A Forest Returns

After watching A Forest Returns, I now understand more about the local forest in Athens County. I had never heard of Wayne National Park and I don't think I would have ever learned about it if it wasn't for this class. I surprisingly did not know that most of the forests in Ohio were second growth. It was really interesting to see how most of the forest's in the area were developed; it changed the pace of the class and allowed us to relate to the topic better. It really frustrates me, that even now that I know about how the government and many other factors are harming the environment, there is nothing I can do. I may have become more knowledgeable but the chance of making a difference is slim to none. Ora Anderson found a way to accomplish this and I think its great that just one person can do such a big impact.

Reflection of David Maywhoor's Presentation

Today's speaker, David Maywhoor, the Executive Director of Buckeye Forest Council was very informative on the issues of deforestation, logging and prescribed burning. On my drive home from Athens to Columbus, I see the construction of the new highway that will wrap around Nelsonville. This presentation reminded me of what I consistently see as I travel back and forth. I knew the negative impacts of logging and deforestation but I had never heard of prescribed burning. The issues correlated with prescribed burning are issues I never realized existed. I think his presentation was very interesting and I liked hearing his opinion on protecting the forest; I also really liked how he connected his presentation to each of our own majors. He gave us great insight in developing our writing skills, which personalized his presentation. I now understand more about the issues in Ohio's forest's and what we as students can do to help.

Research Prospectus: oil spills

In my research prospectus I would like to examine the harmful affects oil spills have on the environment. I came about this idea because I have always loved the ocean and animals. I love going to the beach and going boating etc. so I thought about what if one day there was so much pollution that it no longer be safe to swim in the ocean or even too dangerous to travel to the beach. I am very interested in what our government is doing to decrease this pollution and the statistics behind oil spills.

Oil spills have a variety of damaging effects on the environment that includes effects on the water, the coastline, on marine life and the wildlife. I have always been intrigued with the ocean and marine life so I thought this would be the perfect time to extensively research this topic. Human activity is the main cause of oils spills and is considered a form of pollution. Oils spills can take up to months and even years to fully clean up. Ironically, most human-made oil pollution is caused from land-based activity but the public pays more attention to seagoing oil tankers. This is very ironic to me because I never thought about how land-based activity could be the major cause of oil spills. I remember learning about oil spills as a child and in every movie we watched it was always focused on seagoing oil tankers. I am very interested in learning the real facts about oil spills and maybe what the United States as a whole, could do to prevent and reduce further oil spills worldwide.

LM final blog

In the Lost Mountain, Erik Reece introduces Wendell Berry, the author of “Two Minds,” in the chapter titled July 2004. Wendell Berry exemplifies the ways of thinking about the “natural world” and defines the difference of a rational and a sympathetic mind. Berry defines the rational mind as a concept driven solely based on succession, in this case profit. Rational minds are practical, ambitious, and systematic; therefore can be considered close-minded towards the emotional aspect of nature and the importance of evolution without the influence of mankind. The sympathetic mind undoubtfully may show compassion toward living species and the environment, but both types of psyche is essential in today’s society. The equation “knowledge = power= money= damage” defined by Berry is very accurate. Being rational without sympathy can lead to the destruction of mankind. A little of both minds could create the perfect society. Having too much rationale or sympathy will inevitably lead to the destruction of life. The natural world can no longer be viewed as single entities; society has evolved to the point where our everyday activities influence the environment thus analyzing the world as a complete system, which includes every aspect of life, i.e. the wildlife and humans entirely together.

Reece presents his sympathetic mind in the Lost Mountain, numerous times throughout the book. One specific example that stands out in my mind is in the conclusion chapter when Reece discusses the enormous impact coal companies could do if only they planted tree seedlings in the dugout mounds. This would allow the re-growth of plants within five to eight years. Reece endures the sympathetic mind as he merely suggests, just one small detail that could affect the mountain enough for complete re-growth in just several years. Reece has realized by now that coal mining will never completely vanish from society, but taking one small step can reverse some of the damage in just a few years.

