Month: February 2022

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Is Berkeley Worth It?

Rynor, Morgan. “California Bill Seeks to Do Away with Environmental Laws for Public University Housing.” abc10.Com, ABC 10, 23 Feb. 2022, https://www.abc10.com/article/news/education/california-plan-would-streamline-housing-laws-colleges/103-96382473-da58-43d4-bd66-2e9ef410b1fe.

Senator Scott Weiner has proposed new legislation for colleges and universities, cutting back the number of admissions accepted since it’s having an environmental impact. UC Berkeley is the main priority since this new lawsuit is requiring them to cut emissions from 8,000 students to a cut to 5,000 students due to housing impact on the environment. Due to these decisions, the university will lose approximately $57 million in revenue. Many families and students are worried that they are going to get cut even though they have been accepted to the university already and have put in hard work for their dream school. 

It is devastating to hear from your dream college that you won’t be able to go because of the enrollment cut, but I think students are making it a far more great deal that one out of many schools they applied to isn’t taking them in since their enrollment will impact the environment which isn’t reversible. Berkeley is already a very competitive school to even get in, their acceptance rate being 17.5 % for being a public school. So the reactions from parents are selfish to me, this lawsuit started in 2018 and hasn’t been brought to attention until now, 4 years later. 

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Where Are the Whales?

Martín, Hugo. “A Sport-Fishing Boat Pollutes ‘as Much as 162 School Buses.’ Will Boat Businesses Survive Regulation?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2021, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-11-19/california-air-resources-emissions-regulator-sport-fishing-whale-excursions-rules. 

Whale watching and sport-fishing are great components to dangerous pollutants since their diesel-powered boats are outdated and need a new filter that reduces pipe emissions. But this may mean many shops that are financially supported by these businesses have to close down since the new expenses are either too expensive or don’t meet the requirements for the new regulations. These new environmental regulations are shifting jobs that produce petroleum to rather cleaner and renewable energies. A lot of the boats that need their filter replaces are made out of wood and fiberglass so the amount they have to pay for a generator is far too large, expensive, and heavy to use since they produce so much heat. If they work together they can cut 1,560 tons of emissions by 2032 the latest boat owners may request postponing. 

Although I think it’s a great idea for one of the largest emissions that produce 21% of emissions in that area, there is that grudge that many people who have spent their entire lives working in these types of businesses will have been shut down and find new jobs they know nothing about. Many of these workers have been working in this industry since they were teenagers and rely on them to be financially supported. Just because these regulations are doing good for the environment doesn’t mean they do good for everyone else who is impacted by them.

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Rain, Rain, Don’t Go Away

James, Ian. “California Adopts Drought Rules Outlawing Water Wasting, with Fines of up to $500.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2022, https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-01-04/california-adopts-drought-rules-outlawing-water-wasting. 

Even though we had a good amount of rain during December that doesn’t mean the drought is over. California regulators want to continue reinforcing continuing conserving water, the goal is to cut down to 15% since the regular amount we use is 80% for pumping human use every year. This would be prohibiting overwatering yards, washing cars without a shutoff nozzle, and even watering grass within 48 hours after rainfall. This is all in the practice of reinforcing in case of expectations that the drought will continue within the following months. Those who violate will be fined $500 if crossed a violation, this will be enforced for households and water agencies. It could have an impact on low-income families to face shutoffs and tax liens from agencies violating regulation and lack of protection for those customers. 

 

In no way regulators are trying to make this reinforcing conserving water a burden for any household, low or high income but rather for the protection of the water usage within California. Having a plan to conserve as much water as California can and cut down the among of water human usage pumps can be a stability factor for the future of droughts in California. I think adding a fine can convince people to follow protocols and listen for the benefit of the future. Even if low-income families are having trouble paying a fine, regulators have set up a 12-month plan with their water agencies for them to pay.

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No More Lies, No More Plastic

Norris, Trenton H, et al. “California Enacts New Law Restricting Environmental Marketing Claims on Consumer Products: Environmental Edge: Blogs.” Arnold & Porter, 14 Oct. 2021, https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/blogs/environmental-edge/2021/10/ca-enacts-new-law-restricting-environmental. 

The new AB 1201 restrictions concerning companies marketing claiming their products as being “biodegradable” and “environmentally friendly” can only be used if products are composed by the ASTM standards and have documentation supporting these claims. Section 42357 prohibits terms like “biodegradable” that still contain plastic in them alone or with another material. If it is claimed as recyclable, the material made from it has to be at least 75% of that is from recycling programs. The AB 1201 will impact manufacturers as it would be hard to distribute their products along California if they don’t meet the standard. Those who fail to meet the requirements will be fined $2,500 per violation. 

This is very necessary to proceed with taking action and accountability with companies who claim they are environmentally friendly and don’t do any harm with producing their products but are doing the quite opposite. It will later further take precautions and steps for companies to produce products that don’t contain plastic to avoid getting fined. I mean customers have shown they would be willing to pay more for a product if it had a sustainable message like producing fewer emissions. All these greenwashing companies are doing is showing more of the companies values rather than how good the product might be. 

