Blog 23: Issues in Our American Society

In the article Is Your Lunch Causing Global Warming, the author makes a very strong and solid argument that it is contributing greatly. After reading the statistics and the chain of events that take place to put the food on our table, any skeptic would be convinced that we need to make some appropriate changes to our diet. The biggest culprit of creating the most greenhouse gases we learn is beef . It is amazing to me that it creates 100 times more greenhouse gases throughout production than the same weight in carrots. We always hear about cars and factories creating the problem, but the author reveals how much more our food consumption is responsible. It is not good for us to eat so much red meat anyway, we have another reason to cut back. I will definitely think twice before ordering my meals.

In the article Driven to Distraction, the author discusses the toughest law to crackdown on texting behind the wheel that was passed by Utah. It basically treats texting while driving in the same manner as driving while intoxicated. Alaska is the only other state with such penalties, while 17 states ban texting while driving. The author makes a strong argument against texting and driving citing several accidents with convictions and quoting the Harvard study of 2600 deaths a year linked to the multitasking of texting and driving. I agree that they should be treated equally, my only problem is the need for proof that the person held responsible was definitely texting and driving. When there is a drunk driving accident, a blood alcohol level can confirm the link, but there is no such test or way to definitively link texting unless it was witnessed somehow, or possibly with confiscating the cellphone. In order to put someone in prison for fifteen years if a death occurred, I would need proof. In one case that was cited where two people were killed, the cellphone was used one minute before 911 was called. Does that prove it was the cause of the accident. Even the author expressed this issue. There is no doubt that texting and driving must be banned and punished, but each case and crime needs to be reviewed individually at this time.