Issue:
This month’s featured alternative energy source in Ode magazine was geoexchange, also known as geothermal heat pumps. The Environmental Protection Agency calls geothermal heat pumps the most environmentally clean and energy efficient way to heat and cool buildings (Orzech, 2007). Although, the environmental benefits are huge, the big roadblock is the cost (Orzech, 2007). The executive director of the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium, John Kelly, said, “Geoexchange could cost a homeowner twice as much as a conventional system.” A lot of well to do individuals, like President Bush, the Starbucks boss, and Queen Elizabeth II, are among those who are taking advantage of this type of heating/cooling system. I think that it is great that people who can afford this are choosing to. But why do alternative energy systems like wind turbines, and geothermal heat pumps, and solar panels, which are safer for the environment and efficient replacements of conventional methods, limited in use solely do to cost? Individuals, for example, in a under developed country in Africa, living without electricity or able to bring water up from an aquifer, could use a single or few wind turbines and drastically improve their quality of life. Lives could be changed without the implementation of an electricity company and service, with all that that would entail. I’m sick of hearing that we can’t chose alternative “greener”-healthier methods because it is too expensive! It would be great if across the country we could implement wind turbines, geoexchange systems, and solar panels in areas that make the most sense for that device. (We will have to work on the blade design as not to increase the mortality of bats, naturally.) But think of it. How can it be too expensive to do the right thing?
Orzech, D., “Heat pumps of the rich and famous,” Ode Magazine. 2007 November. 5, 9: 42-44.
Deed: I read a profile about Office Depot as an environmentally responsible corporation. Since I was out of printer paper and ink, I purchased the remanufactured ink cartridge and ream of recycled copy paper that was in the report.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Water in the Southwest and Carpooling
Issue:
This week’s environmental section of the NYT has begun with the topic of available freshwater in the West and Southwestern parts of the U.S. A potential problem that scientists have been discussing for years but jus recently presented to the public. The article states the alarming truth that the Colorado River’s water, is depended on by 30 million people, from seven different states: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California.
“An almost unfathomable legal morass might well result, with farmers suing the federal government; cities suing cities; states suing states; Indian nations suing state officials; and foreign nations (by treaty, Mexico has a small claim on the river) bringing international law to bear on the United States government.”
With 30 million people dependent on life all from the same diminishing source…we should have some serious water conservation movements in all the seven states! Instead…
“Over the past few decades, the driest states in the United States have become some of our fastest-growing; meanwhile, an ongoing drought has brought the flow of the Colorado to its lowest levels since measurements at Lee’s Ferry began 85 years ago.”
Why is Las Vegas the fastest growing city in the U.S? It doesn’t make any sense to me why you would want to move somewhere that has no water resources and is the last on the ‘list’ for water rights. If the water management protocol is first come first serve as Dr. Ostergren stated in an ENV 101 class, than it doesn’t sound very smart. The Strip is the most absurd destination in the desert. It is a slap in the face to the desert southwest! With all of the casinos, water fountains, millions of flushing toilets, and buffets, using such a large amount of water, there should be conservation techniques employed there. As a minimum, all of the toilets and showerheads should be low flow, water consumption. It is unfortunate that the city planner’s didn’t implement this in the first place but there’s still time to change.
Furthermore it is irresponsible by our AZ politician’s that we don’t have large-scale conservation movements just because there is enough estimated water for about 100 years. According to Dr. O, politicians don’t see the value in alarming the public of a water shortage if there is enough for 100 years. So, instead lets have a pool in every backyard, grass in there front yards, city fountains, and golf courses! Anywhere we can use water lets do it! (Although, most neighborhoods now have watering rotating schedules it is still silly to keep planting grass for the new housing communities when “desert landscaping” should be though of as “natural landscaping.”) I say even though we won’t personally be here in a 100 years, it is a lot closer than it seems and we should conserve now so there is a potential for that water to last longer!
Source: J. Gertner, “The Future is Drying Up” 10.21.2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21water-t.html?ref=environment>
Deed:
I have been carpooling to school two days a week. I also carpooled to a wedding this weekend!
This week’s environmental section of the NYT has begun with the topic of available freshwater in the West and Southwestern parts of the U.S. A potential problem that scientists have been discussing for years but jus recently presented to the public. The article states the alarming truth that the Colorado River’s water, is depended on by 30 million people, from seven different states: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California.
