U-sustain week 9

 

Welcome to our first in-person meeting and presentation of the year!

    A study from Oregon University found that the two species of beach grass in the US are hybridizing. This means a third new species has been created which is a mix of the two parents species Ammophila arenaria and A. breviligulata. The first of which is native to the US and the from Europe. This new species is taller which helps build sand dunes. The research suggested that this new grass is a little more invasive and may have an impact on local flora and fauna. The above photo is of the lifesaving station in Provincetown MA and the bottom is from sunset beach in Oregon showing the beach grass on the sand dune.  

    Biden plans to re-enact the civilian climate corpse to create jobs and to create a unified national response to climate and enact measures in climate proposal. This would be a federal conservation corps and independent of state agencies. Workers in the corpse would repair trails, build, structures, and support the maintenance of national parks. Mitigate impact of climate change on vulnerable ecosystems. 

    $10 billion would be invested to hire 20k people at $15/hour plus healthcare and benefits.

    The civilian climate conservation corps is intended to create longterm jobs and a career path for future employment. The effectiveness of the program is doubted if participants are students on a gap year or just out of college when the intent is to attract people from all areas of life and build a solid unified workforce.     Expanding positions out of national parks and into urban and local areas would give incentives for people to join midway through their careers. Having an impact closer to home would have benefits to local communities and easier for older aged workers. 

Thanks so much for reading. 

U-sustain 4/13/21

 

This strike is about  making the climate crisis visible and to provide place to discuss the complex details of environmental topics. At the same time it is a challenge to Union college leadership to seriously connect their actions to the environmental goals released in the “five year plan” and to address sustainability challenges new to covid. A different approach to solving the climate crisis with the intention of up leveling the campus discussion on the topic. Reverses the helpless feeling of climate change and is a complementary action to my education and outreach position at U-sustain and personal commitment to reducing my carbon footprint and plastic waste. The first climate strike I attended was the student strike in Albany in September 2019. This is the first strike at Union and is also a strike in solidarity for world causes causes like the coup and loss of democracy in Myanmar, farmers protests in India, for places in need of covid support, and targets of recent racial or ethnic violence. The intention of the event is not to spread fear or to complain, but to create a foundation for discussion and education. Gretta Thunberg has been a tremendous inspiration for me in how to overcome difficulties and inspire others. I hope this tabling positively contributes to the student climate movement. 

[...] Easily overlooked, though, is the process of how something gets on our agenda or doesn’t. Working on voting rights, paying attention to voices unheard, grabbing possibilities for learning or growth or contribution–these are easy to ignore if they’re not on the list of jobs to be done. [...] And the people who do have these on their list… part of their job is to put their issue on our lists. [...] If all you’re doing is the jobs you used to do, you’re certainly missing out on the contributions you’re capable of.         “Jobs to be done” Seth.blog 4/6/2021

Striking is also a reminder about the challenge of climate change and the steps society needs to take to reach zero emissions. Climate change must be avoided and the school strike sends a direct message about this issue. 

• https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07042021/climate-crisis-ecocide-vanuatu-the-fifth-crime/ 

• Group of lawyers, environmentalists, and world leaders are pushing to make ecocide an international crime in the International Criminal Court 

• Would be the 5th crime - after genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression, war crimes

• “The Pope describes ecocide as “the massive contamination of air, land and water,” or “any action capable of producing an ecological disaster,” and has proposed making it a sin for Catholics.”

• “would mean political leaders and corporate executives could face charges and imprisonment for “ecocidal” acts.”

• Movement = long shot, lots of pushback

• “environmentalists must also figure out how criminal law would address climate change, which has been driven by practices like burning coal and gasoline that are not only legal, but central to the global economy.”

Thanks Alyssa for the collaboration. Thank you so much for reading. 

U-sustain week 2 (first meeting)

Thank you to Alyssa for collaborating.  

U-sustain week 10!

 

    Sandstorm in Beijing caused from desertification in region, winds picked up sand in Mongolia and moved them south, caused worst air quality in four years. China is thinking about building a buffer out of trees: a green great wall to protect Beijing from future storms. These buffers are mostly monocrop plantations. A quarter of the world's reforestation is by China, but only a few types of trees are planted. My history professor for my History of Sustainability course is based in Beijing and showed us the air and visibility outside where he lives. To put it in perspective, the air quality index in Schenectady of that day was 35 compared with 500 in Beijing. 

    More economic value in conserving habitats rather than development or extracting resources. Studies conducted by University of Vermont, it's interesting that this is a new academic field. 

If reducing climate change is so important to our futures then it is important we act now and show support in anyway possible. One new thing you can do this week is to try attending one or two more events per term. This may be a lot, but showing support for climate action goes further to making real change happen- especially on campus. Returning to the idea of climate literature next week, there are some book recommendations and a new documentary. 

