This essay will discuss the environmental impacts caused by economic activities of production and consumption in the state of Chiapas, identifying a single problem through an evaluative analysis.
Summary
In this paper, the aim is to show the reader what are the environmental impacts that the state of Chiapas has suffered over the years. It will also be seen that human beings are not yet capable of seeing the value of the natural wealth of our state; Our actions with the planet must be seen from an evaluative point of view, in order to raise awareness about the damage we have done to our state of Chiapas and to the planet in general.
Introduction
The state of Chiapas is not a highly industrialized state, so it does not have a considered level of pollutants in relation to the other states that are highly industrialized, but over time it has been seen how some natural areas have disappeared of our state for the inclusion of these industries.
A clear example that we can see in our days is that of a limestone industry that is located in the Cañón del Sumidero National Park and that has affected not only the protected area of the canyon but also emits emissions into the air that are harmful in the long run.
Today in our present time the different industries that are positioned in Chiapas and throughout the republic do not have the pleasure of caring for the environment and do not appreciate how important it is to take care of the environment, perhaps these industries like the monetary value of their industry it provides them, but we have to be aware that if we continue to pollute, there will not be a pleasant future for the next generations, that is why it is important to create awareness that we can reduce the collateral damage that is living in our days to the environment.
Generalities of the state of Chiapas
Chiapas officially called the free and sovereign state of Chiapas, the State of Chiapas is located in the southeast of Mexico; it borders to the north with Tabasco; to the east with the Republic of Guatemala; to the south with the Republic of Guatemala and the Pacific Ocean; to the west with the Pacific Ocean, Oaxaca and Veracruz-Llave. It has a land area of 74,415 km2 and is the eighth largest state in the Mexican Republic (encyclopedia of the municipalities of Mexico, 2005).
It is made up of 118 municipalities, which are distributed in nine regions: Centro, Altos, Fronteriza, Frailesca, Norte, Selva, Sierra, Soconusco and Istmo-Costa. The state capital is the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. (Encyclopedia of the municipalities of Mexico, 2005)
The state of Chiapas is one of the most diverse in the country, there are about 3,000 species of plants, including peanuts, mahogany, red cedar, Ceiba, cypress, oak, ash, guácimo, guapaque, laurel, mangrove, mesquite, grasslands, pine, quebracho and flying. (Encyclopedia of the municipalities of Mexico, 2005) There is also a great variety of animal life, especially birds and reptiles. Among the fauna there are aquatic birds, boas, crocodiles (including the swamp crocodile, an endemic species), wild boars, lions, monkeys, porcupines, sarahuatos, tepezcuintles, opossums, turtles, white-tailed deer, yellow-necked toucans and the jaguar that It is the largest feline in America and the third largest in the world. (Encyclopedia of the municipalities of Mexico, 2005)
Main economic activities
Taking into account what the << encyclopedia of the municipalities and delegations of Mexico, Chiapas section >> says, they want us to understand that one of the sectors that gives the state more economic structure is the primary sector, since this sector absorbs the 53.3% of our economically active population, within the state we have a large amount of planted area of which the cyclical crops that stand out the most in the state are: corn, beans, sorghum (grain), soybeans, peanuts and sesame and while of the perennial crops: coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, mango, banana and palm oil.
In the cattle ranch they work in bovine, pig and poultry production.
In fishing, the catch of shark, berrugata, tuna, shrimp, mullet, mojarra, crab, sierra, catfish and bass stands out.
Regarding the forestry activity, we mainly find the exploitation of coniferous trees and common tropical species; standing out cedar, mahogany, pine and oak.
In the mining industry, the most heavily extracted products are amber, sulfur, and limestone.
Within the secondary sector in our state, micro and small industries predominate in establishments such as: automotive parts assemblers, refreshment plants, fruit packing plants, coffee and cocoa processors, producers of lime, brick and other construction materials; sugar mills, wood and metal furniture, dairy processors, production of sausages and livestock feed, textile maquiladoras, printing and publishing companies; as well as those dedicated to the elaboration of handicrafts, such as: pottery, amber jewelery, ceramics, lapidary and pottery, among others.
Within this sector there are large industries, the hydroelectric plants of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) stand out, which represent 56.9% of the country's energy production and some Mexican oil refineries (PEMEX).
