Environmental Law & Policy Center Commends President Obama’s Focus on High Speed Rail in State of the Union | Business Wire

Environmental Law & Policy Center Commends President Obama’s Focus on High Speed Rail in State of the Union Business Wire

Experts to study Yucca alternative - News - ReviewJournal.com

Experts to study Yucca alternative - News - ReviewJournal.com

Are You Still Using a Plastic Bag?!

Of course. We all are.

First I started rejected plastic bags when I bought a pack of gum, then I thought, if I have space in my bag for this items, why should I add 2 more bags to my pile of 50 that I already have in my house? Then the “Environmental Friendly” bags became the ‘it’ thing. It became so ‘it’, that the “I’m Not a Plastic bag” bag was selling for $300 and women of Manhattan were displaying them like it was a rare diamond on their left hand. I bought my environmental friendly bag (few years ago) for $.99 at the 99c store and I couldn’t have been more proud. I even bought one for my good friend, who later gave it away to another friend and when I confronted her about it she was without one care in the world. She honored my outrage by simply replying “I need them for my garbage”. How ironic!

San Francisco was the first city in the U.S. to implement a law in which the customer is charged $.05/bag. Plastic bags are made of a valuable resource (petroleum) and people most often dispose of them after they carry their stuff home. They end up in landfills of many years and are costly to recycle. I couldn’t have been happier when I heard of the news from SF and I dreamt of one day moving to SF and mixing with all of those people who care so much about the environment. I even e-mailed Mr. Bloomberg to adopt the same policy but I never heard from him. Last year he announced a similar plan, but very recently students have raised good question about the plastic bag law:

>Where is the money going to go and will it benefit the environment?
>If you are already spending $100 in groceries, are you really going to care about spending a few more dollars on plastic bags?
>Are paper bags included?
>And finally (my question) will this law hurt the poor?

Since the popularization of grocery bags (mostly made out of cotton) most people I know have one. They come in different colors, size, and messages. Most big businesses offer their own brand of environmental friendly bags. Indeed, they benefit from a decrease in use of plastic bags from consumers because they have to buy the plastic bags and don’t charge their customers for them.

Do your part in reducing the amount of plastic bags you use in 3 simple ways:

1. Buy one of those stylish environmental friendly bags… they are very cheap and make you look smart (er)
2. Ask yourself, can I carry it?
3. Say "Don’t double it”
In the papers: D.C. shoppers opt for roughing it over paying 5-cent bag tax
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012202151.html

There is Only "One Water" and We Can't Live Without it

On Thursday I saw the screening of the documentary ‘One Water’ sponsored by the Forum of Global Health and Human Rights of Columbia University. Though [I] don’t personally don’t see much international outrage about water contamination, water privatization, or water preservation, it is apposite to remember that in many parts of the world access to clean water-even in small quantities-is as much of a privilege as getting an education or having healthcare. The concept of water scarcity may be to grasp, as all people reading this blog have access to clean, abundant water 24 hours a day -though some of us may have a different experience. But I want you to stare into space, or close your eyes, and imagine going 2, 3 miles with 2 empty gallons or a water pot in your head, uphill, downhill, hot weather, maybe not much to eat, then come back, same distance, but this time carrying the water again uphill, downhill. You will use the water for cooking, drinking, hygiene. You must go back if you misuse it or it just wasn’t enough. This scenario is not an exaggeration or is meant to make you feel guilty. But the truth is that we- the ones that have access to pristine- waste it, a lot.

Have you ever found yourself doing this?

1. Taking 20 min shower?
2. Having a leaking faucet for days?
3. Flushing the toilet without using it?
4. Have you been to a water park?
5. Do you live in a city with several water fountains?
6. Have you ever used fire hydrants during the summer?
Some of these are beyond our control [?] but what we can do is be more mindful of how we use and waste water. I think it also depends on your background. Typically, people who did not have the advantages of rich powerful nations tend to be more conservative in the way the use their resources. Others that had all resources at their disposal tend to forget how valuable these resources are.

[Q] what are some ways in which you conserve water?

There has been protests in some parts of the world about the privatization of water, below is a link to a very touching commercial from the company PUR,

http://www.youtube.com/user/purwater?feature=pyv&ad=3529722964&kw=water#p/u/0/8K6Ij5jIaew

How Do We Reconstruct an Enviroment? Far from an Earthquake Epicenter

Countries around the world have pledged millions of euros/dollars for Haiti relief efforts (BBC)(AP)

Spain €3m ($4.3)
Germany €1.5m ($2.18)
Netherlands €2m ($2.9)
European comission has released €3m ($4.3)
China $1m
Italy €1m ($1.46)
Sweden $850,000
Denmark $1.9m
Canada $4.8m
Dominican Republic $1.5m (am NY)
US $100m

In addition to the donations from corporations, citizens, and telethons.


