I decided to go with Weebly for my e-portfolio. I was choosing between Wix and Weebly, but I ultimately chose Weebly because I liked a particular theme the best. The site also seemed to be a bit easier to edit and design my portfolio, and Wix felt a bit complicated to navigate and I didn’t like the layouts of some of the themes as much. Honestly, I am having a bit of trouble coming up with ideas for my project. I definitely want the portfolio to be geared towards a future employment opportunity or internship as the audience. I suppose the purpose would then be to showcase some of the different works I’ve done which would give the said employer an idea of who I am, what I’m interested in, my writing style, etc. At the moment, I’m not sure what job/internship I’m striving for exactly, but as a journalism major I would love to work for a travel, lifestyle, political magazine, possibly writing articles about different places, current events, etc, so I was thinking of using my This I Believe script, probably a couple of passion blogs both from this semester and the fall, civic issues blog, maybe my paradigm shift paper. I will obviously use a few other artifacts, but those ideas have yet to come to me. For tabs, I will have an “about me”, maybe something travel-related, politics/current events, or something, “interests”. I am essentially just explaining what I have to offer academically and interests-wise. 

For my advocacy project, the first topic I was thinking is personal sustainability, more specifically aimed towards college students. I was planning on making an infographic on some of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint, especially with electricity use. My other idea was just to play off my issue brief and advocate for the reduction of coal use for electricity (in pa to make it more local). That idea could be aimed toward policymakers and/or big businesses.    

I read the Portrait of Abuse article. When I was first looking through the photos, especially towards the end as Shane becomes violent, it is a bit odd knowing that the photographer is standing right there witnessing everything and knowing that she can’t really do anything. As she wrote in the excerpt at the bottom of the article, although it was better that she didn’t intervene, it was probably a difficult decision to stay out of it. Even though it is jarring and frankly devastating to see, I do think that the article is ethical. Both Maggie and Shane did agree to the documentation, even though they obviously didn’t know what would come of it. The topic of domestic violence is a heavy one, but I think these photos play an important role in advocating for women’s support. Just because it is difficult to comprehend and hard to see doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not ethical.  

Fossil fuels have long dominated the international electricity sector. Coal, crude oil, and natural gas brought rapid growth to various industries; they’ve built and continued to carry today’s economy. For this exact reason, it has become increasingly difficult to truly shift to a renewable-based electricity and energy sector: the world relies on fossil fuels for far more than energy production. But this continued reliance has put the environment in obvious peril. Coal is the primary source for global electricity generation, accounting for nearly 37 percent and generating 20 percent in the United States, in 2019. But in the US, while coal might not be the leading electricity source (and the US dependence is slowly declining), it is the leading source of carbon emissions, accounting for nearly 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Coal might be a strong contributor to economic growth, but renewables have the ability to continue that trajectory without contributing to negative environmental change, but unless the demand for coal continues to decrease at a more rapid pace, the environmental damages are only going to increase. The decrease in demand is possible, looking at the graph below, it is easy to see that renewables are contributing to electricity generation more each year, the trend is increasingly positive, but the question is, is it moving quickly enough? Hydro, wind, and solar power have the ability to be the dominant force in electricity generation. Though fossil fuels cannot be removed from energy generation completely in the short run, lowering demand for one sector can begin the process. As technology advances, renewable energy sources in the electricity sector are becoming cheaper and more available, paving the way for dangerous fossil fuels, like coal, to be slowly phased out. 

Coal has consistently been used for electricity generation in the United States since the late 1880s. The industry began to boost economic growth and development, and by 1961, coal had hit its peak of being the predominant source of electricity generation. Today coal supplies about 20 percent of the total electricity generation in the United States, a stark contrast to the mid-20th century, after which natural gas began to take over the majority of generation. Currently, natural gas generates around 40 percent of total electricity consumption. The US has the largest coal supply reserve in the world, one-fourth of all known coal in the world is in this country, which stands to reason why the US is such a powerhouse within coal production, and subsequently greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions. Bringing the issue a bit closer to home: Pennsylvania has a strong history of coal production; the coal mines played a key role in the Industrial Revolution within the United States and have continued to extract and produce coal that is used across the country. Anthracite, a carbon-rich “hard” coal, has its most abundant reserves in Pennsylvania. It is the deepest and most mature of the three other coal ranks: lignite, sub-bituminous and bituminous. It’s not a secret that coal has its slight advantages over other sources: “In terms of supply, coal has a clear advantage over the other common source of electricity, natural gas. The United States has nearly 300 billion tons of recoverable coal. That is enough to last more than 250 years if we continue to use coal at the same rate as we use it today. In addition, coal is a versatile fuel. It can be used as a solid fuel or it can be converted to a gas to replace expensive imported fuels”(1). Additionally, burning coal produces a large amount of energy and is much cheaper to produce, particularly compared to natural gas. Inexpensive electricity means lower costs for businesses and ultimately homeowners, which will then increase competitiveness in the marketplace (1), and the economic boosts mentioned above. But the money aspect should not be the sole argument for continuing with the use of coal, it is a dangerous material and if the current emissions continue, the detrimental effects on the atmosphere will become irreversible.             

