WAITING FOR THE SNOW TO FALL: FIRST NATIONS, FEDERAL POLICY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE by Brennan R. Lagasse Analysis Section

This analysis section gave me some good and helpful information about the "situation" in Snowbowl, Flagstaff, Arizona.
The analysis carefully takes you through the different phases that surround this issue. Everything from the ski resort expansion plans, the economic side, the ecosystem health concerns, the religious and spiritual tolerance, and how the USFS, NEP, EPA and The US Court System operate. 


But what really caught my attention (mainly because of last week's class) was the concern over the reclaimed wastewater, and how the EPA operate!
"As long as the EPA maintains its current regulatory framework, current reclaimed 
wastewater standards will remain legitimate and not ensure that a federal land-use 
decision is sustainable." (p. 151) "However, the EPA is not required to test for substances like caffeine, ibuprofen, or endocrine disruptors in reclaimed wastewater." (p.151) 
But are they required to test for those substances in regular spring water? 
The way I see it, those substances could just as easily be in our spring water as well.
Although the wastewater have a more dense content of sewage than spring water, we still let sewage out in our lakes, and that's were we get our spring water from. And if the EPA is not required to test for those substances to determine if the water is drinkable or not, then what is really the different?
As I see it, there is some big holes in EPA's testing, and I'm curious to hear more about the EPA and how they operate. Looking forward to see more of that video we started last class, maybe I will get some answers.

???

ABSTRACT FOR FINAL PAPER

ABSTRACT

There is a uprising revolution, reform and realism taking place in the Middle East. A new chapter in the world history is about to register. Many probably don't even know the real reasons for these revolutions. It is often stated that people protest against oppression, dictatorial regimes, poverty, etc. A number of arguments is also that communication and social media like Facebook, Twitter, Internet, etc. is the cause of this. Others think that people have become rights-conscious. They believe that the people of these countries have a completely different attitude to the state and central government responsibilities. None of these reasons alone is the cause of these protests. The Middle East has a long and strange history.

From being the origin of mankind's first civilization to be a place in the 21 century, women are stoned and people are being executed without regard to the victims' rights.

I will examine historical actions that have occurred in the present conflict involving the revolutions in Middle East. And why these protests and revolutions keep on occurring.

The revolutions that have ensured departure to the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt's, has shaken the foundations of the Middle East and North Africa. We can see daily footage of Libya's dictator, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi convulsive trying to hold on to his power. Former Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi believes that these revolutions will lead to rebellion against the theocracy in Iran. But the question that few might ask themselves in these revolutions, is whether the protesters really want to respect opposition and democracy.

Asking this question might sound controversial right now, but I will use historical context to support it. For all heads of state and former heads of state in the Middle East today, was young revolutionaries that rebelled against a tyrannic sleepy empire that ruled their countries. They claimed to be on the people's side to legitimize their actions, but they have repeatedly dismissed criticism of the regimes, either to demonize them as agents of Western imperialism, arbitrarily arrested and tortured and killed dissidents, or declared state of emergency. This is their reasoning for maintaining law and order. Will we see the same outcome from today's uprising revolutions? history has shown us that revolutions sooner or later have eaten their own children and destroyed each other.

WAITING FOR THE SNOW TO FALL: FIRST NATIONS, FEDERAL POLICY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE by Brennan R. Lagasse

I really enjoyed this reading. 

It brought up some good points and question that I really could relate to.
I'm born and raised in Norway, where people are known to be born with skis on their feet.
The house that I grew up in lay 300 feet away from a local ski resort, so when I was younger I could ski in and out from my backyard. Since then I have been traveling to different ski resort all over the world and questions like; "I wondered how ski resorts began in the first place and what preceded them?" (p.2) has often appeared in my mind. And i can relate to thoughts like; "My consciousness has evolved to question how the ski industry can operate in a sustainable manner by being healthy and just on a community level and an ecological 

level."(p.2)

The reading gave me some good insight and answers to how some ski resort choose to operate. It's sad to see how some ski resorts like Arizona Snowbowl uses loop holes and powerful corporations to abuse nature and the sacred places of  thirteen Native American tribes. And I hope we will see some changes being done in the ski resort business in the future, towards a more social just and environmental friendly future.

Awareness!