Within the tertiary sector, we can see that Chiapas has world-renowned tourism resources. The tourism offer is in the cultural, colonial and ecological field, distributed in three main routes that cover the entire state: the Mayan World, for adventure tourism and ecotourism, which is practiced in the Lacandona Jungle, Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchilán, Agua Azul waterfalls, the sinkhole canyon national park, Misol-ha and Laguna de Catazajá; cultural tourism, whose main focus is indigenous peoples, archaeological sites and colonial cities, such as San Juan Chamula, Tenam-Puente, San Cristóbal de las Casas and Comitán de Domínguez; and recreational tourism, whose main attractions are the bars, estuaries and beaches of Tapachula, Puerto Arista and Boca del Cielo, among others.
| Percentage of contribution to state GDP (year 2009) | |
| Primary activities | 8.92 |
| Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and hunting | 8.92 |
| Secondary activities | 25.37 |
| Mining | 7.14 |
| Construction and Electricity, water and gas | 9.89 |
| Manufacturing industries | 8.34 |
| Tertiary activities | 65.71 |
| Commerce, restaurants and hotels (Commerce, Temporary accommodation services and Preparation of food and beverages). | 17.48 |
| Transport and Information in mass media (Transport, mail and storage) | 8.39 |
| Financial and real estate services (Financial and insurance services, Real estate and rental services of movable and intangible property) | 17.64 |
| Educational and medical services (Educational services, Health and social services) | 11.98 |
| Government activities | 6.77 |
| Other services * (Professional, scientific and technical services, Corporate and business management, Business support services and waste management and remediation services, Cultural and sports recreation services, and other recreational services, and Other services except Government activities) | 3.45 |
| Total | 100 |
As we can see in data provided by * INEGI, the sector that contributes the most to the state's GDP is the tertiary sector where the tourism sector stands out due to the various tourist sites that the state has and we can say that the capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez and other cities that have hotel infrastructure are those that obtain the highest economic income.
Problematic with the environment
As we observed previously, the state of Chiapas has an endless number of tourist attractions in them, the Sumidero Canyon National Park stands out, but it is one of the most important canyons in the world for its ecological wealth, but focusing on the impact that it has suffered on For over 50 years due to a limestone industry that is adjacent to the canyon, the air quality is not affected but also deteriorates around 23 hectares of the canyon (magazine el pendulo, 2013).
Lime is obtained from the calcination of rocks (limestone or dolomite), and what calcination means to us since it is basically the process of raising a substance to a high temperature, to cause thermal decomposition or a change of state in its physical or chemical constitution. This process is carried out in large ovens and at the end of the process it is observed that the product comes out extremely fragile.
And since we obtain this extreme temperature to be able to reach calcination, because we need an extremely potential fuel and above all cheap, precisely that fuel is known as petcoke.
The petcoke that remains after refining the oil, is a porous solid, black or dark gray that contains high amounts of sulfur and heavy metals, logically if this fuel is what remains of a refined oil we can expect to its level of toxicity with humans and especially with the environment. Now, not only petcoke is harmful to health, but also lime has long-term effects, some harmful effects of hydrated lime will be mentioned.
Long-term exposure or inhalation to hydrated lime can cause serious and irreversible damage to the skin, eyes and respiratory tract, due to chemical or caustic burns; causing shortness of breath or suffocation, similar to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, increasing the risk of contracting tuberculosis, depending on the degree of exposure.
- Eye contact with large amounts of dry or hydrated lime can cause moderate eye irritation, chemical burns, and blindness. Causes dryness, discomfort, irritation, and severe burns on the skin. This product contains crystalline silica, which are mineral particles found in naturally in the soil, and are released into the atmosphere through the activity of extracting, crushing and grinding stone, gravel, sand and quarry or limestone Prolonged or repeated inhalation of respirable crystalline silica can cause silicosis, a severe and fatal lung disease, possibly associated with an increased incidence of various disorders such as scleroderma or thick skin, allergic rhinitis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and diseases affecting the kidneys.
