and take years to break down!! Also, every other kind of trash under the sun... bottles, cans, fast food this and that. Humans suck. So unappreciative and selfish. How hard is it to throw away your trash? This to me is the sickest environmental crime being committed... simply because it's so stupid.

The worst part about this is that even when you throw away your trash, it is still going away to somewhere where it will stay for thousands of years in some cases. There is just way too much trash.

[Gooeen]

Originally Posted by NorthwestSolar

The worst part about this is that even when you throw away your trash, it is still going away to somewhere where it will stay for thousands of years in some cases. There is just way too much trash.

No doubt about that! Consumerism is eating the environment! And now with China and India booming, that trend is running exponentially!!

[NorthwestSolar]

This may be a bit off topic, but I was looking at what is happening to the financial institutions and thinking they could very well be the canary in the mine. American consumer lifestyle has eaten a huge chunk of the pie and you hit it right on the head when you say that India and China's boom will take the problem to a whole other level.

There is not enough pie (planet) to go around the consequence will likely be the burst of the Western society bubble and an enormous expansion in the gap between the haves and the have-nots. 99.999% of everybody is going to end up on the side of the have-nots unless we do something and soon.

[greenmom]

I'm with fossil fuels/petroleum being the biggest issue for all the reasons which have been stated. There is a spiral effect that keeps going round and round.

[Mason]

For me, its a tie between the massive amount of smog in Japan, and the use of fossil fuels.