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Adirondacks Invasion

Petrequin, Jay. “Report: Over 450 New Infestations in Adirondacks in 2021.” NEWS10 ABC, NEWS10 ABC, 2 Feb. 2022, https://www.news10.com/news/north-country/report-over-450-new-infestations-in-adirondacks-in-2021/. 

Adirondacks, a 6-million acre park, has recently suffered from 450 new infestations. The park is coveted by its own New York, however, despite so much effort to protect the park, invasive species keep attacking. Last year the Adirondacks team partnered with scientists to better the chances of the park’s survival from invasive species, although it was to little avail. Currently, invasives like ash borer beetles, garlic mustard, the hemlock wooly adelgid, among many others run amok at the park. The culprit of these infestations is likely travelers accidentally bringing them to the park by clothes, bag, or boat. At the moment, a park team is currently fighting the crisis. By releasing a beetle known to hunt ash borer beetles, their population has dropped around 40% in targeted areas. Overall, I think this park has a bright future but what’s to say another large outbreak of infestation won’t happen next year? Should tourists be temporarily banned? 

Overall, I’ve found this article to be incredibly informative. This park is a very big reminder that no matter how we try to stop invasive species, there is always the chance that they’ll prevail whatever preventative measure we take.  It also highlights the danger of tourists entering parks nowadays. The best thing for the park right now may be to limit tourists, or at least monitor what comes and goes into the park better. This article also mentions how a new beetle was introduced to fight the current invasive species. To me, this seems like fighting fire with fire, but it’s produced positive results. I think the risk is much too high of inviting new species, since history has shown that we’re not the best at predicting their effects. 

 

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Dangerous Weeds invade the San Joaquin River

Edinger, Marie. “Invasive Species Endangers Boaters in San Joaquin River.” KMPH, KMPH, 3 Feb. 2022, https://kmph.com/news/local/invasive-species-endangers-boaters-in-san-joaquin-river. 

In the San Joaquin River located in California, invasive weeds have been growing restless. Specifically, Hyacinth, a weed known for it’s beautiful purple flowers, is the culprit responsible for covering up the San Joaquin. Brady Weldon, a local, has seen in first person how devastating the effects of hyacinth can be. His boat, which is designed to run on water like that of the river’s, can no longer function because of the hyacinth. Moreover, hyacinth has trapped garbage in the water as well. The plant has spread so much that garbage can now float on it, because the hyacinth has created a layer between it and the river. Fish and other local animals are at risk of getting tangled in the roots of hyacinth, but also are losing room as the forage expands. Humans are at risk too. There really is no benefit from this plant. 

I think that this article highlights the importance of tackling invasive species early on. In the article, Local Brady Weldon mentioned how little Hyacinth there was two years ago. He describes it as only existing on the very sides of the river, before completely taking it over. If the plant had been eradicated early on, this mess may have never happened. While we can’t always judge how dangerous an invasive species is going to be in a new habitat, history tells us that it will most likely be bad. While there is usually a cost to fighting these species early on, it usually pales in comparison to cost after an invasive species has become destructive. The article also mentions how hyacinth has spread across the globe. If that’s the case, surely there must be some effective techniques to get rid of it. Also, how did Hyacinth go under the radar for so long if it’s so renowned?

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Hawaii’s Invasive Species Problem

Lund, Casey. “Invasive Species a Big Pain, but There Are Success Stories in Fight against Them.” Https://Www.hawaiinewsnow.com, https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/02/04/dlnr-works-raise-awareness-growing-problem-invasive-species-hawaii/. 

Kahoolawe, one of the smaller islands of Hawaii, has been fighting against invasive species. While many still persist, there have been some success stories. Sheep, Goats, and cattle have been removed from the island, subsequently preventing topsoil erosion from these animals. On the contrary, Fire ants, axis deer, Albizia trees, and many other species still remain. Erin Bishop, a member of the invasive species committee, urges citizens to take action. By submitting images, sound files, and asking questions directly to the committee, not only is the public being educated but the invasive species committee can pinpoint locations of targeted species better. Because Hawaii is a group of islands, not all the invasive species are the same and vary from island to island. Due to Kahoolawe’s small size, there is a higher chance of successful species eradication. 

I think the article brings up a question that Hawaii’s probably faced when countering invasive species: Should we fund eradication on the bigger and more prominent islands, or the smaller and more often wild islands? While the bigger islands do have more people, invasive species can move through smaller islands quicker than bigger ones, just as they can more often be eradicated faster. On the other hand,  bigger island projects are usually more expensive and can take longer. So which island would you save? Personally, I think the best approach to this would be to attack whichever invasive is the most dangerous to human populations and ecosystems. While this may not always work, it’ll usually be the safest. Secondly, I also think this article does a good job of highlighting the importance of public participation when it comes to eradicating an invasive species. Not only is public participation cost efficient, but it’s very effective when a large sum of people join in. 

