Asian Carp

Recently the Mississippi and Illinois rivers have been invaded by aggressive and invaluable fish called Asian Carp. Like the Bristish did the Native Americans, these carp are pushing more valuable fish like catfish and buffalo fish out of their homes. Licenced commercial fisherman drop their nets in hope of catching the money making fish but fend up with thousands of carp. Catfish will provide a fisherman three times as much money then a carp so this is hard on fisherman and business. Illinois Department of Natural Resourses decided they need to get rid of some of these carp so catfish and buffalo fish can repopulate the rivers. How did they do this? The solution is simple, get people to eat them. The Big River Fish Co. supply 30 million pounds of Asian carp to Chinese and Americans to get rib of bones, gut them and clean them. Some of these fish are given to restraunts and the rest is given to homeless shelters or other areas in need of food. I think this will work short term to get rid of some of the carp but in the future they will need to come up with something different so the Big River Fish Co. wont be losing to much money.

New York Solar Potential

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/25/technology/solar-new-york/


According to a CNN article, 2/3 of all New York City skyscrapers could feasibly maintain energy-producing solar panels. If each and every one of said potential buildings actually installed solar panels, it could generate enough electricity to power half of New York City. A potential barrier to this proposition is the inability to store energy for days with bad weather – necessitating power plants to make up for solar deficits. Another barrier is cost – government assistance would be necessary to make solar a viable cost effective solution as external sources (nuclear, hydroelectric, etc.) are much cheaper. Solutions to such barriers could be found in Governmenet issued grants to fund research on minimizing solar costs as well as research in power storage. I personally feel that renewable energy is the way of the future and that as a society we need to be preparing for an inevitable energy crisis – a crisis that can be averted should we find a solution through solar power.

Government and Environmentalists Debate over Wolf Delisting from Endangered Species

Despite the laws against acting without judicial review, Congress delisted the gray wolf from the Endangered Species list, much to the dismay and anger of environmentalists. For the first time ever, Congress delisted an animal without scientific review. In the past, the wolf population decreased almost to extinction due to farmers and ranchers hunting them in order to protect livestock. They were put on the Endangered Species list and nurtured back to a healthier population. In the 1990’s wolves were reintroduced to the Rocky Mountains though there were “vehement objections” from farmers and ranchers, who were unable to hunt the wolf because of species safeguards. Now that Congress has lifted this, environmentalists fear that ranchers will once again hunt the wolves to extinction. In Idaho and Montana, state wildlife agencies still maintain control over an estimated 1,200 wolves, and are currently coming up with management plans that call for killing hundreds of the animals—“mostly through public hunting.” In Wyoming, about 300 wolves are currently, possibly temporarily, federally protected. A two-hour hearing was held in Missoula, Montana, during which the presiding Judge Malloy ruled that the Endangered Species Act had been violated because the agency had treated Idaho and Montana wolves differently from those in Wyoming; he stated that they must be treated as one population. Malloy’s decision was overruled by Congress just days later. Andrea Gelatt, a government lawyer, said that Congress has the power to amend federal laws such as the Endangered Species Act by “speak[ing] by language of exceptions”—in this case, the gray wolf. Malloy opposed her statement by retorting that this is the government’s way of “indirectly” saying that the government will permit the agency to act illegally because it didn’t like the court’s decision. Some solutions to this problem could be that ranchers should take more precautions against wolves, perhaps with government funds to assist them, or to put a limit on the number of wolves that can be killed within a certain area. Barriers to this are lack of money and lack of concern over the wolf population. My opinion is that the wolves should remain protected because of the animosity they arouse in ranchers and other hunters, though perhaps not remain on the Endangered Species list if the population is stable.

http://news.yahoo.com/environmentalists-government-debate-wolf-court-011555916.html

