Chem321:Discussion12

THE SUSTAINABLE WORLD (Chemistry 321)
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This is the page for the Chem 321 discussion, held on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 at 4pm EDT.

Agenda

• Term paper
• Preparing for the exam
• Discussion - "If you were president of the United States, what would you do to promote sustainability at home and around the world?" Proposals such as "encourage people to recycle more" are not very practicable; instead, you need to be specific and propose something like, "Provide the EPA with another $10 billion to establish a nationwide framework for recycling which would link up state and local schemes, and it would be mandatory in all states. It would be funded by an additional tax on companies using virgin plastic and paper in their products."

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• Darla Davis 15:54, 29 June 2011 (EDT)
• Franz.galoso 16:01, 29 June 2011 (EDT)
• Nplantznate plantz
• Herrinrm 16:01, 29 June 2011 (EDT)
• Gethmini

The discussion

The discussion will take place on EtherPad. (Click on link to join).

=Introductory responses

OK, I'd like to go into the discussion first - we'll deal with questions near the end. The topic is: "If you were president of the United States, what would you do to promote sustainability at home and around the world?" Proposals such as "encourage people to recycle more" are not very practicable; instead, you need to be specific and propose something like, "Provide the EPA with another $10 billion to establish a nationwide framework for recycling which would link up state and local schemes, and it would be mandatory in all states. It would be funded by an additional tax on companies using virgin plastic and paper in their products."

Nate Plantz

Create incentives for start-up companies to develop technologies such as the hydrogen fuel cell in order to get a push in production of these. In addition, we need to make sure that these production techniques are supportive of the "green chemistry" approach. The more money that can be thrown at the development of these, the quicker it will happen, and the better the technology will be. This will also produce more jobs here at home, and provide an industry for Americans into the next decade (that might get into a whole different discussion.) Also provide incentives to the individuals who purchase hybrid or hydrogen cars (make them cheaper that they are now....) and incentives to install solar, wind, or to increase the energy efficiency of their homes. Without a "financial" incentive, most people will continue to use the cheaper source for energy regardless of the impact on the environment. The emissions that are harming the environment are not felt immediately or by the person necesarrily who purchased the oil, so it is real easy to not have a concern for most people. Nate, I also think that people will continue to use the fossil fuels because it is cheaper and also more accessible. Its just easier to stick with what we know.

Darla Davis

If I were President for a day, I would encourage the Department of Defense to budget a specific amount of funding for developing a strategy to becoming more sustainable across all areas, with the objective of incorporating sustainability principles into daily operations, ranging from energy and water reduction, to solid waste, chemical management and procurement of sustainable products and services. As an Army brat, I have lived all over the world on a number of military installations. These communities are extremely wasteful and spoiled, if you will. Energy is paid for by the DoD, so leaving a light on all night or running the water hose all day means nothing. The houses often are renovated every couple decades and maintenance has to be done on their foundations or even cosmetics every couple months, this isn’t very sustainable. Even military barracks undergo renovation at least once every two decades, some even tear down the entire structures and start all over again from nothing! All of the equipment and parts necessary for training (to include weapons and transportation modes) get replaced way too often because they break down too easily. Fuel should be converted into biofuel, because there are millions of military vehicles that are constantly in motion, emitting carbon into the environment. The DoD should also not form any contracts with suppliers that are not “green” industries. These are the areas that should be considered for improvement and being that the US military is a global community, I think it would be a way to show other countries what we have done, they would be able to see it in action within their countries. Being that many industries have the largest profits coming from DoD contracts, it would encourage these companies to go "green" or else, we will withhold our money.

Becky Herrington

Something that I would do as president in US would be to allow non-traditional housing to get loans from the government to get established, as private banks do not seem to give loans for housing made of recycled materials. Of course, agreements will need to be made and the use of materials that can be melted down and re-use more efficiently (like aluminum) are not used. More difficult to re-use materials, like glass, can be used to make housing. Yet, current housing codes in many states do not allow for this type of contruction. Perhaps money could be allocated and a new department of sustainable something established and based on the structure of states (Oregon) who have already made this type of investment.

Franz Goloso

I see several major problems in the building of sustainable society. 1) leadership by example by a few of enlightened societies will only go so far since most people are motivated by self interest. 2) green technology will need to have profound efficiency gains in order to win over those among society who only have self interested mass. therefore the science behind it must be subsidized on a scale of something like the manhattan project 3) because some societies/institutions will be still more efficient with non-sustainable technology, a structure of "penalties" must be enacted (like how tarriffs protect local business) and implemented to artificially magnify the "bottom line" benefits of green technology and therefore influence societies/institutions to use them. 4) societies must redefine the basic concepts of civil liberties. We must add "the right to clean air and water" to basic civil liberties, along with " the right to a safe environment"... if we do not, people may continue to use unsustainable technology, because to restrict their ability to do so is infringing on their civil liberties of "freedom of action" because it legally does "no harm" to the civil liberties of others. For example, how can we legally restrict the freedom of people to act (emit greenhouse gasses, chop down a forest) if we do not recognize that by doing so, they are infringing on the civil rights of others (the right of integrity of personal health through clean air, water, environment). In summary and order of priorty : constitutional amendment to recognize the right to a clean environment, massive scientific subsidies for green tech, and a

Gethmini Jayasundara

If I were president of US, I would encourage the definite development of sustainability of the country, initially by taking the most basic unit of a society, which is a a house. When we start from a house, then we could go to community, and finally as a whole nation. People would only be encouraged to actually even look into some information and understand the gravity of the need to create a sustainable world, only if they are given any benefits. This is a great way of catching their attention and generatng their interests in making their home, community sustainable. Providing the general public with various benefits could easily grab their attentions towards the importance of this. As the president I would make a rule that all industries and companies,factories ad etc will need to adapt.Adapting international standards such as ISO 14000 that was developed with the main concern being the environmental friendly factor would be mandatory. Using of green products from simple to complex tasks would be encouraged. examples such as eco-friendly detergents made from waste oil and CFLs and many other green products.

Since I am not so thorough with how things are at US, is it okay if I relate it to over here? Because after the very long period of war, now is actually the time the SL government has started concentrating on the country more! and this is actually since May 2009. We are a very small country compared to most of the countries i the world map. But they have started promoting sustainability step by step. In All, most of the main cities and towns and specially in rural areas there are ongoing projects to to create and raise awareness on the concept and practice of sustainable development and to provide an opportunity for the implementation of the knowledge gained.Starting with sustainability in tourism, mainly focusing on 1. Planning for development and land – use at sub national level.To conserve the environment, maintain the quality of the Visitor Experience, and provide benefits for local communities 2. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) To anticipate environmental impacts by undertaking comprehensive EIAs for all tourism development programmes 3.Planning measures Ensures that tourism development remains within national and local plans for all types of activity and implementing effective carrying capacity programmes planning controls and management 4. Legislative framework Establishing standards for land use in tourism development, facilities management and investment 5. Environmental standards Improving the environmental quality and setting targets for reducing pollutions from all sectors and preventing development in inappropriate areas