by: Jordan Osterman
There exists a legitimate opportunity for the United States to reduce our carbon footprint while simultaneously improving water quality, biodiversity, and overall human health. Agricultural carbon sequestration is essentially the employment of sustainable agricultural practices on agricultural land. Practices such as conservation tillage or riparian buffers increase the amount of organic matter in the soil, which in turn, sequesters carbon out of the atmosphere and places it into long-term storage in the soil. The large quantity of agricultural land in the United States amounts to massive potential for use as a carbon sink. Additionally, the ease of conversion to sustainable agriculture practices combined with the immediate sequestration ability of crops makes for a valuable tool for battling climate change on a short-term basis.
Currently there exists little legislation that encourages conversion from traditional agriculture to sustainable agriculture, but under the guise of carbon sequestration policy makers have a large incentive to promote its use. Currently, the Senate is debating the Kerry-Boxer Bill, which, amongst other things, includes legislation that will initiate a Cap and Trade market for trading carbon credits. Included in the bill is language that promotes the use of carbon sequestration for offsetting carbon emissions. The ease of agricultural carbon sequestration along with the co-benefits often associated with the practice should make it one the clear choices for use in the Cap and Trade in market. I sincerely hope that the senate specifically identifies agricultural carbon sequestration as an effective tool in our effort towards curtailing America’s carbon emissions. To learn more about agricultural carbon sequestration go to http://www.epa.gov/sequestration/index.html.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
US Tire Tariffs
by: Matt Clark
In a time of increasing deficits, inflation, and spending, President Obama has taken a step to help out the the american tire industry by imposing up to a 35% tariff on tire imports from china. This is in reaction to america losing 5000 jobs in the tire manufacturing industry over the past 5 years to China. The goals of their policy are to increase production and consumption of U.S. Based tire manufacturing and in specific jobs in the steel industry. The group most benefiting from the tariff by far is the United Steelworkers Union who stand to retain thousands of paying members in an industry thats been in decline for the past two decades.
President Obama is not the first president to impose tariffs in favor of large labor unions and not the first to place tariffs on steel in favor of the United Steelworkers Union. The difference between the past and now is the current economic and financial climate here in the U.S. and the world. Because China owns a very large amount of U.S. Debt and produces such a large percent of our manufactured goods means China can really interfere with our markets if it chooses to. When we try and help the steelworkers here with a tariff, we hurt the steelworkers there, leading China to impose tariffs of there own. What will be the impact on us and our “weakened” economy if China begins to impose protectionist policies against our industries? It cannot be in out interest to influence our partners to protect themselves against us, especially in the current global climate.
See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/11/AR2009091103957.html
In a time of increasing deficits, inflation, and spending, President Obama has taken a step to help out the the american tire industry by imposing up to a 35% tariff on tire imports from china. This is in reaction to america losing 5000 jobs in the tire manufacturing industry over the past 5 years to China. The goals of their policy are to increase production and consumption of U.S. Based tire manufacturing and in specific jobs in the steel industry. The group most benefiting from the tariff by far is the United Steelworkers Union who stand to retain thousands of paying members in an industry thats been in decline for the past two decades.
President Obama is not the first president to impose tariffs in favor of large labor unions and not the first to place tariffs on steel in favor of the United Steelworkers Union. The difference between the past and now is the current economic and financial climate here in the U.S. and the world. Because China owns a very large amount of U.S. Debt and produces such a large percent of our manufactured goods means China can really interfere with our markets if it chooses to. When we try and help the steelworkers here with a tariff, we hurt the steelworkers there, leading China to impose tariffs of there own. What will be the impact on us and our “weakened” economy if China begins to impose protectionist policies against our industries? It cannot be in out interest to influence our partners to protect themselves against us, especially in the current global climate.
See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/11/AR2009091103957.html
Sunday, December 6, 2009
“Europe Places Solar Panels in North Africa”
by: Andrew Sieving
Once again it seems that Europe is ahead of the world in green energy. The Desertec Industrial Initiative, a German led group of energy providers is planning to provide solar energy to Europe from northern Africa by 2015. 15% of Europe’s energy consumption will supposedly come from this grid in 2050. What the article fails to report is what countries will receive this energy, where the energy will be refined, but it does comment on the highly energy efficient cables. Although, Europe always seems to be able to come up with new green ideas, it seems to promote these exclusive benefits within the EU. I wonder if these energy benefits will be available outside of the EU; or will they be highly taxed outside of the group. If European countries can span across a continent to find alternative solar power why can’t the United States harness solar energy in Death Valley or in the many desert regions within our own country. Obviously, corporate mindsets are no fluctuating with the market or our user preferences aren’t environmental. If consumers control the demands of the market then we should as consumer demand green energy.
