Hi Class! If anyone sent in any work via email and you didn’t get a confirmation from me, you should re-send it asap. Be sure to send to marygrady@cox.net.

Happy Holidays to All!

prof g

 

FYI

http://www.pbn.com/DEM-get-15M-for-solar-panels,63090

Hi class! We talked about this in class, and just came across this in my inbox, thanks to the Sierra Club, so posting it here FYI.

Click on “Read More” for the list of what foods you should try to buy organic (to avoid pesticides) and which it doesn’t matter so much (at least not for your own intake).

Hi class, I’ve had problems with downloading attachments from email. Please just copy & paste your text directly into email and do not send any attachments. Thanks!!

Prof G

 

In case you thought I was imagining this….! From this week’s New York Times.

Click here for the story.

Hi Class! Thanks again for all your hard work and participation, it was a great class! I hope you all learned something.

Remember, we may not be good at predicting the future, but we can be certain of this — it will be what we make it to be, and if we can envision a better world — a world without plastic dumps in the ocean, with solar panels (and maybe new nukes!) instead of fossil fuels, with electric cars and organic food for all — there is nothing to stop us from creating it.

If you have any late work to get in, please email it to me by December 16. Any questions, etc., email me anytime, the email link is in the right-hand column on this page.

Happy Holidays!

Prof G

 

Just came across this new video and thought it was worth sharing. Just another example of great local folks doing an extraordinary job to take care of our environment!

Clean The Bay

Also worth checking with them if you are looking for something to do next summer… they used to take on a few volunteers or even paid helpers now and then, not sure if they are still doing that.

Also, click here for a story about the tidal-power proposal for Galilee that was floating around a few years ago, that we mentioned in class… The state invested $500,000 in this project, using technology from Energetech/Oceanlinx technology from Australia, but then it never got built. I couldn’t find too much info about it online… apparently, in 2008, the state asked URI to begin research on the impacts of offshore projects, with the resulting data to be used as the groundwork for ocean zoning or a criteria for permitting offshore renewable projects. The Providence Journal  said the Oceanlinx project will be put on hold for 18 months, until the studies are completed. (source: Renewables Offshore)

I found this powerpoint online from that study (the Ocean SAMP project) and it seems to imply that there is not enough power potential in RI waters to justify investing in wave-generated power projects. A proposal is in the works though for the Cape Cod Canal, read about that here.

For our last class, I would like each of you to report briefly on a topic of your own choosing. There are a couple of ways you could go.

One is to explore a topic that you’d like to know more about. Choose a topic and narrow it down. This should be just a few pages, and maybe five minutes or so to report to the class and discuss.

The other approach is a kind of thought experiment. How do you envision our environmental future? What will change in our environment, our technology, our ways of thinking, over the next 50 years? Can you see solutions ahead to some of the problems of today? Can you imagine a world 50 years from now where some of today’s problems are solved? What will it take to make that happen? What will be different in that world from the world of today? Be creative. You should end up with a report of a few pages, and list your sources.

In either case, your process should involve some exploring on the Web, to look for information and ideas and inspiration. Keep track of sites you visit that have useful information and report those sources in your paper.

I’m also open to other ideas for this final short project, but you should run them by me before you forge ahead. My email link is in the right-hand column of this blog. Any questions, let me know!

Click on Read More for some links and ideas, plus a few other things, including an expanded discussion of global warming.

Hi Class! As we discussed in class, your main assignment is to enjoy your holiday!

But for next time, please think about up to three questions for topics you still have questions about for an open discussion. This could be to ask about a topic we havent covered yet, or some aspect of a topic that we covered that you’re still wondering about, or just about anything. Write these down and bring them with you, but passing them in is optional. We’ll also be covering several short topics in class that we haven’t gotten to yet. If anyone has a special request for a topic they’d like to get covered, feel free to email me!

Also, for our next class after that one, Dec 5, which will be our last class, our focus will be on the environmental future. How will people meet the challenges of finding ways to use resources sustainably, while still meeting human needs? There are real challenges ahead, but also a lot of options and lots of creative ideas and new technologies. So this might be something you want to start thinking about.

Happy Thanksgiving! see you next week.

Prof G

One in Providence, one in Maine. Click on Read More for info.