Art in Action

So I spent the past week camping with a bunch of highly active and interested environmental adults and youth. The Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) is a youth lead environmental organization under the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). AYEA hosts several of these youth gatherings.

The Civics and Conservations Summit is held in Juneau for youth between 14 and 18 years of age. Here the youth are given several bills reguarding environmental issues that are presently runing through the senate or house. They are taught how to read and understand the language of the bill, learn how to approach their senator and representative, and ways in which they can get involved in the passing of the bill. The whole deal is a week long. During that week they have the oppertunity to meet up with their senators and representatives and attend a legislative scession.

The summer Art and Action is one I just got done attending. The location this year was in the Arctic Valley, just a half hour drive north of Anchorage Alaska. We at about 14 to 17 youth from all across Alaska. We slept in tents and did our meetings in a building on site. The gathering took place over a span of 6 days. Here, the youth were given the oppertunity to create spoken word poems and digital stories. We also had several guest speakers throughout the week. The youth were educated of environmental issues reguarding the state of Alaska. Many of the youth addressed the issues reguarding their own community. At the end of the week the youth present their creations to the public in a place in Anchorage.

For more information about AYEA or how you can help visit www.ayea.org

Oil Consumption Chart by country

Here is a pie chart of oil consumption by country for the year of 2007. America takes more oil than China, Japan, Russia, and India combined. A quarter of all the world's oil is going to America. Fifty five percent of that oil is produced from within America while forty five of the oil in America is imported. Our standing to those oil countries we depend on is fragile. You can bet our country kisses ass when it comes to the oil countries we depend so much on. Should something happen to our relationship with those countries, and another Embargo takes effect on our country, we would go down, I believe. I am not too into politics or the economy, but I do know lessening our dependency on foreign oil will lessen our need to butt kiss the countries we receive our oil from. Opening up new oil fields in America isn't going to work. Come on people, think! Think RENEWABLE, think ALTERNATIVE!!!

NationMaster.com. Energy statistics (2009, April 10). Retrieved April 10, 2009 from http://www.nationmaster.com/red/pie/ene_oil_con-energy-oil-consumption

Youth Involvement - Free Post

Youth action on issues such as global climate change or global warming is more common and well organized. I had the opportunity to participate in one of the largest gatherings of youth on the environment, POWERSHIFT. This took place in Washington DC in the month of February. This was a 4 day event with over 12,ooo youth participants. Throughout the 4 days, meetings, classes, and panel discussions were held within Washington Convention Center. Some of the gatherings included topics such as: the history of coal and mountain top removal, working with indigenous impacted communities, building an effective coalition, and many, many more. There was a definate sense of diversity and passion amongst the people present. When the week was done, we broke up into regions and met with our legislators to discuss any environmental issue we felt should be addressed. It was an awesome experience.

If you wish to know more of the POWERSHIFT organizaton check out www.powershift09.org

Earthly Changes

Living in rural Alaska, the changes happening in the environment are more noticable. The hunters of the community are able to notice if and when the migritory birds and various land animals arrive early or late. Small changes in the weather or water temperature can mean the difference between a good hunting season and a bad one. It is said, by the elders within my family, that with each passing year the salmon is less and the salmon are smaller. The people of the village are begining to rely more upon store bought foods when the hunting season is poor.

Ionia Alaska

This is the homepage website for the community of Ionia. Ionia is a small "ecovillage" on the Kenai Peninsula. Ionia is a community within Kasilof. The website tells of the small group's effort in becoming a self sustainable community. It is an interesting establishment. I have met a few of the people from Ionia. As far as I know, the majority of the people of Ionia are vegans. They farm their own food and build their own houses. If you are interested in looking into a small scale, selfsustaining community check this site out. The site gives pleanty of pictures and links to the different activities Ionia hosts each year.

Ionia Inc. Retrieved April 7, 2009 from http://www.ionia.org/index.cfm

Renewables

This site breaks down the different types of renewable energy. It has helpful diagrams that help explain how the different types of alternative energy works. It also has a map of the country that shows where renewable energy sources, like hydro-power, biomass, and geothermal, are used through out the country. Some of the maps also include potential uses of alternative energy. If you are looking for a site that would better explain the different types of renewable energy power plants, this is the place for you.

National Atlas of the United States. Renewable energy sources in the United States (2008, April 29). Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/people/a_energy.html

"The Use of Energy" - Wendell and me

I agree with Wendell Berry. In his essay “The Use of Energy,” he states that we have moved so far from what we used to be traditionally. Before machines and gadgets we knew how to survive out in the wild. Today, we rely too much on cars, cellphones, and computers when it comes to our everyday lives.

In a way you can say that we are spoiled. One can also argue that the things that we have now are essential to living. As time goes by, man takes what he has and makes it better. As we grow we adapt; the standard of living is adjusted. Small things, like ipods and cellphones, become so apart of your life that you cannot comprehend living with out them. Pretty soon nothing is a big deal. We have the world at our finger tips. Everything we do is so different, so machine like, but we’re used to it. We've adapted. We’ve changed. We’re man, nothing can stop us.

Oil: good or bad - free post

There are two sides to the use of oil. The good being that oil fuels our cars, heats our homes, and runs our economy. Everything we do, everything we see has some connection to oil and fossil fuels. A form of oil is found in many different types of plastics, the same type of plastic used to bottle water and the many different drinks on stock in the supermarkets. My aunt called this generation the plastic generation. We use plastic for everything from plastic bags and package wrapping to earrings and hair clips. On the bigger level, our country uses billions of oil a year. If oil were to disappear from the face of the earth right now, our economy would crash.