http://www.enn.com/business/article/40650
Once again it seems that Europe is ahead of the world in green energy. The Desertec Industrial Initiative, a German led group of energy providers is planning to provide solar energy to Europe from northern Africa by 2015. 15% of Europe’s energy consumption will supposedly come from this grid in 2050. What the article fails to report is what countries will receive this energy, where the energy will be refined, but it does comment on the highly energy efficient cables. Although, Europe always seems to be able to come up with new green ideas, it seems to promote these exclusive benefits within the EU. I wonder if these energy benefits will be available outside of the EU; or will they be highly taxed outside of the group. If European countries can span across a continent to find alternative solar power why can’t the United States harness solar energy in Death Valley or in the many desert regions within our own country. Obviously, corporate mindsets are no fluctuating with the market or our user preferences aren’t environmental. If consumers control the demands of the market then we should as consumer demand green energy.
http://www.enn.com/business/article/40650
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Texting While Driving
By: Kelton Kragor
Last year, over 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured from accidents related to drivers sending text messages. On December 1, 2009 Colorado will join eighteen other states in banning texting, emailing or ‘tweeting’ while driving. If issued a citation, fines range from $50-$100. The new law also bans bus drivers and teens from using a phone in any way possible while operating a vehicle. My question is, how will authorities know if a person is texting or sending an email if that person can easily conceal his/her phone after being pulled over? What do you guys think? Obviously texting has become a major problem and contributed to numerous accidents. Will people collectively stop texting while driving; or will it get worse with new phones coming out every month? I don’t see the fines as being that hard of a penalty.
Last year, over 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured from accidents related to drivers sending text messages. On December 1, 2009 Colorado will join eighteen other states in banning texting, emailing or ‘tweeting’ while driving. If issued a citation, fines range from $50-$100. The new law also bans bus drivers and teens from using a phone in any way possible while operating a vehicle. My question is, how will authorities know if a person is texting or sending an email if that person can easily conceal his/her phone after being pulled over? What do you guys think? Obviously texting has become a major problem and contributed to numerous accidents. Will people collectively stop texting while driving; or will it get worse with new phones coming out every month? I don’t see the fines as being that hard of a penalty.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Blog Commenting for Public Policy
Folks,
Just a note that I will count any blog comments towards your grade that you make up to the 17th at 11 AM (the end of the final exam time for section 002). There will be postings going up for at least the next week or so, in case you were concerned.
Glenn
Just a note that I will count any blog comments towards your grade that you make up to the 17th at 11 AM (the end of the final exam time for section 002). There will be postings going up for at least the next week or so, in case you were concerned.
Glenn
Nudity in Boulder
by: James O'Connor
For the past decade Boulder has hosted a Naked Pumpkin Run on Halloween. Last year there were over 150 runners, and a dozen were ticketed, however the tickets did not amount to much because identification problems. This year, police chief Mark Beckner has increased the number of officers present and will arrest individuals for indecent exposure, which would mean they would have to register as sex offenders. Beckner has said he is doing this because “We enforce the law.” But this seems irrational on a few levels, first indecent exposure is defined as one exposing oneself in circumstances “likely to cause affront or alarm” running through a crowd of people there specifically to watch the event at 11pm does not fit. In addition the police have admitted they get few complaints about the run and even our mayor supports the run:
“. . . it could be pretty cool to be running around with a pumpkin on your head and not much else”.
Now the City Council is drafting a municipal ordinance making it illegal to be walking/running around the city naked. The upside to this is it would not require violators to register as sex offenders, the downside is that it would make nudity illegal where it is not necessarily now. I personally hope the ordinance does not pass and if you get arrested as a sex offender you should simply hire a lawyer, as Beckner clearly does not have his head on straight. What do you think?
For the past decade Boulder has hosted a Naked Pumpkin Run on Halloween. Last year there were over 150 runners, and a dozen were ticketed, however the tickets did not amount to much because identification problems. This year, police chief Mark Beckner has increased the number of officers present and will arrest individuals for indecent exposure, which would mean they would have to register as sex offenders. Beckner has said he is doing this because “We enforce the law.” But this seems irrational on a few levels, first indecent exposure is defined as one exposing oneself in circumstances “likely to cause affront or alarm” running through a crowd of people there specifically to watch the event at 11pm does not fit. In addition the police have admitted they get few complaints about the run and even our mayor supports the run:
“. . . it could be pretty cool to be running around with a pumpkin on your head and not much else”.
