Breathing Easier

Thank goodness the U.S. decided to announce a great step to step up environmental policy initiative just as we finish up in Copenhagen. Released today, the U.S. acknowledges that greenhouse gases are harmful and can be deadly to humans. This means that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can now monitor and limit pollution into the atmosphere without Congressional approval, which in the past was what held up the U.S.'s environmental action.

The news came as global climate talks got under way in Copenhagen, Denmark aimed at forging a deal on major emissions cuts.

The best part is that it helps to legitimize the Copenhagen Talks. Some news pundits, who clearly know nothing and yet influence a HUGE portion of populous, were beginning to speculate that the talks were failing since President Obama (who wasn't even supposed to attend, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was) is only attending the closing sessions. President Obama attending shows how important he feels this conference is.

After working on climate change issues with small island nations for the past two years I could not be more happy that this announcement was made. I am equally pleased with the bilateral agreements made between nations leading up to Copenhagen, such as the one between France and Brazil promoting more responsible logging and preservation of the Amazon and the rain forest. (The linked article, entitled, "France and Brazil joined forces on Saturday to press the United States and China to make significant concessions at next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen" is really interesting for any Poly Sci/ Env Sci geek. Please take a look if you have time.)

Of course, the Green movement has been going on for some time in France. I recently was reminded of this great music video from 2006.

SO, now that the U.S. is leading by example and developing countries like Brazil are recognizing their responsibilities to environmental protection and emissions... Well, India and China, the ball is in your court.

Photography note: The rain forest that is pictured is actually in Costa Rica, where I spent a summer working to protect turtles from poachers and help the MINAE forestry department preserve the Arenal Volcano Park. It's not Brazil, but I haven't gotten there yet. ;)

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Lightbulbs and BANNED IN CHINA!?

In an attempt to be more energy efficient apparently Congress has decided to force us all to purchase energy efficient light bulbs starting in 2012.

I think this is the most genius thing they have ever done. Sometimes people are too stupid to know what is good for them.

FOR EXAMPLE: Purchasing energy efficient bulbs for 30 sockets in your home would cost $90 more than purchasing incandescent bulbs. HOWEVER this investment would save you between $500 and $1500 dollars over 5 years on your energy bill. A CFL uses 800 FEWER watts a day, or .15 cents less on your bill. That's 4$ a month. The bulb pays for itself in one month! In addition to the bulbs using less energy to produce the same amount of light, they also need to be replaced 1/4th as often. It's just good household economics!

What's next?
LED lights on your Christmas tree: only costing about .30 cents per day if left on for 24 hours!
Solar powered water heater!
Insulating all your pipes so they don't take more energy to heat and cool!

And as we all know, saving energy slows climate change which means your kids won't be seapeople. :D

IN OTHER NEWS, I have just learned that my blog has been banned in China. I feel pretty bad about that. I probably shouldn't have blogged about the Berlin Wall. Or climate change. Or democracy...

Dear China,

Please UNban my blog because I love China. We can talk about Taiwan at a later date. And the human rights violations. And Tibet. And the one child policy.

Yep. so unbanning... NOW!

kthanks. <3 Alya

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Winter is Here!

Perhaps this post is a little premature since the official start of winter is December 21, BUT the tree in front of my house lost its very last yellow-brown leaf this morning and as a result: I DECLARE THAT AUTUMN IS OVER, AND WINTER HAS BEGUN!

Oooooh I feel like I have so much power! What else can I declare?

I DECLARE THE UNITED STATES TO BE A FREE COUNTRY!

See, now we're getting fancy.

I DECLARE CLIMATE CHANGE TO BE A REAL PHENOMENON!

Does this declaration clear things up for some people who are on the fence? I hope so.

I DECLARE STUFFING TO BE YUMMY!

Man this is nice. I never knew I had so much power... I think I will use my powers for good.

When my ego gets this big I like to remind myself of the time I tried to use Kathleen's Picture in Picture TV. I figured out how to get two channels to show up at the same time, but then I couldn't change either of those channels, and none of the buttons responded, so I was stuck watching Fox News with an inset screen of Dora the Explorer for fifteen minutes until the cable guy who was setting up her internet came and shut off the TV for me.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Widget!

My fancy new widget shows me where people visit from. This is pretty cool since I already have EIGHT countries!

The U.S., Malaysia, India, Morocco, Sweden, Singapore, Canada, and Indonesia.

NOW, let's dissect this a little, shall we? I KNOW who the New Haven Connecticut hit came from: ME. I know where the Singapore came from (JP), I know the Morocco and Canada, the TX, MO, PA and NY hits are all people I know. One of the India hits is another blogger who I emailed after seeing his blog on books. The one in LA is my friend Shane and his blog on books and creative writing is here.

WHICH ONE OF YOU told all your friends in Malaysia to check out my site? How did seven Malaysian cities register? What's strange about the hit counter is that I wish I could see EVEN more detailed information. I wish I could see addresses within the towns when I get multiple hits from Madras, India. BTW, Tangerang, Indonesia is pretty much the coolest name for a city ever.

Don't you wish you could get like a big map and a bunch of virtual pins and pin the IP addresses on here? I know I do! This counter is both an excellent tool for marketing, but also a fun widget for me since my wanderlust controls me. It makes me still feel as though I have some connection to the outside world despite my being stuck in my parent's attic.

Before I go I wanted to make a special mention that the last leaves are falling off the trees. This autumn, the foliage was delayed a full two weeks. While this was a pleasure because it meant a prolonging of the season and warmth of fall, it is a sure sign of the global climate change we all fear. This prolonging in seasonal change prevents ice from freezing properly and therefore means the arctic ice sheet will break up even faster than usual this Spring. I want to wish the members of the United Nations and President Obama the best of luck at the Copenhagen Summit this week. It is my hope that they make decisions and come to agreements that are best for humanity, even if individual humans lose out.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

UPDATE!!

Thanks to a friend of mine, I found a site that lets me show a MAP!!! However, this will only refresh every 24 hours so you'll have to come back this time tomorrow to see the international awesomeness!

The Ethical Journalist

My father has been in a tiny Russian town for the past few days and just got back on Skype for the first time in a while this morning. We were catching up and he said he had just finished an interview with someone from the New York Times.

Coincidentally, I had just finished an article in the New York Times by a certain reporter at the UN who makes a habit of being very unethical in his reporting. He never identifies himself, he snoops and eavesdrops, and he is what I call a garbage collector. What makes me very upset is that he made front page of the International news section today with an article I suggested to him back in October. In fact, I gave a whole statement about how climate change affects low lying island nations in second committee. Yeah, that's right, cause I used to be somebody.

There are words for people like him. This is not that kind of a blog.

I also may have mentioned in the context of ensuring people behave morally and ethically my desire to join the marines.

My father said, "Don't go from a serious discussion about relative versus absolute to absolute rubbish." When I told him I had been seriously considering it as an option for many months, he followed up with, "Seems like a particularly anti-intellectual endeavor for an intellectual young person. Unless you want to be an astronaut."

I take that to mean he does not want me to join the reserves... Thanks Dad, opinion noted.

For the record, I do want to be an astronaut. Space is cool. But I am afraid of heights. Fail.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya