After doing a bit of digging through stories on the Chicago Tribune website, I found an article that caught my eye. The article discussed what an international agreement regarding environmental impacts in developing countries and America’s isolation in diplomatic terms. The agreement was reached in Bali, Indonesia. The agreement was made with its emphasis on environmental responsibility on the parts of emerging economic nations. The biggest impact on economy will be on China and India, while countries that have had rainforests cut down like Brazil were promised help from international organizations and other countries to keep their rainforests alive. The agreement also served to help get the United States out of isolation in diplomatic negotiations, especially with regards to the environment, though the U.S. were were forced to agree with the rest of the world that these developing countries would recieve compensation for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. also agreed to be part of the effort to cut greenhouse gas emisssions in half by the year 2050. The Bush administration did, however, avoid comitting to other short term objectives set forth in the talks which the administration believes would be extremely damaging to the economy. The negotiations were full of emotional arguments from many different sides and inclued the UN climate chief leaving the negotiating room in tears, the president of Indonesia rushing to the negotiations to try and break a deadlock, and the U.S. delegation agreeing in a last minute surprise to take part in a program that would support the exchange of technology to poorer countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement made Saturday is the first step in a long line of talks that aim to make many new comprimises regarding environmental protection around the world. This agreement gives me hope that there is still a chance for the world to change its ways and come into harmony with the planet instead of tryign to dominate mother nature in every way, shape, and form, which I believe man’s ego has tried to do and obviously failed. It is only with drastic change that man can hope to survive, I just hope that the mistake hasn’t been realized too late and that we havn’t done any irreversible to this planet, because it would be a real pity if we couldn’t make sure that this planet stays as beautiful as it is today.
When are People Going to WAKE UP?! Sunday, Dec 16 2007
env. science blogs 11:06 pm
I went onto the website of the Chicago Tribune today to see if there was any news articles that would relate to what my environmental science class was discussing and I was shocked to find that there was no link involving the environment or environmental concerns on the web site. It seems that even though environmental groups and environmentally-concerned celebrities are trying everything they can to bring awareness to all the environmental problems that are facing the world right now, people still seem to be more interested in what the trouble the latest celebrity has gotten into instead of how we are going to save the planet from being destroyed by our own primitive methods. People need to be snapped out of their bnoring and mundane lives in which they are conditioned to listen to whatever the television tells them and not to take responsibility to find out the infromation for themselves and form their own opinions instead of listening to what someone else has to say. I blame, in part, the media for downplaying the force of the crisis that is forming. The news, instead of doing what it is supposed to, inorming people on important situations around the world, seems content to just let people sit at home and waste away while watching politicians who most likely actually have no idea what they are talking about debate about what is the right course of action to deal with all the problems in the world. Even though the media is in part to blame, the main fault lies in the hands of the individual who does nothing to better the world around him or her. These are the people who don’t even bother to vote, who do their 9 to 5 job and come home to watch the news and go to sleep. If we are to make an impact on this world, we must be able to give up the time we have to ourselves and be able to give it to serve a higher cause. So, I say to society and the individual who doesn’t serve his fellow man, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CARBON EMISSIONS!!
Ethanol and the Economy Sunday, Dec 16 2007
env. science blogs 9:11 pm
I was recently reading a copy of Crain’s Chicago Business magazine and came across an article which discussed a battle going on at Capitol Hill for a bill that would increase the amount of ethanol required in the auto market by huge numbers. The farming community and ethanol manufacturers are the ones who are pushing hard for the bill to be passed. The increased use of ethanol recently has shown a hope for the farming market that has the small farm almost obsolete. The use of ethanol has been latched onto by farmers as a savior for the market and many have invested in ethanol refineries across the country. On the other side, fighting against the bill, is the auto industry and some environmental groups. The auto makers complain that the forced increase on ethanol use would hurt their profits too much and would similarly hurt the economy. Environmental groups are against the mandated increase because people who have studied the subject know that ethanol is not a long-term solution to the energy crisis of the world and they would rather see the economy go toward completely renwable and clean fuel sources such as hydrogen, geothermal energy, or electric power in cars. The journalist who wrote the article made a good point, in which he stated that if the ethanol production is the solution to our energy problems, at least for a while, then why should it need a government mandate in order to help it? I thought that was a really good point and made me think about what could be done instead of pushing for ethanol production, such as pushing for other fuel sources that would, in the end, be better for the economy as well as the environment, such as electric cars and hydrogen fueled cars. The article really made me realize how intricately environmental concerns and the economy are tied together and how a balance must be maintained between the two if there is to be the progress needed in order to make the world a cleaner and better place.
