Eye Opener: Photo Essay

For this photo essay I decided to do it on how the school helps with reducing plastic bottles.

One of the things the school does to help is sell water bottles as an alternative use.

Another thing the campus has done is put in water fountains that only specifically fill up water bottles. In the upper right hand corner is counts the number of plastic bottles we have kept from using and putting into the environment. 

The last thing I found that the campus does to help was recycling. All over campus there are recycling bin for plastic bottles. 

The UMD Campus has and is becoming more Green. All over you see different ways recycling bins, new water fountains, and water bottles.

Advocacy Project: issue overview

The issue being addressed is to amend the Clean Air Act to provide that greenhouse gases are not subject to the act.  This is also saying that the greenhouse gases don’t affect global warming

Bill Number and Name: H.R. 97—Free Industry Act (Introduced is House-IH)

This bill would affect society as a whole. We would be the ones to lose if this bill gets passed and we would lose the privilege of having clean air. The people who don’t believe that global warming is happening would be the ones who gain from this. It would give them more evidence to help their theories.

The consequences of this issue are the same for individuals, their families, and for society. People may stop caring, worrying, and trying to prevent global warming affecting everything and everyone.

There is one group that supports this bill so far and that is American for Prosperity. Some of the groups who oppose this bill are OMB Watch, Sierra Club, Natural Resource Defense Council, Clean Air Council, Health Care without Harm, etc. The common that both support groups and opposing groups share is they are passionate about global warming. Both groups can contribute to advocacy efforts by just helping make aware of the issue, not to tell their sides. 

This bill hasn’t been in the community long, it was first introduced in January of 2011. The last action was February 1^st, 2011, House Committee on Energy and Commerce: referred to the subcommittee on energy and power. There are no results yet.

An economic cost would be that global warming would get worse faster because no one would be trying to prevent it and society would bear these costs. An economic benefit would be that there wouldn’t be so much money spent on plug-in cars, solar systems, etc. Society would also benefit from this.

A barrier addressing this issue is that there is strong evidence saying that these gasses are causing global warming. This barrier, however, can be overcome by finding evidence that is against global warming.

Some resources that will be needed is the level of these gases that are in the atmosphere.

My recommendation: Vote No for Bill H.R. 97- Free Industry Act

Share and Voice: Eco Trend.

This week for Share and Voice, I went to youtube and typed in environmental issues after watching several videos, I finally found that I not only agree with but like. Along with this video I am sharing the website of the people who made the video. The video is about our usage of plastic bags and how its harmful for our environment.
Here is the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ-ox6kzwTk

The website is called Eco Trend Bags. It's an organization trying to sell cotton bags for people to in replacement of plastic ones.. I looked at some of their products and I love it. They sell the regular cotton bags that everyone carries their groceries in but one thing I thought I was really cool was that sell cotton bags for wine bottles to go into. Usually wine bottles go into paper bags which isn't as bag as plastic but if you buy more than one bottle they put all the individual bags into a plastic bag. These cotton wine bottle bags have handles so no need for the extra plastic bag. I also find the wine bottle bags would make a great gift, my step dad drinks wine like it's water, so since the holidays are arriving, it's a great idea!

Healthy People/THOMAS

The objective I chose from Healthy People 2020 was Outdoor Air Quality. Poor outdoor air quality is said to be linked to premature death, cancer, and long-term damage to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
H.R. 97---Free Industry Act (Introduced in House-IH)

Title: To amend the Clean Air Act to provide that greenhouse gases are not subject to the Act, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep. Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] (introduced 1/5/2011) Cosponors (125)

Lastest Major Action: 2/1/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

Recommendation: Vote NO  for H.R. 97 Free Industry Act

My Political Representative: Congressmen Sean P. Duffy

Share and Voice: Rain Made By Lasers?!

Usually IF you find me on CNN I'm attempting to understand and keep up the latest news on political debates and what's happening over in Iraq and Afghanistan. This time, however, I was looking up topics on environmental health to share with you guys! The topic I found is about a French physicist named Jerome Kasparian, who is testing a method on making rain with lasers. If you are like me the first thing you will be asking is "Is this even healthy, for us and/or for the environment?!"
This method is called Cloud Seeding. From what I understand and according to the article, the old method (chemical seeding) consisted of shooting particles of dry ice or silver iodide into the atmosphere. The water molecules would then cling onto the particles and form rain. Cons to this method is it is expensive, doesn't always work, and the chemicals in the atmosphere are easily spread by winds. With the laser method, they are sending short light pulses containing watts of energy into the atmosphere, verses chemicals. The pluses would knock off electrons creating charged atmospheric particles which would then make it easy for water molecules to cling to. Using lasers is more accurate, can be aimed more easily, and can be turned off and on at any given time. This process can not occur in dry climates. 
In my opinion, what's the point? I suppose it would help in areas that are low on water but as stated in the beginning of the article places like Texas, who have been hit by dust storms due severe drought, it seems pointless because it doesn't work in dry climates anyways. I also feel that messing with nature brings on other consequences that we haven't even thought about yet that could be worse than just having dry climates. I feel that even though the articled never mentioned any hazardous effects of using lasers, there are still effects that could happen. 
What do you think?

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

This week we are exploring who are political representatives are.  For our state legislators and governor I decided to do the state of Wisconsin. I currently live in Minnesota and plan on becoming a Minnesota Resident again but seeing that I'm still a Wisconsin Resident and that the majority of the class is from Minnesota, I thought I would change it up and do Wisconsin.
We all know that the President of the Unites States is President Barack Obama and although you can't directly contact him, you are able to send the White House an email at this website. The congressmen (Senate) for Wisconsin is Herb Kohl and Ron Johnson. You can contact Senator Kohl by email via this website and you can contact Senator Johnson by emial via this website. The U.S. House Republican is Sean P. Duffy. The State Legislators are Senator Robert Jauch and Representative Janet Bewley. Senators Jauch's contact phone number is (608) 266-3510, Representative Bewley's contact phone number is (608) 266-7690. Both of them can be emailed at this website.
The Governor of Wisconsin is Scott Walker. You may contact him by phone or email. The phone number is (608) 266-1212 and the email is wisgov@gov.state.wis.us. The closest thing I could find to the Sawyer County Board President was the Sawyer County Board of Supervisors. The head Chairmen is Hal Helwig, there was no contact information but there was a website. The Mayor of Hayward, Wisconsin is Bill Swintkowski, his address is 10686 Beal Avenue  Hayward, WI  54843, his phone number is (715) 634-4198 and his email is bjswin@cheqnet.net, all of this information can be found at this website. 

Reflection: Weeks 1-7

The first half of the semester is over and I still feel like we just started. I'm still learning and getting use to this blogging idea and all the assignments that go with it. I have come to find that this class is very quite interesting. All the conversations we have had about the government and the environment and especially snack time! I haven't had snack time since seventh grade, and I learned that I have missed it! The most significant thing that I have learned and that has impacted me the most is watching the movie Tapped. After watching that video I literally went home and finally went through my cupboards and got rid of all my processed foods, such as chips, mac n cheese, pasta side salads, etc. I also did some informing to my roommates about the big Culligan water jug they drink out of. I don't think it changed their minds, which is okay, but they were happy to listen. I'm excited to start this new chapter in my life of eating healthier and better foods. I have also decided that I'm going to start buying more local foods, such as beef. To help support our local farms. This class has helped me realize a lot and I think it should be required for all majors. I have some friends who won't drink anything but bottled water or pop, and I feel that me explaining things to them isn't as much of an impact as if they were to actually take the class. I'm excited to learn more in the second half of the semester.