Response to Friday's Class and Readings (1/15/09)

The reading about the inner life and how religion has and does effect our environmental ethic really made me think when they mentioned how we are going to some how have to reach each religion on some level in order to encourage them to become more environmentally conscious. This made me think about several things I have come across over the past few days that made me think about this subject. Bethany sent me an email that said that the Pope said that Avatar was bad because it promoted the environment, but the Episcopal church has a statement on environmental ethics. So frustrating! Why can't we get everyone on board? Dave sent me an article on churches in the West on how they are becoming more environmentally conscious to try to encourage better attendance in church. One church has a farmer's market in their parking lot and now has to pay taxes because that exempts them from their tax free status. They are willing to pay that fee to encourage people coming. I think according to the reading we really are going to have to adapt to the surrounding cultures and religions to encourage better stewardship, this means that we will have to somehow find a way to convince some Christians too which I hope maybe my project on creation care will help in this effort!

Role Play Post

Hey! The role play was great! First of all, wasn't it shocking how kind, thoughtful, and conscious our factory owner (Laell) was? This made me think of two things. 1, it's such the norm that leaders in these positions try to weasel out of paying for the consequences of their environmental destruction, that hearing a factory head actually want to work with the community seems like an anomaly. The role playing activity also reminded me of the story in Natural Steps, about people downstream building hospitals to better take care of the injured bodies that keep coming downstream, instead of going upstream to look at what is causing the bodies to fall in in the first place. When something like a fish kill happens, there are so many steps leading up to it... lack of eco-conscious decision making in many areas. That is the scary part-- so many of these problems could be prevented! Environmental Education to the rescue! Getting EE programs into schools, combined with active citizens taking part in local politics and environmental issues, will hopefully make a come back. Think of the charisma and power the environmental movement had in the 70s! They had the whole world in their hands! I wonder how a meeting like Copenhagen compares to the international meetings that were happening during the 70s when all the legislation was being passed... Sometimes it seems like the peak for US investment in environmental issues was then and now we're just trying to stay afloat... but I have hope! The article Dave just gave us from this month's Journal of Environmental Education had some great things to say about how little things DO make a difference.

And 2, wasn't it interesting that our role play was interrupted by the EPA commissioner, who doesn't seem to be too concerned with the environment at all? What would it have been like if HE were the factory owner? He would have dismissed our questions, skirted around the reality of the situation, and spoken to us in a condescending manner.

It's too darn bad the role play wasn't real life, and the real life commissioner is really, actually in charge of Indiana's environment.

Best quote from the day: "That 49 number is fake." -Thomas Easterly

It's Tough Owning a Factory!

Whew, that discussion was hard on me, but it was good, too. You guys really stretched my brain and the conflict-resoultion side of me. You thought up really HARD questions! I'm glad that phonecall came when it did because Jen had me stumped. I've read the posts saying how smooth everything went. I chose my character's position for a reason. I know that in this field many of us are quick to judge "big business," including myself. When I was placed in that position for class... it made me think that there's got to be heads of companies out there that aren't ONLY concerned with the bottom line. My local paper company that I researched to get my info for the discussion is trying hard to be as green as a paper company can be. I think there are some factory owners out there, maybe more than we think, who would be concerned with the environment, or at least saving face, and do what they could to make things right.

Is Trade Really Free?

I was really inspired and delighted by the trip to Goshen and getting the chance to meet and talk with some wonderful people. Kudos and a big Thank-you for taking time out of their presumably busy schedule to talk to a bunch of students. I was really interested the fair trade talk. I must admit I was not totally abreast on the meaning of the word in it's entirety. It is funny how things are expressed differently in the city and I come here and there is an official word for just paying people what they are worth for the product in which they create. I was really interested in this talk on fair trade because for those who do not know I went to the Bahamas for Christmas, yes I had to say it again; however in light of our family vacation, my husband and I have been toying around with the idea of buying a home there to retire or possibly live there in the winters and spend our summers here in the states. This has been going on for the past 11 years in which we have visited. Did I say all this to give you insights to our visions and goals, quite the contrary! This particular visit, we made some monumental movements and steps towards really exploring this option. We sought out Realtors and car rental and traveled by bus throughout the island leaving the tourist part. Even as I write this I am really disheartened at some of the things in which we found. Once you leave Free port (tourist) and travel into the native settlements there is a really different landscape. I noticed that natives were walking and riding the bus for miles to set up these shops in order to sell their merchandise. The sense of oppression I saw has me repressing depression because it reminds me of slavery. It really hurt me to go to the grocery store and spend $10 for a gallon of milk because it is imported from the US and then taxed knowing if I was having reservations with paying it in the words of a native "how do you think we feel"? As a result of this whole EE introduction, I literally cried seeing the devastation of the island in the native settlements where they were clear cutting and degrading the land to make the tourist part look good. I found out that there is no plan for recycling, and green initiatives have yet to reach Free port ie trash. I wrestled with a feeling of helplessness realizing that yes I went there for fun and pleasure, yet there are people who live there and are suffering for my pleasure. Tourism is the number economic push followed by imports primarily of concrete. It is something when you look at the vast array of American business which have set up shop and then are really exploiting the natives because they can not afford to live in their own land, are working for these companies but are struggling. I agree with Myron when he referred to the economic dance requires that a decent wage for decent work in order to make a decent living.

Toxic Times

Growing up in a farming community that utilizes mass quantities of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and various other -icides, when one actually takes the time to think about all aspects of the sprays and chemicals, aside from the advertised benefits for crop yield, there are many scary side effects that could and are happening from their usage. It is true that one application of Roundup may be beneficial for one farmer on a 40 acre field, but what about the other miscellaneous additives that are used on surrounding fields and the run-off that mixes them all together. Many citizens don't think about the long term ramifications of these harmful substances conglomerating underneath the surface, filtering into our drinking water. Agriculture in and of itself isn't bad; it is needed to sustain the tons of food that must be manufactured for our world. On the other hand, the synthetic chemicals and sprays that are utilized to reach new heights in crop production and yield should be thoroughly tested before allowed to be spread across vast acres of prime real estate. Obviously there are multiple other forms of toxic contaminants being infiltrated into the soil and air from other sources, and I cannot merely point the blame finger at other individuals. Each and every person has his/her impact on the planet, but there are sources of toxic chemcials that are blowing/leaking/pouring these harmful substances into the atmosphere, the soil, and the water that should look a little farther into the future and decide what kind of world they want to leave behind for their children.

Fish Kill Discussion -
As a Native American attending the town meeting, I would first of all consider it an honor to even be able to speak my opinion, especially since my tribe is considered a minority, though generations ago we were the first inhabitants before the white people made us move to the reservation. The fact that the owner of the paper mill was willing to made amends for the chlorine spill that killed vast amounts of our staple food source was surprising and reassuring. Other tribes throughout the area have not been as lucky. The treaty we signed with the white people six generations ago assured us that we could still fish in the river for our food sources, as well as our traditional ceremonies honoring the fish and the spirits that continually bring us our means of survival. As the years have progressed and the white people have become more dominant, the fish supply has significantly dwindled. Sometimes the fish taste a little different than they should, and some of our tribe have become sick, but this has only lasted for a little while. Now, with the fish kill, we are concerned that another kill of this magnitude could potentially threaten the very existence of our tribe. What would be do or where would we go if the fish become so contaminated that we cannot fish anymore? Much discussion, sitting around a campfire, smoking a peace pipe, and eating fish from the river with the white business people may make them more inclined to see things our way; the way of the world before we knew what chlorine and toxic substances were.

toxicology

Oh toxicology, what memories! I can remember my laboratories in university applying different doses of chemicals to plants to see determine what level of exposure would be toxic and which would not. Quite fun, most of the time. It also reminded me of conducting risk assessments for sites that were so contaminated that there is no feasible way to clean it up. That was depressing.
Some of the most frustrating things that I found while working, in essence, with toxicology and with the readings was not necessarily the science. Scientists are trying to determine what is a safe exposure, because we have learned over the years that chemicals are quite dangerous. What really annoys me is that we continuously find new chemicals to replace the old dangerous ones and that we assume that they are safe after 10 years of tests and then begin using the new "safe" ones excessively. We brag about how great they are and then are shocked 20 years later to learn that they are not as wonderfully great. Will we ever learn? One of the most disheartening parts of my former job was also the economic side of it. Being a little bit of an environmentalist I wanted to clean up the contaminants immediately. I hated to wait for the time when the client was willing to pay for the clean up (mainly when the ministry was starting to breathe down their necks). It seemed like everyone recognised that the contamination was bad...but spending the money to clean it up was worse.
FISH KILL/TOWN HALL ROLE PLAYING
I think every mayor would have loved to have a town hall meeting like we did. Everyone was so civil, willing to listen, and our industry owner responsible for the spill was unbelievably willing to take responsibility and assist with compensation for loss of income.
Looking back, I think that I would have been supported to start imposing stricter environmental regulations on the industry, and therefore all industry in the town. There did not seem to be any disagreement from the pulp and paper mill owner or the chamber of commerce. We could have become the environmental leaders of the world!
Unfortunately, I do not believe all mayors are that lucky. Court cases that I have read suggest otherwise. I can understand the fine line that all mayors have to walk and do not envy them. Obviously they need to look after the health of their community: economic, social, and physical health. However, what everyone notices the most is the economic health, in other words the economic health is the most visible the quickest. Therefore, politicians are, in some ways, forced to focus primarily on that. And if they want to do something good for their community, they need to follow that system. As much as I complain about the current Prime Minister, I do think that he believes he is doing something good for Canada and that if he does focus on environmental concerns he is going to lose the economic powerhouses of Canada and completely ruin the country. I think it is short-sighted, but that is what most people notice and if he wants to be re-elected he has to focus on the short-term, noticeable health indicators: economics. I do not envy any politician their job.

Blog about Class and the Fish Kill

I was pretty pleased with our short discussion on the fish kill. I thought it was a challenge being the preacher because I want to be able to empathize with everyone, but also be able to let the public know what is right. What is right is the paper company getting rid of their harmful ways, paying for clean up, and bettering the community around them. I thought I would suggest maybe some classes and youth groups being able to visit and learn about the problems of environmental degradation, but that was sort of mentioned in the discussion. I think we should have a debate though with people switching their characters around too! Great class today!