First Nations and Environmental Struggles

The problems that the First Nation peoples in Canada have been having regarding environmental struggles has been an ongoing issue for years. Why? It is taking too long to come to agreements and it seems that the government just keeps putting this issue aside and making slight changes to keep them quiet for a year. But what they need to do is stop interfering with the First Nation lands and allow them to live the life that they have chose. All inequalities need to be put aside as we are supposed to be living in an accepting multicultural country.
I found it interesting last year when I had to do an assignment on the Temagami area that dealt with the ownership of land and logging territories. The purpose of the assignment was to map out a new Provincial Park that still allowed for logging companies to harvest certain trees outside of the park boundaries. There are many restrictions for the logging companies regarding the types and age of trees as well as their distance to roads, lakes and rivers. The best area for harvesting trees is in the north and unfortunately that is where the majority of First Nations live. This assignment taught me a great deal about the issues with logging and made me realize how difficult it is to accommodate everyone. It is unfortunate that a better agreement can not come between First Nation people and logging companies.

The Global South

The presentation on The Global South brought up a very important question. Who owns water? This topic is very interesting as water is strongly believed to be a natural phenomenon that everyone should have equal access too, however it is not the case. In developing countries where water is such a scarce resource the people are struggling to be able to pay for their access to water. When they could not afford to pay for the water they were running the risk of health related problems caused by dirty drinking water. When did water become a commodity? A good point was brought up during the movie, that yes water is free, but the system that is involved in getting the water to our kitchen taps, the pipes, purifiers, etc. all cost money and somebody needs to pay for it. Therefore there is a price to pay for clean drinking water. Another interesting question was brought up during the presentation, with the fast pace consumption of such a necessary resource is the privatization of water a necessity for sustainability in the future? I feel that although this does not seem fair to developing countries who can not afford it, or country is taking advantage of our share of access. We are overconsuming our water supply and stronger limitations need to be put in place on our levels of use. Washing our cars and lawn every other day does not need to be done, and limits need to be placed on such activities. I thought that the comparison between three types of drinking waters was a neat idea. Many people feel that they need to have the more expensive water but if they were blind folded they probably would not be able to tell the difference.

Climate Change

The presentation on climate change highlighted how inequality needs to be addressed along side the environment. Examples of inequality were provided through Al Gore's video, An Inconvenient Truth which includes: unequal access to freshwater, resources, and medical care. There is a wide perception that inequality was a developing country issue. However, climate change is introducing inequalities in the developed countries as well. With increased temperatures we will see a higher rate of respiratory disease and not enough people that are able to afford the treatment.
The chapter on climate change addresses why the old approaches of climate change are not working. The Kyoto Protocol was not as successful as many would have hoped it was. Many developing countries would not sign as well as developed countries like the USA and Australia.
So what are the solutions to the future? What approaches should be taken in order to keep the CO2 levels from raising higher?? I feel that one solution is to educate each country on the issue. Al Gore has already began this attempt by making his presentation in different countries. However, I think each presentation needs to target each country individually. The proper scientific data needs to be revealed to provide a strong argument. Once each country has understood the importance of the issue and the dangers that their country faces, maybe they will be more willing to sign treaty agreements like the Kyoto. Rather than jumping to large conclusions, I think it is important to tackle the small ones first.

Disaster Vulnerability

As mentioned in class, there are two types of Disasters; human made and natural. Hurricane Katrina as highlighted was a natural disaster that created greater damage due to a lack of human made prevention strategies. The conspiracy theory that the New Orleans levees were intentionally weakened is definitely a questionable topic. Although the levees may not have been intentionally designed to wipe out the lower ninth ward, it is definitely questionable as to why they only designed prevention strategies for a level three hurricane. In an area that does not receive very many hurricane's and is set back off of the coast, this would seem acceptable. However, in an area that is right off the coast, and prone to getting hurricane's with a high chance of getting a level 5 hurricane, why were the levees not designed better. It is obvious, listening to the man at the end of the video crying, that there are a lot of people who knew there was a problem and didn't/couldn't do anything to change the situation. This event is definitely an emotional one.
There are so many upsetting stories from this disaster, but the one that really got me during the presentation was the retirement home that was unable to evacuate. This is another problem that I see with the system. Why when we have tornado drills and fire drills was there not practiced evacuation drills for events like this. We don't know when there's going to be a fire or tornado but we still prepare for them. Why when people there are likely to experience hurricane's were they not prepared for an evacuation. I feel that this is something that should have really been implemented and instead these people died.

Eat Fresh, Buy Locally

This talk on farms and factories made me think of the ecological footprint that these large factories must be making. These farms are producing a lot of waste, and consuming a large amount of energy in order to raise that many animals in a small amount of space. Shrinking our ecological footprint is a large part of maintaining a healthy environment and although it is not surprising that these farms dominate in the USA it is surprising that Canada is starting to adopt them. I thought Canada had stronger feelings about this? I feel that there should be more encouragement to buy food locally. I think that this is not much of an issue within small towns as they are more likely to support the farmers they know. For instance, at home my family purchases half a cow, pigs, chickens and eggs all from local farms. However, while i'm in the city I am unaware of the local farmers who are selling their products and where to get it. Possibly enhancing the media coverage on this type of issue would encourage people to stay away from factory farm products and support the local economy. It is very suprising while looking at an individuals ecological footprint how much of an impact you are making each day. If everybody became aware of this issue maybe we would have fewer problems.

Environmental Health
The guest speaker on Thursday, Susan Koswan, demonstrated the negative's and difficulties associated with trying to pass environmental movements. Some of the key players that she mentioned while trying to pass the pesticide ban are health professionals, government employees, policy makers, activists, environmental groups and the cancer society. She showed how one person can gain the interest of many others and make a postive movement.
It was very surprising to hear about the alternatives to pesticides. I would have assumed that companies would loose money if the pesticides were taken away but Susan explained that studies show alternatives do work and are good for the companies and economy.
After watching the movie of the children who are dying in Mexico, it made me wonder what the actual health problems are. It would be interesting to look at other developing countries that are attempting to keep up with our developed world. Ex. We should be more encouraged to buy local food where we know the labour that is going into it and the health problems that are associated. At least here we know that pesticides can no longer be used, and there is a good health care system to support the workers if problems arise.

Technological Change and the Environment

It is not surprising to hear that e-waste is the fastest growing area of the international waste steam. Electronic products are being manufactured to have a shorter shelf life than what they once use to. With the capitalist economy that we live in it makes it hard to manufacture products to last because the income will not be as great. I think that companies should focus a lot of their attention on making their products more environmentally friendly. The environment can only be ignored for so long, and with the increased technology things are only going to get worse. There is a need to break away from the treadmill of production.
So who should be involved in making changes? I agree with the product stewardship that everyone needs to be involved in order for change to occur. If a company makes an environmental product, then it is up to the consumer to dispose of it properly. One thing that I think would make a difference is by creating extra environmental charges on purchases as well as for the company. For example: The company who is producing a product that is not environmentally friendly should be charged a certain fee in order to cover the costs of disposal or to pay money that is going into environmental research. The consumers who are buying products such as cell phones every year should also have to pay an environmental fee. With the state of our economy many people are trying to save money but do not realize the little changes that can make a difference. Maybe when people get mad enough about having to pay the extra charges, they will stop consuming as much as they do. Technology such as cell phones and computers have become a necessity in our everyday lives, and I think that people are taking too many things for granite.