i need debate help!!?

Question

ok the motive is 'It is my job to protect the enviornment' my team is against the motion. please help me, i need points for this. if you have points please give me information and/or examples with the point. thanks xxx

the full motive if it helps is 'it is my job to take care of the enviornment for future generations'! thanks 4 helpin! xxx

Answer 1

Are you Irish? With that username I'm assuming so, but if you aren't, then I guess a lot of the following will be irrelevent:

In the body of your debate, you should try to refer to some of the following:

- Past generations never tried to protect the present generation... why should you feel responsible for the future generations?

- On pollution -- It is a plausible idea that, in the future, a more sophisticated method of waste management will be put to practise. All curent methods of waste disposal, bar recycling, are damaging the environment anyway, so should we not postpone incineration, etc. until a more environmentally sound technology for waste disposal becomes available?

- Be assertive -- No, it is not my job to protect the environment. It's the Government's. Talk about taxes charged to your family; taxes which the government are spending on building roads and fossil-fuel power stations, instead of more environmentally-sound investments like public transport and cleaner methods of energy-production, eg. wind-power, hydroelectricity. It's a fair argument that the government led us into this situation - in any case, it's their duty to lead us out of it.

- Stress how little difference your contribution would make. Attitudes in society suggest that people don't care about the environment. In any case, (Emphasize your minority in comparison to population, and other statistics, eg. carbon dioxide emissions of your county as opposed to others.)

Hope it helped! And remember, it's 'motion', not 'motive', so don't make that mistake infront of the chairperson and adjudicators!

Answer 2

OK, you could argue against this with this angle - "It isn't MY job, it is OUR job - one person alone cannotmake the required changes". Individuals lobbying government for change can do very little. There needs to be a major desire for change among a large number of people, so that the politicians sit up and take notice (or lose people's votes).

You could argue that the environmental issue is no longer about "future generations", but saving the world for ourselves! I'm sure you could find plenty of horrible statistics about how things are going to go wrong within OUR lifetimes, never mind our "future generations". Also, people are rarely keen to get things right for some vague "future generations" - they want to now what's in it for them, right here right now.

You could do something clever about how it may be our DUTY as citizens, but it certainly isn't our JOB, by showing that most people's jobs are really bad for the environment - the amount of paper and energy used in the average office, for example.

It's a bit of a stinker though - I have had to argue equally difficult things in debates, so I sympathise. The good news is, you oftn win because you don't have the moral high ground, you really have to argue hard, and the audience vote for you because they feel sorry for you!

Best of luck!

Answer 3

Probably the best tack would be that it must be governments job to protect the environment.They are trying to shift the responsibility on to the individual by the propaganda that our small effort is significant when they allow airlines to fly without paying duty on aviation fuel.They campaign for nuclear power which endangers us all while the real object is to produce weapons grade plutonium.There are many other examples where the large industrialists like BP win prizes for conservation while spilling oil in Alaska and building pipelines which interfere with migrating animals.Similarly if a fraction of the money spent on warfare was used to halt climate change then the planet would be a much safer place.Our effort is important but not in isolation.

Answer 4

Wow, tough one. It is SO politically incorrect to argue against protecting the environment, and will be very hard to debate against environmental protection.

The only angles I can see you taking are:

1) We are part of the environment just like everything else, thus it's all in balance and we should not do anything to disrupt the balance.

2) We have agencies and programs designed to deal with environmental issues, so I have no specific obligation to take further actions on my own.

or go totally selfish and say something like

3) I'm only on this earth for a short time, and I'm having as much fun as I can while I can. People on down the line can worry about the environment later. "Eat, drink, and be happy, for tomorrow we die."

Very tough debate topic! Best of luck.

Answer 5

My argumnet would be

"Climate Change is caused by big business and the actions of ordinary people will not make a difference."

"The Government should stop wasting taxes on new roads and building power stations or subsidising big business which pollutes the environment, and put the money to use in providing recycling facilities and making it easier for people to live "green".

"Although Politicians tell us to stop leaving our lights on and stop using our cars they persist in being chauffeur driven everywhere in huge expensive limousines, living in large, expensive-to-heat houses and flying around in private jets. Therefore, why should an ordinary person like me have to make sacrifices such as getting rid of their car if those who govern the country won't?"

You could also highlight the fact that it is difficult and expensive to recycle your rubbish or to use enviromentally friendly materials (like terry nappies instead of disaposables for a baby) unless the Government puts into place services like recycling collections or supplying new mums with cheap terry nappies and providing a nappy laundering service. Otherwise, you waste petrol etc driving to recycling points and have to use a lot of energy to wash and dry the nappies in your washing mahcine, tumble drier or on radiators.

Answer 6

You could start with "I didn't ask to be born, so why should I take responsibility for protecting the environment?".