 

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Western Gray Squirrel vs Eastern Fox Squirrel

Lund, Casey. “Invasive Species a Big Pain, but There Are Success Stories in Fight against Them.” Https://Www.hawaiinewsnow.com, https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/02/04/dlnr-works-raise-awareness-growing-problem-invasive-species-hawaii/. 

In Gresham, Oregon a war between natives and invasives are being fought: the fight between native Western Gray Squirrels and the invasive Eastern Fox Squirrel. The western gray squirrel has become victim to several different imperiling factors: High Road Death rates, habitat loss, and disease. The latter reason exists in large part because of the Eastern fox Squirrel, who have a high transmission rate of disease between Western Gray squirrels. Besides that, the Eastern fox squirrel is exploiting resources at a much quicker rate than the native squirrel populations. This is because of the Eastern Fox squirrels’ rapidly growing population, which is spurred by their ability to reproduce at any time of the year, unlike Western Gray squirrels who have mating seasons. Moreover, Eastern fox squirrels are also “aggressive” and willing to move near humans in order to find food, unlike Western Gray squirrels. Eastern Fox squirrels came to the region due to the fur trade and as an aesthetic for parks. Their population has become more scarce due to the previously mentioned factors, on top of competing with an invasive species. 

Overall, this article is pretty simple and straightforward. There is much you can say to defend the presence of eastern fox squirrels in this case due to their high drawbacks and very limited upsides. So, I definitely think that we should focus on removing these species as quickly as possible. However, the article doesn’t mention any way to eradicate the species. I think this is due to the obvious reason that there isn’t one yet. The mentioned squirrels live among humans, so it makes it incredibly hard to use traps and other potentially dangerous methods of capture. Other than signs warning drivers to watch for the presence of squirrels, the state is likely to route money to other issues rather than use it to save a squirrel population. I think this article definitely highlights how hard certain species can be to remove. 

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Rhode Island’s Struggle Against Invasive Specie

Detz, Jo. “Invasive Plants Have Rhode Island’s Native Life in Stranglehold.” EcoRI News, EcoRI News, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.ecori.org/natural-resources/2022/1/20/invasive-species-tighten-grip-on-ocean-states-native-plants. 

Rhode Island is likely the worst state when it comes to enforcing and passing laws prohibiting invasive species. As of right now, the state doesn’t have a list of invasives for terrestrial plants due to pushback from the public and the Rhode Island Farm Bureau. This pushback has been generated because Many businesses in Rhode Island are profiting off selling invasive species, and an instantaneous ban of many species could ruin their companies. Similarly, the Rhode Island Farm Bureau is also hesitant to ban species out of fear that Farmers would bear the brunt of fines for accidentally importing invasive species. There is some hope, as the DEM (Department of Environmental Management) does have a ban list for aquatic invasive species. However, there is still no end in sight for if the DEM will include terrestrial invasive species in it’s banned species list. As one could expect, invasive species are running rampant in Rhode Island, especially Bruning Brush, Japanese Barberry, Japanese Knotweed, and many others. 

Personally, this whole situation frustrates me. I can understand how we can’t ban species in rhode island instantly since it harms business, but if nothing ends up happening ecosystems are going to continue to falter. The fact that terrestrial invasive species are not even banned goes to show how radical Rhode island is in the fight against invasive species. The main reason aquatic species have been banned is because they aren’t prominent in plant growing businesses. After all, not a lot of people can grow aquatic plants in their backyard. But another reason is due to the aesthetic of many invasive species. This fight will probably make Rhode island a bit more dreary if we were to completely remove invasive species. As silly as it may seem, aesthetic invasive plants have the highest demand in plant–growing businesses. Still, it’s better to keep Rhode Island healthy.   

 

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17 feet of snow sparked hope for quelling California’s drought. Then precipitation ‘flatlined’ in January

Ramirez, R. (2022, February 3). 17 feet of snow sparked hope for quelling California’s drought. then precipitation ‘flatlined’ in January. CNN. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/03/us/california-drought-snow-dry-  january-climate/index.html

California has been in a drought for years. There was a slight glance of hope when in December 2021, 17 feet of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada. Then January of 2022 was the driest January for California since 1895, having only 9 inches of snow fell. California stills need eight more feet of snow to hit their winter average, but it looks like California isn’t going to be close. California will be stuck in this drought for a long time at this rate. 

California isn’t alone in the drought; most of the west to midwest states struggle in a drought resulting from climate change; it increases the chances of dramatic swings in weather. With California’s the intension snowfall in December causing thousands of people to be snow in then to the driest January California has seen since the late 1800s. Climate change has also caused the higher temperatures to melt high-elevation snowpacks. The snowpacks can ease the drought by storing winter snow and slowly melting it in the spring, but California doesn’t get this extra level of help for their dry months because it is melting before it usually does. I wonder if this pattern of severe winter storms followed by dry months will continue. I am also curious what it will take for California to get out of its drought if it is more rainfall or a decrease in temperature.