When Port-AU-Prince was declared the capital of Haiti in [1770], little technology existed about fault line diversity. GPS did not exist, and other scientific measuring components that help scientists predict earthquakes by determining ‘hot spots’ on fault lines were not yet developed. In 2008 a conference was held in 2008 in Santo Domingo in which scientists warned there was a possibility of an earthquake along the fault line called Enriquillo-Plantain Garden zone that passes through Haiti and the south of Dominican Republic. For now, the effort is concentrated in rescuing the people buried under the piles of concrete and providing medical help to those that survived.

The word going around from people who know people in Haiti ( and are Haitian themselves), is that the government and other corrupted people are conspiring to take over as much as they can from the resources that organizations and governments have donated. I even heard someone saying the government will create a pharmaceutical company and sell the medicines accumulated for relief efforts. That is –of course-hard to believe, but the sentiment of the citizens abroad is that it is better to hand the country to a government that is not so corrupted and will use the funds for the people of Haiti. Having said that, after the people have been treated, the dead have been buried, and scientist from all branches start deciding how to approach re construction of Haiti, funding will still be available. I think it would be a good opportunity to give the nation of Haiti a second chance. The first and most logical approach will be to move the capital to another region. It would be interesting to see if that actually happened, and if there would be opposition given this experience. Second, the recuperation of the environment is crucial for the country’s future, without trees, clean water, good sewage system, Haiti will still remain in the shadows of poverty. The country can also take a few lessons from Japan after the Atomic Bombings in the way Japanese were able restructure both cities and make Tokyo one of the most dynamic and important cities in the world.

DR take note.

Photo taken in DR.

New York Times has an opinion: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/opinion/22danner.html

Has Dominican Republic Redeemed Itself in the Eyes of Haiti?

During my 14 years living in Dominican Republic (and after) I always felt a sense of shame about Dominican-Haitian relations. In the poor neighborhoods of Dominican Republic (where they can barely afford to eat themselves) you could find Haitians passing by with ‘bateas’ on their heads selling home- made sweets. A gathering around whoever was selling, the joke? Haitian’s inability to pronounce the letter j, as in Aji (pepper in Spanish). Is not because they have pronunciation challenges, the same thing happens when Egyptians try to pronounce the letter y, which they replace with g. In my opinion, it was the typical case of big guy making fun of the little guy. The complex Dominican-Haitian relations have been tested throughout the centuries. First, Haitian occupation of DR, then the murder of thousands of Haitian by order of Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, then the economic development of DR via tourism while Haiti was still struggling, and then of course racism. The later little understood by me since more than 70% of the population of DR is of mixed race, with few either completely white or completely black. At any rate, I hope that through this catastrophe something as positive as good relations between both countries can flourish, and Dominicans can share some of the progress they have acquired. After all, we share the same island, and we share the same fault line.

A popular website from my hometown’s website reads “Firefighters Return from Haiti, and with Them the Images”

Link: http://www.francomacorisanos.com/AlbundeImagen.aspx?ruta=Imagenes/Actividades/Sociales/Bomberosllegandehaiti&ID=5211&Imagenes=Imagenes/Actividades/Sociales/Bomberosllegandehaiti/a/portada.jpg

Haiti, A Perfect Case of Environmental Disaster -Disease Included

Pre-quake

Haiti already had one of the most destructed environments in the world when the quake hit January 12th. As I have learned recently, the leading cause of environmental destruction in Haiti is due to the number one factor affecting about 80% of the Haitian population; poverty. Haitians have changed the environmental landscape of their side of the island by cutting down trees to sell them as coal. For most, this is their only way of survival. And when you have to choose between feeding yourself or your family the choice is obvious. Thus there is little reason to blame Haitians for the environmental damage pre-quake. This environmental destruction came with consequences in the form of ruthless floods that afflicted Haiti in 2004 and 2000 and killed thousands. A grim reality of the side effects of cutting down trees; with little obstacles, water rushes fiercely downstream getting into people’s homes, leaving people homeless and powerless to water borne diseases.

Post-quake

The environmental destruction in Haiti post-quake has reached apocalyptic proportions, with the devastation of virtually an entire country. This destruction will obviously add more poverty and disease (including mental illnesses and emotional trauma). Recently I listened to a journalist discussing the fact that many people who survived the earthquake had to have amputations because of infections that were not treated on time, “Haiti will be a nation of amputees” described the journalist from NBC. The earthquake will also leave a legacy of respiratory illnesses similar to 911 but perhaps less severe.

Diseases that may aggressively emerge as a consequence of the earthquake:

1. Measles ( experienced it, very painful)
2. Asthma
3. Hepatitis A
4. Mental illnesses (including major depression/depressive disorder)
5. Dengue
6. Typhoid (experienced it, hospitalized 3 weeks)
7. Malnutrition
8. Increase of HIV
Though several organizations are working day and night to help Haitians stay alive, I predict the number of deaths due to health complications will increase. My heart goes to the children that must stand all this catastrophe around them. But one thing that is that is true of all humans is that we can adapt to our environment with the help of our ancient survival instincts and resilience.