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Can sustainable development work? What then will be the impact on business and what will be the impact on the environment?
First we must define sustainable development. Sustainable is to say that something such as resources or an environmental system can be continued indefinitely without depleting any of the material or energy resources required to keep it running. ...
CAUSE AND EFFECT! CHOOSE YOUR PATH...
Three steps to your Personal Transformation: 1)Awareness and Perception 2)Law of Cause and Effect 3)Law of Accumulation These categories are what you need to understand in order to be in total control of your being! Most go through life never...
Shedding Light on Cheaper Solar Energy
Renewable sources of energy are the key to solving two of the worlds most pressing yet seemingly irreconcilable problems. On the one hand the developing world needs vastly to increase access to affordable energy because, at present, 1.6 billion...
So, Donald... An Open Letter to Donald Trump
Soaring oil and gas prices and the devastation of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita have finally brought an issue into sharp focus
for the public: When it comes to energy, we're in trouble! We
import far more crude oil than we produce in the United...
Water Conservation at the Kitchen Sink
Water Conservation at the Kitchen Sink (577 words) It can sometimes be difficult to visualize the importance and direct effect that simple conservation efforts can have when we are bombarded with negative information regularly. Lets take a look at...
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Since Katrina, the Environment Is Front-Page News
Ever since the end of August, when Hurricane Katrina devastated
the major American city of New Orleans and the coastlines of
Louisiana, Mississippi, and parts of Alabama, the consequences
of environmental degradation have been front-page news.
Politicians and ordinary citizens are openly discussing what
scientists have believed for years: that the widespread
destruction of wetlands along the Gulf coast eliminated a
natural buffer zone which in the past had served to slow down
powerful hurricanes before they hit dense population areas.
The manmade levee systems in New Orleans and along the
Mississippi River also came in for some blame. The levees
disrupted natural processes which in the past had expanded the
fertile farmlands of the Mississippi delta. Instead, the
diversion of water caused subsidence which actually lowered
major parts of New Orleans below sea level - making them a prime
target for flooding, even without the breach of the levees.
Katrina and other recent natural disasters have become grim
lessons in the consequences of failing to protect the earth's
natural environment. Floods on the Malibu, California coast
periodically wash away million dollar estates - a result of the
soil on hillsides being weakened by clear cutting which
eliminated the root systems of trees that had served to hold the
soil in place. High priced residential communities encroach into
previously virgin old growth forests, and then are destroyed as
wildfires, often a natural result of lightning storms, wreak
havoc on the forests. Antiquated coal burning plants in the
Midwest cause air pollution that travels to the Northeast,
resulting in mercury pollution that kills rivers, lakes, and
streams and ends up in the human food supply via fresh-water and
ocean
fish.
If there's a silver lining to the Katrina disaster, it's this:
Mother Nature has finally, dramatically, gotten our attention.
Proposals in the U.S. Congress to begin a wetlands reclamation
project along the Gulf coast are being taken seriously, and even
the issue of global warming is center stage again as scientists,
politicians, and pundits debate the effect of the phenomenon on
increasingly powerful and frequent hurricanes.
So What Now?
The awful destruction of Katrina, with its human and
environmental costs, presents a unique opportunity - to rebuild
a major American city from the ground up. Imagine a city
re-created in a way that functions with the natural forces of
the area, instead of against them. Imagine ruined homes replaced
with sustainable housing, a city running completely on
alternative sources of energy - wind and solar power, biodiesel,
energy harnessed from the tides. Imagine a city with broad
social reforms, universal health care, a superlative educational
system, and training for the jobs which will be created in the
new sustainable economy.
Katrina has gotten our attention. Now we need environmentalists,
experts in alternative energy and sustainable housing, and
politicians to come together to be a powerful force for the
future. There will be no better time to make the earth's
environment the number-one priority.
About the author:
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern
New Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips and
Topics. She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.
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| Department of Energy - Homepage |
| Governmental department whose mission is to advance energy technology and promote related innovation in the United States. |
| www.energy.gov |
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| Department of Energy - Page not found! |
| US Department of Energy information for consumers, business, and communities. Links to many energy pages of the DOE. |
| www.energy.gov |
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| Energy Quest Room |
| California Energy Commission's energy and environmental education site for students, parents and teachers. Includes information, Q&As, projects, ... |
| www.energyquest.ca.gov |
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| The Energy Story - Introduction |
| Detailed guide explains what energy is and where it comes from. |
| www.energyquest.ca.gov |
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| EIA Energy Kids Page - energy facts, fun, games and activities |
| Features various sections about energy including what it is and the forms it comes in. Find out how humans use energy through quizzes and a 'fun facts' ... |
| www.eia.doe.gov |
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| Energy Information Administration - EIA - Official Energy ... |
| Section of the US Department of Energy (DOE) providing statistics, data, analysis on resources, supply, production, consumption for all energy sources. |
| www.eia.doe.gov |
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| Energy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Free encyclopedia article explaining the scientific notion of energy. Includes units of measure, energy transformation concepts, types of energy, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Department of Energy - Homepage |
| U.S. Department of Energy Awards Contract for Management and Operation of Ames ... The Energy Star label is the government's seal of energy efficiency. ... |
| www.doe.gov |
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| Home : ENERGY STAR |
| US EPA Energy Star programs and products help save the environment and save consumers money by using less energy through advanced design or construction. |
| www.energystar.gov |
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| National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Home Page |
| Facility of the US Department of Energy (DOE) for renewable energy and energy efficiency research, development and deployment. |
| www.nrel.gov |
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| European Commission - Energy - Home page |
| Welcome to the European Commission's "Energy" website ... A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy ... |
| ec.europa.eu |
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| DTI - Energy - Introduction |
| The DTI’s Energy Group deals with energy-related matters, ... UK energy statistics are provided, including production, consumption and prices. ... |
| www.dti.gov.uk |
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| U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Home Page |
| US Department of Energy web site for information on energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. |
| www.eere.energy.gov |
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| Energy for America's Future |
| Provides an overview of President Bush's energy policies. |
| www.whitehouse.gov |
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| International Energy Agency |
| Energy Security, Growth and Sustainability through Co-operation and Outreach. |
| www.iea.org |
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| energywatch: Home Page |
| Independent gas and electricity consumer watchdog, providing help to domestic, commercial or industrial energy (gas and electricity) consumers. |
| www.energywatch.org.uk |
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| EnergyAustralia - Home |
| Details of one of Australia's largest and oldest gas and electricity supply companies. Includes information on accounts, energy saving tips, appliance sales ... |
| www.energy.com.au |
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| U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources |
| Has jurisdiction over energy policy, regulation, and research. Also deals with energy and mineral conservation, ports used for energy transport, irrigation, ... |
| energy.senate.gov |
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| bloomberg energy prices |
| www.bloomberg.com/energy/ - Similar pages |
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| Energy Bulletin |
| A clearinghouse of information concerning the peak in global energy such as oil and gas. |
| www.energybulletin.net |
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