However, petcoke also has an environmental impact because our fuel has a high content of sulfur, as well as carbon and nickel, various groups have studied that petcoke when used as fuel, as in this case in lime scale, they say some scholars that the emissions may be carcinogenic. On the other hand, they stipulate that it causes serious damage to the vegetation and agricultural crops, as well as to the flora and fauna of the nearby areas, so it must be agreed that this type of industry should be closed or transferred elsewhere, since they continue and will continue to affect our environment and especially that of the sinkhole canyon. (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coque_de_petróleo)
The pleasure and its exponents
Within the liking for me there are three very important exponents Garque are Meinong, Ehrenfels and José Ortega y Gasset, Alexius Meinong (1853-1920): he tells us in a thesis “a thing is valuable, it has value, when we like it and to the extent that we like it. It has a negative value when we dislike it and to the extent that it displeases us, also in the same thesis it speaks to us of another relevant point that if the value of a thing is nothing more than the result of the liking that it produces then what meinong establishes, only it would be for existing things. Although we also value the non-existent, when we value it we only affirm that if the object were to exist, it would produce a feeling of pleasure. Therefore, there is a present value that has the object that causes the liking present and a potential value that is absent that same object. Thus, the value of an object consists in the ability to determine the feeling of the subject, whether or not such an object exists.But the ultimate foundation of value is the feeling of pleasure. (Fernández, 1990)
Christian Von Ehrenfels (1858-1932): The value of a thing resides exclusively in the desire it awakens; therefore, value is identified with palatability. So, the measure or standard of value is the intensity of desire. Value is the relationship between the object and the subject; By virtue of such a relationship we know that the subject actually desires the object, or at least that the subject can desire it if he is convinced of the non-existence of the object. That is, a thing is valuable not only when it is capable of producing a feeling of pleasure, because in that case only existing things would be valuable. We also value what does not exist as perfect justice and goodness. Therefore, the foundation of value is not found in the feeling of pleasure or pleasure as Meignon maintains, but in the appetite or desire:Things are valuable because if they do not exist or do not possess them, we would want them. (Garcia, 1956)
José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955): this Spanish philosopher and essayist puts himself roundly to the ideas of meinong and ehrenfels, ortega gives an opinion on what meinong says which he actually says, when we feel like it is because of something that pleases Therefore, that which pleases has an objective condition, and, consequently, it is not the subject who gives value to things, but quite the opposite, he is the one who receives it in pleasure. Valuing is not giving, but rather recognizing a value, that is why the feeling of like or dislike does not make the thing valuable, but conversely, the feeling is a consequence of the value of the object (Fernández, 1990).
Faced with the conception of Ehrenfels, Ortega points out that the term "desirable" is wrong, since at least it can be understood in two different senses that refer to different phenomena. In a first sense, it means "possibility of being desired", but this possibility that we orient ourselves towards our desire does not indicate anything about the value of the object and the other sense "desirable" means "deserving to be desired, being worthy of it when in fact, no one ever wants it or even, in a way, wants it.
The importance of the perspective of pleasure applied to the environmental impacts caused by economic and production activities in the state of Chiapas.
Our environment includes everything that surrounds us, but nevertheless we do not value what we have until one day we lose it, we as thinking and rational beings must take care of our environment, particularly in our state, we have endless ecological reserves, We must all take actions for the good of the environment from citizens, industries to government.
As we saw in chapter 5 the different points of the value that things have, I return to what Meinong says that a thing has value when we like it, then we must have that education from home to like the environment to care for it and persevere, today in day the government tries to promote environmental friendliness, thus hoping that this has continuity throughout our times, different reforms have also come out that have supported the environment, but they focus more on industries and I applaud these reforms because industries They also have a part of the fault that the environment is deteriorating, we could cite an example in our state; which is the sump canyon, due to a nearby industry it has caused irreversible effects such as the disappearance of the vegetation that was there,The emissions that this industry emanates has harmful effects on the health of the inhabitants nearby.
If we generalize the industries, they are not the main culprits, the culprits are those who give authorization for the industries to be located in certain places in each region, and quoting Ehrenfels that the value of a thing resides exclusively on the desire we have, some people su I wish the environment is not attached but to the monetary benefit that they will show no matter what happens with the environment.
And finally, citing José Ortega y Gasset that liking or desire is what gives value to an object if not the feeling is a consequence of the value of the object, then why not teach small, medium and large industries that They find in our state but in general to be more aware of the environment, try to rethink the process and look for alternatives, innovations that do not affect the environment.
conclusion
Caring for the environment must come from our home; practice more attachment and pleasure to the environment, try to pollute less, use measures in our homes that benefit the environment and why not generate programs with industries to use clean technologies in the process of each company or industry.
Also that our government continues to generate more reforms and laws for the care of the environment. For example, what happens in the sump canyon, of course at this point the industry cannot be suspended, but if it could be moved to another side without affecting an ecological reserve or green areas, everything is a matter of doing studies, rethinking the process, innovate the process, there are endless solutions to avoid generating more contamination.
Documentary material, bibliography and web pages
- Encyclopedia of the Municipalities of Mexico: State of Chiapas; 2005. National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development, Government of the State of Chiapas. The legal philosophy of Eduardo García Maynez; Jesús Aquilino Fernández Suárez; University of Oviedo publications service; 1990; 6th edition. Aesthetic ideas by Ortega y Gasset; Rosaura García Tuduri; vol. IV, number 13, pages 26-33, Cuban journal of philosophy, Havana, January 1956. Psychological-ethical research for a theory of value; Alexius Meinong; 1894. Ethics: a global vision of human behavior; María Eugenia Ojeda Olalla et al.; Pearson education, Mexico 2007; first edition, pp. 248.
