One of the best reasons for studying newspaper English is to be able to read information about your own world, that will definitely affect you and your family. Below I list excerpts (little pieces) of articles about subjects so important, that you are in danger if you do not understand them. The first, from this week's Washington Post, indicates that thousands of chemicals used in common products (including children's products) are secret from both the general public and most government officials. That is to say, millions of tons of industrial chemicals are used to make the stuff you use, and nobody even knows what these chemicals are, or what they might do to the human body.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010302110.html?nav=hcmodule
Use of potentially harmful chemicals kept secret under law January 4, 2010
"Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States -- from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners -- nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision.
"Under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, manufacturers must report to the federal government new chemicals they intend to market. But the law exempts from public disclosure any information that could harm their bottom line. (= their profit)
"Government officials, scientists and environmental groups say that manufacturers have exploited weaknesses in the law to claim secrecy for an ever-increasing number of chemicals. In the past several years, 95 percent of the notices for new chemicals sent to the government requested some secrecy, according to the Government Accountability Office. About 700 chemicals are introduced annually.
"Of the secret chemicals, 151 are made in quantities of more than 1 million tons a year and 10 are used specifically in children's products, according to the EPA."
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Okay, and here's a website by popular author Matt Savinar, which shows how Peak Oil will affect our lives in the very near future, and why. If you are able to take the time and go to his sources, you will see that he is not making this up. The world is about to change a great deal. Find out how, here:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
We're not "running out of oil". What's happening is that the population is growing quickly, and these billions are also becoming more "developed", meaning more dependent on oil. Thus demand increases steadily. Unfortunately, supply is already in decline, and will continue to decline ... forever, until the energy required to extract the oil is more than the energy produced. As supply declines, and demand increases, the gap will be very, very damaging to the world economy.
Here's an excerpt:
"The human body is 70 percent water. The body of a 200 pound man thus holds 140 pounds of water. Because water is so crucial to everything the human body does, the man doesn't need to lose all 140 pounds of water weight before collapsing due to dehydration. A loss of as little as 10-15 pounds of water may be enough to kill him.
"In a similar sense, an oil based economy such as ours doesn't need to deplete its entire reserve of oil before it begins to collapse. A shortfall between demand and supply as little as 10 to 15 percent is enough to wholly shatter an oil-dependent economy and reduce its citizenry to poverty."
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Speaking of demand for oil (and gas, and coal, and uranium, and iron, and copper, etc.) ... here's a recent article by a Guardian reporter who claims to have witnessed the final Copenhagen meetings between Obama and the (now disgraced) Chinese diplomant He Yafei and the other representatives of major nations. It seems that industrial might -- and the political power that gives -- are just too important to worry about the environment. So we can expect no help from big world powers, in saving the planet from eco-destruction. Journalist Mark Lynas is a specialist in climate change, and has this to say about China's role in the talks:
'Why did China, in the words of a UK-based analyst who also spent hours in heads of state meetings, "not only reject targets for itself, but also refuse to allow any other country to take on binding targets?" The analyst, who has attended climate conferences for more than 15 years, concludes that China wants to weaken the climate regulation regime now "in order to avoid the risk that it might be called on to be more ambitious in a few years' time".
'This does not mean China is not serious about global warming. It is strong in both the wind and solar industries. But China's growth, and growing global political and economic dominance, is based largely on cheap coal. China knows it is becoming an uncontested superpower; indeed its newfound muscular confidence was on striking display in Copenhagen. Its coal-based economy doubles every decade, and its power increases commensurately. Its leadership will not alter this magic formula unless they absolutely have to.'
Read the whole article, if you like. I will be glad to help you understand the meaning. China destroyed the Copenhagen Conference because its government wants -- feels that it needs -- to burn more and more coal, in order to build the power of China. The government of India has similar ambitions. And the US buys most of its products from countries dependent on dirty energy plants.
Some feel that economic collapse is the only event that will save the human race from quick extinction. This is a very good time to read newspapers, make necessary lifestyle changes and get ready for big changes. This is why I teach you newspaper English. Good luck.