“An almost unfathomable legal morass might well result, with farmers suing the federal government; cities suing cities; states suing states; Indian nations suing state officials; and foreign nations (by treaty, Mexico has a small claim on the river) bringing international law to bear on the United States government.”
With 30 million people dependent on life all from the same diminishing source…we should have some serious water conservation movements in all the seven states! Instead…
“Over the past few decades, the driest states in the United States have become some of our fastest-growing; meanwhile, an ongoing drought has brought the flow of the Colorado to its lowest levels since measurements at Lee’s Ferry began 85 years ago.”
Why is Las Vegas the fastest growing city in the U.S? It doesn’t make any sense to me why you would want to move somewhere that has no water resources and is the last on the ‘list’ for water rights. If the water management protocol is first come first serve as Dr. Ostergren stated in an ENV 101 class, than it doesn’t sound very smart. The Strip is the most absurd destination in the desert. It is a slap in the face to the desert southwest! With all of the casinos, water fountains, millions of flushing toilets, and buffets, using such a large amount of water, there should be conservation techniques employed there. As a minimum, all of the toilets and showerheads should be low flow, water consumption. It is unfortunate that the city planner’s didn’t implement this in the first place but there’s still time to change.
Furthermore it is irresponsible by our AZ politician’s that we don’t have large-scale conservation movements just because there is enough estimated water for about 100 years. According to Dr. O, politicians don’t see the value in alarming the public of a water shortage if there is enough for 100 years. So, instead lets have a pool in every backyard, grass in there front yards, city fountains, and golf courses! Anywhere we can use water lets do it! (Although, most neighborhoods now have watering rotating schedules it is still silly to keep planting grass for the new housing communities when “desert landscaping” should be though of as “natural landscaping.”) I say even though we won’t personally be here in a 100 years, it is a lot closer than it seems and we should conserve now so there is a potential for that water to last longer!
Source: J. Gertner, “The Future is Drying Up” 10.21.2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21water-t.html?ref=environment>
Deed:
I have been carpooling to school two days a week. I also carpooled to a wedding this weekend!
Monday, October 15, 2007
China and the Environment & the Revelation
Issue:
The NYT’s has completed a three part series on China’s epic pollution crisis. The first article introduces China’s roaring economic growth and population growth as pollution reaches dangerous extremes. The second article discusses the cause of groundwater depletion due to development. This last article addresses the toxic cyanobacteria that turned the big lake, Lake Tai, fluorescent green. The lake is “the center of China’s ancient ‘land of fish and rice,’ succumbed this year to floods of industrial and agricultural waste.”
“At least two million people who live amid the canals, rice paddies and chemical plants around the lake had to stop drinking or cooking with their main source of water.”
The article goes on for five shockingly written pages of environmental degradation and environmental injustices. Since the 1950’s the lake was dammed and phosphates and other pollution-borne nutrients made the lake eutrophic. In the 1980’s chemical factories started drawing and dumping prolific amounts of water from China’s third largest source of freshwater.
By the 1990’s the north arc of the lake had 2,800 factories. The lake used to contain three very common fish species and a popular crustacean. The water also used to be used to irrigate rice paddy fields. Now, farmers swear that they do not enter the rice paddies without gloves or goulashes because the water caused their skin to peel off. The prominent activist working to protect the ecology of the lake and the water resource highlighted in the article was arrested for months before the algae bloom appeared. He was sentenced to three years “on an alchemy of charges that smacked of official retribution,” said the NYT’s writer. The journalist also claims that the local government views environmental warriors as a greater threat that environmental degradation. The reasoning, the chemical factories transformed the economy.
“By the mid-1990s, taxes on chemical industry profits accounted for four-fifths of local government revenue, according to a report from the city of Yixing, which oversees Zhoutie.”
What does this example in a Lake in China mean for the rest of the world? Although, the fingers are pointed at the communist power of this country, is extreme environmental degradation not likely in a democratic society? Rather is it a transition of values and standards? Are officials in this local government thinking now, what ought we to do? How do we promote a healthy, preventative, “what ought we to do” in this country and globally?
Site: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/10/14/world/asia/choking_on_growth_3.html
Deed:
Instead of a deed this week I wanted to share my thankfulness for taking a philosophy class. I have four more classes to take in the spring then I will have earned my Undergraduate degree. I have been taking course at NAU for 12 terms and only have one more! But the Environmental ethics course has been stimulating and invaluable to my education. Although, it has been difficult transitioning from making slides from my root samples, then thinking in this whole new mind stretching, philosophical way, then going to an ecology class back to straightforward science, it has been painfully exciting. I have an old catalog but I hope every emphasis is required to take this course. It is necessary to illustrate that there is more to science than just a scientific lens.
