The rebound effect is an unintended negative consequence to increased efficiency. Rather than causing an overall decrease in the consumption of a resource, the rebound effect causes an overall increase in the consumption of this resource as a result of heightened efficiency. According to the rebound effect, the initial decrease in consumption will be followed by a reduction in price of the resource. A lower price will then result in increased consumption, thereby increasing overall consumption of the resource. One example of this is the sales of SUVs a few years back. As hybrids became mainstream, and gas prices skyrocketed, SUV prices had to be dropped. As a result of lower prices, sales picked up again. Another example, as noted by Dardozzi, is the increase in paper consumption as a result of technological advances in offices. As the cost per word to print plummeted, paper consumption greatly increased.
I think there is so much emphasis on consumer spending because it's the one thing Americans have always done; it's what our economy is based on. America functions as a free-market system. In stark contrast to the former Soviet Union, our country's businesses face very little government intervention. Consumer saving appears to be the answer because our government does not involve itself in the marketplace. It is up to us to save our own way of life. If consumers stop spending so much our economy faces possible ruin. Without consistent consumer spending, the American economy could collapse in on itself. If we stop spending, there will be consequential job loss, which will only further the cycle.
"Sea of selves" is the term applied to the American citizens who continue to refuse to forfeit their "illusions of freedom for the sake of collective survival." Put in another way, the people of this country view survival in individual terms. We try to protect ourselves, and maybe a few others close to us, at the expense of the country. America is a "sea" made up of "selves".
When Bailey discusses his notion of the civic and divine, he is referencing two different ways in which people relate to the collective. Civic concerns the responsibility and obligation the individual feels toward the collective. The civic is what attaches the individual and the collective. The divine, on the other hand, refers to the individual's concept of something altogether "bigger". Bailey believes the individual must believe in something grander for self-interest as well as the best interest of the collective.
I don't think that Dardozzi's essay provides the complete solution to Jevon's Paradox, but I believe it is a good place to start. Unfortunately, I think it will be difficult to convince Americans to abandon their individualism and begin thinking in terms of the country as a whole. It is too easy and convenient for each of us to "quarantine" ourselves; we try not to worry about any of these issues as long as they don't directly affect us. If we could each learn to think in terms of the civic and divine, we could certainly establish a jumping-off point. However, I am not totally optimistic that we can think of the collective as much as the individual.
I think I understand why Professor Hirsch made this assignment due on Veteran's Day. America's veterans serve the country as a whole, not the individual. They sacrifice personal freedoms and opportunities for the good of us all. These are men and women who serve the ideals of civic and divine. I also believe Professor Hirsch hopes we can learn from our veterans; their loyalty and sense of duty is a perfect model for what must be done for the country in the near future.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Jevon's Paradox
The application of an interesting paradox to our current social and economical aspects of life was presented by Jeff Dardozzi. Jevon's paradox, or the rebound effect simply states that technological progression of a particular resource leads to an increase in the efficiency of that resource which ultimately leads to an overall increase in the rate of consumption. In other words, if something becomes more efficient and cheaper to use, people will use it more frequently. Jevon's paradox can be applied to the increase in production of the Smart Car. Consumers had never before seen a car with better gas mileage. When the production of the Smart Car increased, sales increased due to a lowering in the price. But having a Smart Car with better gas mileage than every other car allows the driver to drive even more than he/she would have with a normal car. So, the increase in production of the Smart Car lead to a decrease in price and an overall increase in consumption. Another example of a resource that exhibits jevon's paradox, is air conditioning. Recently, new air conditioners have been installed in homes that use almost half of the overall energy than the original air conditioners. Production of these new energy-efficient air conditioners has greatly increased, causing the price to go down. More and more homeowners are now buying these new air conditioners. When a homeowner learns that their new air conditioner is much more efficient, he/she will use it much more frequently. And if more and more people are buying them and using them more frequently than their old air conditioners, the net energy consumption will be greater than before.
The has been a very large emphasis on consumer spending in our economy in the past century primarily because it sustains the system. The present consumer spending supports the economic and political order whose power is sustained primarily by maintaining growth and "capital accumulation". Since the economic system requires the constant externalization of its operating costs to maintain itself, a decrease in consumer spending would cause an overall systematic collapse of our economic and social system.
Adam Curtis' idea of corporate America turning our society into a "sea of selves" describes each member of our society focusing primarily on the health of themselves, rather than focusing on the overall health of the system and community. Curtis' "sea of selves" describes an entire popultion that has an "inverted quarantine". He believes that corporate America has influenced and allowed each member of our society to concern themselves with only themselves.
Bailey's notion of the civic and the divine describes, what he believes, the social aspects of our collective personalities. He believes that for a community or organization to be successful, the elements of the civic and divine must be placed at the center of its structure. The civic and devine, he sates, describes an organization's reason to be. The civic element of our personalities is found in our set of rights and obligations that bind the collective to the individual while the divine element describes the notion of something greater than one's self and that the activities of the collective effect the overall system.
I think that Dardozzi's essay paints a very accurate picture of the structures of our entire society. From economically, politically and socially, Dardozzi describes how each aspect will be affected by an overall decrease in available energy and the problems that appear with energy efficiency. Dardozzi's essay makes us as consumers think twice about using energy efficient technologies rather than simply using less. I do appreciate his description of our very fragile system and how one simple flaw will have destructive consequences. I also appreciate his description of the rise of our somewhat selfish personalities. I think he was very accurate when he described our "survival of the fittest" type of attitude, in that most members of our society think and act only for the success of themselves, rather than the success of our system. Although his description is somewhat depressing, I think it is a wake-up-call for members of our society. I think Dardozzi accurately describes who the individual is and why the individual should work more for the collective in order to survive any oncoming crisis.
This assignment is appropriate for veteran's day because of the mentality of the soldier. At the beginning, the soldier is broken down and the "self" is taken out of his/her personality. After the soldier is broken down, he/she is rebuilt to focus on the health and success of the collective unit. A soldier soon learns to fight not for himself, but for the soldiers around him, and the success of the entire operation. A veteran is someone who has fought for the success of the people around them, and for the success and health of the entire nation. The veteran knows that a "sea of selves" will not survive. The veteran exhibits more than others the civic and devine and knows their reason to be. If this nation was filled with a "sea of veterans", our society as a whole would prosper.
The has been a very large emphasis on consumer spending in our economy in the past century primarily because it sustains the system. The present consumer spending supports the economic and political order whose power is sustained primarily by maintaining growth and "capital accumulation". Since the economic system requires the constant externalization of its operating costs to maintain itself, a decrease in consumer spending would cause an overall systematic collapse of our economic and social system.
Adam Curtis' idea of corporate America turning our society into a "sea of selves" describes each member of our society focusing primarily on the health of themselves, rather than focusing on the overall health of the system and community. Curtis' "sea of selves" describes an entire popultion that has an "inverted quarantine". He believes that corporate America has influenced and allowed each member of our society to concern themselves with only themselves.
Bailey's notion of the civic and the divine describes, what he believes, the social aspects of our collective personalities. He believes that for a community or organization to be successful, the elements of the civic and divine must be placed at the center of its structure. The civic and devine, he sates, describes an organization's reason to be. The civic element of our personalities is found in our set of rights and obligations that bind the collective to the individual while the divine element describes the notion of something greater than one's self and that the activities of the collective effect the overall system.
I think that Dardozzi's essay paints a very accurate picture of the structures of our entire society. From economically, politically and socially, Dardozzi describes how each aspect will be affected by an overall decrease in available energy and the problems that appear with energy efficiency. Dardozzi's essay makes us as consumers think twice about using energy efficient technologies rather than simply using less. I do appreciate his description of our very fragile system and how one simple flaw will have destructive consequences. I also appreciate his description of the rise of our somewhat selfish personalities. I think he was very accurate when he described our "survival of the fittest" type of attitude, in that most members of our society think and act only for the success of themselves, rather than the success of our system. Although his description is somewhat depressing, I think it is a wake-up-call for members of our society. I think Dardozzi accurately describes who the individual is and why the individual should work more for the collective in order to survive any oncoming crisis.
