Session #9 - April 13 (afternoon), Barbara Finamore

[cgao]

The reading assignment for this session is attached below. 

 

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[Marcos Rico]

The way things are currently going it seems like China is our last hope at saving the planet. After reaching an all time high level of air pollution( along with water pollution, and soil pollution), China has started to make a big change for the best. It took China a long time to realize that ecomomic benefit should not be achieved at the expense of the environment. It is more expensive to clean up the environment, than to avoid polluting it.

Unfortunately the other world big player, United States of America, under the current administration has done a big u turn on the protection of the environment. Trump has claimed that global warming is a Chinese hoax, and withdrew the United States of America from the Paris Accord. Currently the United States is the only country in the world that is not part of this accord. Currently the United States policies are favoring economic profit over the environment, a big step backwards from former policies that offered more protection to the environment.

https://vimeo.com/189466561 (The Paris Agreement in a Nutshell)

 

[Scott Craig]

You are absolutely correct in your statements. It is truly tragic how one person/administration can have such a negative impact on a major issue such as pollution (air, water, & soil). We can only hope that after November 2020 things will change and the US will join China in making improvements to try and save our planet.

[Scott Craig]

The reading and lecture were very eye-opening for me. I already knew about the problems with our environment and the negative effects industrialization have had on it. What was new for me was the impact a few changes can have. I'm very impressed by the changes China has made and the improvements that have come from those changes. It was also disappointing to see just how much the US has gone backwards in its efforts to improve the environment. Growing up in the sixties and seventies I saw how bad pollution was and how the US was making strides to improve it. Even though we still have a long way to go, the current administration has halted all progress and work towards improving the environment. We definitely need to follow the example of China and take a much more active role in not only lessening the negative impact on the environment, but doing our part ot help clean up the mess we've made. Barbar Finamore should be applauded for her efforts and the efforts of her organization at working to make the world a cleaner and better place.

[Amy Chen]

The opening to the reading, "Will China Save the Planet?" highlights the current problem with the U.S. President blaming other countries instead of coming up with his own solutions for his own country, one that produces the most environmental harm.  Over the years, China has made efforts to make changes. At the Copenhagen summit, China got most of the blame for the world's current state of climate change.  As a result, Chinese leaders have made efforts to head toward cleaner energy.

[Dan Thalkar]

The presentation was very eye-opening for me. While I was aware of China's contributions to pollution, I was unaware of how much China has done to counteract and slow down pollution. China's leaders have made many explicit policy decisions focused on cleaner energy, while the leaders of the U.S. continue to support fossil fuels. It was a reminder that, for all the U.S. attempts to regulate global policy, we often excempt ourselves from the same standards. There are many ways to use this information in a classroom - as an environmentalism case study, in a government class, as a comparison with U.S. policy, and as a project where, when faced with the same challenges as China, they could determine how they would respond. 

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I did not know that china had the largest affect on the greenhouse affect. Which on the upside makes me glad to know that they are now on board with working towards decreasing their effect, and be more environmentally friendly. However, this doesn’t really make me feel too excited about the fact that the current president has pulled the country out of the Paris Agreement. I found it interesting that there was a difference in what GHG requirement were enforced based on whether they were considered developed or developing countries. I believe that this is a big reason as to why this problem exists at such a large scale. It is so common for developed countries to take their machines, or tools that no longer meet the requirements, and sell them to developing countries. That doesn’t help, I think that in part those countries selling those machines to other countries are still in part, responsible for those green house gas emissions.

[Linda Gonzales Diaz]

I agree Amy, unfortunately, our country is the largest producer of air pollution after China, (https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/each-countrys-share-of-co2.html) As far as waste pollution, we are #1 especially because our love for and dependance on disposable items (https://sites.google.com/site/iilyear4/top-10-countries-that-produce-the-most-waste). We use things once and throw them out, thinking that it's gone and disappeared because after all, out of sight out mind.  America has to face the hard truth that we are a largest contributor to the problem and must work to find soutions to our country's behavior that causes effects on a global level. This will take a huge shift in our behaviors and the way we live our everyday lives because it will take a collective reflection of our wastefulness and the conscious changes we will need to make to change them. 

