CONSUMPTION

It is in the interest of the government for consumers to buy more. Each time items are purchased, a tax is usually paid. The more profit the business makes, the more money in taxes it will also have to pay the government. Both industry and government promote increased consumerism. It has become a society norm for people to spend as much money as they can even when in debt woth credit cards. The more we spend on products and services the more resources and energy we deplete. The combined production, distribution, and use of energy is the greatest single source of stress on the environmnet. Once coal, oil, and natural gased are burned they produce carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming and nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide which are responsible for acid rain, smog, and ozone depletion.

The US high rate of consumption causes problems globally. It is responsible for poverty, land degregation, worker exploitation, and pollution in developing countries. The resources within our country are diminishing. This problem is solved when raw materials we need are imported from other countries. This trade keeps these countries in poverty and insures that the US has a constant supply of resources and cheap labor.