Another example Reece introduces is again “cheap energy” and the consequences that are assumed by cheap energy. In the chapter title August 2004, the last paragraph, Reece states, “That the current price of coal tells nothing near the truth about the coast of pollution, water pollution, forest fragmentation, species extinction and the destruction of homes” (p.186-187). The commonly used fossil fuel, coal, may be cost efficient but Reece states that this efficiency is only costing us more money in other areas. Maybe, we aren’t seeing these specific costs come out of our pockets today, but by the time our children are our age, the cost of air pollution and water pollution may no longer be a diminutive problem that will no longer cost us money but our lives.

As Lost Mountain comes to an end, one specific quote in the Conclusion chapter that I find significant is on page 226, “While the United States produces twice as much carbon dioxide as Russia, Bush made it clear in the presidential debates that he would not sign the Kyoto Protocol because it could “cost American jobs and stifle economic growth.” In other words, short term decision making will continue to rule the day, though the long-term effects of these decisions could be disastrous.” This quotation directly connects with the previous paragraph. Bush may feel that while he is in office he may reduce American jobs and stifle economic growth by signing this protocol, but isn’t it his responsibility to look past his term and decide what is best in the long run for his country. After his term, he is still a citizen of the United States; the decision’s he makes while in office affects his family, community and country. Denying a protocol based on ignorance is not fulfilling his deeds of presidency. If the Kyoto Protocol was signed, there would indefinitely be loss of jobs throughout American, but increasing the common wealth of our nation will improve the lives of the citizens and who knows maybe other jobs will be put in place that will decrease the horrible long-term decisions our country has been making.

Blog 2

Reece took a very different perspective on the next section of the reading. I really enjoyed reading this portion because Reece focused more on the wildlife and used more of his five senses to explain what he saw. I loved the chapter on the flying squirrels, where he went out with the naturalist Jim Krupa and his biology class and learned about the various qualities of a flying squirrel. Krupa spent a lot of time researching the flying squirrels and had specific tactics on how to catch them.

Another chapter that really stood out to me was “Acts of God”. The stories Reece shared put strip mining on a very personal level. The one story he tells about Debra and Granville Burke justifies how difficult it is to live around strip mining. It affects families both physically and mentally. I don’t understand how any coal company can justify themselves after hearing of someone committing suicide because they no longer could bear the burdens coal mining did to her garden and house. I can’t imagine watching my garden and house fall apart and know that there is nothing that can be done. Coal companies can deny the harmful effects coal mining does to the environment but they cannot deny the lives lost from due to devastation of losing their house and pretty much their whole life. These people obviously can barely afford to make way, taking away the few sources of food and shelter they do have is just immoral. How has society become so egocentric that we no longer care about the environment and the citizens of our country? If we kill off every individual in this country there would be no reason for selling coal. Peake’s quote, “God put us here to take care of the earth. It’s a two-way street. We take care of it, it takes care of us” (Reece p. 118). This is so true, obviously nature can do quite fine without us, and we depend on them more than they depend on us. The more we harm nature the more we are just harming ourselves.

LM blog pages 1-85

Erik Reece begins Lost Mountain giving the statistical facts about mountaintop removal providing the reader with the background information in order to successfully read his report. Reece begins the book with quite a few shocking statistics, one that really shocks me is, “100 tons of coal are extracted every two seconds in Kentucky, West Virginia, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and a handful of other states” (Reece pg.3). This is a very alarming statistics that sets the mood of the rest of the book. Reece then goes into the harmful affects not only on the wildlife in these states but towards the landowners as well.

Reece begins two separate arguments, the consequences of coal mining towards both the wildlife and the residents of Kentucky versus the necessity of such a cost-efficient producing fossil fuel. He brings two great arguments to the table in the first 85 pages. Reece does a wonderful job depicting mountain removal with his first hand experiences as an observer. He brings in specific examples of various landowners losing their property or losing loved ones that really changed my view of strip mining. I knew little to nothing about coal mining before this class, but I have already formed various opinions on the topic. Not only is strip mining killing millions of species, it is killing the surrounding citizens of the mountain. The ironic point of this argument is the people that are dying are the ones who worked as coal miners, providing millions of people across the country with electricity. How is that fair? Companies like Kentucky Coal Association know exactly what the harmful consequences of strip mining does to the environment, the workers and the landowners. The only concerned factor of these companies is money. Strip miners are paid little to nothing for the hard work they do everyday; they risk their lives and are not given any other opportunity of work. Reece brings up a great argument, was this planned? Did these companies wipe out all other job opportunities and provide as little education as possible, for the reassurance that they will be guaranteed workers? Even after reading just eighty-five pages of Lost Mountain, I have already formed pretty strong opinions and I am very interested in what the rest of the year looks like through the eyes of Erik Reece.

