Discussion Question 7

Van Jones' view of green jobs is a positive one. From Thomas Friedman's point of view, Jones is trying to raise awareness for environmental issues, help to clean up the streets in big cities by providing work for young African Americans and jump-start a shrinking economy.

I agree with Jones in his article about the U.S. bailout where he implied that the U.S. government can stop our environmental crisis if we take half of the money from the Wall Street bailout ($350 million) and aggressively move toward clean energy sources. It will be expensive up front but it will save billions of dollars down the road. With the economy in a recession, the shift now can create jobs while waiting until the economy is stronger could mean another downturn. Once the economy starts getting stronger, people will not want to sidetrack it to save the environment. They will finally be making money again, why would they want to risk losing it again?

It is important to note how Jones links his green collar job campaign with economic strength. For many people, the economy is a huge issue that affects their whole life. Maybe they lost their job or are in danger of losing it. Linking the two issues is important because these people hear that there is a way to economic success and they will pay attention. While this may be their main focus, they cannot help but pay attention and see the importance of the environment as well.

Food Food Food

Most of the time when I eat at school, it is in TDR or somewhere on campus. I have to say that I do not think about the environment when I make my food choices for the most part. When I eat in TDR, I feel a little better because Bon Appetit tries to buy locally whenever possible. They also are committed to protecting the environment in other ways. This past week, they did a day with organic food and there were apples from a nearby orchard that were available for students. When I am not eating at TDR, I am mainly thinking about what the food I consume will do to my body, like Sarah. I have severe issues with eating some foods so I am more concerned with health than the environment at that point.

The foods that have the most impact on the environment that I have eaten recently would probably be the apples that come from Eastern Washington and have to be shipped across the country and the Coca-Cola. I am sure that the process for making coke is resource intensive including the use of the aluminium or plastic to make the bottle or can as well as the actual coke itself.

living at the edge of a new leaf.

1. What, in your mind, is the most pressing challenge facing the global environment? Why?


"apathy" \a-pə-thē\ noun
1. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.
2. lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting

In my mind, the greatest threat to the global environment is the growing apathy of its' inhabitants. We seem to have lost our love and passion for the naturalistic elements that make life possible. People have grown so disconnected with the sources of their everyday commodities, that rarely is a second thought given to how finite they actually are. Meat comes from the supermarket, fuel from the gas station, clothing from the department store. As the link between source and expenditure expands, so decreases our interest in the prior.

I don't have to butcher my chicken for dinner anymore, so yes - my life is better. But better is relative. I can Blog for class with out the smell of chicken feathers on my fingers, but I compromise my knowledge of where that chicken was raised, what it ate, and just how long it sat in deep freeze before reaching my plate.

No longer do we live in an society that witnesses the beauty of nature on a daily basis.Working part time at a running store, I encounter many customers who have never actually run outside. Others grumble and complain over the county's parks and rec departments failure to pave or concrete over their favorite bike path. Little do they know, it's these man made surfaces that cause the very pain they need the high-end cushioning shoes to begin with.

I have a friend who claims never to have seen the milky way nor the nebula of orion, as the light pollution from the neighboring city blazes so brightly no stars shine through. Another acquaintance blasts the heat in the winter and the air conditioning in the summer, I'm surprised she can even tell the seasons.

The global environment's greatest challenge is regaining mankinds' appreciation for her bountiful gifts and simple pleasures. In the words of Gandhi, "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves."