Bill McKibben: Actions speak louder than words

DOI: 10.1177/0096340212438383

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 2012 68: 1

       Bill McKibben is a writer/environmentalist who focuses primarily on climate change. This article is a discussion between McKibben and a journalist from the Bulletin. My favorite quote from this article is "…to go back to the cholesterol example, if a doctor says your cholesterol is 263, very few people then respond by saying, “I’d like a disquisition now on the whole lipid system and how it works.” Most people say, “That’s too high, right? It’s supposed to be 200 or below.” So when we say 350.org, and we say right now it’s 390 parts per million and it’s going up 2 parts per million per year, you don’t have to be a research scientist to get that there’s too much. It helps people understand that this is not some future crisis, but one that’s upon us now." This quote demonstrates the human perspective of the carbon dioxide "number" that is unacceptable. McKibben founded 350.org, a website that is campaigning to bring knowledge about the devastating levels of carbon dioxide in the environment and eventually fix the problem.

EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination

             In Wyoming on December 9, 2011, scientists directly connected contamination in underground water with hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a processes used to collect natural gas by means of pressurizing wells and using a combination of rock, sand, water and chemicals to break underground fissures (where the gas is). After several complaints from residents claiming their water had a distinct brown tint, the EPA took action. EPA investigators drilled “two water monitoring wells to 1,000 feet to test the water. The test wells contained high levels of carcinogenic chemicals        such as benzene, and a chemical compound called 2 Butoxyethanol, which is used in fracking.”

           

The discovery of these elements in the wells questions whether “fracking” is safe. Drilling companies claimed that fracking is safe because: “hydrologic pressure would naturally force fluids down, not up; that deep geologic layers provide a watertight barrier preventing the movement of chemicals towards the surface; and that the problems with the cement and steel barriers around gas wells aren't connected to fracking.” Doug Hock, the spokesman of the gas company, responded to the EPA tests by saying "it is also important to recognize the importance of hydrology and geology with regard to the sampling results in the Pavillion Field. The field consists of gas-bearing zones in the near subsurface, poor general water quality parameters and discontinuous water-bearing zones."

Since fracking is the main way in which companies receive gas, this situation has sparked heated discussions in congress relating to stricter fracking regulations.

Richard Kahn "Towards Ecopedagogy"

“There is an ecology of bad ideas, just as there is an ecology of weeds.”

This quote from Richard Kahn's writing pertains to the current human view towards the environment. He describes that education will need to change to transform to a new reality that seems more just (concerning the environment). Unlike the "zoo-schools" he mentions that teach the children about the environment with a capitalist point of view the new schooling would be unbiased. This new schooling would cover material which shows students all of the benefits of having a healthy environment. It would also prevent folks from destroying the environment by showing them other ways to "go about their business."

This picture was found on

http://www.google.com/imgres?start=89&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&noj=1&tbm=isch&tbnid=spjeQe33gYMBrM:&imgrefurl=http://www.stanford.edu/group/ccr/blog/2009/04/nature_divided_mans_exploitati.html&docid=1qGaZWRiJlYP8M&imgurl=http://www.stanford.edu/group/ccr/blog/summitville_airphoto.jpg&w=1055&h=1061&ei=Z8RYUIOxF5T69gSqtIGIDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=676&vpy=77&dur=32&hovh=225&hovw=224&tx=133&ty=113&sig=111331192613128405873&page=5&tbnh=150&tbnw=149&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:89,i:31&biw=1280&bih=661


This image describes the negative effects of human interference on the environment.This picture describes how technology can aid or influence environmental thought and action because technology (a camera) was used to capture this image. For example if this picture was displayed near a river it would have a significant influence on those who pollute.

HW Sept. 17 (M)

John Cameron Murray said...

‘‘The aim of bioregionalism is to help our
human cultural, political and social structures
harmonize with natural systems.’’ (Wackernagel, 206)

Wackernagel, Mathis. "Rediscovering Place and Accounting Space: How to Re-embed the Human Economy." Ecological Economics (1999): 203-213. Web. 14 Sept. 2012.

In response to this post I feel like the quote is useful  because it could be applied to many different topics. This quote defines the word used to describe human interaction with nature.

3 More Gary Snyder poem themes

Control Burn:
-Humans have mined the land
-he wants to get rid of (burn) humans so nature can go back to how it was
-compares how once a manzanita plant burns its seeds will open up to how without humans nature would be normal

Spell Against Demons:
-Kings/rulers who slaughter innocent people are cowards
-People high in power should know the limits
-Don't take advantage of people-(He refers people to plants and nature)

Steak:
-People are hypocrites
-Jap-Am animal nutrition experts eat steak
-Animals are satisfied with the status quo

Themes of more Gary Snyder poems:

Steak: The themes of this poem are:
-People are hypocrites
-Japanese American animal experts eat steak which is an animal
-Animals are satisfied with the status quo

No Matter, Never Mind:
-From one comes another

The Bath:
-Humans bodies are amazing, so intricate
-Every part of our body fits together like one big puzzle
-He is comparing how amazing our bodies are to how amazing nature is

9/7/12

Today we brainstormed ways in which we could incorporate Gary Snyder's Turtle Island into our next essay. We discussed several themes and images in some of Gary Snyder's poems.

Gary Snyder Poems

Anasazi

The theme of this poem is that Anasazi is one with nature and lives off of the land. She lives in the cliffs and grows corn and beans. Her crops are watered from the “trickling streams in the hidden canyons under the cold rolling desert.”

 

The Way West, Underground

The theme of this poem is that across the nation there are different reasons for hunting bears. In the beginning of this poem it talks about how bears are being chased up the coast near foggy volcanoes to North Japan. The end of the poem discusses how bears are hunted with automatic guns.

 

Without

This poem talks about silence, power, healing and singing. The theme is about always taking the easy way out of things.

 

The Dead by the Side of the Road

This poem is about different types of road kill along the sides of interstates and highways. It describes, in detail the animals in their deceased state. It touches upon the use of fossil fuels and that sulphuric acid killed a ringtail.

 

I went into The Maverick Bar

At the beginning of this poem it describes how he goes to the Maverick bar in Farmington, New Mexico and drank bourbon and beer. He is intrigued by the stupidity of the two cowboys and their horse play by the pool tables. He stereotypes that all Americans are this stupid when he says “America-your stupidity.”