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What gives us the right to pollute?

Letter writers wonders if humans are willing to change bad habits.

Dear Sir:

Pollution is defined as putting a harmful substance into the environment. Humans are just one of the species living on this planet. Some of the other living beings on this planet live up to a few hundred years and others a few thousand years. We consider ourselves to be highly evolved, but appear not to be very evolved.

My case and point, as a race, we are urinating and defecating where we live. For proof of that, just drive down any highway, or go a beach etc., yes it appears to be far away, but it is still there, that would be the visible pollution. But there is also pollution in the air (we breathe), water (we drink) and soil (we eat).

So what gives us the right, as the human race, to do this to ourselves and all the rest of the living beings on this planet? A generation ago we could have pleaded ignorance, somewhat, but these days we know much better due to science.

There are several studies that show the ill effect of our actions on ourselves and the rest of other living beings on this planet. Are we willing to change our bad habits or are we dooming ourselves, through diseases, not having clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, uncontaminated food to eat?

Martin Holzbauer

Terrace, B.C.