Summary
A new dogmatic problem arises that has nothing to do with faith, but with economic activities of production and consumption that at the same time affect and impact the environment.
Where the omission of a norm can put at risk an entire natural system derived from an economic activity where a person or group of people cannot be directly held responsible since said environmental impacts also derive from the absence of the norm. That is why the importance in the application, development, and implementation of an environmental dogmatism that allows to regain confidence when considering the legal and regulatory framework as true and strictly enforced.
Introduction
The unplanned growth of cities and the concentration of the population in the main municipal capitals, demand a series of goods and services (water, electricity, security, schools and hospitals among others) at the same time that around these a whole economic activity of consumption and production of goods and services, modifying and altering the use of the land, from agricultural-forest-jungle to home, paddocks, shops and companies, deforesting and growing without a plan or project, gradually impacting the environment.
Which if we base it on a dogmatic Environmentalist basis, based on Administrative Law (Municipal regulation of construction and land use), which when an absence or lack of updating of the legal framework or political decision is detected, modifies and alters considerably environment.
In this essay I will refer to the concept of Environmental Impact as a sequence of economic activities of production and consumption, later I will analyze the importance of dogmatism and finally before my conclusions I will focus on environmental impacts from a dogmatic perspective.
Environmental impact
The concept of Environmental Impact Assessment was first introduced in the United States in 1969 as a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act (commonly known as NEPA). Where different nations of the world have included the EIA in their legal and regulatory provisions, which requires:
- A preliminary examination, to decide whether a project requires an impact study and to what level of detail A preliminary study, which serves to identify the key impacts and their magnitude, significance and importance A determination of their scope, to ensure that the EIA focuses on key issues and determines where more detailed information is needed The study itself, consisting of meticulous investigations to predict and / or assess the impact, and the proposal of preventive, protective and corrective measures necessary to eliminate or reduce the effects of the activity in question.
In our country, the Federal Law to Prevent and Control Environmental Pollution (LFPCCA) coordinated its actions with the then Secretary of Health and Assistance (SSA), and as a curious fact, it did not contemplate the Environmental Impact, but it did concern the management, prevention of air, soil and water pollution.
It is from 1977 that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Hydraulic Resources merge, establishing itself directly in Article 6 of the LFPCCA, where it indicated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Hydraulic Resources, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Health and Assistance, should in their scope of competence “study, plan, evaluate and qualify all projects or works related to urban development, national parks, industrial and work areas and zoning in general to prevent inherent problems to environmental pollution ”.
As we can see the antecedents in our country of the Environmental Impact Assessment issue, it can be said that it has been in effect for approximately forty years, where at the time the Secretary of Health and Assistance, leaned towards health care derived from the changes caused to the environment, in the era of the eighties the approach of the Federal Environmental Protection Law is urban planning, from the nineties to date it focuses on the environmental issue, being more comprehensive and supported by the General Law of Ecological Balance and Protection of the Environment, highlighting the importance of natural resource management through the sustainable development platform, which will ensure a more dignified and healthy environment for future generations.
At present, the aforementioned General Law contemplates the concurrence of the three levels of government, granting them powers regarding the "Evaluation of the environmental impact of works or activities…".
For its part, the current Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), through its decentralized bodies, has used the Environmental Impact Assessment instrument as a flag for conservation and preservation, which is supported by the General Law of the Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection and its corresponding regulatory provision.
The priority of said legal and regulatory instruments being the protection, preservation, care, management and conservation of ecosystems and their natural resources.
Definitions of Environmental Impact Assessment
"It is the regulatory framework that governs environmental policy, which is strictly and obligatory, and focuses on preventing deterioration and ecological imbalance derived from the development of economic activities in our country."
"The set of natural and artificial or human-induced elements that make possible the existence and development of human beings and other living organisms that interact in a given space and time."
"Modification of the environment caused by the action of man or nature."
From my point of view I can define it as "The direct or indirect relationship of man with his environment which reacts by modifying its natural state".
Environment impact manifestation
It is "The document through which, based on studies, the significant and potential environmental impact that a work or activity would generate is disclosed, as well as the way to avoid or mitigate it if it is negative."
Types of Environmental Impacts
Quoting, the Environmental Impacts are divided into nine groups:
- Due to the variation in environmental quality (medium, high, positive, negative) Due to its extension (punctual, partial, total, critical) Due to the time it occurs (short, medium and long term) Due to its persistence (temporary, permanent) Due to its recovery capacity (recoverable, irreversible, mitigable, fleeting) Due to the cause-effect relationship (direct, indirect, secondary) Due to the interrelation of actions and / or effects (simple, cumulative, synergistic) Due to its periodicity (continuous, discontinuous, periodic, irregular) Due to the need to apply corrective measures (critical, severe, moderate)
According to the above, we see how there is a variety of impacts and how these can affect the environment in different ways, which together or separately are influencing Climate Change as a consequence of actions generated by man to satisfy their needs and expectations both of an economic nature and those derived from production and consumption, some of these consequences are “global warming, the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, acid rain, water pollution, air, soil, soil erosion-desertification ”.
