tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4292653048436694466.post3531287741992718699..comments2023-10-18T06:04:16.416-04:00Comments on Soc 370 - Cental Michigan - S09: Risk and JusticeAlan Rudyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05814965319203398069noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4292653048436694466.post-72592308427210932962009-04-15T23:04:00.000-04:002009-04-15T23:04:00.000-04:00This article really complimented Judy Bari’s inter...This article really complimented Judy Bari’s interview well. It makes the point of grass roots movements knowing about the problems – ecological, social, and economic – and they are working to solve their own problems through their own methods. It is these “grass roots” people that share a “belief that environmental concerns are not separate from other social issues” (71). He uses this well when he explains correlation to race, income, and health. <br />I agree with Jessica’s analysis that pollution prevention does not generate the income necessary to make it a profitable industry. While we provide extraction companies with incentives we are not doing enough to encourage the work that will benefit more people in the long run. Nobody wants their kids to grow up with toxic chemicals in the ground, drinking water, or anywhere near them for that matter. But the voluntary status of controlling pollution does not work. It’s similar to people constructing a new building, if the company wants to go the route of being environmentally friendly, they need to hire a LEED consultant or engineers that are LEED certified and then use sustainable products when in comes to construction. The overall costs in construction, design, and material is initially higher. So many people opt to go the cheaper route. These situations occur when there is no regulation. The trouble comes in getting people to agree to be regulated. Self-regulation does not seem to work. Tragedy of the Commons is a good example. People always want what benefits them more and only reflects a slight loss for everyone else. But when everyone wants an extra sheep or ten on the same plot of land, disaster ensues. As Jessica put it “capital trumps the livelihood of people.” Sad, but, as it is all too often, true.Katie Krawetzkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10673684073330467431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4292653048436694466.post-74310230739177064372009-04-15T22:57:00.000-04:002009-04-15T22:57:00.000-04:00I can't help but feel there is a dangerous disconn...I can't help but feel there is a dangerous disconnect here in terms of MNC's (who have shown a capacity for the worst of humankind) to just kind of accept a new status quo and join the bum rush. The environmental justice movement (EJM) in itself has, in my opinion, defid definition. Resistance in Cochabamba cannot "empirically" be compared to other EJM movements, nor can it be claimed that the EJM is a narrowly defined concept at all. A comprehensive, cohesive, EJM movement has yet to take root in most areas in the US facing pollution/resource issues, as there is still sufficient clouding by the corporations to keep a significant percentage of the population in the dark to such an extent as to not make too much noise on the issue.<br /><br />I credit Field comparinge current environmental debate as being framed within the terms of those in control of production. He cites numerous anecdotes to illustrate the fact that "our best interests" are peripheral at best. How do those you are being dumped upon act within the current framework? Not at all, says the author.<br /><br />The commidification of waste is obviously not something most Americans (or Earthlings, for that matter) have thought about much. Getting policy to either "commodify" waste or deal with it in some other matter will not be a quick fix, however. Even Hardin's idea are foreign to most average citizens. We can't get people to debate the Commons if they don't know what it is. <br /><br />The biggest issue, in my opinion, is that the impetus for scientific knowledge (even with all its problems) has been lacking since the end of the Cold War, as Speth mentions in the book for the final. Thus, Americans don't feel that knowledge is the way to win the future anymore and "government" or "God" will sort it all out. This, of course, does not take care of pollution.Robert Baldushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359690438968461631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4292653048436694466.post-91463889959915756142009-04-15T11:24:00.000-04:002009-04-15T11:24:00.000-04:00I agree that pollution prevention is much more ben...I agree that pollution prevention is much more beneficial than pollution control. Prevention would decrease the amount of pollution being created to begin with, as opposed to just allowing it to be created and then trying to control it. The main problem with this is that it is very difficult to stop everyone from polluting. It would be hard to make someone stop using their old, beat up cars without just buying them a hybrid, which we clearly cannot do. It would be possible to prevent pollution at a company level, but at a personal/home level, there is always going to be some people that are just going to do or use what they want, regardless of the ecological impact.Kristen Baumannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06624556700382949554noreply@blogger.com