Author: skb6335

After writing my issue brief on corporate companies and their overuse of carbon, one of the best policies I read about was the cap-and-trade system. The innovative idea about this is that it implements both environmental and economic policies at the same time.

To start, cap-and-trade came into action about thirty years ago. However, before, the United States and other countries used a command and control approach, where the government would enforce systematic regulations that companies had to follow. For example, the government may require companies only to purchase certain equipment that would be less harmful to the environment. The command and control approach was not extremely successful because it was much more expensive than the cap and trade approach, which is market-based. The command and approach was simply the ‘cap’ part but lacked the trade, which would lower costs and improve the economy at the same time. 

There are two different parts to this: the cap, and the trade. The cap is when the government places a limit on how much carbon gases can be emitted. These corporations would receive “emissions permit” which enforce the the limit of greenhouse gases. These limits will be reduced over time to decrease emissions.

The second part of this is trade, which allows companies who generate lower emissions to sell their “leftover” carbon to larger corporations that are unable to lower emissions.. This provides an incentive to reduce emissions, because companies can gain money by selling the rest of their “emissions permit.” A revenue stream would be created if the federal government auctioned off permits to corporations that had to reduce their emissions. This entire system not only helps climate change, but also strengthens the economy, locally and nationally, through the continuous trading of permits. 

Cap-and-trade would work well if it was designed and implemented correctly. Many of the reasons it has not been executed is because of unstable regulations. There are a few proposals that would allow the cap and trade system to work smoothly around the globe.

One of these being to have strict and clear rules for companies to enter this system, such as having accurate data in order to make sure these companies are following their emission permits. Another aspect that should be added is some type of monitoring device to make sure corporate companies are following through with their reductions. As of right now, the government only has an honor system for these companies to follow. If their data is constantly being followed, it will ensure companies to stick with their targets.

It is important to recognize that the cap and trade system is a valuable market-based approach to limit rising carbon dioxide emissions. Obviously, there have been numerous flaws found within this system, but if designed well it has much potential.

A term that is commonly thrown around is our “carbon footprint,” but I have come to see that many people are unaware of what this word actually means.

A carbon footprint is basically the amount of carbon emissions you put out into the environment based on your daily life choices. In order to truly help the climate change crisis in our environment, we need to learn how to reduce our carbon footprint.

It is very simple to calculate your carbon footprint, one website being found here. You have to answer questions based on your diet, transportation methods, how many people live in your household, and travel. Based on this information you can learn what your carbon footprint is, and how to decrease it.

There are numerous ways you can help limit your carbon footprint, such as driving, traveling, offsetting, food, and home energy. I am going to list our a few ways you can help to reduce your carbon footprint!

Driving

One way to help decrease carbon emissions through driving is by driving a low carbon vehicle, or else known as an electric car or even a hybrid. If they are charged with clean electricity, they emit no carbon dioxide. Another way is by decreasing driving as a whole. Walking, or even riding a bike on a nice day can help limit this. Obviously this can be inefficient at times, so another way is to carpool with others.

Home Energy

Something you can do with home energy is find appliances that are energy efficient such as ENERGY STAR. Also doing small things, such as remembering to turn the lights off when they do not need to be used, or turning the thermostat off when you’re not home.

Food

13% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food we eat because of the transportation and production of foods. The more processed food is, the more emissions it puts out into the environment. Transportation and fertilizers for food need petroleum-based fuel and fossil fuel-based as well. It is important to try to eat locally and organically because this will emit the least emissions.

These are just a few ways to reduce our carbon footprints. The environment itself already does so much to help reduce the amount of released carbon, such as our forests. Nature provides around 30% of help to save our planet. For example, trees absorb carbon dioxide, so protecting our forests from deforestation is one of the most efficient ways to reduce our footprints. Even by taking these small actions, we are able to help the planet one way or the other, and you should too.

Today, I am going to be venturing a bit off-topic of my normal discussions in light of a life-changing deal: The Willow Project. I am sure many of us have heard of this within the past few weeks but may not be aware of it to the fullest extent.

This project is taking place in Alaska, where an oil reserve (National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska) is located, run by ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s largest oil producer. This has ultimately been approved by the Biden Administration because the Trump Administration has pushed for this project and already put it through numerous courts during the end of Trump’s term. Although many people hoped Biden would shut this project down, the most he has done to this project is decrease the number of pads from five to three, which will cut back on the amount of drilling that will occur, but still allows 90% of drilling.

The Willow Project’s main purpose is to drill oil and gas in Alaska, which would be the largest single oil drilling ever on federal land and would add 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the Earth within the next 30 years, along with add more Greenhouse Gas emissions than any other project in America. It will take up a total of 499 acres with hundreds of miles of airstrips, pipelines, roads, gravel mines, and a processing facility in the Arctic Alaska.

Hearing all of this, you may wonder why so many people support this project despite all of the environmental issues it comes with. Well, the answer to that is money and power.

Representative Mary Peltola is the first Alaska native elected into Congress and heavily agrees with the Willow Project for the sake of the economy. She has said that the economy of Alaska has had no growth, and is even in the bottom to near last of economic health. This project would implement many jobs and also increase revenue because of how dependent Alaska is on oil and gas.

Another reason people are pro-Willow Project is so we can have our own dependency on oil without having to rely on other countries that have weak economies and environments.

Yes, there are benefits for the economy if this is implemented, yet the impacts this project places on the environment are irreversible. As of right now, we need to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions by half before 2030 if we want to reverse the damage we have done. However, with this new project in place, we would only be adding over 250 million metric tons to our Earth, along with destroying species and their homes such as polar bears and caribou.

