Author: Alexander Neeb

The Obama administration and the EPA are celebrating the 6-2 Supreme Court decision to allow the EPA to remain in control of the coal pollution in 27 Midwestern and Appalachian states. This continues the authority of the Clean Air Act and their “War on Coal”

Named Keplar 186f and located 500 light years away the first Earth “twin was found by NASA’s Keplar planet-finding mission. Is it possible that we can one day utilize the resources of another planet. The technology needed is far more advanced than where we are now but knowing what is out in space is very exciting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/science/space/scientists-find-an-earth-twin-or-maybe-a-cousin.html?_r=0

This article discusses how at the University of Illinois researchers are developing a computer model to help plant scientists breed better crops. They use soybean as an example and predict a 8.5% jump in productivity with a 13% drop in water loss and a 34% increases in radiation deflection. Technology advances like these will continue to advance the sustainability of agriculture and much more.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140403132355.htm

The article below discusses how for all of the power and wealth that the United States has we are ranked 16th in the Social Progress Index. Our impressive military and economic strengths do not translate well for our health, ecosystem sustainability, basic education, personal safety and much more.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/should-the-united-states-care-that-its-not-no-1/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1&

This article talks about a computer algorithm  that decodes DNA to determine the mutations of cancer cells and what medication would be best for the patient. Oncologists are working to determine harmless mutations versus true cancer cells and the way they act against the body. The program has some bugs that are being worked out but it is a huge step in the technological and medical field.

This New York Time Article talks about how a group of Senators calling themselves the climate caucus are planning an all night speech session from 6:30 PM to 9 AM. They do not believe a bill will be passed this year but hope their efforts will lay groundwork for a major bill in environmentalism that would be feasible in the near future.

The first article below discusses how back in 2010 the Obama administration passed a law requiring all stock production cars to obtain a fuel economy of 35.5 MPG or better.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/01/AR2010040101412.html

This article is an auto blog from last year with the latest in average fuel economy numbers for new cars at 24.9 MPG. Ten below the requirement with only three years left to achieve it.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/12/average-new-car-fuel-economy-record-24-9-mpg/

This link is about a bacteria found in the ocean that eats plastic which is the reason the quantity of debris has remained level according to the article. Scientist have begun to research whether this bacteria does good or just recycles the plastic toxins up the food chain.

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110328/full/news.2011.191.html

The story of stuff was created to inform viewers on our current situation when it comes to the world and its resources. Textbooks used in schools have started to become outdated as knew scientific evidence appears pushing teachers to the decision of presenting this video as a supplement.  While very informative the video comes across as extreme and one-sided and some would even say anti capitalist and anti government. This is because Annie Leonard makes comments such as “If you don’t own or buy a lot of stuff you don’t have value” and “should be represented as a tank because the government spends over 50% on the military.” Not only are the comments offensive to many the second is actually incorrect as data shows it is approximately 20%. For me the video made lots of good points and contained information that needed to be fed into the world but her “simple” way of presenting it distorted her message into one-sided semi-extremist views that only pointed fingers, never proposed any possible solutions, and avoiding any positive improvement shown in the world. This gives the overall video a pessimistic feel like it is trying to scare us into changing instead of motivating us to do what is needed.