Sam Ziemba: Free Response 1 (3/2/23)

    The documentary we started in class, "Death by a Thousand Cuts" was fascinating and eye-opening to me. This documentary demonstrates the environmental concern of deforestation and charcoal production in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In Haiti, charcoal production was the main livelihood for many. This unfortunately led to the deforestation of many trees, with almost none remaining. In the Dominican Republic, regulations were placed on deforestation, so deforestation is not as much of an issue there. However, people from Haiti are sneaking into the forests of the Dominican Republic to produce charcoal. This poses an environmental and political problem. There is a lot of tension between the people of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. At first, while watching, I caught myself starting to take the side of the Dominican Republic thinking, "How could Haiti not care that they're destroying the environment?" and "It's their fault for cutting down all their trees". But after watching more, I realized that for many people in Haiti, charcoal production is their only way to make a livelihood. They do not have the privilege of environmental concern, many are just trying to survive day to day. There are no "sides" to environmentalism because it is not a black-and-white issue and there are so many things to consider. This brings up the major and reappearing issue of environmentalism: how do we protect the planet without destroying jobs? In America, it is almost easy to recognize that a factory is a source of pollution, and put regulations on them. But when environmental issues are arising from individuals with no other option, what can be done? Environmental protection has many factors to consider, and there is no easy answer to solving these major problems.