Palm Oil Companies Slow in Meeting Sustainability Goal

I noticed an interesting article in the NY Times today - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/business/global/palm-oil-companies-slow-in-meeting-sustainability-goal.html

It discusses many of the topics we have touched upon this semester. It mentions how many multinational corporations have pledged to use oil only from sustainable forces by 2015, yet most are vastly behind this projection unfortunately. The article talks about in detail how heavily the world economy relies on palm oil production as an alternative fuel source.  However, the way in which palm oil produced is damaging as millions of acres in land in Asia are being destroyed to make room for more palm oil plants. "The land clearing releases carbon dioxide and destroys habitats for endangered species like orangutans, which are often killed by plantation owners who view them as pests" the article stated. The article, to me, was a microcosm for many things we've learned this semester - we, as a nation, are trying to become more sustainable and green, yet continue falling short of our goals and have to push them back.  Furthermore, even when we try to use sustainable resources, we find a way to screw something up and hurt the environment in the process.

By - Kyle Crowe

Helpful links for your research!

Think tank websites:

List of US Think Tanks (From Wikipedia… there are 100+ listed here)

Center for American Progress (CAP)

Tax Policy Center (TPC)

Post Carbon Institute  (PCI)

Economic Policy Institute (EPI)

American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

Brookings

Podcasts:

Kunstler’s blog & Kunstlercast

Robert McChesney Media Matters (WILL-AM)

WILL-AM Agricultural Happenings

NPR Podcast Directory (Highly recommend this one)

NYTimes Podcasts

 

Oil Fracking

We all know the importance of oil in our day-to-day lives, whether it is heating our homes or fueling our cars. There has also been much attention brought up regarding America’s dependency on foreign oil. Through natural gas found in our own country it is possibly to alleviate some of that dependency. Large basins of natural gas have been found within American soil, and natural gas companies are jumping at the opportunity to take advantage of these gas basins with hopes of helping the economy and environment using natural gas, but at what cost? “Gasland” is a documentary discussing the immense cost of the methods used in order to tap into these natural gas reservoirs. The methods used incorporate the use of 596 different chemicals forced into the ground, breaking rocks, and freeing the gas. The incorporation of so many chemicals is having huge effects on health and the environment around the site. One outcome is the escape of natural gas into homes and water, and in some houses family are able to light the water on fire right out of their out faucets. What are other unforeseen side effects to this homegrown and natural source of energy?  

Link to the entire documentary Gasland:

http://www.letmewatchthis.com/watch-movies/2010/watch-gasland-211332/

Flaming Faucets!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrnnQ17SH_A

By: Nicole Eads

Young Farmers - Danielle Lessing

NY Times Article

Young Farmers Find Huge Obstacles to Getting Started

With the conversations we have been having about our not-so-sustainable future and how we are in need of a change when it comes to food production, it was disheartening for me to come across this article. A young couple in Oklahoma struggle to start up an organic farm because of the cost of land. With the struggle for farming to continue on, these young people found it hard to believe that they were being denied the ability to farm because no one would give them a loan. 

Luckily, with the aid of the 2008 Farm Bill, young farmers are provided with education on how to go about starting a farm in the modern agricultural world. With the age of the American average farmer rising, the need for young people to get involved is crucial. In a society that is increasingly becoming more co-dependent on the importing of food sources, local farmers are in high demand. Reducing the shipping and travel costs, both environmental and capital, will help us to move forward as a society to become more sustainable. There will come a time when we will no longer be able to afford to import food from all over the world. Keeping our food sources close will not only eliminate a large portion of our environmental pollution but will boost our national agricultural economy.

Orbital solar power plants could meet Earth's energy needs

With the random weather today (soo warm and then a tornado warning!), I felt the need to check out some other extreme weather conditions going on throughout the country.

I came across this video posted last Wednesday on Yahoo News. I had heard about the storm plaguing Alaska, but this was my first time seeing its monstrous effects.

The video: Alaska Storm: Why the Extreme Weather?

I also read two articles about the storm. One came from The Wall Street Jounrnal: 'Epic' Alaska Storm Batters Region. This article reported the intense flooding along the state's western coast. Strong winds ripped roofs off and sea levels 3 to 5 feet above normal level. The storm produced 85mph wind gusts, as well as heavy snow and rain. Residents of the effected towns hadn't seen anything like this since 1974. The best quote taken from the article states, "'This is a storm of epic proportions,' said meteorologist Jeff Osiensky with the National Weather Service. 'We're not out of the woods with this.'"

Watching news videos and reading articles about this detrimental storm had me reflecting on the intense weather the East Coast experienced not so long again. It even had me thinking of Hurricane Katrina. The increase of global warming is not only effecting climate change, but seems to be increasing the number of natural disasters the United States and other countries have experienced. While I am far from an expert on this global change, it made me think back to the article posted on Moodle "Disaster at the Top of the World": At the same time, warm Pacific Ocean water is pulsing through the Bering Strait into the Arctic basin, helping melt a large area of sea ice between Alaska and eastern Siberia." This change is happening, with no way to reverse it. So, my question is what precautions will the United States take to prevent huge mistakes like the ones during Hurricane Katrina? What steps will be made to prevent future damage to the planet?

By: Jaclyn Bednar

Delaware River Basin Fracking

This issue is of extra interest to me because of the proximity of the issue to my family that lives in Connecticut. For those of you who don't know, on November 21st a vote will be made by the Delaware River Basin Commission as to whether or not they should allow hydraulic fracturing to corporations. If the corporations should win, an estimated 15 million people will be affected by contaminated drinking water.

Josh Fox, director of Gasland (which we watched in class) appeared on Democracy Now! talking to Amy Goodman about the severity of the issue. I've posted the link below.

http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/11/11/white_house_could_cast_decisive_vote

You can also find more details on the coalition overall here:

http://savethedelaware.wordpress.com/

-Thomas Cullen

Suburban Sprawl

On Wednsday I watched Sprawling from Grace on CNBC. It really drove home the various points we made in class and the points in the readings about how we have developed our cities and how this has hurt our ability to maintain this way of living and sustain ourselves at the same time. the key point that the experts, including Kunstler, kept stating was that we as a society needed to become less reliant on the automoblie and find ways to reintroduce mass transit and pedestrian communities. i never considered how living in suburbs could be seen as a detriment long term to our economy and the community. One issue that i feel did not get quite enough attention on the program that we discussed in class was the emergence of suburban ghettos. it is important, as the documentary states to make our communities sustainable for everybody and not just a select few. we already see this trend occuring in the form of gentrification and white flight. segregation and discriminatory practices already isolated poorer communities from the more affluent ones. The question I have is does going to mass transit and building communities that favor pedestrianism fix the entire problem? There has to be a way to make these communities all inclusive while not eliminating the freedom the automobile provides. the biggest fix to this problem is to realize that it will not be fixed overnight. as the saying goes, those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Bryan Jones Jr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPS1y81b1Bw&ob=av3e