Blog+Reflections

__ The American Prospect Reflection #1 __ “Life and Death in the Climate Change Debate” The debate over environmental issues such as global warming continues to be a major debate today in the U.S. Congress. While many people in the government have argued over the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009” bill, many environmental justice advocates such as Elisa Young and LaDonna Redmond will continue to push for environmental policy and green initiatives to take place. They believe that it is their duty and the rest of the world’s job to make this earth a clean and environmentally friendly atmosphere. Young and LaDonna strongly resist pollution because it brings many health risks such as cancer to many people. They believe it is necessary to do what is right for the environment and the people of this earth to save lives. They believe that we as a people need to act fast and reasonably for the present and future generations of the world. Despite politicians’ regulations and decisions, Young and LaDonna believe we need to take it upon ourselves to fix our planet from toxins and save lives. I agree with Young and LaDonna’s actions for environmental justice in order to protect the health and lives of many people on the planet. All people, I believe should have the fair say and right to how they should live their lives under certain environmental conditions and surroundings. We should also be able to have a say for future generations who aren’t around yet to make future environmental decisions. We need to guarantee that we leave our future generations the healthy, clean, and fulfilling earth they deserve to live in just like the generations of the past. I agree that we need to support the future generations of the planet with Sustainability. This means that we leave our children and grandchildren a world as rich and full as the world we live in now. I believe that it is crucial and evident that our world acts now to not only save the people who are at risk from pollution, but all of mankind that is at risk of surviving from climate change.

__The American Prospect Reflection #2 __ “The Environmental Mess Palin Left Behind”  Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska has made many questionable decisions regarding energy policy in the past. While she has come up with her own plan of fuel efficiency in Alaska, she has refused to follow with President Barack Obama’s proposals for clean energy. Governor Palin’s plan was to drill off the Alaskan shore for oil and to try to create a national pipeline that would transport gas to Alaska and to the rest of the states in the continental U.S. Critics of her proposal believed that such a pipeline would harm many polar bears and whales and threaten their survival. Critics also did not agree with the fact that if there was offshore drilling and a “national pipeline”, many Inupiat Alaska Natives’ lives would be at stake. The offshore drilling would be in the areas that the Inupiat people hunt and fish threatening their survival. Palin refused to support Obama’s stimulus proposals of $930 million and $28.6 million which would have gone towards funding green buildings and energy renewable projects. With Palin’s refusal to agree with Obama’s “green initiative”, she tried to handle Alaska’s energy problems on her own. While many oil companies such as Shell invested in offshore drilling in Alaska, the U.S. Court of Appeals refused leases due to it being improperly granted by the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service. Fearing lawsuits and lost profits, many oil companies decided to leave Alaska. With Palin’s energy companies gone, her offshore drilling became a failure. I believe it was not right that Palin wanted to go against Obama’s clean-air energy proposals creating renewable energy for buildings and facilities all across America. With her offshore drilling and idea of a “national pipeline”, she did not realize that she was making Alaska’s environmental and energy problems even greater. By using Obama’s plan of using natural and renewable energy, we are “protecting the natural environment in a pristine, unaltered state” known as preservation. By using the world’s natural resources in a clean, efficient, and renewable way, we are protecting the environment and managing our energy consumption wisely. Obama’s plan for renewable energy was and is a great benefit for this country and would have been an even greater benefit for Alaska if Palin had supported the proposal.

__ The American Prospect Reflection # 3 __ “Denial Island” All around the world many people are trying to battle the global warming crisis the earth continues to endure. People who are currently being impacted from the crisis are many people from developing countries such as the Carteret Islands off the shore of Papua New Guinea. With increasing use of fossil fuels, the people of these islands are suffering from the effects of global warming with increasing tides, destruction of agriculture, crops, and land erosion. These people have been forced to move away from the islands because the natural resources to sustain life have been washed away and destroyed by the rising ocean levels. Islands with no resources have forced many refugees to leave their native home behind. Many environmentalists and policy makers are concerned that if we continue to pollute the earth and neglect this international issue plaguing the world, many more people in developing countries will loose their homes and land due to global warming. I believe we need to start placing strict regulations on fossil fuels now for this issue and many other issues global warming is causing. The continuous emitting of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is our own undoing. We need to stop this from the source which happens to be us humans. We are destroying our own planet and now it is up to us to save the planet by being aware and acting upon the issues that are surrounding us. Our landscape, land, crops, farms, and homes that are being destroyed are just like animals’ habitats being destroyed, except we are the ones who are destroying the land and resources we need to survive. If plants’ and animals’ habitats are destroyed, then the extinction of species can occur. If we destroy everything that we need in order to support the human race, our way of life ceases to exist and our race becomes extinct. We need to find a way to stop global warming by preserving and conserving every life-support resource we have so that we can sustain life on our planet. Without the ability of creating sustainable development using renewable and nonrenewable resources that meets our needs of the present and future, all hope for our blue planet is lost.