This assignment is appropriate for veteran's day because of the mentality of the soldier. At the beginning, the soldier is broken down and the "self" is taken out of his/her personality. After the soldier is broken down, he/she is rebuilt to focus on the health and success of the collective unit. A soldier soon learns to fight not for himself, but for the soldiers around him, and the success of the entire operation. A veteran is someone who has fought for the success of the people around them, and for the success and health of the entire nation. The veteran knows that a "sea of selves" will not survive. The veteran exhibits more than others the civic and devine and knows their reason to be. If this nation was filled with a "sea of veterans", our society as a whole would prosper.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Bottled Water
By now we've all heard about the unnecessary burden bottled water puts on the environment. Still, I most of us probably continue to drink it. It has become fairly common knowledge that tap water, which must be rigorously tested and treated, is typically cleaner than bottled water, which has much more lax regulations. Still, Americans continue to buy it. The most common excuse is that it's just more convenient, and this is true; it's easier to just grab a bottle of water on your way out the door than to pour yourself a glass of tap water. But, as our guest lecturer pointed out on Monday, the plastic used to make bottled water comes from petroleum. Not only that, but these plastic bottles are extremely non-biodegradable, and tax our landfills.
If American citizens don't care enough to stop drinking bottled water, someone else will have to step in and try and resolve the issue. Thankfully, some people are paying attention. According to an article by Julie Knapp, on http://www.tapitwater.com, the state legislature of North Carolina has, effective as of October 1, banned the deposition of "all rigid plastic containers, including plastic water bottles, in their landfills." She says state officials are optimistic this will encourage people to recycle their plastic bottles. This after "nearly 7 billion pounds of plastic bottles were dumped in landfills nationwide" in 2007. In addition to increasing plastic recycling, I think this new law will cause North Carolina's residents to think more carefully about buying bottles water in general. If they're going to have put in extra effort to get rid of their plastic trash, they'll probably try to avoid amounting such trash in the first place. Instead of grabbing a bottle of water on their way out the door, maybe now they'll just fill up a Nalgene bottle from the tap and take that with them.
London city officials are also taking measures to cut down on plastic bottle waste. London's bus and railway stations have recently been equipped with water refilling stations known as "Hydrachills". For the cost of about 30 US cents, people can refill any bottle they have with them with cool, clean water. According to Hydrachill's website (http://www.hydra-chill.com/), all proceeds will benefit an environmental charity known as Waste Watch. With these Hydrachill stations, London's residents and tourists can save themselves money that would have been spent on another bottle of water, while reducing plastic waste.
I think both of these initiatives, particularly the introduction of Hydrachill, are steps in the right direction. If most people are going to continue to rely on the convenience of bottled water, the government is going to have to either provide a comparable alternative, or draw up legislature to help save us from ourselves.
If American citizens don't care enough to stop drinking bottled water, someone else will have to step in and try and resolve the issue. Thankfully, some people are paying attention. According to an article by Julie Knapp, on http://www.tapitwater.com, the state legislature of North Carolina has, effective as of October 1, banned the deposition of "all rigid plastic containers, including plastic water bottles, in their landfills." She says state officials are optimistic this will encourage people to recycle their plastic bottles. This after "nearly 7 billion pounds of plastic bottles were dumped in landfills nationwide" in 2007. In addition to increasing plastic recycling, I think this new law will cause North Carolina's residents to think more carefully about buying bottles water in general. If they're going to have put in extra effort to get rid of their plastic trash, they'll probably try to avoid amounting such trash in the first place. Instead of grabbing a bottle of water on their way out the door, maybe now they'll just fill up a Nalgene bottle from the tap and take that with them.
