The exploitation of the Yasuní Park

Angel Maria Rañales Pérez

In 1979, this protected area was created in Ecuador due to its high value of environmental biodiversity. However, this natural jewel in the middle of the Amazon competes with the economic interests of companies dedicated to the massive extraction of oil. Since the 1980s, extractive plants were installed, which later in 2013 were extended to the so-called Block 31 and ITT, two areas equipped with extraction machinery that officially help to overcome the country’s economic deficit. The maximum territory allowed by Ecuadorian law for deforestation in Yasuní Park was initially 300 hectares; But in 2019 there are already more than 417 hectares deforested, which puts the health and future of nature in this great global lung at high risk. The technical analysis of the consequences of companies such as Petroamazonas in the region has been prepared by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon (MAAP) project of the Amazon Conservation Association and ACCA Conservación Amazónica. In collaboration they have designed a map that shows oil deforestation through satellite images. 

One piece of data that serves as proof of the magnitude of this destruction caused by man is that a single hectare of forest in Yasuní is home to around 100,000 species of organisms, of which 90% are small species of the arthropod group. Knowing the total impacts of the oil industry in the Yasuní Park can take from 70 to 100 years because the alterations to the natural environment are not measurable in the short term. Despite being an internationally recognized problem, with the passage of time the extraction docks increase their number and the animals, species and indigenous people of Yasuní are witnesses of the passage of ships that transport large tonnage trucks to be refilled and then commercialized. The company with the greatest potential in Yasuní is Petroamazonas, which curiously sells an environmentally conscious policy called “Nuestro Hogar” aimed at controlling and improving the environmental health of the forests in which its oil plants are installed. 

Why was the park created?

Do you think deforestation is justified to overcome the country’s economic deficit?

With whom did Petroamazonas collaborate in the region?

How do you help the environment in your community?

Do you think that humanity is nature’s greatest enemy? Why?

A patient has filed a $3 million medical malpractice lawsuit against St. Patrick Hospital. In light of the patient’s litigious background and the facts of the case, hospital administration is adamant that it is not liable. It has instructed its legal counsel to proceed toward trial, where it may be absolved of liability.

1. What source of law is the patient’s lawsuit likely to be based on?
2. Is the hospital’s decision to proceed toward trial a wise one? Why or why not?
3. What other options does the hospital have?
4. Besides the financial resources required to legally defend itself, what non-monetary factors must the hospital take into consideration when deciding to proceed toward trial?
5. What risks does the hospital assume when it takes a case to trial?
6. Is it the hospital’s or the legal counsel’s decision to try the case or settle? What decision-making authority does the hospital’s insurance company have?

Please number your responses so that I know which questions you are answering. Questions 1 and 3 probably only require one sentence. The remaining questions require a few sentences or a paragraph! Be sure to cite your sources!

During the first week, you were asked to fill out a short survey with only 3 questions.  Before posting to this discussion board, take a look at this PDF: 3304_Hindsight Bias_Sum2021.pdf download  

The first page of the PDF shows the two different versions of the survey.  Pages 2-3 consist of the results for each version.  The last page describes the point of this exercise and two essential concepts. 

In the PDF attached above, you can see the two examples of folk wisdom that most of us agreed with, but they are contracting.  Why do we believe that both homilies in a pair are generally true?  What are some other examples where folk wisdom contradicts itself?  Here is another pair of examples: “birds of a feather flock together” and “opposites attract.” 

In your discussion post, provide at least one pair of examples where folk wisdom contradicts itself and briefly explain what they mean.  Your examples should be different from the ones listed above and in the survey.  

Notes:

• You do not need to provide an answer to the question, “why do we believe that both homilies in a pair are generally true?” listed above. This question is for us to think about, and it ties in with the discussion on page 4 of the PDF.
• Homily in this context refers to lesson, teaching, or piece of advice; it basically means folk wisdom or proverb here.

Find the sum for 7.)