So as an environmental scientist, ONLY trained to do and read science…the PHI 331 class has been invaluable! I’ve enjoyed this new world of thought so much I take offense when my “fellow” scientists-to-be devalue the importance of other disciplines. Some don’t realize that our human perspective is limited! And the only way to understand it ALL is to think things out in all disciplines. All disciplines have their place and perhaps those places should not have such distinct borders.
This revelation that perhaps science should become more interdisciplinary is what pushed me to purse getting a sociology class accepted for my program. A course focused on human populations and the environment; the history of the emergence, growth, and organization of human populations and distribution patterns in relation to natural resources and environmental stress. I hope this class will reveal an avenue of knowledge by sociologists that is not addressed by natural scientists.
The NYT’s has completed a three part series on China’s epic pollution crisis. The first article introduces China’s roaring economic growth and population growth as pollution reaches dangerous extremes. The second article discusses the cause of groundwater depletion due to development. This last article addresses the toxic cyanobacteria that turned the big lake, Lake Tai, fluorescent green. The lake is “the center of China’s ancient ‘land of fish and rice,’ succumbed this year to floods of industrial and agricultural waste.”
“At least two million people who live amid the canals, rice paddies and chemical plants around the lake had to stop drinking or cooking with their main source of water.”
The article goes on for five shockingly written pages of environmental degradation and environmental injustices. Since the 1950’s the lake was dammed and phosphates and other pollution-borne nutrients made the lake eutrophic. In the 1980’s chemical factories started drawing and dumping prolific amounts of water from China’s third largest source of freshwater.
By the 1990’s the north arc of the lake had 2,800 factories. The lake used to contain three very common fish species and a popular crustacean. The water also used to be used to irrigate rice paddy fields. Now, farmers swear that they do not enter the rice paddies without gloves or goulashes because the water caused their skin to peel off. The prominent activist working to protect the ecology of the lake and the water resource highlighted in the article was arrested for months before the algae bloom appeared. He was sentenced to three years “on an alchemy of charges that smacked of official retribution,” said the NYT’s writer. The journalist also claims that the local government views environmental warriors as a greater threat that environmental degradation. The reasoning, the chemical factories transformed the economy.
“By the mid-1990s, taxes on chemical industry profits accounted for four-fifths of local government revenue, according to a report from the city of Yixing, which oversees Zhoutie.”
What does this example in a Lake in China mean for the rest of the world? Although, the fingers are pointed at the communist power of this country, is extreme environmental degradation not likely in a democratic society? Rather is it a transition of values and standards? Are officials in this local government thinking now, what ought we to do? How do we promote a healthy, preventative, “what ought we to do” in this country and globally?
Site: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/10/14/world/asia/choking_on_growth_3.html
Deed:
Instead of a deed this week I wanted to share my thankfulness for taking a philosophy class. I have four more classes to take in the spring then I will have earned my Undergraduate degree. I have been taking course at NAU for 12 terms and only have one more! But the Environmental ethics course has been stimulating and invaluable to my education. Although, it has been difficult transitioning from making slides from my root samples, then thinking in this whole new mind stretching, philosophical way, then going to an ecology class back to straightforward science, it has been painfully exciting. I have an old catalog but I hope every emphasis is required to take this course. It is necessary to illustrate that there is more to science than just a scientific lens.
So as an environmental scientist, ONLY trained to do and read science…the PHI 331 class has been invaluable! I’ve enjoyed this new world of thought so much I take offense when my “fellow” scientists-to-be devalue the importance of other disciplines. Some don’t realize that our human perspective is limited! And the only way to understand it ALL is to think things out in all disciplines. All disciplines have their place and perhaps those places should not have such distinct borders.
This revelation that perhaps science should become more interdisciplinary is what pushed me to purse getting a sociology class accepted for my program. A course focused on human populations and the environment; the history of the emergence, growth, and organization of human populations and distribution patterns in relation to natural resources and environmental stress. I hope this class will reveal an avenue of knowledge by sociologists that is not addressed by natural scientists.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Hydrogen Energy and Flip-Flops
News/Issue:
“Welcome to the Hydrogen Age, ”featured in Ode magazine, this article was adapted from the new book Freedom from Mid-East Oil. The article talks about the path toward a hydrogen future. Hydrogen is an energy source that is safe, clean, and sustainable. The article addresses the five main misconceptions about hydrogen as an energy source.
