November 2014 - Achieving Sustainability

SustainabLINKS November 10, 2014

November 9, 2014November 10, 2014 by Aaron Redman

Whatever else this election was, it appears to be foreboding for Sustainability, whether it is national climate policy, state level climate action, or a deep seated antipathy for the EPA, though some saw a silver lining.
Though I guess if our politicians are not going to do anything, maybe we can learn how to resolve our climate challenges from aliens.
Michael Levi has a good point that talking about the cost of “ideal” climate policies is not very relevant because these only will be implemented in economist’s models, never in the real world.
A moral argument for renewable energy.
Ensuring honest and accurate “green” labeling is a vital role that governments can play as is demonstrated by the monster fine be levied by the US on Korean carmakers for misstating their cars’ mileage.
Sustainability Science is Puzzling. My take: the role of Sustainability professionals should be to look at the whole picture on the puzzle box and not just a piece or two-that is the role of disciplines.

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A Look at Technology in the Classroom in Mexico

November 5, 2014November 6, 2014 by Aaron Redman

During our time teaching in Mexico, we have surveyed our students about a variety of topics, the results of which I will share bit by bit as I begin to delve into the data. To begin with I looked at the responses of the students from our interdisciplinary elective course on Sustainability from the spring … Read more…

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SustainabLINKS November 2, 2014

November 2, 2014November 3, 2014 by Aaron Redman

Ever wondered what people where talking about with this Anthropocene. Michael Schoon has a nice brief overview.
Vox.com discusses why bike share users tend to be wealthier despite the fact the poor are more likely to use bikes as their main form of transportation.
Earlier Vox also featured an interesting discussion of possible reasons why carpooling has declined in America. I wonder how the so-called sharing economy will even further effect this trend.
Vox was really on a Sustainability tear this week with an interesting article on dams stemming out of a new paper cataloging dam building plans around the world.
Climate Change as always merits several mentions:
- The big news this week was the release of the IPCC’s Synthesis report. For a synthesis of the synthesis check out National Geographic’s five takeaways or Vox’s seven.
- Ruth Graham reflects on how a previous energy transition (from wood to coal heating) can assist us in the one we confront now.
- If Chile can do it why can’t we? Chile implements a carbon tax cover more than half of their emissions.

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