Green Airways

 

As I have previously discussed in my blog, the automotive industry has taken large strides to become more fuel efficient. With the amount of hybrid and electric cars trucks, and buses on the rise the automotive industry is lowering its carbon footprint by the day. However, the same cannot be said for the aviation industry. For example, last summer I traveled from Atlanta, Georgia to Madrid, Spain. This round trip alone emitted 3,385 pounds of CO₂. The aviation industry must begin to find ways of conducting business that uses less energy and cuts back on the reliance of fossil fuels. Richard Branson, CEO Virgin Atlantic Airways, recently discussed the need for the airline industry to move towards sustainability. Branson believes that a sustainable commercial alternative to jet fuel needs to be implemented in the aviation industry. In February 2008, Virgin conducted a test flight from London to Amsterdam using a fuel that mixed 80% kerosene with 20% biofuel. Using alternative fuels is just part of Virgin’s long term sustainability plan. By 2020 Virgin Atlantic has pledged to make a pledge to make a 30% carbon reduction per passenger per kilometer and to providing renewable fuels for the entire fleet of planes. To make this pledge come to fruition, over the past five years Branson has invested, through Virgin and personal expenses, in ethanol plants in the US and developing biofuel companies. Through his actions Branson is forging an admiral path to sustainability, in an industry that is lacking behind most others. Hopefully other airways will follow suit, and we will have green air travel in the coming years.

Public Interest Environmental Lawyering

 

 Today I attended a panel discussion on environmental lawyering. Panel participants include Professor Dean Hill Rivkin of The University of Tennessee College of Law, Stephanie Kodish of the National Parks Conservation Association, Stephanie Matheny of the Tennessee Clean Water Network, Sam Evans of the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Mary Cromer of the Appalachian Citizens Law Center.  The lawyers discussed various things about their jobs including: What do you do? Where does your job fit into the greater scheme of sustainability? Why do you do what you do? What are the rewards and Challenges? How do science and data fit in? and What animates your work? While these answers were intriguing, I found the two most interesting things to be the amount of public interest environmental lawyers and the overall purpose of public interest environmental lawyers. Currently there are only around 750 public interest environmental lawyers in the United States compared to the nearly 25,000 corporate lawyers. This statistic means it is incredibly difficult for public interest environmental lawyers to fight against big business. Additionally, since there are so few public interest environmental lawyers, the lawyers have to be extremely selective about the cases they take and cannot effectively defend the entirety of the public interest. This leads to many companies getting away with violations against government policies such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Public interest environmental lawyers can be called the great internalizes. Their work forces companies that pollute to internalize the costs associated with the external effects of their pollution. These companies now factor in externalities when making decisions. Public interest environmental law seems like an interesting and expanding field for upcoming lawyers.

Food, Inc.

 

 

Today I viewed an extraordinary movie entitled Food, Inc. Food, Inc. is a 2008 documentary concerning the American food industry. It is directed by Robert Kenner and is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser. The film examines many facets of both corporate farming and organic farming in the United States. To be honest after watching this film I felt slightly overwhelmed, very informed, and a little scared. It is common knowledge that organic food is healthier for you then factory farm meat and genetically engineered food, but I never realized how wide the health margin between the two truly is. The film raises so many issues that it would be impossible for me to discuss all of them in one post, so I will only discuss the one that shocked me the most. Before viewing this film, I had no idea that a company could patent genetically engineered seeds. This concept that a company can patent a source of life seems foreign and unnatural to me. Additionally, I do not see how Monsanto, who provides the technology in 90% of the genetically engineered seeds used in the US market, can run operations like they do. Monsanto has the power, and uses it, to bully farmers into doing exactly what they want and forcing them to either buy their seed or get out of the soybean business. A company with this kind of power and this kind of market share constitutes a monopoly in my mind. After viewing this movie there is no question in my mind that the United States needs to implement food policy reform starting with removing the ability to patent genetically altered crops and introducing stricter regulations in the raising and slaughtering of meat. I encourage anyone who has not seen this movie to check it out.

Wind Energy in India

 

India is currently the world’s third largest greenhouse gas producer. As India’s population continues to grow larger and larger, India will continue to need more and more energy. This is a scary thought considering the fact that we need to drastically cut fossil fuel consumption as soon as possible to avoid catastrophic effects. General Electric is helping combat India’s potential fossil fuel reliance by investing 50 million dollars into a company called Greenko. Greenko is an Indian green energy which currently owns and operates seven hydroelectric plants, six biomass plants, and one gas/liquid fuel plant. Together these clean energy plants provide 183 megawatts of clean energy to India every year. The 50 million dollar investment will be enough to build 500 megawatts of wind projects across the country of India. Greenko's President Mahesh Kolli stated that this investment combined with the revue made from the investment will be enough to propel the company to its goal of providing 1 gigawatt of clean electricity by 2016. Currently 14 gigawatts of energy are provided to India each year by wind turbines. It has been estimated that India has the capacity to support 45 gigawatts of energy from wind turbines. It is exciting to see India take such a large step in the direction of sustainable energy. Also, this is a great investment for General Electric who is currently the world’s third largest producer of wind turbines. It is estimated that at least 30 states in the United States have the potential to be self-sustaining clean energy providers, so hopefully we will see similar investments in the United States in the coming years.

Lunch at Chipotle

 

Today my sustainability in a changing world class took a field trip to our local Chipotle. My class is currently studying the aspects of sustainability concerning the food industry. For those of you who are not aware Chipotle is leading the charge towards environmentally friendly restaurants. The efforts to be environmentally include buying naturally raised animals and locally grown produce. Since 2001 100% of the pigs Chipotle purchases are raised outside or in deeply bedded pens are never given antibiotics and are fed a vegetarian diet. Currently Chipotle purchases 80% of its beef raised in the conditions listed above. Naturally raised beef is a scarce commodity, but Chipotle will continue to search for it until 100% of its beef is naturally raised. Presently 35% of dairy products used at Chipotle come from pasture raised cows. They are constantly searching for more sources of pasture raised dairy cows.  It is required by law not to give chickens growth hormones, but Chipotle takes it a step farther and refuses to purchase chickens if they have been given antibiotics or fed with additional additives such as arsenic. Chipotle also believes in serving the freshest locally grown vegetables possible. Chipotle plans to serve at least 50% of at least one produce item from local farms when it is seasonally available. Chipotle’s efforts to save the environment include the restaurants themselves. Recently a Chipotle opened a restaurant in Gurnee, IL. This establishment became the first restaurant to ever receive platinum certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.

Link to Chipotle Video: http://youtu.be/aMfSGt6rHos