Now the City Council is drafting a municipal ordinance making it illegal to be walking/running around the city naked. The upside to this is it would not require violators to register as sex offenders, the downside is that it would make nudity illegal where it is not necessarily now. I personally hope the ordinance does not pass and if you get arrested as a sex offender you should simply hire a lawyer, as Beckner clearly does not have his head on straight. What do you think?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Environmental Illness
by: Harrison Ferrone
Environmental Illness
My main policy problem that has really affected my life is the governmentʼs
position on acceptable levels of PCBʼs, POPʼs and other various Phalate containing and
offgasing compounds. These include carpets, furniture, water bottles, any plastic and
most of the chemicals that are used in preparing and serving our food, not to mention in
the food itself. Phalates have been shown through exhaustive scientific study to be the
root cause of ALL disease. You may find this hard to believe, as it is not really
acknowledged by most of the medical profession, but that is simply ignorance of the
data in favor of burying their collective heads in the sand. The way phalates do this is
by acting as endocrine and hormone disruptors, neurotoxins and immune system
attacking agents. Basically they mimic body system functions, and then mess them up,
which causes symptoms that we interpret as disease. My point is that the current
regulation standard limits on our exposure to these compounds is way above the
amount needed to cause disease. Hopefully, when enough people get sick and die
from this the government will do something. Hopefully.
Environmental Illness
My main policy problem that has really affected my life is the governmentʼs
position on acceptable levels of PCBʼs, POPʼs and other various Phalate containing and
offgasing compounds. These include carpets, furniture, water bottles, any plastic and
most of the chemicals that are used in preparing and serving our food, not to mention in
the food itself. Phalates have been shown through exhaustive scientific study to be the
root cause of ALL disease. You may find this hard to believe, as it is not really
acknowledged by most of the medical profession, but that is simply ignorance of the
data in favor of burying their collective heads in the sand. The way phalates do this is
by acting as endocrine and hormone disruptors, neurotoxins and immune system
attacking agents. Basically they mimic body system functions, and then mess them up,
which causes symptoms that we interpret as disease. My point is that the current
regulation standard limits on our exposure to these compounds is way above the
amount needed to cause disease. Hopefully, when enough people get sick and die
from this the government will do something. Hopefully.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Afghan Culture Night
by: Kaiti Taylor
On Thursday the Afghan Student Union brought an Afghan Culture Night to the
UMC on CU Campus. It was a large event that lasted for three hours including women
warriors of Afghanistan performance, live music, food, and covered many other areas in
Afghan culture. After 9/11 views on Afghanistan and the Middle East in the United
States and the event was a movement for peace and national unity for all Afghan
people, in and outside of the country. Afghanistan culture is intriguing and beautiful to watch and be a part of. Last year, I traveled to Jordan and Israel to experience middle eastern culture despite of many judgements the US has made on their countries, and even in the UMC I felt like I was part of the culture again. Part of the event that interested me the most and made me want to get involved was the presentation from
Afghans4Tomorrow(A4T). A4T is a non-profit, non-political, humanitarian organization
dedicated to the reconstruction and redevelopment of Afghanistan through sustainable
community driven projects with a focus on Education, its an all volunteer program. A4T
is operating three elementary schools and are trying to bring more schooling to the girls (after an attack of one of their girl schools they were operating, they now have to do small in house schooling with the girls). Not only are they focused on Education, also they run two Health Posts which offer basic health care, medicine and immunizations. The newest program that A4T launched is a program training Afghans to make fuel briquettes for heating and cooking. The facility is in Kabul and people from surrounding villages can come to be trained to start their own briquette business. Not only does this help Afghans start making money (the average Afghan makes two cents per day), the project also benefits the environment (Briquettes produce less smoke and reduce burnable garbage). A4T has teamed up with Bare Root Trees Project and have planted/distributed over 120,000 fruit pine and other trees to communities in Kabul in villages. Its amazing that there is an extreme amount of effort going to help bring peace to Afghanistan and rebuild the country...get involved!!
visit: www.afghans4tomorrow.com if your interested!
