Author Archive for admin

Words of Wisdom from Eisenhower

by admin

01 Nov

In the 1950s, our home was in the Stevenson camp. We didn’t Like Ike for president. Although he was undoubtedly a war hero, as a Republican, he seemed to represent big business at the expense of the rest of us – the working people. We were a union household, and back then working people were loath to trust the rich and powerful. After all, American history (in fact, world history) is full of hundreds of years of the rich sacrificing the working people to maintain their wealth and power.

Anyway, we didn’t like Ike as president. But, today, he seems like a hero, compared to the feeble and corrupt-minded people currently in power. In the years that followed, I’ve found myself quoting Eisenhower’s Farewell Address. That’s where he refers to the dangers of our then new, military industrial complex. Ike was prescient, for today, much of our foreign policy and our nation’s domestic spending priorities are warped to keep this military industrial complex functioning. We don’t have money to combat climate change. There are no funds to improve education or health care. But we never run out of funds to bomb another country.

I recommend reading this remarkable address, and comparing the words of this exemplary military leader to those we must hear (or read) from our government today. Where are those political leaders when we need them?

Categories : Sustainability

Tags : economy, Eisenhower, military, peace

Top 20 Coolest Schools

by admin

06 Sep

A modern-looking building is fronted by a large brick patio and palm trees. — Arizona State University –

For 13 years, Sierra has been ranking colleges according to which ones offer the best sustainability-focused courses, eco-friendly (no such thing as eco-friendly) cafeteria provisions, and carbon-neutral land and energy policies, as well as the most opportunities to engage with the environmental movement. Since 2007, sustainability measures that once seemed cutting-edge have become the norm, and we’ve seen schools effect real change across their communities, regions, and states. This year, a record 282 schools vied to become the eco-savviest in all of academia. Please join us in congratulating the tremendously cool—and diverse—schools topping their class in the most crucial subject of all.

Climate Change – Penguin Colonies

by admin

15 Jun

Penguins! These adorable flightless birds are cherished by adults and kids alike for their funny ways and their tuxedo-like outfits. The penguin lifestyle is fascinating and their behavior is extraordinary.

A group of these amazing creatures is called a penguin colony, unless the group is floating in the ocean – then it’s known as a “raft.” Penguins mainly feed on krill and fish. They can stay underwater for up to 20 minutes, and dive as deep as 500 meters.

A colony of penguins may look (and sound) like it’s utter chaos, yet parents and chicks can find each other amongst thousands despite the noise. It’s not done visually. Penguins find each other because of an incredible ability to recognize the individual calls of their mates and their babies.

Seventeen distinct penguin species exist in the world. Not all of these penguin species live in the Antarctic, but that’s the area most people associate with these unique birds. Due to several recent events, some experts are asking a troubling question: Could the Antarctic region lose most of their penguins?

There’s a good reason this question is weighing on the minds of many researchers and environmentalists. It’s because of the disturbing decline of colonies within three specific penguin species – Emperor penguins, King penguins, and Adélie penguins. It’s serious enough that the losses have made international headlines.

Naturally, these three separate examples of penguin colony decline raise questions about the effects of climate change on the species. Are we definitely losing penguins to climate change? Could there be other reasons the penguin habitat is disappearing? Is intervention by humans on the fate of penguin colonies, climate change aside, a feasible solution?

Here are the backstories:

Categories : Climate Chaos

Tags : Antartica, climate change, global warming, habitats, penguins

Listen to the Kids on Climate Change

by admin

10 Apr

Categories : Climate Chaos

Nobel Economists Supports Children’s Climate Suit

by admin

22 Jul

Georgina Gustin

Joseph Stiglitz writes in a court brief that fossil fuel-based economies impose ‘incalculable’ costs on society and shifting to clean energy will pay off.

One of the world’s top economists has written an expert court report that forcefully supports a group of children and young adults who have sued the federal government for failing to act on climate change.

See Our Children’s Trust to learn about this important effort.

Joseph Stiglitz, who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize for economics in 2001 and has written extensively about environmental economics and climate change, makes an economic case that the costs of maintaining a fossil fuel-based economy are “incalculable,” while transitioning to a lower-carbon system will cost far less.

The government, he writes, should move “with all deliberate speed” toward alternative energy sources.

Stiglitz has submitted briefs for Supreme Court cases—and normally charges $2,000 an hour for legal advice, the report says—but he wrote this 50-page report pro bono at the request of the attorneys representing the children. It was filed in federal district court in Oregon on June 28.

He is one of 18 expert witnesses planning to testify in the case, scheduled for trial later this year, the children’s lawyers said.

Categories : Climate Chaos, Economy

Tags : climate change, economy, fossil fuels, Joseph Stiglitz, Our Childrens Trust, renewable energy, Supreme Court

Gardening with Kids for Healthier Children

by admin

19 Jul

4 Things You Need to Know

By Summer Banks on Apr 30, 2018

Children are naturally curious and like to learn by doing and what’s better than playing in the dark?