Dogmatism
When we evoke the term Dogmatism, we regularly associate it with a theological concept, but in itself, when analyzing and comparing the different concepts, these like all science derive from the Greek “dogma”, which at the same time we can relate it to the preformed opinion that beings have. thinking and the decision to accept a concept as valid.
Definition of Dogmatism and Dogmas
This comes from the Greek δόγμα which meant in its philosophical conception, an opinion founded on principles, and in this way the words "dogma" or "dogmatic" were used for a long time. Dogmas would be those supposed truths accepted without criticism or examination, and dogmatic those who accept them or order others to accept them.
Philosophical dogmatism refers to the doctrine that human cognitive faculties can, spontaneously and with full certainty, reach the truth.
Tendency to affirm that a thing is certain and certain when in reality it is debatable.
Acceptance and profession of a doctrine without critical examination and by virtue of an authority that does not correspond to the intrinsic value of such doctrine.
Sixth Empiricist already used the term "dogmatic" in this way. When classifying the different philosophical sects, this author contrasts dogmatic (dogmatikoí) academics and skeptics (skeptikoí): while Aristotle, the Epicureans and the Stoics, would be characterized by believing themselves in possession of the truth, where the truth cannot be apprehended having conforming, therefore, to verisimilitude alone, the skeptics would be the examining philosophers who continue to investigate - skptomai meant to look carefully or examine something, and sképsis examination or inquiry.
Comte's contributions refer to Dogmatism as an attitude in which neither criticism nor analysis has support to accept certain theories as valid where the subject remains in a state of comfort in front of the object.
In my opinion, dogmatism is where each person forms their own reality from the perspective of their conscience, which may or may not be accepted for reason or questioned due to the lack of elements or evaluative judgments.
Legal Dogmatism
Legal dogmatism is a discipline belonging to Law, whose method is based on that of complex systems of a formal nature, composed of legal dogmas or types.
This concept is based on a principle whose foundation is the legality and validity of the fundamental norm which is made up of a set of laws, regulations, codes and other provisions whose validity and effectiveness make up a whole legal system, where the specialist can consult and interpreting a series of regulatory provisions and, according to the force of their application, considers them as true and supreme, as a guarantee of their legality, when the viability of the legal provisions is questioned, it is up to the judges and magistrates who are the ones who establish the dogmatic principles of law.
Environmental impacts caused by economic activities of production and consumption from a dogmatic perspective.
I consider as true and capable of applying the regulatory provisions under a dogmatic perspective when all the variables that affect and impact the natural environment are analyzed and interpreted and where the economic activities derived from production and consumption must be legitimized and accepted. as legal truths for the benefit of the citizens of the world and of future generations.
Where the economic part of any process represents a factor of survival, development and family support, of satisfaction of needs and expectations, where these activities are conditioned to the legal provisions and regulations, to political and social decisions. At the same time, small, medium and large, national and international, public or private investors are obliged to consider, apply and respect the Environmental Impact studies that are generated as part of any economic activity.
This is much more complex than is thought since, no matter how minimal the economic activity or investment may be, from a small workshop or shop to the construction of large shopping centers, offices and residential houses to satisfy a production or consumption need. Indistinctly, gradually and invisibly the environment, flora, fauna, soil, air, as well as the organisms and living beings that inhabit it are being impacted.
Where the dogmatic perspective of believing, accepting, validating and applying normative and legal instruments, aimed at the care, preservation and conservation of the environment as well as organisms and living beings.
In parallel with any economic activity, be it production and consumption. An environmental dogmatism is one that will be integrated by all laws, regulations, norms and provisions of an environmental nature that allow to achieve the balance and preservation of the environment, which by strengthening their dogmatic part will be accepted as true provisions for the benefit of future generations where their disqualification or criticism is not allowed.
Conclusions
Each of us in our stretch of control and influence will accept the legal provisions as true and applicable, creating a double awareness of the fragility of the environment and of raising awareness of the irreversible damage that is being generated to future generations and the impact that we are causing. derived from economic activities, excessive consumption and unregulated services and inapplicable legal frameworks due to the lack of authority.
For which it is recommended to analyze the available information, rationalize consumption, separate garbage, use biodegradable products, reforest, use motor vehicles as little as possible, buy national biodegradable products, treat water, consume only what is necessary. All of this will create a dogmatic awareness that reduces environmental impacts as much as possible.
