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.

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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."

 

White Privilege: "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" By Peggy McIntosh

This article was startling to read, the author makes some good points and they are all true. The white race still have certain advantages in today's society and in some twisted way, we have manage to hide it from our self (the white race). “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.”(p.1) It's both sad and disturbing to know that kids are being raised in a society where they are taught not to recognize white privilege or racism if you prefer. How can we ever achive social justice if our children is raised in a society were rasism is hidden in our unconscious.

"What will we do with such knowledge? As we know from watching men, it is an open question whether

we will choose to use unearned advantage to weaken hidden systems of advantage and whether we will

use any of our arbitrarily-awarded power to reconstruct power systems on a broader base."(p.4)

Buttonwillow; Resistance and Disillusion in Rural California.

Chapter four is another story about environmental racism. This one occurred in Buttonwillow, California, in the early 90's. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I think alot of the materials in these storys is repetition. Both Kettleman City and Chester had almost identical problems. Don't get me wrong, I think these stories are both fascinating and interesting to read about, but I'd would also like to read about social justice from other viewpoints as well.
But there were also some interesting comparisons of social justice between the American government and the Mexican government in this chapter. A phrase that really got stuck with me was Montoya's view on the U.S. government; "More than anything, I was disillusioned. Because I really believed  that the United States government was different than the Mexican government." "The only difference is that, in Mexico they do what they do outside the law. And in the U.S. they want to make the laws legitimate what they do. In other words, they want to make things appear legal."
Would you prefer living in a country where the government was open about corruption, or would you choose a country which concealed it with laws?

Chapter 3, Environmental Racism: Beyond the Distributive Paradigm.

In this chapter, the author brings us closer into the field of environmental racism. To be honest, I must say that I didn't find this chapter really necessary. The chapter is more or less like a long and heavy summary on how environmental hazards runs their distributions, and how environmental racism can occur as a result of this. Although the chapter brings up some interesting issues such as: "Which Came First, the environmental hazard or the racial makeup of the neighborhood?" I feel that most of the issues in this chapter has been explained more than enough in the previous chapters.
I hope this book doesn't continue to tell me how environmental hazards choose to dump toxic waste in colored society's. But instead show me some new approaches or solutions in the chapters to come.

My reflection on Chapter 2; "The Political Economy of Environmental Racism."

In chapter two the author take us on the inside of the oppressed colored community in Chester, Pennsylvania. It's shocking to read about how the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) gave more and more waste companies permission to operate waste burning in Chester. These companies showed no mercy to the inhabitants of Chester and brought hundreds of truckloads with waste through the poor neighborhoods of Chester every day.
One can clearly see the hidden threads that bind the policy, law and rich waste companies in Pennsylvania together. It makes me sick to see how the wealthy and educated people can be so ignorant. They don't care about the poor people's health as long as they can get their hands around some extra cash.
It's inspiring to see groups like CRCQL fight against such ignorant people against all odds. CRCQL never gave up, despite being apart of the oppressed colored community, and despite many downfalls.

My reflection on chapter one; "A History of the Environmental Justice Movement"

It was exciting to read about the history of the Environmental Justice Movement, I would have never guessed that the Environmental Justice Movement  flourished from so many different movements. Like the grassroots anti-toxics movements that blossomed out of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 80's. And how both World War II and the Vietnam War have affected the movement. It's suprising to hear that academics played such a crusial role i both sparking and  shaping the Environmental Justice Movement. 

- I liked the fact that some of the leaders from the Civil Rights Movment later lent assistance to the Environmental Justice Movement.

Nativ American actevist brought experiences of centuries of struggle for self-determination to the Environmental Justice Movement.

My reflection on "From the Ground Up" PG's 1-18

First of all, it's crazy to hear how the big companies could do whatever they wanted as long as they had money. How could money stand up against our enviroment? I guess it's still that way today, it seems that If you have enough money you could get away with anything. And not to mention the rasiscm! They spesifically dumped the waste in places where African-Americans and Latinos were living, as if they weren't worth as much as white people, as if they are less likely to protest? 


To me it seems that the big companies don't give a damn about the enviroment as long as they can make money out of it. But does money have more power than our social community and our environment? This may seem like the case, but this story proves the opposit. It's nice to see that the social community can win over a dirty multi-millionaire companie.