The bad side to oil is much greater. Because fossil fuels release so much green house gasses, our world is experiencing what is called global climate change. Alaska, as far as I know, has been impacted the greatest. Since the people or rural Alaska depend on subsistence, they feel that times are changing. The migratory animals they depend on come at different times, sea ice is receding in the winter months, more permafrost melts in the summer, and coastal villages are in danger of land erosion. Can anything be done to stop what is happening, or is it too late for us to slow down the effects of global climate change? Is there global climate change, or better yet, is global warming the real deal? Can we call what is happening global warming? And, if global warming does exist, was it the result of mankind?

Smart Car from Geri's blog

I am all for going green. I believe that in time we will work our way from oil and fossil fuels as our source of energy. The time we live in now is the transition period from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Soon not only will our houses and offices be fueled and heated by the sun and wind, but our cars and trucks as well.

If you go to the link below it will take you to a blog site done by "Geri-Lynn." Here, she introduces a "smart car" done by Mercedes that is eco-friendly. The panels on this car are exchangeable and recyclable. The car gives less carbon emissions than the cars made today. More info can be found on her site. Check it out.

I like the idea of the car. It gives off little carbon emissions and saves you a few gas bucks. The shape and style is what I do not like. I am into trucks and sports cars. I like having a car that I do not have to climb down into and crawl out of. I like space and speed. I know that making a car that is both energy efficient and huge is difficult at this time period. I think more effort should be put towards making cars like the "smart car" but has the style that resembles the cars and trucks we drive today. You are never going to catch me in a car that looks like this. So, until smart cars are made to look like the trucks we drive today, I will continue driving a gas gargling, carbon emitting Chevy.

Geri. Energy (2009, April 8). Retrieved April 8, 2009 from
https://bb6.uaa.alaska.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_327050_1

AYEA - free post

The Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) was created as an outlet for youth to take action upon environmental issues throughout our state. AYEA has a total of eight chapters throughout the state and individual youth and adult members from over fifty communities. AYEA hosts many youth gatherings and trainings throughout the year. Some of these events include a Civics and Conservation Summit. Teens from across the state gether in Juneau for a week of civic engagement lessons. Here the teens learn how to speak in public, communicating with elected officials, how to read a bill, and how to impact decisions legislators make about the environment. Towards the end of the training week the youth meet with their representatives and senators and discuss the environmental bill at hand.

Each year the AYEA members work on a campaign that promotes or educates the public of environmental issues in Alaska. This year their campaign is on renewable energy. Their goals include: expending the $100 million that was appropriated in 2008 for renewable energy projects in Alaska, Passing the additional $50 million for the Renewable energy Fund in the 2009 State budget, and supporting a strong federal renewable electricity standard that wil benefit Alaska. If you agree with these statements, I strongly advise that you sign the petition. More information about AYEA and the Renewable Energy Campaign can be found at www.ayea.org.

BP Energy Calculater

After taking the BP Energy Calculator I found that my carbon footprint was lower than the U.S. average. Honestly, I was just a little surprised. I don’t feel that this is entirely accurate. I come from a small village off of the coast of Alaska. Heating our house is done with stove oil. In the winter months temperatures can drop to forty below zero. The temperature hovered around forty below for about a month this past winter. The house we live in was built in 1985; some renovations were done since then, but the house is far from being one hundred percent energy efficient. A lot of oil is used to heat up the house and to boil the water. Another factor is our trash. The town I live in is small and remote. The trash out there used to be burnt by open fire at the dump site until this past summer. I would imagine that a small town of seven hundred is capable of a fair amount of trash, and burning that trash not only pollutes the air, but creates carbon dioxide, right?

I am happy something like BP Energy Calculator is available for the public. Although it may not be totally accurate, it will get people thinking of their energy usage. Take the test, is simple and short. Get the numbers to your carbon footprint. You may be surprised.

Check it out:
http://bpenergylab.bp.com/

fyi: my results
18.8 tones CO2 per year
This is lower than the USA average of 23.9 tones per year

27192 kWh per year

Passion of Oil - Freewrite

Passion can be found in anything. As long as there is something for us to do, watch, taste, or test, passion, in which ever form, will show. Passion goes in either direction. Oil is one of the two-way, love/hate topics. The first side in the discussion of oil is naiveté. When oil was first introduced into our way of life little to nothing was known of the effects it would have on us and our environment. Only after our sources of transportation, heating, and electricity were oil dependent did we discover its harsh effects on our earth. New forms of energy were introduced, with some still under development. There are faults in either side: the side of a environmentalist and the side of an oil lover.

Renewable sources of energy are great. Devices like the solar panel and wind turbines produce electricity without emitting green house gasses. The down side to it is its reliability. We all know that the wind doesn’t blow all the time and the sun doesn’t shine every day. For the days when the sun shines and the wind blows clean energy is created, reducing our carbon footprint in Earth. Not all places have enough sun to have solar panels, enough wind for wind turbines, or rivers or underground volcanoes to harness for good clean energy. Oil power plants don’t really have any limit to location. It can run day and night, all day, every day.

Oil has troubles of its own. Since its discovery, demand for oil raises annually. Roughly 98% of our forms of transportation run off of some form of oil. About 85% of America’s energy demand is fulfilled by fossil fuels, with coal and nuclear as the two leading sources. Forms of fossil fuels may be abundant, but sooner or later we will run low. I believe harsh, heavy impacts to our environment will encourage us to change long before we run short on oil and fossil fuels. No one can be sure of how nature will react to the amount of green house gasses we produce. What we can be sure of is change. We’ve changed before: from living simple lives to life with cars, jets, and electricity. If we don’t change for the environment I think we will change to save money.