*Blog Summaries*
Selection 33 At The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima or Why Political Questions Are Not All Economic
Mark Sagoff
Mark Sagoff’s “At The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima or Why Political Questions Are Not All Economic” primarily deals with issues concerning politics and profit. Sagoff’s key concept is “the limitations of economics in making environmental policy” (166). The beginning of the piece begins by looking at Lewiston, New York which was once home to a toxic dumping ground used the federal government for the Manhattan Project (166). Sagoff emphasizes the situation by writing about the Our Lady of Fatima statue that looked out onto the toxic debris field and how the entire shrine was empty because of the toxicity of the area (167). Next the essay objectives are looked at. Sagoff writes “This essay concerns the economic decisions we make about the environment. It also concerns our political decisions about the environment” (167). In addition Sagoff writes about how the economic decisions and political decisions about the environment should be the same (167). Continuously throughout his essay Sagoff writes about cost-benefit analysis to take the correct environmental actions (168). Sagoff supports the notion of cost-benefit analysis by looking at health and safety in cotton mills (168). In addition Sagoff looks at both the government and labor unions as he examines these issues. He writes about Congress passing the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, “that act among other things, severely restricts worker exposure to toxic substances” (168). In addition to this matter of worker health and safety Sagoff writes “there are some who believe on principle that worker safety and environmental quality ought to be protect only insofar as the benefits of protection balance the costs” (169). In addition he writes, “on the other hand, people argue-also on principle- that neither worker safety nor environmental quality should be treated merely as a commodity to be traded at the margin for other commodities, but rather each should be valued for its own safe. Ultimately the main question is “where cost-benefit analysis should play a decisive role in policy making is not to be decided by cost-benefit analysis” (169). Sagoff goes back once again at the end of his essay to look at the residents of Lewiston. Sagoff writes that the residents “demanded to know the truth about the dangers that confronted them and the reasons for those dangers” (171). The residents of Lewiston ultimately just “asked for an explanation, justice, and truth, and they were told that their wants would be taken care of” (171).
Sagoff, Mark. At The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima or Why Political Questions Are Not All Economic. Ed. Thomas Easton, New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2009.
Selection 31 Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks At Cancer and the Environment
Sandra Steingraber
Throughout “Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks At Cancer and the Environment” Author, Sandra Steingraber pushes for the “need for further research on environmental factors in cancer incidence” (157). Steingraber uses her own diagnoses of bladder cancer as an example that environmental factors play an important role in how cancers occur (157). Steingraber writes that “bladder carcinogens were among the earliest human carcinogens ever identified, and one of the first human oncogenes ever decoded was isolated from some unlucky fellow’s bladder tumor” (159). In addition it is important to note that bladder cancer is on the rise and “the overall incidence rate of bladder cancer increased 10 percent from 1973 and 1991 (159). “Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks At Cancer and the Environment” notes that a significant of bladder cancer is connected to cigarette smoking but the real question is: “what is causing bladder cancer in the rest of us, the majority of bladder cancer patients for whom tobacco is not a factor?” (159). Author Steingraber then points to environmental factors for causing some of the bladder cancer cases. She points to “known and suspected bladder carcinogens in rivers, groundwater, dump sites, and indoor air” (159). Next Steingraber looks at what is stopping “us from addressing cancer’s environmental roots” (160). Steingraber points to the notion that humans are addicted to looking at genes and heredity but ultimately points out the fact that hereditary cancers are very uncommon (160). Ultimately Steingraber writes that “the ill effects of some of these genes might well be diminished by lowering the burden of environmental carcinogens to which we are all exposed” (160). Next “Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks At Cancer and the Environment” looks at Rachel Carson, author of “Silent Spring” which pointed out “the threat to human healthy created reckless pollution of the living world” (160). Steingraber writes that “the process of exploration that results from asserting our right to know about carcinogens in our environment is a different journey for ever person who undertakes it” (160) She also writes that “we must first look back into our past, then reassess our present situation, and finally summon the courage to imagine an alternative future” (160). It is important to examine our life Steingraber writes because “we carry in our bodies many carcinogens that are no longer produced and used domestically but which linger in the environment and in human tissue” 160). Additionally “because cancer is a multicausal disease that unfolds over a period of decades, exposures during young adulthood, adolescence, childhood-and even period to birth –are relevant to our present cancer risks” (160). The essay suggests that by looking at everything we can “survey our present situation” (161). Steingraber writes that “10,940 people in the United States die each year from environmentally caused cancers” which really hits home the notion that the environment is playing a major role in cancer (161). Ultimately to end her essay, Steingraber pushes the “principle of the least toxic alternative, which presumes that toxic substances will not be used as long as there is another way of accomplishing the task” (161). Steingraber ends her essay by writing “the principle of the least toxic alternative looks toward the day when the availability of safer choices makes the deliberate and routine release of chemical carcinogens into the environment as unthinkable as the practice of slavery” (161). In conclusion “Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks At Cancer and the Environment” strives for the elimination of environmental factors causing cancers.