There is no need for an economy if we don’t have an Earth in the first place. The first step to making change is by listening and informing ourselves and others about the current issues that are occurring.

Recently, I have seen a lot of talk about the use of recycled plastic being turned into building blocks that can be used in many different types of projects. Numerous different companies have created these in many different ways.

One way to make these durable blocks from plastic is by stuffing a water bottle with “single-use” plastics, such as wrappers, plastic bags, and really anything small and thin that could be recycled.  The key to these is compacting water bottles to the brim, as seen in the photo below.

This specific project is called EcoBrick. The really interesting thing about these is they also help with the removal of “carbon-intense petro-capital economy.” It basically stores carbon within the bottle. These plastics in bottles do not get sent back into the environment.

Regardless of what you may believe, these eco-bricks are very durable and can be used for multiple different projects. People have built benches, gardens, and even parks out of these blocks. These are different from other recycling techniques because it is about using regenerative techniques, rather than sustaining our resources. This is important because it is a new way to reduce our waste, which is exactly what we need! The best part about this is that anyone is capable of doing this and making a change!

Another amazing waste-reduction invention is from the company ByFusion. They recently created the ByBlock, which is “the first construction-grade building material made entirely from repurposed, often un-recyclable plastic waste.”These blocks can be used for sound walls, sheds, furniture, fencing, and many other landscaping or architectural uses.

They are created by compressing these plastics into blocks through a machine. They are even more durable than concrete, which can break whereas these plastic blocks cannot. You are even able to drill into these blocks, which can hold the weight of wood and other objects.

An important concept that ByFusion introduces is that plastic is not the problem, it is planning for how it can be used in the right ways. It is a strong material, and if we are able to find ways that it can be used for more than one day, and possibly years instead, plastic waste would be much easier to defeat.

The ByFusion platform has also brought community members together by creating jobs and making infrastructure. Working together is how we will be able to combat plastic waste as a whole.

It is important that we start to think outside of the box in order to reduce and even eliminate plastic waste and the toxins that we continue to put into our home. These two creations are live examples of how these easy solutions can create large impacts.

One of the biggest issues in today’s climate change is those problems that affect the ocean. They have become more unsafe every day because of ongoing pollution and trash that has taken over the ocean. However, many organizations have emerged over the past few years that have immensely helped rid our oceans of pollution and waste.

A program that I have seen on the internet over the past few years has been the company 4Ocean. They have helped to clean up 27,697,228 pounds of trash since 2017. They sell jewelry, beach gear, and other accessories as a way to fund this ongoing project. They have 12 locations and 17 vessels to help pick up this harmful trash all around the world.

Their mission is not only to help clean up the ocean but also to educate people on how to prevent ocean pollution. Along with educating, they also advocate, innovate, and help recover the ocean. Their main goal is to make others see that one small action leads to a global one. If everyone pitches in and works together such as helping to reduce waste and stopping the killing of ocean life, it will be much easier to end the harming of the ocean.

Another amazing organization that is helping to defeat the destruction of the ocean is the Ocean Conservancy. Their solution is to limit the amount of greenhouse gas pollution that are emitted into the air, which will help to eliminate global warming. The Ocean Conservancy’s main idea is to share how the ocean helps us in our every day lives. “it is important to remember that the ocean is not just a victim of climate change but also a key part of the solution.” In order to save the overall issue of global warming, we need to work on saving the main factors first, such as the ocean.

I also want to talk about the Ocean Cleanup Project, which is one of the largest cleanups in the history. Their way of helping to clean up garbage from the ocean is by intercepting trash that is makes its way into rivers from the ocean. Along with that, they are also currently cleaning up trash in the Pacific Ocean, and hope to reduce the amount of plastic by 2040.

Overall, there are numerous companies that are taking the step to help the reduction of pollution in the oceans. However, the only way we will ever be able to fully reduce this issue is by taking part in helping to clean up our oceans, whether that is recycling, using reusable water bottles, using less greenhouse gases, or even just becoming informed on how our oceans have been affected by our actions.

Change starts with us.

 

Something I have always been very passionate about is our planet, and all the environment has done for us to have led us up to this moment today. However, most can agree with the fact that Earth is dying because of the decisions we have made.

It can be quite surprising to hear the number of people that do not believe in issues such as climate change and global warming. However, there is numerous scientific evidence to prove that these changes are happening every day. The Union of Concerned Scientists lists ten reasons for the signs of global warming. Keep in mind this was published in 2017 and has only gotten worse since then.

One way that scientists have discovered changes in our environment has been through the collection and documentation of artifacts such as soil, ocean sediments, corals, tree rings, and many more. These documents arose in the early idea of stratigraphy, which studies rock layers, and can be used to differentiate the history of the Earth from millions of years ago to now.

Unfortunately, these selections and studies of fossils are completely unorganized and even hidden from the public. Without the public’s knowledge of these changes, it can be difficult for people to believe these ideas without hard evidence. The Places Journal sheds light on the idea that these documents are “not structured uniformly” and make it challenging to come up with an accurate description of how the Earth is changing.

This debate on whether climate change is real has become such a divided issue that it has become political. Today, some of the main reasons for giving a candidate a vote depends on their stance on environmental issues. In America, the division between Democrats and Republicans on this issue is astronomical. As climate change has become worse, so has the division between these partisanships.

One of the largest reasons for this large amount of people who don’t have an opinion or are not concerned about the planet is because of a “lack of trust in government” as said by Brookings.  Without trusting the body that ultimately runs the country, it is difficult to listen even when they say climate change is a rising issue.

The Earth is being destroyed more every day because of the actions that we make. In order to help save our planet, we need to enact change by coming together to give back what made us. I am excited to continue on with this blog and bring light to these environmental issues.

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