Month: April 2020

Bill McKibben states, “If they [Exxon, BP, etc.] carry out their business plan, the planet tanks.”

1. Play Devil’s Advocate for Exxon, BP or some other Petrochemical company. Don’t they deserve an opportunity to run their business, just as the Home Depot, JetBlue, or Whole Foods does? Pretend you are Rex Tillerson or some other exec at Exxon or BP. Argue for your right to run a business. What would you claim the benefits are? A good business plan is one that always accounts for growth. What happens to your “growth” after the fossil fuel reserves runs out (which we learned was around 2795 gigatons at the time this movie was made)?  

I think that they realize that fossil fuel won’t always be around so they need to make the most out of it and capitalize to make the most amount of money they can. Because once it’s gone it’s gone.

Van Jones states that other businesses can’t “put garbage on the street” for free, claiming that the fossil fuel companies are the only businesses who get to pollute for free. He adds that “doing otherwise would impair their ability to make money.”

2. Reflect on this analogy. Do you agree that the fossil fuel industry is polluting our environment with no repercussions? If you do agree, what penalty do you think they should receive for polluting for free? If you disagree, explain your answer.

aI believe that they are polluting the environment. For example they are putting their waste into the ocean and making the ocean unlivable for aquatic life. I feel that they should record the amount of waste they dispose improperly into the environment. To prevent it they should be fined by the pound a hefty amount. Thus preventing them from polluting the environment.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF MATH
To level the playing field, Bill McKibben suggests we use taxpayer money to make the shift to green energy.

3. From what you understand about the candidates running for president (both Republican, Democrat or Green/Independent), who among them do you think would agree with this idea the most? You may consider those who have already withdrawn from the race as well. Make your case for this candidate, highlighting why you think they might agree with McKibben. [No need to do any research on candidates; just make a case for who among them you think would agree most with McKibben]

I think the independent will. The two power parties (republican and democrat) are both being funded by very wealthy people to help support their campaign. these people will also influence the decisions that they make. Also, history has shown recently both parties aren’t worried about it. Obama let the keystone pipeline go when he was in office and Trump is still letting it go today.

WHO COULD RESIST?  T/F 

4.The profit from hydrocarbons: 137 Billion in one year. T/F

true

 5. The Profit from hydrocarbons: 375 mil a day. T/F

true

 6. 6 mil in tax breaks for fossil fuel companies. T/F

ture

 7. Rex Tillerson was appointed as the Secretary of State in Trump’s cabinet when Trump got elected. Before that, he was the CEO of Exxon where he made $100,000 a day. T/F  

true

8. He has since been replaced with Mike Pompeo. T/F

true

IF THEY WERE SERIOUS…

Bill McKibben indicates there are 3 things the CEOs of fossil fuel companies would do if they were serious.

9. List the 3 things the CEOs should do if they were serious about reducing carbon emissions.   

produce less toxins

proper use of getting rid of waste

use up less fossil fuels

FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE

Since it appears that profit is the only thing that matters to fossil fuel companies, Jim Hansen suggests that we must “fight fire is with fire.” Bill McKibben adds that we must “take away their veneer of respectability” by divesting. Divesting means to not invest in oil companies.

10. Colleges across the country took this charge seriously, with Maine’s very own Unity College being the first to divest as an institution. The president of that college, Stephen Mulkey, argues a great point when he states, “It is inconsistent with the reason these institutions [colleges] exist for them to continue to invest in something that is dedicated to the destruction of civilization.” Unpack this statement. If UNE is dedicated to YOUR future, is it hypocritical of them to invest in Exxon, BP and other fossil fuel companies?

I believe that in some ways it is because these companies are ruining this earth with how they are polluting it and disposing of waste improperly. AT the same time though UNE may need oil or gas to run certain things on campus, so i think the main thing for UNE is to minimize the use of fossil fuels as much as possible, but at the same time it’s hard to get away from.

11. Do you know if  UNE has divested its endowment away from the companies which are destroying your future?

I know UNE tries to incorporate things that are “green” as much as possible. for example when they build the new commons they tried to make it as green as possible

12. Would you ask President Herbert the question directly, if you had the chance?

If somehow the topic got brought up I would, but it wouldn’t be the first thing that comes to mind to say.

