Tag: ENVIRONMENT

From Trade-Off To Transition: The Power Dynamics of a Green Industrial Revolution & COVID-19

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Featured image by Michal Klodner

By Rebeca Camacho
Managing Editor

From an array of sectors and institutions going remote, to entire countries enforcing strict stay-at-home orders worldwide, it appears as though the coronavirus pandemic has, by and large, completely reshaped society’s energy consumption. According to the International Energy Agency, global greenhouse gas emissions will fall nearly eight percent this year, the largest drop recorded in modern history. The significance of this figure, however, goes beyond the observation of a temporary halt to the population’s general behavioral patterns. Examining governmental responses to the free fall of power usage provides us with a glimpse into how the energy trade-offs of today could pave the way into the transition to a greener future tomorrow.

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China’s Paradox: Economic Stimulation vs. Climate Catastrophe Aversion

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Environmental inspectors in northern China have found that seventy percent of the businesses they examined failed to meet environmental standards for controlling air pollution. (Photo by Ella Ivanescu)

by Rachel Chiang
Staff Writer

This is a familiar story: China is to blame for climate change, with twenty-seven percent of global greenhouse gases emanating from within its borders. Operating under the desire to generate capital, the “authoritarian” Chinese state condones crippling levels of pollution, to the point at which face masks are daily necessities embraced by residents of Beijing. Any efforts to be environmentally conscious in the United States are futile since China will continue the reckless expansion of its carbon footprint.

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AI: Changing the Tides of Water Sustainability

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By Tanvi Bajaj
Staff Writer

In 2015, Senator James Inhofe confidently stepped onto the Senate floor, carrying a snowball. He then explained how global warming (and, in effect, climate change) could simply not exist since it was cold enough outside for the snowball he was holding in his hand to form.  

While laughable, Senator Inhofe’s argument is indicative of the centuries of neglect the environment has suffered at human hands. 

Today, sea levels are rising, glaciers are melting, forests are burning, and animals are dying. 

It’s clear that something needs to change. 

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