London city officials are also taking measures to cut down on plastic bottle waste. London's bus and railway stations have recently been equipped with water refilling stations known as "Hydrachills". For the cost of about 30 US cents, people can refill any bottle they have with them with cool, clean water. According to Hydrachill's website (http://www.hydra-chill.com/), all proceeds will benefit an environmental charity known as Waste Watch. With these Hydrachill stations, London's residents and tourists can save themselves money that would have been spent on another bottle of water, while reducing plastic waste.
I think both of these initiatives, particularly the introduction of Hydrachill, are steps in the right direction. If most people are going to continue to rely on the convenience of bottled water, the government is going to have to either provide a comparable alternative, or draw up legislature to help save us from ourselves.
Environmental Progress of the Great Lakes
After reading Szasz's text, specifically his discussion on the pollution of the Cuyahoga River and when in burst into flames in 1969, I decided to check up on the environmental progress of that specific region. I became very interested primarily because the waters of the Cuyahoga River flow into Lake Erie. Lake Erie is connected to Lake Ontario by the Niagara River (below) and the Welland Canal that was built. I happen to live about 5 miles from the shores of Lake Ontario, so when Szasz mentioned the catastrophic pollution of the Cuyahoga River, I became intrigued. Before I discuss the history of pollution and of recovery, I will first discuss why the Great Lakes are so important.
According to an Elementary School Geography class posting from Detroit, Michigan, the Great Lakes are some of, if not the most important lakes in the U.S. and Canada. The Great Lakes hold about one-fifth of the world's surface fresh water. The Great Lakes are the center of North America's industrial heartland, which supports the ecosystem 8 U.S. states, and two Canadian provinces which in turn supports nearly 40 million Americans and Canadians. These 40 million Americans and Canadians help support a multi-billion dollar tourist and fishing industry. So, as you can see, the Great Lakes are pretty important.
According to the Great Lakes Information Network, "Water pollution is defined as a change in the chemical, physical and biological health of a waterway due to human activity. Ways that humans have affected the quality of the Great Lakes water over the centuries include sewage disposal, toxic contamination through heavy metals and pesticides, overdevelopment of the water's edge, runoff from agriculture and urbanization, and air pollution." As industry boomed in the 18th and 19th century, companies used the Great Lakes and rivers as their own garbage cans, under the widespread belief that water could dilute any substance. The pollutants that enter the Great Lakes come from a variety sources, but the main three sources of pollutants are point source pollution (drainpipe draining directly into a lake), nonpoint source pollution (runoff that picks up pollutants), and atmospheric pollution (air pollutants from coal-burning energy plants and waste incinerators). After a century or two of disposing of waste in these ways, their consequences soon became apparent. The picture below shows the pollution in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The water pollution in the Great Lakes has greatly affected and altered many aspects of the ecosystem. One example of these effects and alterations has been the overall health of fish and wildlife that bases their health on the overall health of the waterway. Heavy metals such as mercury and lead, along with pesticides that enter the overall food chain create various deformities and death among sealife. These deformities include large tumors in fish and three-legged frogs that have been spotted in the past decade. The pollution of the Great Lakes has also greatly affected human health. People surrounding the Great Lakes ingest large amounts of fish taken from the lakes themselves. So eating contaminated fish will have drastic effects on human health such as sickness and disease. According to the Great Lakes Information Network, "studies have suggested that toxic chemicals (present in fish) can lead to reproductive problems, cancer and neurological disorders." Water pollution from industrialization has also created "eutrophication", or increased biological growth. Before industrialization, the Great Lakes naturally contained little plant nutrients which created high levels of animal life. When industry started to emerge, new nutrients were introduced to this natural cycle. These new nutrients were quickly loaded into the lakes which was much more than the natural waterbody could handle. This excessive nutrient loading into the lakes stimulated excessive plant growth, which soon decreased the amount of available oxygen in the water and eventually killing off certain species, therefore greatly altering the ecological balance of the Great Lakes.