Working in the garden, children can experience satisfaction that comes from caring from something over time and watching it grow while also learning about healthy eating.

If your child is a picky eater and doesn’t like vegetables, you can encourage them through gardening.

Benefits of Gardening for Kids

Promotes Healthier Eating

Gardening will encourage your children to eat healthier. Studies have shown that students involved in hands-on school gardening programs developed an increased snacking preference for fruits and vegetables. And when parents take the initiative to get involved in gardening with their kids, the results are even better. These studies show a link between growing food and increase food preparation at home as well as a 40% increase in consumption of fresh produce in adults.

Provides Moderate Exercise

Tasks like digging, raking, and turning compost use a lot of muscles in the body. Depending on the intensity of the activity, you could burn anywhere from 250-500 calories in an hour! Not only this, but the act itself teaches children about the patterns of healthy activity, and keeps them outside and away from a computer screen.

Helps Build Confidence

Gardening helps your children feel more capable, as they realize what they can do when they nurture and grow something from a seed. Encourage them to make choices (ie. is there enough sunlight in this spot?) and journal the experience so they can look back on the journey.

Relieves Stress

Gardening helps kids learn how to relax, and teaches them how to calm themselves. Research shows gardening not only has a calming effect on the brain, but benefits extend far beyond the act of gardening itself, such as a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol even after a recovery period.

Visit Diet Spotlight to learn more.

Categories : Education, Sustainability

Tags : children, diet, education, food, gardens, health

Renewable Energy on Tribal Lands

by admin

15 May

This development could be very big in Arizona where the opportunity for a combination of wind and solar would help local tribes improve their economies and their health.

By, Karen Petersen, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

From the redwood forests of northern California to the green lowlands of upstate New York, from the high desert of southern Nevada to the frozen tundra of northern Alaska, visionary Native American leaders are forging a new path to economic vitality and community resiliency. It’s a new path that honors traditional ways, while addressing longstanding challenges and barriers.

There’s no denying the persistent gaps between American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) populations and the rest of the country in areas such as housing, healthcare, education, and employment. For generations, tribal leaders have worked to close those gaps and provide for their communities, and for some, gaming has provided one avenue for doing so. But forward-looking tribal governments are continually seeking new and innovative approaches to economic development. And increasingly, they are focusing on energy.

Within the broad swaths of mostly rural, often remote land Native Americans call “Indian Country” exist considerable untapped resources. Despite representing less than 2% of the total U.S. land base, Indian lands contain an estimated 5% of all U.S. renewable energy generation potential, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

When considered in light of the rapid decline in costs for clean energy technologies, the proliferation of policies that incentivize clean energy, and the increasingly urgent need for energy transformation, this disproportionate wealth in renewable resources represents a nascent opportunity—one not reserved for tribes alone.

“Indian Country is ripe with opportunity for profitable, mutually beneficial business engagements with tribes,” said DOE Office of Indian Energy Director Chris Deschene.

Positioning Tribes to Thrive

Deschene’s characterization of the opportunity for energy development on tribal lands is grounded in data-driven analysis and empirical evidence. In addition to funding technical resource and market analyses and contributing to intergovernmental energy and climate initiatives, the DOE Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs has an established track record of cultivating propitious – and practicable – tribal energy visions. Since 2002, DOE has invested more than $50 million in nearly 200 tribal energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

Categories : Energy, Sustainability

Tags : clean energy, DOE, Native Americans, NREL, solar power, wind power

We Need Stronger Fuel Economy Standards

by admin

15 May

Vehicles driving on a crowded freeway. Now that the power sector is making strong gains on reducing emissions, transportation is the greatest source of climate pollution – accounting for a third of US greenhouse gases.

How do we reel in pollution from millions of cars and trucks? The easiest way that’s a win-win is to make cars and trucks more efficient, so they use less gas. In exchange for being bailed out of bankruptcy by the Obama Administration, automakers – after decades of blocking progress – agreed to produce much more efficient vehicles; 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2016 and 54 mpg by 2025. But now, they want the Trump Administration to relieve them those “expensive, hard to meet targets” and the heavy toll of “burdensome regulations.”

This is exactly why we need regulations. The private sector will not act on its own. All Americans benefit from vastly more efficient cars, trucks and buses – driving a car that gets 54 mpg is a huge step forward from the 24 mpg cars were stuck at for decades.

Individuals and businesses really like going further on a tank of gas. Americans have already saved $35 billion on gas, while avoiding consumption of 270 million barrels of oil, cutting cancer-causing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, all since 2011. The trucking industry actually ASKED for standards – turns out, getting 6 mpg isn’t great for trucking companies!