Thanks so much for reading!

U-sustain 3/9/21!

 

    February WWF world wide fund for nature report on freshwater fish species. Found that 16 species went extinct. Freshwater fish are biological indicators of ecosystem health and the decline in population could be a problem for the 200 million whose livelihood and food rely on healthy freshwater fish populations. Overfishing is the greatest threat to populations and makes it difficult for them to recover; sand mining and invasive species also hurt aquatic ecosystems and are detrimental to population health. 

    We would like a New Deal for freshwater ecosystems at the UN convention on biological diversity conference on May 17th. This is a COP 15 meeting and will create the final biodiversity framework for the 2020 decade. A lot rides on this conference, it is crucial we protect the river ecosystems to prevent species collapse. Simple solutions are possible and success depends on the politics of the convention. 

    Disha Ravi is one of the founders of a Fridays4Future chapter in India and was arrested for creating a toolkit on effective protest strategies to support farmers during the farmers strike. The tool kit was a document on effective social justice campaigns and an outline for better decision making during a protest. The document also had links to other websites where more information could be found on effective strike procedures. Imprisoned for five days from February 19th-23rd- judge released her after finding no reason for arrest. Although some violence at the protests, this was not linked with her toolkit. 

    Ravi's arrest was heavily criticized. Also earlier the FFF website was blocked when it supported a block against and impact assessment document by the Indian government. This shows a continuing trend against democratic ideas and freedom of speech. Here is a powerful quote, Ravi said: "the threat to democracy and environmental action shows the power of government and their motive to suppress dissent." The arrest of Disha Ravi was completely unwarranted. 

How do you think about the idea of a growing threat to democracy and what experiences have you had and how do you discuss this topic? 

Notes: can lead through actions and words, materialistic belongings should not be held against you or discount your environmental actions. If doing environment so much as they are, to some extent have the right to mansions and private jets.- not sure how much I agree with discussion takeaways. 

Please signup for the conference! It should be a lot of fun and we have a great speaker. 

Environmental news 3/2/31

A $400k purchase of land around Cottonwood Lake in British Colombia for conservation and old growth forest development. What is so cool about this preservation project was how the funding was crowd sourced by over 1000 people. Now the area is under management by a land trust. Forest protected by logging and preserved as a crucial wildlife corridor for grizzly bears. Old growth forests are excellent at carbon sequestration and clear cutting releases greenhouse gas emissions. 

The monarch biosphere reserve in Michoacán Mexico is down 26% of its population this year. While the overall monarch population is still doing well, this is a dramatic drop. Each year has seen small drops in numbers but none so large. If this continues it could be a problem for the species. Population decrease is from: loss of trees in the preserve from logging and drought, wild weather decreased amount of wild milkweed the monarchs need for laying eggs, and changing weather patterns from climate change are difficult for monarchs to handle. 

Good news: there is so much good that we also hear about: green cities, agriculture, renewable energy. 

White house summit on April 22nd on climate change.

Picture is of the Union college co-gen plant. Plant dramatically reduces campus emissions. 

Speaking about climate change if we ask countries to reduce their emissions by 20% each year, we too as individuals must also make this decision to match the UN targets. After you've joined Ozone house you can decide to actually make a change in lifestyle choices. 

From discussion:

• many people too busy or not in financial position to think about climate
• if in position then you should feel the power and responsibility to take action
• not sure what actions to take
• useful contact points in reducing waste or GHG emissions
• climate denial still raises questions in people's minds 

Some ideas of how to go further in learning about climate:

• attend U-sustain meetings and become more involved through running for eboard positions and attending events
• research topics of personal interest- discover new aspects of environmentalism and deeply explore these intellectually
• examples include
• ecomusicology
• foraging
• climate literature and book reviews
• work on environmental projects at home either in your neighborhood and family or for a local organization
• become more ambitious and passionate about the environment and plan your own projects and events. We are here to help you! 

Thank you so much

Environmental news 1/23/20

I really liked this political cartoon Gretta Thunberg posted on social media. It's a good reminder that we have to be the ones to lead on climate action. Governmental conferences like the upcoming COP 26 this November can be an opportunity for new climate agreements and legislation, but none of it matters if it's only greenwashing with no real steps taken towards reducing carbon emissions. Now it's time for politicians and individuals to take real action. There have already been too many fake conferences and panels on environmental protection. 

Yesterday was MLK day, an important national holiday. We celebrate MLK day to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr and his action against racism in our society and access to equal opportunity. Environmental justice is a link between both race and environmental problems, do we think this next administration will be better at making progress in both areas? 

To end the slide show part of the meeting we give ideas about what environmental action students can take on campus. 

Thank you to Alyssa for slide 2. Thanks for reading!