Contaminated Beef Spreads Through Japan

Due to explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant in Japan, cows have eaten radioactive hay, causing contamination in the meat which has now been distributed throughout restaurants and markets in Japan. Farmers state that they did not receive a “clear directive” from the government prohibiting the shipment of cattle in the areas surrounding the nuclear plant. When a precautionary ban on shipment was lifted, the farmers took it as a sign to continue selling their cattle. The government has attempted containing the radiation by telling farmers to keep hay indoors to avoid further contamination from rain and the farmers are prohibited from shipping any of their goods. Unfortunately, the government lacks the equipment to properly check all of the goods, so only a small percentage is checked before it is given the all-clear. The Japanese government says that the radioactive cesium found in the meat doesn’t cause any damage—the long term effects of cesium are yet to be discovered. In order to solve this problem the government needs better equipment for not only checking livestock and goods for radiation, but also better containment equipment for when explosions at a nuclear plant occur. The government should develop a more direct way of communicating with farmers, as many of them claim not to have heard the government’s warnings. Barriers to these solutions include limited funds and not enough priority given to the situation. My opinion is that the barriers will overcome the solutions and not much more will be done about the problem. The lack of enthusiasm the Japanese government has shown towards correcting the problem indicates that this accident will go almost unnoticed and the chances it could happen again will increase.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/world/asia/19beef.html?_r=1&ref=earth

Is your drinking water unsafe?

In recent EPA findings, over 48 states have failed to report water violations to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Many states are failing to report violations such as high levels of arsenic and chlorine. The GAO is trying to inform people that the U.S. still has the safest drinking water around but they did release a statement saying "waterborne-disease outbreaks caused by ­microorganisms do still occur.” Even though the water is reported to still be safe, there are numerous reports of illness outbreaks due to the drinking water. There are many solutions to these problems. States just need to make it more of an effort to make sure that they are keeping up with EPA regulations on testing and other required tasks. There aren't many barriers besides the lack of funding in some states. Employees just need to make sure they're doing their complete tasks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/audits-show-health-violations-in-drinking-water/2011/07/19/gIQAWlpoOI_story.html

Concerns Over Spills to Come

A "worse-case-scenario" report was released regarding the Keystone XL pipeline, which carries oil from Canada to the U.S. These reports exemplified that a "worse-case-scenario" spill could excrete "over 7 million gallons of toxic tar sands oil- or partly-refined bitumen- in the Nebraska Sandhills region, and another 5-6 million barrels at each of the three river crossings." With these predictions revealed, concerns of the safety of expanding the pipeline have come into question. The State Department has already come up against conflicts with the US Environmental Protection Agency and other various environmental groups over the many potential "environmental hazards of the Keystone XL expansion." TransCanada estimated 11 "significant" spills for the line encompassing 50 years of operation, about 50 barrels of oil or more. John Stansbury, associate professor and associate chair of environmental and water resources engineering, discloses that there are 91 'significant" spills recorded over Keystone's lifespan. Stansbury reports that TransCanada uses assumptions in their assessments to "minimize resulting impacts". Just how are these assumptions reliable in allowing environmental agencies to maintain the health and protection of the environment? They're not. With use of these "assumptions" proper decisions cannot fully be valid. Stansbury exclaims he only wants to offer an alternative view of what could be possible. This alternative view has uncovered plausible cause for more in depth research to discern the potential environmental hazards that the line expansion could generate. Without a concentrated look into the safety of this expansion and the harmful effects it could impose on the environment and surrounding societies, the plans for Keystone expansion should be postponed.
http://www.emagazine.com/daily-news/concerns-over-spills-to-come

California Stops Automatic Delivery of the Phone Book

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/15/idUS85259546620110615

As we all know, phone books are delivered to homes without “opting in” and with increasing development of technology are becoming more and more unnecessary. California has approved the request to stop automatic delivery and instead offers the phone books upon request or an environmentally friendly CD-ROM which would contain the same material without the waste of material. According to the article, Five million trees are cut down a year to cover the production of phone books and only 22% of people recycle the books, resulting in 660,000 tons of paper going to fill landfills. California’s solution is one that is both ecologically sound as well as fair. Those without computer access can still receive phone books and those who do not use them will not be forced the burden of disposal. Potential problems are still apparent with the new solution: those who are not socially aware may be left not knowing why they do not get a new phone book. Small business may see decline as people forego phone book directories and use easily located chain stores. These problems become negligent with proper announcement of the change. I feel that all states should follow California’s lead and pass their own initiatives to curb wastefulness.