Month: December 2014 (Page 1 of 3)

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is working towards a goal for the city to be a “semi-pedestrianized” zone, where walking and biking will be encouraged, and automobile access will be limited to emergency vehicles, residents’ cars, and delivery trucks.  This spring the city put a temporary ban on cars in the city in an effort to fight the smog over the city.  They have even been paying people to bike in the summer!  Paris has the second largest bike share system besides China.  The mayor hopes to increase the bike sharing and eliminate diesel cars by 2020 to curb carbon emissions.  Hopefully this will spread to all the cities in the world and will actually make a difference in helping the environment.

http://grist.org/list/paris-plans-to-ban-cars-from-its-city-center/

http://natureisspeaking.org/home.html#Films

This website has really great videos about water, mother nature, forests, soil and other elements in nature.  The videos feature famous actors specking on behalf of nature.  Actors like Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts and Robert Redford are giving a voice to nature and telling humans that they are ruining the earth.  Each video ends saying “Nature doesn’t need people.  People need nature.”  Conservation International is the organization that has put these videos together and the purpose is to raise awareness about conserving the earth.  Great videos!! Watch Them!!

http://www.vice.com/read/what-anonymous-cops-are-saying-about-the-eric-garner-grand-jury-1205

Follow the link above to the postings about the dispute.

Super interesting fallout. One opinion urges the officer Eric Holder to resign. Another says a civil war is coming, while another talks about the way society is putting criminals on a pedestal and disrespecting police. It definitely must be difficult to be a police officer now, but when one opinion says people need to learn how to act around police officers, I say that police have protocols to deal with people who resist them which do not include shooting them 8 times while unarmed as well as putting someone in a chokehold and holding them there when they proclaim “I can’t breathe” over and over 11 times. Yes they are doing their jobs, but people are not under oath to have complete and utter respect for officers, whereas police are under oath to protect people and have been instructed how to incapacitate people, but use this education to the most extreme. There must be some discretion taken on the part of officers in the future.

This NYTimes article explains the way Scott Pruitt, Attorney General of Oklahoma and President of the Attorney General’s Association has collaborated in secret with Devon Oil company, a large campaign contributor of his. In fact, Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political campaigns, including at least $16 million this year.
“Individual attorneys general have shut down investigations, changed policies or agreed to more corporate-friendly settlement terms after intervention by lobbyists and lawyers, many of whom are also campaign benefactors.”
“But the attorneys general are also working collectively. Democrats for more than a decade have teamed up with environmental groups such as the Sierra Club to use the court system to impose stricter regulation. But never before have attorneys general joined on this scale with corporate interests to challenge Washington and file lawsuits in federal court.”
With 27 of the nations’ Attorneys General as Republicans, environmentalists must be hanging their heads at the tough struggle that surely lies ahead.

I think working outside the system in marches and rallies has proven a good tactic in the past, but how can we mobilize a country who voted in a republican congress which is targeting Obama’s environmental reform. This is just another reminder of all the moving parts within this struggle. Alternative technologies may be promising, but as long as our government supports the oil industry and other non renewables, the battle might be a losing one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html?ref=energy-environment

“It is economically to our advantage to move as quickly as possible to a system of 80 percent renewable energy,” “Our estimate is that the changeover will cost about 500 billion euros,” or about $628 billion, Eicke Weber, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems’ director and a professor of physics at Freiburg University, said. “However, between now and 2050 we will realize savings of between €600 billion and €1,000 billion. These are savings on the total energy system, including fossil fuels and the distribution system.” The simulations show that switching to a low carbon economy can be done without damaging businesses or living standards. In addition, “This model distinguishes itself by its level of technological detail and its comprehensive coverage of the relevant interactions in the system.” said the professor. One thing I found interesting is that they took into account daily fluctuations in energy use: “the electricity system would incorporate substantial storage capacity to handle the fluctuations of supply and demand. This could take the form of about eight million batteries connected to home photovoltaic systems and a doubling of current pumped storage capacity. Heat storage would be split among about 150 large-scale centralized storage plants and about seven million home storage units. Also, jobs to build this infrastructure would be made available! Sounds like a win, win. Hopefully they’re able to pull this off and set an example for the rest of the world and even use the simulation in other places.

This article explains the costs associated with making developing countries more green. Originally, the estimated costs associated with first world sustainable aid to developing countries was severely underestimated at 100 billion dollars. It turns out that they will have to face costs of around 500 billion dollars to help achieve goals set forth by the UN Environmental program. The fact that climate change is a byproduct of current first world powers who made their money from unsustainable development tells me that putting the burden on developing countries is unfair. We’ll see who is willing to pay.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/500-billion-poor-countries-climate-change-costs-soar-u-n-n262561

Let’s take a step back and look at some photos of the social conflicts, daily lives, and just quirky things going on around the world. The photos contain commentaries on the mike brown ruling mainly. One picture of his mother after the grand jury verdict came out and one of the riots in Ferguson following the verdict. I often forget how impactful pictures can be. So, take a look!

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/week-in-pictures/week-pictures-nov-20-26-n256876

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/filipinos-return-home-after-typhoon-hagupit-fear-future-storms-n263491

The Philippines has fallen victim to their second major hurricane since 2013, leaving millions in danger of flooding, high winds and further destruction of their homes. After watching the movie Disruption, which is about climate change and why people should care, it made me think about their claim that people of different socio-economic statuses feel the effects of climate change more so than others. The first thing that comes to my mind when combating this claim is that these people CHOOSE to live here and they could leave if they wanted to. The truth of it is that they cannot. They don’t want to leave their homes and the people that understand them.

I think about my own beach house and if someone had told me to just leave it behind and let it get washed away with Super Storm Sandy. People are not going to let go, regardless of how real climate change is. There are simply things people will always care about more.

Ocean Acidification Quantified

Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

Something that has really concerned me about climate change is its potential effect on the ocean. Unlike other effects that climate change has caused, ocean acidification is one that has left scientists really confused; scientists honestly have no clue as to what further ocean acidifiction will cause in terms of ecosystem harm, or environmental damage. Nevertheless, one fact surrounding ocean acidification has surfaced and it is not good: “The scientists pointed to a mysterious mass extinction from natural causes called the Paleo-Eocene Thermal Maximum, which occurred around 56 million years ago. The fossil record suggests it took around 100,000 years for calcifying organisms to recover from the acidification shock” (AFP). This fact cannot be good especially if nothing is done to prevent further carbon emission. If a mass oceanic extinction were to happen it would not only kill the economy of world, it would also lead the very foundations of world ecosystems to crumble due to the amount of oxygen producing algae found in the ocean. In summary this just makes me concerned, people need to realize that ocean acidification may not be as well studied as other climate change externalities, but that does not mean it is not the most  potentially damaging for society. An immediate solution to ocean acidification needs to be found probably before any of the other problems associated with climate change.

Solar Breakthrough in Australia

This recent solar breakthrough in Australia was not that impressive in terms of discovering a new technology, yet the finding by a solar panel group in Australia has found a way to increase the efficiency of panel cells from 33% on average to 40%. This additional 7% was achieved by breaking single cells into 4 separate cells that work in unison and by reworking the placement of the panels. The scientists believe that their finding will be extremely useful especially for roof-top panel systems.With that being said the group also was quoted as saying that solar energy will surpass coal within the next decade. The optimism surrounding solar energy is growing and it is apparent globally. Looking towards the future the world needs to get on the same page in terms of solar energy by matching the current optimism with  global policy support that will only sustain development and implementation.