Steingraber, Sandra. Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks At Cancer and the Environment. Ed. Thomas Easton, New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2009.
Selection 10 Life and Death of the Salt Marsh
John Teal and Mildred Teal
John Teal and Mildred Teal’s “Life and Death of the Salt Marsh” discusses the environmental importance of the salt marshes along the eastern coast of North America. They write, “along the eastern coast of North America, from the north where ice packs grate upon the shore to the tropical mangrove swamps tenaciously holding the land together with a tangle of roots, lies a green ribbon of soft, salty, wet, low-lying land, the salt marshes (Teal and Teal 41). The Teals write that “the marsh reaches as far inland as the rides can creep and as far into the sea as marsh plants can find a roothold and live in saline waters” (41). The essay looks at how the marshes have been harmed and destroyed. “Unfortunately, in marshes which have been disturbed, dug up, suffocated with loads of trash and fill, poisoned and eroded with the wastes from large cities, there is another smell. Sick marshes smell of hydrogen sulfide, a rotten egg odor. This odor is very faint in healthy marshes” (Teal and Teal 41). “Life and Death of the Salt Marsh” writes that humans are causing most of the problems in the salt marshes (42). The Teals write in their essay that “we destroy wetlands and shallow water bottoms directly by dredging, filling, and building. Indirectly we destroy them by pollution.” (42). Both John and Mildred Teal point to the increasing population along coastlines as being especially problematic to the salt marshes (42). They write that “the increase in population pressure along the coast will inevitably destroy more and more of the frail marsh estuarine system” (Teal and Teal 42). Although they admit some of the destruction can’t be helped, the Teals do suggest that a lot of it could be avoided though. They write that over-all planning is crucial to the survival of the salt marshes. “The very minimum of planning could be approached on the state level, but a more rational approach demands planning on the national level” (Teal and Teal 42). In addition the Teals write that “whatever method is used to preserve marshes, it must include safeguards against the increases pressures to develop because of the ever increasing population” (42). Ultimately “Life and Death of the Salt Marsh” is about saving the fragile salt marsh ecosystem. In conclusion the Teals write the salt marshes of the east coast of North America “must be preserved almost in its entirety if its preservation is to have any real meaning” (42).
Teal, John and Mildred Teal. Life and Death of the Salt Marsh. Ed. Thomas Easton. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2009.
Selection 20 Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services
Boris Worm et al.
“Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services” by Boris Worm et al discusses how important preservation of our oceans really is. Worm et al write that “human dominated marine ecosystems are experiencing accelerating loss of populations and species, with largely unknown consequences (91). Research has suggested “that marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean’s capacity to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbations (91)”. However it is believed that biodiversity loss can still be turned around (91). Ocean ecosystems are vital to human populations. It must be noted that “marine ecosystems provide a wide variety of goods and services, including vital food resources for millions of people” (91). Worm et all write that the problems associated with biodiversity loss can be attributed towards “exploitation, pollution, and habit destruction, or indirectly through climate change and related perturbations of ocean biogeochemistry” (91). Worm and his team looked at research of coastal ecosystems, large marine ecosystems, and marine reserves and fishery closures to understand the “Impacts of Biodiversity on Ocean Ecosystem Services” (92-93). In regards to coastal ecosystems, Worm et al write “To test whether experimental results scale up in both space and time, we complied long-term trends in regional biodiversity and services from a detailed database of 12 coastal and estuarine ecosystems and other sources “ (92). They found that “an increased number of species invasions over time also coincided wit the loss of native biodiversity” (92). In terms of large marine ecosystems, “At the largest scales, we analyzed relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services using the global catch database from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other sources” writes Worm et al (92). Lastly Worm et al looked at marine reserves and fishery closures, and further questioned if the fishery could be revitalized. Worm et al concluded that “it is still possible to recover lost biodiversity, at least on local to regional scales; and that such recovery is generally accompanied by increased productivity and decreased variability, which translates into extractive (fish catches around reserves) and nonextractive (tourism with reserves) revenue (93). In conclusion “Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services” looks at “the value of biodiversity to human well-being” (91). Worm et al “suggest that the elimination of locally adapted populations and species not only impairs the ability of marine ecosystems to feed growing human population but also sabotages their stability and recovery potential in a rapidly changing marine environment” (93). Furthermore Worm et Al end “Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services” by stating that “by restoring marine biodiversity through sustainable fisheries management, pollution control, maintenance of essential habitats, and the creation of marine reserves we can invest in the productivity and reliability of the goods and services that the ocean provides to humanity” (94). Ultimately Worm et al strive for the protection of one of Earths greatest natural wonders; the ocean.