__ The American Prospect Reflection # 4 __ “A Problem of Olympic Proportions” Even though Barack Obama has been worried about getting the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago, Obama has had a bigger problem on his plate as he tries to get the U.S. to cut back on major carbon emissions. Obama is looking to create a great “green” solution for the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen during December. Even though Obama has formulated this plan, Congress in Washington is determining weather a “green bill” should be passed and I believe that it won’t be done any sooner. This is because Democrats and Republicans alike are not agreeing on the issues and for a bill like this to be passed; our government needs to come to be on the same terms. Without both parties supporting a common idea, our government will not be unified and Obama’s plan for a “green bill” will never be implemented. I also believe that it is imperative that the U.S. comes up with a big “climate bill” for the sake of unity with the rest of the world. Most of Europe and parts of Asia have considered curbing carbon emissions in the future and the U.S. has done nothing to lead the world in an effort to attack global warming. We need to show the world that polluting the Earth can and will destroy our planet and with Obama’s “green” plan, we can show other nations how to live in a sustainable society. It’s the U.S.’s job to help the world in combating this global crisis. We need to set an example for other countries like we have done in the past that we need to stop polluting and destroying our world called earth.

__The American Prospect Reflection # 5 __ “The Peak Shrink”  Many people have been worried about the supply of energy, especially oil running out in the very near future. While some are worrying about the rising and falling prices of oil, others are preparing for the end of oil. While some believe in using oil and not dealing with future consequences, other people are coming up with ways to live in a more sustainable way. People are already using renewable, clean, and efficient energy due to their belief that our earth’s petroleum supplies are on the verge of becoming “finite”. Many people believe that our oil supply is not close to running out and are focusing on the here and now while others fear that we could run out as early as tomorrow. I believe that it’s necessary to focus on the here and now and the near future. We need to start weaning not only our country off of oil, but the whole world. We all know the world’s oil supply will eventually run out, but the question is when it will run out. We have to be prepared no matter what happens for when this oil crisis gets proportionally out of control. When it does get out of control, we need to be ready and know that we did not leave the future generations of the world without fuel ultimately creating havoc and chaos. Without our ability to act now, the goods, services, and supplies the world economies use will not be transported and delayed due to a very small amount of oil. We need to come up with new forms of energy as soon as possible in order to keep the economy afloat and meet the demands of our changing society.

__The American Prospect Reflection # 6 __ “Green Peacemaker”  Lisa Jackson, ahead of the E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Agency), has declared where her priorities lie when making important environmental decisions and regulations. Jackson has declared that she would support both industries and environmental advocacy groups to deal with the issue of global warming. Even though Jackson supports the policy of “cap-and-trade” (Industries trade permits which give them the authority to pollute in order to make a profit), she is supporting the thousands of people who suffer from environmental problems every day. She believes that all people, especially poor minorities should all have an equal say in Environmental Justice. She believes that neglected environmental problems such as garbage, pollution, land-fills, and waste from “big business industries” causing cancer should be dealt with, but industries shouldn’t have to suffer economic losses. She believes that they shouldn’t pollute the world and not have to lose profits from their industries in order to prevent pollution. I believe that Lisa Jackson has good intentions in order to make everyone happy during this global warming crisis. Despite her opinions, I think that adopting the policy of “cap-and-trade” was wrong. By doing this, we are not attacking the problem of pollution from its source. Instead, we are just putting the pollution and waste burden on someone else. Trading permits to pollute for profits is not solving the problem that there are waste and hazardous chemicals still being polluted into the atmosphere and the environment. I believe that we should support industries and not hurt their business, but we should also find a way to filter all the waste their industries produce in an eco-friendly way. Trading pollution permits is no way to handle this global warming crisis and to get the environmental justice many poor-urban minorities deserve. 