On Thursday the Afghan Student Union brought an Afghan Culture Night to the
UMC on CU Campus. It was a large event that lasted for three hours including women
warriors of Afghanistan performance, live music, food, and covered many other areas in
Afghan culture. After 9/11 views on Afghanistan and the Middle East in the United
States and the event was a movement for peace and national unity for all Afghan
people, in and outside of the country. Afghanistan culture is intriguing and beautiful to watch and be a part of. Last year, I traveled to Jordan and Israel to experience middle eastern culture despite of many judgements the US has made on their countries, and even in the UMC I felt like I was part of the culture again. Part of the event that interested me the most and made me want to get involved was the presentation from
Afghans4Tomorrow(A4T). A4T is a non-profit, non-political, humanitarian organization
dedicated to the reconstruction and redevelopment of Afghanistan through sustainable
community driven projects with a focus on Education, its an all volunteer program. A4T
is operating three elementary schools and are trying to bring more schooling to the girls (after an attack of one of their girl schools they were operating, they now have to do small in house schooling with the girls). Not only are they focused on Education, also they run two Health Posts which offer basic health care, medicine and immunizations. The newest program that A4T launched is a program training Afghans to make fuel briquettes for heating and cooking. The facility is in Kabul and people from surrounding villages can come to be trained to start their own briquette business. Not only does this help Afghans start making money (the average Afghan makes two cents per day), the project also benefits the environment (Briquettes produce less smoke and reduce burnable garbage). A4T has teamed up with Bare Root Trees Project and have planted/distributed over 120,000 fruit pine and other trees to communities in Kabul in villages. Its amazing that there is an extreme amount of effort going to help bring peace to Afghanistan and rebuild the country...get involved!!
visit: www.afghans4tomorrow.com if your interested!
Pesticide use in the continental United States
by: Marcus Eisen
Since the end of World War Two there has been excessive use of pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides to treat the endless stream of potential threats against our crops, trees, grasses, streams, etc… It has been prescribed for nondescript problems at an exponential rate. In 1947 the production of synthetic pesticides was 124,259,000 pounds; in 1960 that number jumped to 637,666,000 pounds. In 2001 the total number of pesticides used per year was measured at 4,972 million pounds, the majority of which was used by the agricultural sector. While the fact that the total amount of pesticides per year may have increased it’s important to keep in mind that the treatments occur every year and have a tendency to be magnified when passed on through the biological chain. The most intimidating fact about the use of these pesticides is that decades after they have been deemed unusable due to health risks they are still being found in large quantities throughout the Midwest and sections of California. Dieldrin, a chemical that was banned in the 1980s, is still found in Illinois at a concentration that exceeds the wildlife benchmark. While found in other Midwestern states as well, no where is the chemical found in such a high quantity. So, do you think the market for pesticide use is driven purely by economic incentives for invertors and therefore poses a significant risk to unaware consumers? Does it seem necessary for the agricultural sector in the United States to dump almost 3 billion pounds of active pesticide ingredients onto crops each year? What type of policy changes must occur for the public to change its opinion about the widespread use of pesticides? And lastly, does anyone have any personal anecdotes about pesticides?
Since the end of World War Two there has been excessive use of pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides to treat the endless stream of potential threats against our crops, trees, grasses, streams, etc… It has been prescribed for nondescript problems at an exponential rate. In 1947 the production of synthetic pesticides was 124,259,000 pounds; in 1960 that number jumped to 637,666,000 pounds. In 2001 the total number of pesticides used per year was measured at 4,972 million pounds, the majority of which was used by the agricultural sector. While the fact that the total amount of pesticides per year may have increased it’s important to keep in mind that the treatments occur every year and have a tendency to be magnified when passed on through the biological chain. The most intimidating fact about the use of these pesticides is that decades after they have been deemed unusable due to health risks they are still being found in large quantities throughout the Midwest and sections of California. Dieldrin, a chemical that was banned in the 1980s, is still found in Illinois at a concentration that exceeds the wildlife benchmark. While found in other Midwestern states as well, no where is the chemical found in such a high quantity. So, do you think the market for pesticide use is driven purely by economic incentives for invertors and therefore poses a significant risk to unaware consumers? Does it seem necessary for the agricultural sector in the United States to dump almost 3 billion pounds of active pesticide ingredients onto crops each year? What type of policy changes must occur for the public to change its opinion about the widespread use of pesticides? And lastly, does anyone have any personal anecdotes about pesticides?
Apologies
My apologies for the infrequency of posts for the last week or so. I'll be catching up now.
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