POST ENV110 UNIT 7 AND 8 DISCUSSIONS

UNIT 7.2I know that many of you spent much of April & May, 2010 glued to
the television coverage of the Oil Spill in the Gulf. Please read the
article published in October, 2010 from National Geographic, which
details the history of drilling in the ocean, the oil rig
explosion itself, and the aftermath/cleanup attempts. Once again, I
would just like your educated comments. Try to avoid emotionally-driven
statements, but rather discuss the issue from a scientific or even
economic standpoint. If a disaster like this did not reduce our desire
to use fossil fuels as an energy source, will anything?.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/bourne-text/1″>http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/bourne-text/1.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/bourne-text/1″>UNIT 7.3This is a loaded question. Do you think we can develop renewable energy
resources to replace fossil fuels without great social, economic, and
environmental disruption? What steps would we need to take? Will
market forces alone suffice to bring about this transition, or will we
also need government? Do you think such a shift would be good for our
economy? Why or why not. (I warned you it was loaded!)UNIT 8.2How much waste do you generate? Choose one day this week and keep track
of all the garbage that you throw out (yes, I literally mean document
every single thing that you use or do that generates waste), as well as
anything someone else throws out on your behalf (no loopholes!!). How
much of this waste could have been avoided (recycled, reused, given to
charity, or not created in the first place)? What life style change
would have been required for it to be avoided? Why do you think that
America has a “throwaway society” mentality? Does this go back to the
concept of, “I am an American, I have a right to live an unsustainable
lifestyle”?UNIT 8 3Unit 8 Discussion- Course ConclusionsMost
of you are non-science majors, yet you chose to take an environmental
science course to fulfill your science requirement. For the final
discussion board, I would like you each to discuss what you will take
away from this course. First, redo your ecological footprint from the
Unit 1 Discussion. Did anything change in the last 8 weeks? Did you
come away from the course with the information you had hoped to gain?
Do you feel more knowledgeable about how the environment around you
works? Do you better understand the environmental agendas of our
politicians? What does the phrase economics vs environment mean to you
now? Will you make changes in your life to help preserve the earth’s
finite resources?