“Take, for example, running over creatures with motor vehicles. The idea that roads would be smooth enough, vehicles fast enough , and wildlife abundant enough to create today’s carnage on our roadways would have been unthinkable not long ago. Now not only is it thinkable, it has a name, roadkill, that has become the subject of endless jokes, and it is widely thought to be an unavoidable cost of modern mobility” (Sterba, 187).

“Wood and chain link fences mark the boundaries between neighbors, but each neighbors lights here, all across America, are allowed to roam far beyond their boundaries- a perfect example of what dark sky advocates call “light trespass. The lights from these unshielded fixtures not only trespass onto the yards of neighbors and into the eyes of drivers passing through but straight into the sky, their energy wasted” (Bogard, 5).

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put somethings behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him… In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them” (Walden, 351-352).

In my policy/engineering studies class we have been discussing environmental policy. For class on Thursday Professor Nicodemus asked that we watch two short TED talks about environmental issues. The first video was about Colony Collapse Disorder and the other was about the destruction of the Earth’s oceans.

Both videos were extremely fascinating but the video “A Plea for Bees” brought up some points that specifically related to this class. (Check out the link here: http://www.ted.com/talks/dennis_vanengelsdorp_a_plea_for_bees ) The presenter, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, talked a lot about CCD. It is extremely expensive to reproduce these colonies year after year but if this continues to happen our pollinators will be no longer. I think that it is often forgotten how important bees are. Bees pollinate the plants that produce many of our foods and they keep ecosystems thriving by pollinating different plant species. Though they are small and have an annoying sting– bees are extremely valuable.

vanEngelsdorp also discussed Nature Deficit Disorder in this TED talk. He mentions how humans are falling out of touch with nature and are forgetting our connection to it. In Nature Wars Sterna talks about NDD as well (202). He says on page 186: “At the same time, they have distanced themselves from the landscape they inhabit and traverse, and in doing so they have come to treat and mistreat the environment and its natural inhabitants in mindless ways, either unintentionally or with the best of intentions”. In our modern society we no longer have to deal with nature day to day and instead just manage it rather than interact with it. We let nature be an escape rather than a reality of our lives. So although it is great to get away from our problems and “get out into nature” is this only worsening the separation between us and nature? If we aren’t incorporating nature into our daily lives then we are only separating ourselves from it even more.

In the TED talk vanEngelsdorp suggests that to get back to nature we become beekeepers. Beekeeping will not only teach us about bees and pollinating but it will also benefit the bee populations that are fighting CCD. He also suggests that instead of having lawns we have meadows. Meadows will benefit both the bee populations and fight NDD. Having meadows for lawns would help cure us of NDD as real nature would be in our own front and backyards. As we know lawns are so useless and are really just a cultural practice and serve very little purpose. Despite this, one classmate in policy mentioned that her town fines residents if their grass grows past a certain length. With rules like this we are only sinking ourselves deeper into the Nature Deficit Disorder hole that we’ve created. There is no pill to cure our NDD so I say lets start working on those lawn meadows.

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order or beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them” (Thoreau, 351-352).

This passage truly seems a fitting part of the conclusion to Walden. It is oddly inspirational for Thoreau, but I definitely appreciate this. He sums up what he has learned from this experiment and advocates for the pursuing of dreams in order to exist in a greater place with one’s self and within the world. I especially like the final two lines where he mentions castles and their foundations. He states that dreams and works should be of a high value, beyond the reach of the earth, such that one can then further the dreams and continue to support them or provide a foundation.

“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man’s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace. The town’s poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any” (Thoreau, 356).

This passage takes all of Thoreau’s experiences and information from his days of simplicity, connecting with the world around him, and presents it as a generally positive outlook on life. He lived a life of simplicity during his time in Walden and felt the true richness of his life, despite the simplicity of it all. He offers a sense of encouragement in this passage to consider that all humans are equals and may justly enjoy life equally. The simple elements of life, like the seasons and sunshine, are the same for everyone. Those that are poorer merely have less belongings to bother with, just as he did. There are many more things of greater importance in life than wealth.

“I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, a make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear that others may have fallen into it, and so helped keep it open. The surface of the Earth is so soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take the cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now” (Thoreau 351).

This passage stood out to me as he is recommending we avoid the beaten track and avoid falling into the same old rut, but is admitting this too happens to him even during his time at Walden.

“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise” (Thoreau 356).

This passage stood out to me as I found the words to be encouraging. So often I think we do take our lives for granted; we find faults where we could not if we would embrace our lives as they are by “meeting it” and “living it”.

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” (Walden, 351-352)

This passage resonates with the themes of many modern day motivational speeches. Nonetheless, I think that this thought is pretty inspiring and exemplifies the emotions that I would expect Thoreau to have after spending so long at Walden Pond. This passage ties back to the concept of getting of the beaten path. Thoreau went to Walden pond to live differently then the commoner. He went to find the meaning of his own life and learned that his solitude wasn’t actually solitude. He developed new values and learned that life should be experienced from moment to moment, savoring some story from every second. In the conclusion, Thoreau sounds like a new man with a refreshed sense of life, a sense that he wishes to share with the rest of the world.

As a kid, I was always afraid of the dark. I would ask my parents to leave the hallway lights on at night and I would shy away from stargazing that required walking 50 yards through the dark New Hampshire woods from my house to the lake. However, as I grew up, I learned to love the night sky and the stars. Living in the suburbs of Boston, I rarely see that many stars. I long for trips to the Lake or to Martha’s Vineyard, where light pollution is minimal and the stars shine bright. Looking at the stars gives me a sense of freedom and relaxation. Bogard talks about how the sky above Times Square is an empty blackness that shows few signs of life. In contrast, the rural night sky reminds us of how small we are. It dominates all of human life in a completely natural and awe inspiring way.

A shaky image that I took of the night sky over Martha’s Vineyard, MA.

Vegas from space.

I thought it was interesting that these images happened to pop up in my Facebook timeline after our discussions on bears and hunting. I see the portrayal of fuzzy, cuddly bears in the form of the sleeping bag, and I feel like the first image could have been an advertisement on display in Cabela’s. I was wondering what your thoughts might be on these images after the discussions we have had in class?

Uber and Lyft have become popular methods of transport. Due to the popularity of these services there are claims they have led to a decrease in personal car ownership, but there are also claims these services are being used instead of walking, biking, or transit. In order to explore these claims an environmental impact assessment of these services is being done by The Natural Resources Defense Council and the University of California-Berkeley. This study will be done over the course of a year and will evaluate these services across the nation to determine whether there are environmental benefits or consequences to the growing popularity of these services.

I have attached the article discussing this below:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/13/9730458/uber-lyft-environment-impact-cost-NRDC-Berkeley-study

I am curious to hear what are you guys think about the environmental impact of Uber and Lyft. Beneficial? Detrimental?

I don’t precisely recall how I stumbled upon this site but I imagine it was a video I found somewhere linked on Facebook. I have had this page open as a tab on my computer for about a week and I decided today to see what it was about. I was immediately dramatically surprised and dismayed to find that “www.environmentalpolicyalliance.org” is not an environmentally friendly website at all. It leads off with aggressive statements like, “If you think environmentalists are overzealous today when they (falsely) link fracking to serious health and environmental problems, take a look at their long track record of silly doomsday predictions,” and continues to correlate decreased fossil fuel use with increased environmental well-being.

I find it discouraging that this site clearly masquerades as a positive source of policy news and environmental awareness when it is clearly propaganda for the fossil fuel industry.

This is why we can’t have nice things. UGH.

http://environmentalpolicyalliance.org/the-environment-is-improving/