After the Cuyahoga river incident and an increase in eutrophication, the U.S. and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) in 1972. The GLWQA established pollution control levels (mainly to reduce phosphorus levels in Lakes Ontario and Erie), water quality research and monitoring regulations. Since then, countless agreements and regulations have been made to reduce the amount of pollution from nearly every source. GLWQA reports that "since 1970, the levels of toxic pollutants in Lakes Erie and Ontario have decreased by nearly 80%".
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) soon stepped in and reported that between 1992 and 2001 the Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) of the awarded 71 demonstration grants totaling $4,855,459 to States, Tribes, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, county and municipal governments, technical assistance providers, and others. These grants have leveraged $2,156,584 in contributions from grantees and others." These various organizations worked to reduce and prevent future pollutants entering the Great Lakes. Below is a list created by EPA in 2002 of various reductions in pollutants that could be measured from 1992-2001.
-8236 Lbs of mercury removed from use or uncontrolled storage
-5790 mercury thermometers collected from residents within the Great Lakes states and exchanged for alternative thermometers
-105275 Fluorescent lamps containing mercury collected and recycled.
-500 mercury containing auto switches collected from autos (both end of life and in-use) and properly disposed of
-451 PCB Transformers removed, and the PCB materials properly disposed of, while the metal, etc. has been recycled
-5790 mercury thermometers collected from residents within the Great Lakes states and exchanged for alternative thermometers
-105275 Fluorescent lamps containing mercury collected and recycled.
-500 mercury containing auto switches collected from autos (both end of life and in-use) and properly disposed of
-451 PCB Transformers removed, and the PCB materials properly disposed of, while the metal, etc. has been recycled
-262,073 Lbs of Pesticides properly disposed of
-7041 Lbs. Of household hazardous waste collected and properly disposed of
-7041 Lbs. Of household hazardous waste collected and properly disposed of
-In addition thousands of pounds of electronics and computer equipment containing lead solder, mercury, and other precious metals have been collected from residents within the Great Lakes states and properly recycled.
These efforts and numbers will continue to grow as more and more residents within the Great Lakes states turn their "inverted quarantines" back outward and find systematic solutions to various systematic threats.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Community Gardens
In class we had a guest speaker who made me realize the importance of fresh food and its impact on the bosy and the enviorment. My family comes from a country that grew and relied on agriculture so my parents did thier best to bring what they could of that here, when the moved to America. In my back yard we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans, pumpkins and hot peppers. We're lucky enough to have a space to grow these crops however living in the city, also known as the concrete jungle, many people don't have much green space to do this. This is where community gardens come to play.
A community garden is a plot of land in which many people come together to take care of in order to be able to use it to plant what they want. This allows people without a yard to be able to grow what they want to. They are open to the public as long as those who participate agree to take care of the land in which they are using.
Comming from the Bronx I was surprised to hear that there are many community gardens located there. I never really saw any but then figured that I never really was looking. I did research to see where many of these gardens where located and came up with a long list. The only problem with this list was that many of these gardens are at risl of being threatened which means that if more people don't get invovlved the government may replace the green land with what they seem necessary, which according to them is anything thay can make money off of. Its the people who need to spread the word and utilize these community gardens so that we may be able to live fresh and healthy while saving the Earth.
A community garden is a plot of land in which many people come together to take care of in order to be able to use it to plant what they want. This allows people without a yard to be able to grow what they want to. They are open to the public as long as those who participate agree to take care of the land in which they are using.
Comming from the Bronx I was surprised to hear that there are many community gardens located there. I never really saw any but then figured that I never really was looking. I did research to see where many of these gardens where located and came up with a long list. The only problem with this list was that many of these gardens are at risl of being threatened which means that if more people don't get invovlved the government may replace the green land with what they seem necessary, which according to them is anything thay can make money off of. Its the people who need to spread the word and utilize these community gardens so that we may be able to live fresh and healthy while saving the Earth.
Saving Ourselves
The lecture in class yesterday proved to me that indeed, before you can save the world, you have to save yourself. Signing that petition requesting more locally produced food really made me believe we can make a difference, one little step at a time.