Myth 1) “A hydrogen industry needs to be built from scratch”
Myth 2) “ Hydrogen is too dangerous for common use”
Myth 3) “ Hydrogen can’t be distributed via existing pipelines”
Myth 4) “ There is no practical way to run cars on hydrogen”
Myth 5) “ Hydrogen is too expensive to compete with gasoline”
When in fact, hydrogen is very clean and doesn’t contribute to global warming. Although, it is expensive, with fuel cells, it beats current and projected oil prices per barrel. Also hydrogen can be used in homes, offices, cars, and trucks (stationary or mobile applications).
Another point in the case for hydrogen is it can be “generated from natural gas and eventually from water via local, decentralized energy systems, removing the costs and risks or fuel distribution associated with fossil fuels and nuclear power.” Locally, California and Florida have started planning for hydrogen. The Hydrogen Highway network Action Plan, plans to build 150-200 hydrogen-refueling stations along California highways. In Florida, the government has started tax refunds, credits, plus other financial incentives for private companies, local governments, universities, and environmental groups to promote and develop hydrogen as a strategic growth sector.
<www.worldbusiness.org/freedom-from-mid-east-oil/>
Deed:
According to me°, an initiative of TNT, “wearing flip-flops saves up to three wash loads of sweaty socks each year.” If so, I’m saving electricity and water resources from not washing or drying socks. I prefer wearing flip-flops or sandals as much as possible. While talking about saving water, I also wash my dishes by hand and limit my showers from three to five minutes. I do have to admit that using a dishwasher is rather tempting at times and my short showers may be a mute point since my roommate takes 10-15 minute showers. But I did put in a 5-minute timer in the shower, which has shown to help the roommate to gradually lessen the shower time. (The roommate’s showers used to be a standard 20 minutes.) I’m currently trying to think of a use for the shower water that just goes straight down the drain while I wait for it to warm up. I wish I had room for a garden.
<www.tntplanetme.com>
“Welcome to the Hydrogen Age, ”featured in Ode magazine, this article was adapted from the new book Freedom from Mid-East Oil. The article talks about the path toward a hydrogen future. Hydrogen is an energy source that is safe, clean, and sustainable. The article addresses the five main misconceptions about hydrogen as an energy source.
Myth 1) “A hydrogen industry needs to be built from scratch”
Myth 2) “ Hydrogen is too dangerous for common use”
Myth 3) “ Hydrogen can’t be distributed via existing pipelines”
Myth 4) “ There is no practical way to run cars on hydrogen”
Myth 5) “ Hydrogen is too expensive to compete with gasoline”
When in fact, hydrogen is very clean and doesn’t contribute to global warming. Although, it is expensive, with fuel cells, it beats current and projected oil prices per barrel. Also hydrogen can be used in homes, offices, cars, and trucks (stationary or mobile applications).
Another point in the case for hydrogen is it can be “generated from natural gas and eventually from water via local, decentralized energy systems, removing the costs and risks or fuel distribution associated with fossil fuels and nuclear power.” Locally, California and Florida have started planning for hydrogen. The Hydrogen Highway network Action Plan, plans to build 150-200 hydrogen-refueling stations along California highways. In Florida, the government has started tax refunds, credits, plus other financial incentives for private companies, local governments, universities, and environmental groups to promote and develop hydrogen as a strategic growth sector.
<www.worldbusiness.org/freedom-from-mid-east-oil/>
Deed:
According to me°, an initiative of TNT, “wearing flip-flops saves up to three wash loads of sweaty socks each year.” If so, I’m saving electricity and water resources from not washing or drying socks. I prefer wearing flip-flops or sandals as much as possible. While talking about saving water, I also wash my dishes by hand and limit my showers from three to five minutes. I do have to admit that using a dishwasher is rather tempting at times and my short showers may be a mute point since my roommate takes 10-15 minute showers. But I did put in a 5-minute timer in the shower, which has shown to help the roommate to gradually lessen the shower time. (The roommate’s showers used to be a standard 20 minutes.) I’m currently trying to think of a use for the shower water that just goes straight down the drain while I wait for it to warm up. I wish I had room for a garden.