My first impressions of the two main sites are both positive and negative. I liked the first site titled, This is Reality because it was a creative introduction to the website but I felt the website had limited information on Clean Coal, only providing users with a video and a dozen facts on coal. The second website titled America’s Power is a little less creative but more in depth site. This website has far better organization and allows the reader to browse through the website based on what they want to learn and read about. This website goes beyond just the facts, they justify who they are along with issues and policy’s throughout the United States.

After thoroughly reading both websites I believe what is at stake in this debate is that the United States is using CC as a means of advertisement to increase productivity of the commonly used fossil fuel, coal. For as long as I can remember I have been taught that coal has murdered millions of miners and not to mention any persons who have had daily interactions with coal because of the deadly toxins it gives out. The new CC technology involves energy efficiency, renewable generation, Unified National Smart Grid, and automobiles, states This is Reality. The logical appeal of these so called new technologies is it appeals to the public. Going green is the “new” thing today therefore if a company spreads the word through advertisement and changing their labels, telling the consumers they have increased energy efficiency then therefore making their product look superior to others. The consumer now sees the Green symbol on that specific product and may feel they have no choice but to buy it only because they think they are helping the environment. Honestly, sometimes I give into the silly advertisements myself. If I see a product that does a pretty good job convincing me they are energy efficient and there is another product that does not exemplify these qualities, for the same price, why not buy it?

The audiences for both websites are similar but not the same. The audience for This is Reality, I think of the younger age group of adults who are just browsing the idea of clean coal. The audience for America’s Power seems to tend to the older adult who wants specific information on clean coal and what they can do to help in their area.

The sponsors of This is Reality looks like it can be anyone who wants to submit an ad to their website, by approval of the editors. The Coen Bros. designed the This is Reality TV spot therefore are also sponsors of the website. The American Coalition, for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED) and Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) all are sponsor’ of American Power. Theses websites interest those who want to learn about clean coal and what remains for the future in the clean coal industry. Thus proving America’s Power is by far more credible than This is Reality because they clearly state their sponsors and also provides a link going into further detail of the specific sponsors. This is Reality does not as easily identify the sponsors’ for their website, therefore giving themselves less credibility.

The pathos or the emotional appeal of This is Reality does a far better job than America’s Power, for example, the first page that pops up when the reader views the website is a bird flying around then dying, which immediately will affect the viewers emotion. Click again; the bird dies a different way. This may make the reader have a more emotional attachment to this idea than the other website, even though America’s Power gives the cold hard facts that obtain the emotional appeal in a different aspect. It may take a little more reading for viewers to gain the emotional appeal of the negative affects of coal but it definitely does appeal to ones’ emotions.

The visual role of both websites, again are completely different. This is Reality, gives a far more visual expression that gets the point across pretty quickly, which has an effective rhetoric strategies because it emphasizes the idea at the first click of the website. The visual expression of American’s Power is clean cut with pictures and different tabs to navigate the website. I feel this is also an effective rhetoric strategy that uses words rather than pictures to get their point across.

Introduction

Hey, my name is Susan. I grew up in Hudson, Ohio and lived there most of my life. My family recently moved to a New Albany, a suburb of Columbus. I am studying to become a Child Life Specialist, this involves working in a hospital setting as a liaison between a doctor and the patient, usually children and their families. I love snowboarding and pretty much any activity that is outdoors. I like to go out on the weekends and have fun with my friends. I can't stand sitting at home doing nothing. I am really looking forward to graduating soon and I plan on moving to Colorado, but I'll definitely miss OU!