Dear Future President,

I am writing to you today about cleaning up the environment. Our planet is irreplaceable; most of the resources found on it are too. I find it alarming that in today’s world we think it is normal to see trash scattered around everywhere. Not only are we ruining the beauty of the Earth, but we are also putting our animals in danger. Many animals get trapped by trash or try to eat it, resulting in them suffocating. This is a big deal because most of these animals are endangered. Fourteen billion pounds of trash have been dumped into our oceans so far and that number is increasing. One million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year, including oil spills, plastics, and sewage dumping. Eighty percent of ocean pollution comes from the land, so clearly we need to work on cleaning up both the land and the sea.

The next thing that I am concerned about is air pollution. People who live in areas with high pollution have a twenty percent higher risk of death from lung cancer. In most cities, the smog covers the sky and makes it hard to breath. Smog is a mix of all sorts of gasses, such as carbon dioxide and methane. Cars are a big cause of air pollution. I propose that we add in more public transportation here in the United States. In many countries they have trains, busses, and subways, this cuts back on individual car use. Cars cause ninety-percent of vehicle pollution, so it is pretty clear that we need to start providing more public transit.

There are six types of pollution affecting our world right now: land, water, air, thermal, light, and noise. Our Earth is slowly being turned into an unlivable wasteland. This is important to me because I want my future children to be able to see the wonderful things nature has to offer, not just read about it in history books. We have the resources to develop clean energy and find easy ways to clean up the planet. Right now there are lots of people and animals being affected by this, but if things keep going the same way, everyone will be hurt by this.

Sincerely,

Denise T.