Fuel economy standards were the single biggest energy efficiency policy of the Obama administration and automakers successfully met the first milestone in 2016 – fleet-wide averages of 35.5 mpg.

Reaching 54 mpg requires innovation and selling lots of hybrids and plug-ins, but right now automakers are mostly selling very profitable gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks. Besides, electric car sales are slow, they opine. Have you ever seen an ad for plug-in or electric cars? The answer is No or Rarely. Have you seen ads for SUVs? Yes, Constantly.

Research on national TV ads confirms this, and there’s also a dearth of electric vehicles (EVs) at dealerships. They either don’t stock them or have a few hidden in the back. Forget a test drive! Salespeople aren’t trained on their benefits and often aren’t aware of state and federal tax credits and rebates. Another survey finds that 60% of Americans don’t even know that plug-ins exist and that 80% have never been in an EV.

Categories : Economy, Energy

Tags : autos, CAFE, cars, energy, fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, Obama, transportation

Critical Facts about Water-Borne Diseases

by admin

15 May

If you live in a developed country, and I assume many of you are if you’re reading this, waterborne diseases probably aren’t something you typically worry about. But did you know that poor water sanitation and a lack of safe drinking water take a greater human toll than war, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction combined?

Even in America, pumps, pipes and purification facilities could all fail, leaving you susceptible to waterborne diseases.

So what exactly are waterborne diseases? How many people are actually affected by them? How do we keep our water clean and safe? How many people are dying from these diseases, and what can we do to prevent that from happening? We’ll answer all of those questions here.

How Much Drinkable Water Is There?

First things first. Before we can understand why waterborne diseases are so prevalent, we need to have a clear understanding of how much drinkable water is actually available.

While nearly 70 percent of the world is covered in water, only 2.5 percent of it is drinkable. And of that, only 1 percent of it is easily accessible, with the rest trapped in glaciers and snowfields.

Since most of the Earth’s fresh water is frozen at the North and South poles, that leaves the rest of the fresh water in surface water and groundwater. Surface water is found in the Earth’s lakes, rivers, and streams. Groundwater is just surface water that has made its way into the soil.

You might be wondering if we will ever run out of fresh water. Our population is rapidly increasing, and most of our uses for fresh water are increasing right along with it. So, will we always have enough fresh water to go around? We will.

The Earth is very efficient when it comes to recycling its water. Every drop of water we use continues through the water cycle. Water on the ground and in lakes and streams is evaporated into the clouds, and then sent falling back down to the ground. Although we may never run out of fresh water, we still need to do our part to be sure we keep it as clean as we possibly can.

What Are Waterborne Diseases?

A waterborne disease is simply any disease that is contracted by drinking dirty or contaminated water. In under-developed countries the water is typically contaminated by human and animal feces or a general lack of sanitation. In more developed countries, it can be caused by faulty pipes, pumps, or purification facilities. It’s even possible to get a waterborne disease by eating food that was contaminated by dirty water.

Industrial Agriculture and the Environment

by admin

19 Apr

What comes to mind when you think about farming? Amber waves of grain? Rolling hills and people seated on tractors? The smell of manure? What about pollution?

to pollution, most people don’t think of agriculture. In fact, in order for agriculture to continue, farmers must take good care of the environments of their land and animals.

However, there is a difference between farming and industrial agriculture. While family farms are often maintained over several generations, industrial agriculture is an entirely different thing, and it can contribute to pollution in some significant ways.

We’re going to give you the what, why, and how of industrial agriculture pollution.

What is Agricultural Pollution?

Farmed areas – both on land and in the water – provide vital habitats for thousands of wild animals and plant species. Farming operations that are managed with good sustainability practices help restore and preserve critical habitats, protect watersheds, and improve soil strength and water quality.

However, when practiced carelessly, farming is a great threat to species and ecosystems. Negative environmental impacts from unsustainable farming practices include land conversion, habitat loss, wasteful water consumption, soil erosion and degradation, pollution, climate change, and genetic erosion.

Perhaps even worse is the practice of factory farming. Scientific research has found that factory farming methods – such as confining and overcrowding animals in warehouse-like conditions before slaughter and meat production – create unacceptable levels of risk to public health and irreparable damage to the surrounding environment.

Although factory farms produce an enormous amount of waste and pollution, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, they are largely exempt from standard air and water pollution regulations. This means that factory farms – which produce more annual waste than the entire population of the United States – can dump their waste as they see fit.

Additionally, as factory farms tasked with raising thousands of animals to meet consumer demand continue to produce tons of waste, our water supply is at risk of contamination. As waterways become polluted with agricultural waste, they lose their ability to sustain marine ecosystems. Populations of marine life are adversely affected, and the food supply becomes contaminated.

Categories : Environment, Water

Tags : agriculture, climate change, farming, habitats, meat production, pollution, soil, water, watersheds

Sustainable Arizona®
49 Pinon Court, Sedona, AZ 86336