<www.tntplanetme.com>
Monday, October 1, 2007
Redwoods in CA and green products in OR
Issue:
For the past 20 years environmentalists have been fighting big timber corporations due to the destruction of old-growth redwoods (in the coastal region of California) and local employees of the timber corporations have been battling environmentalists in efforts to keep their jobs. The Redwood Forest Foundation, Inc. (RFFI), the first non-profit organization dedicated to saving redwood forests has a plan to strike deals with both perspectives. This past June, RFFI bought a 50,000-acre parcel of land from the Hawthorne Timber Company for $65 million. They borrowed the money from the Bank of America. Over the next 100 years RFFI intends to restore this heavily logged forest to a natural state. With that plans involve guarding the forests against future development and permitting the harvest of the trees at a 2 % (or less) rate, annually, to preserve local jobs and help pay off the loan.
Although this plan/partnership of environmentalists and business is the first of it’s kind, it seems practical and beneficial for all parties. I wonder if this plan will spur conservation/restoration efforts in other ecosystems or at a larger scale for the redwoods. I don’t think 50,00-acres should be all that is left of these forests. I also fear that business’ investing in these projects may be apprehensive to commit, if they have to wait a century to see the “progress.”
Article: “Save the trees so the trees can save us,” Ode Magazine, October 2007.
Deed:
While visiting and exploring Portland, OR and other cities in the state, I noticed numerous “green” alternatives available to consumers and citizens of the area. Some of these “green” alternatives may be in other cities but not as frequently seen in places such as Phoenix or Flagstaff, AZ. This is simply a list of the type of things I saw or used while my short stay in Oregon. I am sure there where other environmentally friendly services and products I just wasn’t exposed to them on my journey.
§ Dual flow toilets-little flush for 1 and real flush for 2
§ Solar powered parking meters
§ Accessible, convenient, and efficient public transportation (light-rail, bus, streetcar, sky-shuttle thing)
§ Biker friendly roadways and bridges
§ Service industries’ had recycled paper products and recycled plastics, papers, and glass
§ Styrofoam ‘to go’ boxes banned
§ Recycled paints
§ Restaurants furniture made from recycled materials
§ Restaurants served locally grown food
§ Farmers’ Markets
§ Community members monthly remove the invasive vine species that are choking out trees in Washington Park
§ Portland Saturday Market- facilitates the sales of locally made or grown merchandise
For the past 20 years environmentalists have been fighting big timber corporations due to the destruction of old-growth redwoods (in the coastal region of California) and local employees of the timber corporations have been battling environmentalists in efforts to keep their jobs. The Redwood Forest Foundation, Inc. (RFFI), the first non-profit organization dedicated to saving redwood forests has a plan to strike deals with both perspectives. This past June, RFFI bought a 50,000-acre parcel of land from the Hawthorne Timber Company for $65 million. They borrowed the money from the Bank of America. Over the next 100 years RFFI intends to restore this heavily logged forest to a natural state. With that plans involve guarding the forests against future development and permitting the harvest of the trees at a 2 % (or less) rate, annually, to preserve local jobs and help pay off the loan.
Although this plan/partnership of environmentalists and business is the first of it’s kind, it seems practical and beneficial for all parties. I wonder if this plan will spur conservation/restoration efforts in other ecosystems or at a larger scale for the redwoods. I don’t think 50,00-acres should be all that is left of these forests. I also fear that business’ investing in these projects may be apprehensive to commit, if they have to wait a century to see the “progress.”
Article: “Save the trees so the trees can save us,” Ode Magazine, October 2007.
Deed:
While visiting and exploring Portland, OR and other cities in the state, I noticed numerous “green” alternatives available to consumers and citizens of the area. Some of these “green” alternatives may be in other cities but not as frequently seen in places such as Phoenix or Flagstaff, AZ. This is simply a list of the type of things I saw or used while my short stay in Oregon. I am sure there where other environmentally friendly services and products I just wasn’t exposed to them on my journey.
§ Dual flow toilets-little flush for 1 and real flush for 2
§ Solar powered parking meters
§ Accessible, convenient, and efficient public transportation (light-rail, bus, streetcar, sky-shuttle thing)
§ Biker friendly roadways and bridges
§ Service industries’ had recycled paper products and recycled plastics, papers, and glass
§ Styrofoam ‘to go’ boxes banned
§ Recycled paints
§ Restaurants furniture made from recycled materials
§ Restaurants served locally grown food
§ Farmers’ Markets
§ Community members monthly remove the invasive vine species that are choking out trees in Washington Park
§ Portland Saturday Market- facilitates the sales of locally made or grown merchandise
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