Boris Worm et al. Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services. Ed. Thomas Easton. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2009.
*Blog Activities*
Watch Blood Diamond the flim and reflect on it:
Blood Diamond is a recent Hollywood blockbuster film staring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly. Unlike most movies to come out of Hollywood, the concept of Blood Diamond is extremely real. The movie is about blood diamonds which are mined in many war torn African countries. The diamonds are sold to many diamond companies throughout the world and the profits go towards many conflicts and civil wars found within African countries. Blood Diamond is set in the civil war torn country of Sierra Leone. The movie shows the conflict between the government of Sierra Leone and rebel forces who partake in the diamond industry. Blood Diamond is about a captured diamond miner who finds a very large diamond but wishes to keep it a secret from his capturers and wishes to use it to reunite his family. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character works in the diamond industry and learns of this large stone. Together DiCaprio and the diamond miner work together to try to recover the diamond, profits await DiCaprio and the miner wants his family reunited. Ultimately the movie shows the dark but real side of the diamond industry. Blood diamond proves why blood diamond is a suitable name for many diamonds. The movie shows endless violence, blood, and the death that is all associated with the mining and selling of conflict diamonds. The United Nations defines conflict diamonds as “diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council” (http://www.un.org/peace/africa/Diamond.html). These conflict diamonds not only finance civil wars, they promote the use of child soldiers, and ultimately squash democracy. With diamonds being popular throughout the world, this makes conflict diamonds a more than just a problem in Africa.
Above African men mine for Diamonds.
A young man lost his hands due to conflict diamonds.
*Blog Reflections*
Diamonds: are they worth it?
Personally I believe diamonds are worth it. As the ads suggest, diamonds really are forever. They are a timeless and classic gem that has played an important role in jewelry. With that said I believe conflict diamonds are not worth it. Conflict diamonds provoke violence in Africa and have caused dealth, disfigurement, and misery. I think it is important to acknowledge the steps that have been taken to stop the mining and selling of conflict diamonds. Most notably the Kimberley Process Certification Schme was adopted in 2000 to stop the trade of blood diamonds by providing knowledge on where diamonds were mined. This is important so that buyers of diamonds can be informed and make knowledgeable decisions. In addition blood free diamonds are available which further supports the cause of diamonds. Polar Bear Diamonds are mined in Northern Canada and are free of conflict. Each diamond features a polar bear logo and a certificate of authenticity. Although the mining of diamonds does scar the landscape, I still think the nostalgia a conflict free diamond holds is priceless.
Reflect on the Environmental Science 2000 class topics:
Currently Environmental Science 2000 has taken on the topic of water. Through influential videos water preservation has been taught to the class. We have realized how precious water is and how we need to protect it for future generations. Through looking at the sewage process and composting toilets to water issues in developing countries, it has become obvious that we need to take better care of water. Fresh water is such a small part of the Earth but such a large part of humans and ultimately we need to take better care of it.
*Additional Blog Activities*
In keeping with the recent theme of water woes, I found this article about how millions of Americans are drinking poor water. The article states that "more than 20 percent of the nation's water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five year." Furthermore this means over 49 million people have been infected with chemicals and bacteria. Although this is an American article, it makes one question Canadas water. I can only imagine how Canada's water ranks in terms to American water. This article puts water woes into perspective and pushes for safer water.
One of the biggest topics in Environmental 2000 has been discussing the Un climate change conference in Copenhagen Denmark. This conference includes 192 countries pushing to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The 192 countries are pushing to create a deal to help reduce greenhouse gases. A clear plan is needed to direct both developed and developing countries towards a common goal of saving the planet. In addition the article talks about how their is a crucial need to raise funds to set the wheels in motion. 
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