Another little step we can take, which was discussed in class, is providing students the option to learn how to farm or garden important foods so that we can all eat healthier. I've been feeling for a while that the foods I eat really are not as nutritious as they should be because they have been processed and shipped. Not to mention the fact that our government has been proven, time and again, to care only about the profits instead of what's best for us. By implementing courses in the school curriculum that teach growing and sustainability with a hands-on perspective, we could really see a change in the way we live our lives. I would love to say I have a major/minor in farming/gardening.
Seeing as how there are community gardens popping up in crowded, industrialized cities like the Bronx, it shouldn't be hard for the university to find a patch of land for students to harvest and run, whether it be for a class or optional enjoyment.
ELECTRIC CARS
For a class I was required to read an article titled "Warren Buffet takes charge" from fortune 500 magazine. I found this article really interesting. It is about a Chinese automobile manufacturing company who is now manufacturing electric cars. The company is called BYD and is run by Wang Chuan-Fu. The company began as a small battery manufacturing company; Chaun-Fu expanded the company and became a leading manufacturer of rechargeable cell phone batteries. When BYD purchased a small automotive company they began to engineer and produce electric cars and in late 2010 these new cars are expected to hit the markets. Electric cars are far from a perfect solution to the internal combustion gasoline cars we all use today, but they could be a step in the right direction. If these cars are manufactured and are able to be sold at a reasonable price, the electricity still has to be generated somehow to fuel these cars. Many forms of electricity generation are harmful to the environment just like CO2 emissions. However if some of the electricity could be generated from renewable sources such as wind or solar energy it could cut down on a lot of our CO2 emissions from automobiles.
If these electric cars are affordable they could save people money as well. The article states...
"Assume you drive 12,000 miles a year, gas costs $2 a gallon, and electricity is priced at 12¢ per kilowatt, about what most Americans pay. A gasoline-powered car that gets 20 miles to the gallon - say, a Chevy Impala or a BMW X3 - will have annual fuel costs of $1,200 and generate about 6.6 tons of carbon dioxide. Equip those cars with electric motors, and fuel costs drop to $400 a year and emissions are reduced to about 1.5 tons. "
400 dollars a year is a significant savings especially when you multiply that by the millions of people who could save this. This could also drastically reduce our dependency on foreign oil. The emissions would be reduced by almost 5 tons per year; multiply that by even one million people and the emissions would be reduced dramatically. If we all came to depend on electric cars like we depend on gas run cars today there would be an increase in the demand for electricity, we would just have to find ways to keep the emissions from the generation of electricity to a minimum and it might really help lower the CO2 levels.
If these electric cars are affordable they could save people money as well. The article states...
"Assume you drive 12,000 miles a year, gas costs $2 a gallon, and electricity is priced at 12¢ per kilowatt, about what most Americans pay. A gasoline-powered car that gets 20 miles to the gallon - say, a Chevy Impala or a BMW X3 - will have annual fuel costs of $1,200 and generate about 6.6 tons of carbon dioxide. Equip those cars with electric motors, and fuel costs drop to $400 a year and emissions are reduced to about 1.5 tons. "
400 dollars a year is a significant savings especially when you multiply that by the millions of people who could save this. This could also drastically reduce our dependency on foreign oil. The emissions would be reduced by almost 5 tons per year; multiply that by even one million people and the emissions would be reduced dramatically. If we all came to depend on electric cars like we depend on gas run cars today there would be an increase in the demand for electricity, we would just have to find ways to keep the emissions from the generation of electricity to a minimum and it might really help lower the CO2 levels.
One of the other things I found really interesting about this article is that BYD says that they reduced the cost of their batteries by replacing robots and machines with workers. In a time like this where unemployment rises everyday it is interesting to think maybe other companies could do the same and see similar results. More jobs would mean less unemployment and less poverty and would have huge impacts on the economy.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/13/technology/gunther_electric.fortune/
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