The labor movement and environmental groups have collaborated on numerous projects in the past, and the early history of blue-green relations was documented in the last post. We left off with the fantastic success of the world’s first Earth Day in 1970, to which both types of organizations contributed. During the course of the 1970s, …
Continue reading “A Brief History of Blue-Green Relations, Part II”
My area of research is collaboration and communication between environmental groups and labor unions, collectively called blue-green relations. In this two part series (can a 2-part thing be called a series?), we will delve into the intertwined story of these two major forces in American history. Jobs versus the environment messages are everywhere in the …
Continue reading “A Brief History of Blue-Green Relations, Part I”
As the current pandemic continues to take its toll, lives across the globe expeience devastating changes. Even once the immediate danger of contracting Covid-19 passes, which might not be for some time, we will not return to the same world that we lived in prior towards the virus became a threat. But despite the havoc …
Continue reading “Lessons Learned? Revisiting the Food System in These Times”
The 22nd of this month marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, but, in a metaphor for our progress towards addressing climate change, this post is coming far after it should have. Due to social distancing rules and everything being shut down, the 50th Earth Day was not the magnificent event that it should have …
Continue reading “The 50th Earth Day Post (Posted 4 Days Too Late)”
Just a brief note about a cool story from a warm state (although it wasn’t too warm a few weeks ago when there were iguanas falling from the trees: https://time.com/5091036/frozen-iguanas-florida/ ). If you grew up in the 2000s, as I did, then you may have read the book “Hoot” by Carl Hiaasen for school. Essentially, …
When considering humanity’s effects on our planet, it always seems like there is a serious impact coming from a relatively unexpected sector. One human activity that is an unexpectedly high source of greenhouse gas emissions is the production of concrete. Cement is the main ingredient in concrete, and its manufacturing process produces a substantial amount …
Continue reading “Concrete from Algae: A Greener Foundation”
I’ve decided to end the year off on a positive note by talking about three different things I’m hoping to see in the coming year. Of course, a comprehensive list of the trends and policies I would like to witness in 2020 would run for thousands of words. And of course, many of these policy …
There is no question that our most famous national parks such as Yellowstone or Yosemite contain majestic scenery that is an important American cultural resource. In addition, these parks are important to preserving relatively wild natural areas. The national parks, however, are far from a representative sample of the United State’s many ecosystems. Many habitats …
Continue reading “National Parks: the Worthless Lands Hypothesis”
The data don’t lie. Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have been steadily increasing in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, and today the atmospheric concentration of this greenhouse gas is higher than it has been for millennia. 3 million years ago, when atmospheric CO2 concentrations were the same as they are currently (407.8 ppm as of …
To truly comprehend Earth’s biodiversity is to accomplish the incredible. Around 1.3 million species have been discovered by scientists, and an estimated total of 8.7 million species inhabit this planet. As one might expect, rainforests (which cover a mere 3% of the planet’s surface area) contain a disproportionate amount of species. The Amazon Rainforest alone …
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