[Linda Gonzales Diaz]

I think that the steps China has taken toward combatting air pollution in their country and globally is really comendable. It shows that they are serious about it. They saw the negative effects it was having on thier citizens' health and chose to make real change. In order to make change on such a grand scale, some real moves must be made and these moves usually require money.  China was willing to invest in new technology and various sources of green power.  They are providing grants for scientists to develop these new technologies.  That is something that America is yet to fully commit to. Instead we have a leader promising to bring back the use of coal and therefore the dying and dangerous industry of coal mining. So will China save the World? Well, they are sure setting forth a good example, if the rest of the developed nations follow suit, we may have some real change and progress in the future.

[Gerlinde Goschi]

In her book, Barbara Finamore describes how she witnessed "China's emergence on the internaional climate stage in June 1991."  China's economy has been built on coal leading to a sharp increase in China's CO2 emissions starting 1991 (about 2.23 metric tons) continuing through to 2010's (about 7.54 metric tons). These emissions went down from 2013 to 2017. Barbara Finamore asks these important questions in her book: How did China evolve from being a "climate change resister to being a forceful advocate of global climate governance"?  I would love to pose these questions to my class and give them guidelines on the research the students could do.  Then, we would have a class discussion or group presentation about their findings.  A very helpful website mentioned in class is https://www.chinadialogue.net/

[Gerlinde Goschi]

Thank you for posting the video.  I will show it to my class during our "Sharing the Planet" unit.  Challenging lessons about environmental issues are one of my students' favorite topics.  This video summarizes the ideas really well.  I agree, China is at the forefront of saving the planet and the innovative solutions it is implementing mentioned by Barbara Finamore are impressive. As mentioned in class renewable energy is growing faster in China than anywhere else with China leading the way.  China has most investments for solar power installing more solar capacity in 2017 than any other countries. China's goal to get the world's energy to 85% renewable by 2050  demonstrates its commitment and leadership in making the planet greener and saving. 

 

[Dennis O'Connell]

What a pleasure to learn about China and its unique position to impact global environmental quality from someone who has worked on all aspects of the issue for decades!  Barbara Finamore was engaging and informative.  Due to our interactions, I went out and bought her book, "Will China Save the Planet?".  I look forward to reading it and gaining more insight about "behind-the-scenes" things that are happening regarding US and Chinese involvement in the fight for global environmental quality.  I thought one of the telling quotes of the presentation was, "When the winds of change begin to blow, some build walls while others build windmills."  How appropriate for today's political climate!  The winds of change certainly have been blowing across our globe.  Which nations will step up to be leaders in renewable energy?  Which nations will benefit economically from solutions which work?  How will all global citizens benefit as the quality of air and water improves?  Solar power, wind power, and electric vehicles have been experimented with for years.  Now is the time to make tougher decisions regarding their priortity in funding and research and development. While companies are involved, we also need a stronger government involvement in order to make our future energy situation secure.  The future seems to be now!

[Kim Leng]

Barbara’s a great lecturer.  China seems to be leading the way to reduce pollution, however, a large part of me kept questioning…is it too late for all of us?

I had no idea that China’s BYD (Build Your Dreams) had a plant in Lancaster since 2013 building electric busses!  I found an interesting news article here:https://insideevs.com/news/343785/byd-produced-its-300th-electric-bus-in-lancaster-california/ with a video.  According to Patrick Dunn, BYD’s Vice President of Operations, the company only had a dozen employees in 2013 and now employs over 750 people!  I’m impressed by how much the company has grown in under 10 years.  It also started with just making one bus model and now has 12 different models that they deliver to all over the United States. It’s great that the company is making so much progress. China does seem to lead in changing our environment.  I just hope it’s not too late.

[Kim Leng]

I’m also curious about Barbara’s book and may just read it this year.  We’ve abused our planet for so many years.  I remember when Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth came out in 2006 and there were still people who thought that climate change was a hoax. And to know that Trump still calls climate change a hoax is unbelievable!  I admire that China is investing in solar panels and tapping into renewable energy. If we just ignore the problem, nothing gets resolved. 

[Dan Thalkar]

Kim,

Thanks for sharing this article and information. I also had no idea about the plant. It could be an interesting research project to use this plant as a starting point to look at how China's policies are affecting the rest of the world. Additionally, students could argue whether they think China's plan will be effective or, as you ask, it is too late. The answer might depend on what other nations around the world do, so students could also develop plans regarding what they think needs to happen in order to globally reduce pollution. 

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