The coal-burning process is extensive and each step, from the mine extraction to power plant combustion, produces varying levels of toxic waste. Coal mining can be broken down into two main types: surface and underground. With surface mining, the soil and rock covering (also known as overburden) are removed to access the minerals underneath. Reclamation procedures are now required to return the land back to its original state. Underground mining is a considerably more dangerous process, methane and carbon, which can be released from coal seams are highly flammable and pose considerable risk to the mine’s structure. Most coal extraction today is mined by machines running from the surface down into the mineshaft, reducing a miner’s risk, but still harmful to the environment. The coal might be extracted from varying degrees of elevation, but eventually, it all ends up in the same place: power plants.      

The United States is the second-largest polluter of carbon dioxide emissions in the world, only behind China and while coal production and the United States’ dependence on the energy source is declining (and has declined 42 percent since 2011), the emissions are still being continually pumped into the atmosphere at record paces. 

It is difficult for countries like China and India, whose economies have strong bases in factory production to completely cut off their use of coal for electricity. In 2019, coal contributed nearly 60 percent of China’s total electricity generation (2). And the previous year, 74 percent of India’s electricity came from coal (3).   

Coal production harms the environment far more than just emitting greenhouse gases. acid mine drainage and acid deposition can have extremely negative impacts.    

I didn’t have enough time to finish the brief, but my plan for the rest of it is to explain the different types of greenhouse gases released by coal plants and then explain the advantages of renewables and their biggest benefits (and obviously add infographics and citations). 

questions:

is this turning into too much of a research paper where I’m just explaining things?

*just a head’s up- I shifted my topic to the detrimental effects of coal and the importance of moving towards renewables (especially regarding electricity), it’s aimed towards people working in large-scale electricity corporations*  

Fossil fuels have long dominated the international electricity sector. Coal, crude oil, and natural gas brought rapid growth to various industries; they’ve built and continued to carry today’s economy. For this exact reason, it has become increasingly difficult to truly shift to a renewable-based electricity and energy sector: the world relies on fossil fuels for far more than energy production. But this continued reliance has put the environment in obvious peril. Coal is the primary source for global electricity generation, accounting for nearly 37 percent and generating 20 percent in the United States, in 2019. But in the US, while coal might not be the leading electricity source (and the US dependence is slowly declining), it is the leading source of carbon emissions, accounting for nearly 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Coal might be a strong contributor to economic growth, but renewables have the ability to continue that trajectory without contributing to negative environmental change, but unless the demand for coal continues to decrease at a more rapid pace, the environmental damages are only going to increase. The decrease in demand is possible, looking at the graph below, it is easy to see that renewables are contributing to electricity generation more each year, the trend is increasingly positive, but the question is, is it moving quickly enough? Hydro, wind, and solar power have the ability to be the dominant force in electricity generation. Though fossil fuels cannot be removed from energy generation completely in the short run, lowering demand for one sector can begin the process. As technology advances, renewable energy sources in the electricity sector are becoming cheaper and more available, paving the way for fossil fuels to be slowly phased out. 

I really don’t need to explain the urgency and need for climate education, but it is a constant conversation. There is no better time for understanding and curbing the impacts of climate change than now. To open the issue brief, my plan is to explain the positive benefits of how individual sustainability can really start to positively affect climate goals and give examples of countries like Sweden that have started to use trash to their advantage in creating energy. 

My issue brief is really going to be geared towards people who are unsure about how to move forward with sustainability on an individual level and give more of an understanding and explanation about what climate change really is. The audience is both people who want to start making differences in their daily lives, but also people who don’t really understand the impact that climate change is making on the earth.  

For my issue brief, I’m going to continue with my civic issues blog theme of climate change and talk about how to build a greener future but focus more on an individual level as opposed to the country as a whole. There is a constant discussion as to what individuals can do to help curb environmental effects and my goal is to explain some of the different approaches to go about it. 

