550 ppm 450ppm or 350ppm

"Climate crunch: A burden beyond bearing" describes how the number 350 ppm became the goal to shoot for in CO_2 levels. At first it was noted that we were currently at 382 ppm and that we were increasing at 2 ppm a year. The mark that James Hansen thought we should not pass was initial 450 ppm and we had not reached it yet. Hansen then questioned him self and seeing the consequences we are ready facing at 382 ppm realized that 450 ppm was too high. He determined that 350 ppm was what was needed to shoot for. In earlier studyies it had been thought that 550 ppm was the mark. It was later determined that 550 ppm was way to high. I think that if we want to limit the amount of carbon emission we need to limit what we burn. We need to stop relying on the burning of coal and fossil fuels. 350 ppm will be attainable if we all work together.

http://www.nature.com.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/news/2009/090429/full/4581091a.html

EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination Synthesis

                        The topic of fracking seems to be very controversial to me. It is known that fracking causes pollution to the air and to the ground water. There was no reason that the companies had to use the process. All that they were caring about was themselves, they did not care about anyone else or the environment. It also seemed that they blatantly lied to the EPA. They were even supplying water to residence that had contaminated wells. It was very obvious to see that the companies only cared about themselves and the money they made.

            It also seemed that the EPA was doing a poor job and there is some underground information that they are not releasing.  If they were able to tell that there were problems in the 1990’s why is this an issue today?  Why is the company still drilling?  This article was written in 2011 so that was nearly twenty years going by without the water being cleaned or the investigation being finish.  It was also poor for the EPA to be lied to so easily and to be accused of bias.  It seems that both the EPA and they drilling company only cared about their money.  It’s funny I thought the Environmental Protection Agency would want to help the environment more that it would want to make money. They are almost making their standards lower than what they make us abide by.

            People need to care more about the environment than about money. Making money is important but when it comes between money and people safety and the environment, peoples safety and the environment come first.  The downfall of America and the rest of the world will be caring too much about money and not what negative effects are from our actions.

Richard Kahn Response

From Richard Kahn's Towards Ecopedagogy the quote "45 million Americans think the ocean is a fresh source of water" stands out a lot to me. Form this you can tell that many Americans are not well educated. It is obvious that the oceans are salt water and that salt water is not fresh water. The way the school system is now set up Americans are not receiving every thing they need to be successful in life. What we need is a stricter grading policy to pass a class. This way people would not be able to get by with only know 75% of the information in the class. The policy should be changed so to get credit for a class a student must earn a grade of 90% or higher. This way students would be forced to study in order to pass classes. In  many situations in the current system many student are getting by with out even trying and will make a passing grade. With a new system where you must make 90% or higher to pass every student will have to challenge themselves in ever class in order to pass it.

Visual Rhetoric

This image of a Doe beside of a new road construction is a great example of visual rhetoric. The image is to show that when the human race keeps expanding we are taking away the habitat of others.  The Doe is coming back to what used to be her home and is not finding it. She is almost laying down hopelessly as if her losing her home has happened many times due to human growth. The use of technology will aid  environmental thought by wide source sharing of information to let other people know what problems are really happening. If more images like this one are shared on the wide scale then people will start to realize how when the human race expands we are negatively impacting the other inhabitants of Earth.

Poem Post 3

Pine Tree Tops (33), Two Fawns That Didn't See The Light This Spring (58), For The Children (86)

In the poem Pine Tree Tops, Snyder is describing what I would say as an almost ideal way for the world to work. It seems as if it is the winter time and it is in a large forest covered in a layer of snow. There are rabbit and deer tracks along with minimal human interaction. It seems as if the sound of boots should be all humans have as an impact on the environment, sound not large cities and pollution. Snyder was using this small scene in a winter wonder land as a metaphor for the entire planet where the life of humans does not negatively impact the environment.

In the poem Two Fawns That Didn't See The Light This Spring, Snyder is comparing and contrasting two situations one where human impact on the environment is what the human needs to survive, and one where the same impact was done for no reason. In the first it describe and man who lived in a tipi who went hunting and killed what he thought was a buck, but turned out to me a fawn and its mother. In the second a car hits a fawn and its mother. The man in the tipi was trying to help the environment he lived in a shelter that left nothing behind when he is gone and takes up very few resources to make. The one in the car was the exact opposite, the had a car that took many materials to make and it harms the environment at the same time. The man in the tipi was doing what he needed to survive but the one in the car really did not have a reason to have a car. The man in the tipi used the meat from his mistake and made the best out of the situation, while the others were most likely left to rot.

In the poem For The Children, every thing about that the poem is describing something for the future, the children. The poem is saying we need to make peace. I am not sure if this is peace with one another or make peace with the land so that we will have it for ever. Either way peace will help the world last longer, last longer than beyond the next century. Snyder's main message is we need to save the world for tomorrow.

Poem Post 2

Why Log Truck Drivers Rise Earlier Than Students of Zen, For Nothing, The Great Mother

The first poem, Why Log Truck Drivers Rise Earlier Than Students of Zen, talks about a log truck heading out very early in the day and having to go out  thirty miles to a logging site. In the description  it brings up themes of isolation and emptiness.  It was like the truck was following a creek for thirty miles and all along the way the trees had already been cut. It  also seemed that the trees thirty miles away were the closest ones to get to and that there was no life or anything else on the way there. In the second, For Nothing, it is describing an almost mystical land and then nothing is there. Like all your hopes and dreams washed away. The poem is hinting that if we do not change our ways the earth will "disappear". The themes I see in For Nothing are destruction and peace.With peace being what earth once was and destruction what it will become. In the third poem, The Great Mother, it is like judgement day. Everyone is being evaluated for what they have done in their lifetime. Some have done good and some have done bad. The theme present was the power of and individual. What one person can do to help not just a large group. Everyone can help out to help the earth.

Coyote Valley Spring, Control Burn, Source

From reading the poems Coyote Valley Spring, Control Burn, and Source in Gary Snyder’s Turtle Island I was able to relate to many themes. In Coyote Valley Spring the themes expressed were climate, wilderness, and actions of nature.  It seemed that the message that Snyder was saying was that the animals and the rest of nature were doing fine without any human interactions and that the humans were away and not hurting the environment. He was almost talking about a concept of Island Civilization where the humans only lived in certain areas and did not interact with the rest of nature. In the poem Control Burn the main themes were helping the environment and creation of new life. The main message in the poem was that humans need to limit their impact on the environment, but there are some things that we must do that can help it. In the poem Source the main theme was nature as it is. The poem was talking about a time when the Spanish had not even come to America and there was a better world in nature.