Last blog!

Optional blog

      How can we live together in cities in ways that are environmentally sound, socially just and economically sustainable? What examples do you find in your text that show this is possible? Where is this happening and how does it happen?

And: Post here something that might stick with you from this class. In other words, tell us something that you take away from this class. No need to say how much you liked the class (if you did, tell me in an email after I turn in grades or say it on the eval.), just something that got your attention. It's always interesting to me to know what resonates with students.

Have a great summer!

Week 14 global environmental issues

Optional

Over these last two weeks we have considered the important work done by environmentalists.  I have also highlighted ongoing under that umbrella of environmentalism.  One of these was the debate between environmental justice advocates and proponents of AB32 which raised the question, why not address global warming and the disproportionate impact of pollutants on the less wealthy and non-white? In the push to save certain environments and animals, we look to the Amazon rather than our backyard (Lawn People), the impoverished and people of color have been overlooked (those living next to polluting industries) or vilified (lecture this week on African people and parks) and the larger processes that link places and environments have been ignored (e.g. the demand for 'Flipper' for Dolphin shows and the dolphin hunt in the Cove).  So it's complicated! This course has tried to show you some part of that complexity.   
I've also tried to provide you with important thinkers on the subject of the human-environment relationship. Choose from below:


¨“Sustainability isn’t enough. To destroy a little less doesn’t protect anything” (Michael Braungart, chemist who developed the Cradle to Cradle design concept with architect William McDonough) Listen to this Ted Talk by William McDonough. What makes sense to you?

       Watch this Ted Talk by Jane Goodall. Link to the class. "Chimpanzees, more than any other living creature, have helped us to understand that there is no sharp line between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. It’s a very blurry line, and it’s getting more blurry all the time.” (Jane Goodall). How does what she says make sense in the context of the lecture this week?

Watch this Ted Talk of Frances Moore Lappe discussing her new book, Eco Mind. Reading this author's work on food and hunger as a high school student made me decide that the only ethical thing to do would be to eat lower on the food chain--to become vegetarian. Frances Moore Lappe's last few books have been on hopeful examples of eco-friendly living.

As usual, relate what you hear to class themes.