Awareness is what we need in today's society's, and we need it at an earlier age!

We are now facing one of the biggest threats human beings have ever faced, global warming. 

World leaders have been aware of this problem for several decades already, and billions of dollars have been spent on defeating it. But results are hard to find, and people don't really seems to care. 

Environmental problems is just placed in the background, growing silent, like a tumor.

If we want social justice and social sustainability in the future we need to educate people and give them the awareness they need. People have the right to be aware of environmental racism, toxic waste, they have the right to be aware of racial privileges and how the government turns down programs for environmental good. But somehow people don't care, and it seems that some people don't even know or choose not to believe in these crises.

One of my first thoughts after participating the social justice and social sustainability class was how desperately our society needs this awareness.

As I mention in class, we need to get this awareness to the kids. Social justice and social sustainability should be a class in elementary school! If we want the next generation to deal with these problems, then we need to let them know, the kids need to be aware. All of these social and environmental problems is a fact, and they need to be taken out of the shadow and into the spot light. If we want something drastic to happened in the future we need to let the future generation be aware. 

Reaching Tipping Point? Climate Change and Poverty in Tajikistan.

This is a classic example on how some innocent countries and community’s ends up as victims of global warming. Countries as Tajikistan haven't done much to contribute to global warming, but still they are getting some of the biggest impacts.
Tajikistan many glaciers are melting away, and temperatures are rising slowly but surely; "The IPCC (2007) predicts that up to 1.2 billion people across Asia will experience increased water stress by the 2020s. Central Asia is a region that is already water stressed and climate change will exacerbate this in a number of ways
beyond reduced precipitation." (p.14)

"Climate change is an international injustice. Poor countries such as Tajikistan that have 

done the least to cause current global warming and consequent climate change are the first to 

begin to suffer the impacts." (p.21)

How can countries like Tajikistan defend themselves against climate change, especially when we just continue to “attack” them with emissions?

The Death of Environmentalism

Over the past decades, world leaders have tried to prevent environmental problems such as global warming. Billions of dollars have been spent on environmental problems, but results can barely be seen. This article brings up some interesting questions, like what we consider environmental?

There is a lot of information in this article that I've never heard before, and it brings up some new themes and issues that I found interesting;

"Why, for instance, is a human-made phenomenon like global warming — which may kill hundreds of millions of human beings over the next century — considered “environmental”? Why are poverty and war not considered environmental problems while global warming is?" (p.12)

It was shocking to read about how several good environmental suggestions were closed down or delayed in the nineties; "Tragically, had Bryan and environmentalists succeeded in 1991, they would have dramatically slowed the rise of SUVs in the coming decade and reduced the pressure on the Refuge — a patch of wilderness that the Republicans again used to smack around environmentalists under President George W. Bush." (p.18)

The article also provides a good insight on how complicated and complex these environmental problems are;

"The challenge for American environmentalists is not just to get the US to dramatically overhaul its energy strategy but also to help developing countries like China, India, Russia and South Africa do so as well."

"Environmentalists weren’t thinking about what we get out of each defeat. We were only thinking about what we get out of them if they succeed."

Social Justice and Sustainability.

It's exciting to see how class differences in ambulatory cities such as Berlin begins to flourish again.
And how political property destruction is being used as protest. Seems like class difference is becoming a problem not only in suppressed countries, but also in rich sustainable countries. "As natural resources themselves, rather than the capital to extract them, become a major limiting factor in the world, one person’s gain is more closely correlated with another’s loss."

It's also interesting how they explain brutal regimes in the article, and how; “In the long run, great inequality can only be maintained by brutal regimes that crush the expression of dissent and keep the population in fear or cringing respect”. With today's technology and consumerism, people all over the world now have access to phones with both video cameras and internet. This have given people in suppressed countries with brutal regimes a new opportunity and a chance to be heard. Just look at whats happening in the middle east right now! I guess there is a dilemma with consumerism, bad for the environment, but good for social justice.

"Finding ways to combine a relatively free market economy with greater equality is one of the dominant challenges of our times."

Gro Harlem Brundtland was the prime minister in Norway when I grew up, so it was cool that she was included in this article. The Brundtland Commission is doing a great job for sustainability, and will hopefully continue their much needed work. "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."