Ch. 7 Journal

Environment & Sustainability

issues at hand: increasing industrialization is destroying the environment
some causes: overpopultion, overgrazing, energy production, increased production
some effects: atmospheric pollution from car exhaust, coal burning, soil depletion & erosion

questions to think about: what will happen if everyone in China consumed on the same level as Americans?

we need to learn how to manage the 'global commons'

This chapter talks about the change in perception of the environment, from the 'conquest of nature' to 'managing the commons.' Conquest of nature meant that our interaction with the environment was required to survive- it was a " either we take over nature to survive, we nature takes over us" mentality. Conquest of nature involves transforming the environment creatively and as a necessity. An important author in the 1960s, Rachel Carson, published "Silent Spring" revealed the destructiveness caused by DDT, which affected the food chain. An example of environmental destruction is when Japanese fishermen were affected by high levels of mercury found in fish, called the case of "minamata" in the 1970s. More recently, there is an oil spill in the ocean and a company under BP is responsible for the million (or billions?) of dollars in damage. I heard on the news today they are still trying to stop the oil leak from reaching the coastline of Louisiana. Their latest strategy is to fill sandbags to stop the oil flow underwater. Environmental concerns were discussed at the Brundtland Commission.

It is disappointing that the United States did not sign the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty meant to reduce carbon emissions, when the US was responsible for 25% of the carbon emissions in the world. As a powerful nation, it is important to set an example to take care of the environment and we had failed in that category.

vocab: sustainable development (SD)- development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

neoliberal view: nature can be summed up in economics, resources given a price in capital and SD achieved by following the laws of economics
people-centered view: focuses on local concerns, the needs of the local people working in partnership with gov. associations to achieve SD, includes traditional medicine practices
global environment management view: this emphasizes cooperation between countries to be good stewards of environmental resources, teamwork! view was presented at Agenda 21 'Earth Summit' meeting in Rio in 1992

In summary: sustainable environment involves the participation of everyone. The author said that in the future, the outlook of SD seems to be the relationship between social and economic interests instead of the relationship between humans and the environment. Environmental problems not only affect nature but also the the livelihood of human beings, as well as animals, the food chain etc. Achieving SD will impact all sectors of life, not only economically but also politically, socially and individually. I think that a big change can come from America. We have the potential, but our consumption levels are still high and we, as a nation, waste a lot. If America established new laws to conserve the environment this will be effective. Look at Singapore, Canada or (from my own experience) Hong Kong. Everyone in HK touts a cloth bag. I know in some governments they will charge people for plastic bags. Good idea. Americans would probably fight law tooth-and-nail but if no one enforces these laws to stand for the goal of achieving SD, no one else will. Non-profits and other group alreaday try and if the gov. will back them up, the green movement will be all the better. A sidenote: some companies like Sam's club and Ikea do not bag items. Instead, they load them back onto the shopping cart so customers can just load them into their cars. There is no need for a plague of plastic bags.

I feel like an environmentalist writing this, but it always gets to me how Chamapaign has no recyling program. I heard there's a rumor that Champaign will develop one soon. Anyways... just comparing America to Senegal in terms of bathing habits. When I was in Senegal, people in the village usually took cold bucket showers. This saves a TON of water, in comparison to 20 minute hot steaming showers. Imagine if all Americans started taking bucket showers, how much water that would save!