The problems contributing to climate change stem more so from inadvertent causes than anything else. People going about their daily lives aren’t necessarily thinking about how their trash or daily commute is affecting the environment because at that moment it isn’t directly affecting them. And particularly large-scale factories directly contributing to climate change, it is just an unfortunate consequence of those particular industries.  

It’s difficult to decide on one particular policy instrument that might work to solve individual strategies for climate change. I think that mandate, inducement, and capacity builder can all have individual benefits and combined can make a definite difference within climate policy. 

I believe in just a few minutes. I was five years old when my little sister was born. I had been begging for a younger sibling for years and when the day finally came I immediately understood that my life had changed for the better. But I was most definitely a stubborn little kid, strong-willed, liked to get my way, and like anyone, valued time to myself. Any older sibling knows that younger sisters and brothers will trail behind them like a shadow, wanting attention and a playmate, and my sister Ariana was absolutely no different. As a seven-year-old kid, I sometimes found her constant trailing annoying, but at the time I guess I failed to see it was out of love and curiosity, after all, she was only two. Every time I would get frustrated, my mom would say to me, just give her a few minutes and she’ll leave you alone. I rolled my eyes and probably continued to ignore her. I have to say this kind of makes me seem like a bad sister, I promise you I’m really not, I love her more than anyone. For years my mom said that phrase to me, “just a few minutes, Mariel,” and low and behold, every single time she was right. As we’ve gotten older, my sister and I have gotten a lot closer, she’s truly my best friend and I’d do anything for her. I’ve realized in the last few years and probably this last year especially, how important those words my mom used to say to me are. And I don’t mean in the sense of spending five minutes with my sister, but rather the importance of spending five minutes with myself. I know it’s kind of ironic how the phrase has the same meaning, yet has become the complete opposite of how I always knew it, I hope that makes sense. I started doing a lot of yoga recently, some in the beginning days of quarantine and now I’ve made it a goal to set aside time for four or five sessions a week. I would say that overall I’m a pretty anxious person, I tend to get in my head and let my thoughts run rampant when I need to be calm. As a kid, I played a lot of sports, but never truly found anything that could put me in a good headspace. The more yoga practice I do, the more I realize how powerful it is for me. I will go in and sit on my mat, I might be annoyed, grumpy, tired, or just in a bad mood, but twenty or thirty minutes later, after a whole ton of downward dogs and warrior poses, I, ninety-nine percent of the time, come out the other side feeling whole again. This is why I believe in just a few minutes. That’s truly all it takes to make a difference. Especially now, it’s so incredibly important to set aside a few minutes to focus on yourself, see how you’re doing, but also how someone else is doing. A few minutes of listening could change their day too. It’s about the time, not the length. 

For my civic issues blog, I’ve decided to focus on how climate change has begun to influence politics and what some of the biggest strides countries are making to combat it. And my passion blog is going to be a virtual travel blog where I’ll research lesser-known areas and sites within a country.

For my civic issues blog, I am deciding between three topics: one about foreign policy, how the United States involvement in foreign affairs has shifted over the last few decades, possibly focusing on some of the lesser-known involvements, how bipartisanship has made such huge impacts on the bills and policies that pass through government, even the effects on foreign affairs and the environment, and lastly how climate change has started to influence politics, what are the biggest strides being made by countries, etc.      

One of my majors is journalism, so for my passion blogs, I thought it would be interesting to research and explain the different types of journalism, each one’s importance in our society, how different world events rely on journalists to keep information flowing, etc. My other idea is to do somewhat of a travel blog, write about different countries and the lesser-known attractions or areas within them. I guess it would kind of be a big list of places I plan to go when we can travel again.

I had a bit of a difficult time coming up with ideas for my This I Believe podcast, but I think I came up with two that might work. I believe that the people you surround yourself with can help define your identity and the other is I believe how much effort you put into something will define the experience.

Overall I think that my ted talk presentation went well. I tried to show more emotion than the last speech, instead of being so straight-faced, which I think I achieved. My camera could’ve been angled to show my hands also, but I found it kind of difficult to set that up. Per some of my peer comments, the PowerPoint could’ve had fewer pictures, which is probably true. I also could’ve talked a little slower and paused for dramatic effect, but I was worried about the time limit. 

Thinking about public controversies, two big things come to mind. The first one I can think of is single-use plastics – water bottles, containers, bags, whatever it may be. Does this count as a public controversy? I’m not sure, but it’s definitely a highly contested topic that is clearly harming the environment and everything in it. The second is the idea of being plant-based; vegetarianism or veganism. There have been countless documentaries especially in the last few years about how going plant-based is the best thing we can do. For the environment it absolutely is, but for people individually, it is definitely a controversial topic.