A MORAL CATASTROPHE

Sierra Club President Michael Brune is quoted in the movie as saying, “We will have a moral catastrophe on our hands” if nothing is done. When I was in college, back in 1992, I was an active member of a college club called Campus Women’s Alliance at Colorado State University. We basically educated people about feminism and the inequality toward women that is built into social and economic systems. The president of the club liked to borrow an adage from the 60’s movement: “If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”

13. If you agree that it will take an effort on everybody’s part to change the numbers of gigatons of CO2, then what are you willing to do? Do you agree with this adage, that if you are not working towards solving this problem, then you are part of the problem? Explain why/ why not

I believe that we are all part of the problem. We all do something that pollutes the earth in on way that we can all prevent. I know when I get bored I like to go for drives. That send toxins into the earth’s atmosphere. I can stop that to help reduce the amount and if everyone does their little part it will cause a big impact on a healthier planet.

I’m ranking these on a 1-10 scale.

1. _Flow/cohesion/clarity of thoughts in each paragraph as demonstrated by easy-to-read sentences with little to no grammatical or punctuation errors

I think for this section I deserve a 8 out of 10. I think the flow of the essay was really good and that there were some good transitions. I think it was pretty clear and easy to understand as well. After reading this i know that there were some errors in grammer and that’s one of my biggest issues, and I’m still trying to improve on it.

1. ___Thesis. Is your thesis a position, something you can argue for? Or mere observation? Have you taken it to the next level by starting off with a subordinate clause such as “Because” “Despite the fact” “Since” or “Although”?

I think my thesis is a 10 out of 10. I think this was a strong thesis that I had. Also I used that thesis to anchor my paper, and in every paragraph I used my info to relate it back to my thesis.

1. ___Development of ideas throughout paper using your “bread crumb trail” ie transitions

I give myself a 9 out of 10 for this one I think that my transitions were very good and they help organize my paper and make the paper flow nicely

1. ___TRIAC elements and mastery

I would give myself a 9 out of 10 for this. I implemented all aspects of the TRIAC formula in my paper where they needed to be and I think I used them very effectively.

1. ___Barclay’s formula elements and mastery. Are your 2 sources in the Barclay’s graph relevant to each other as well as to the overall arc of the paper?

I think for Barclay’s paragraph is a good 9 out of 10. I used two sources in the paragraph. I transitioned between them both well I think. They were both analyzed well and it was clear that they related back to my thesis. The one thing about it is that I think it could have been chopped up a little bit so it didn’t seem too lengthy.

1. ___Naysayer clear and relevant? Is it more than one sentence that starts “some may argue”?

I think for my naysayers paragraph is a 9 out of 10. I made it very clear about how people may find it relevant and also brought in a quote to support it. After that Though I used good reasoning and went back to my thesis to explain why they were wrong to go forward with gene editing.

1. ___Development of ideas and organization. Do your paragraphs follow a logical path? Is there a clear relationship between your claim sentences and your original position (thesis)? Are your claim sentences the “foot soldiers” for your thesis?

I will give myself a 8 out of 10 for this one. I think that My story was pretty organized and had a good flow. I think the claim sentences I came up with helped me map out my paper and supported my thesis very well.

1. ___Quotes. How well does your evidence from the texts illustrate a point or prove a point? Are there any coyote quotes evident in your essay? Are you stretching your “signal verb” glossary by using active signal verbs like “argues” “claims” “discusses” “urges” “explores” etc?

For my quotes I believe that I deserve a 10 out of 10. I used the necessary amount of quotes and I believe hat I chose great quotes and analyzed them pretty well. Also the quotes I used they fueled my argument and supported my thesis very well.

1. ___MLA. Are your in-text citations correct? Have you correctly cited when using paraphrase? Are other sources besides Lama correctly cited? And how does that Works Cited page look.

I believe for this one I deserve a 7 out of 10. I’m usually really good about having my citation in my paper, but I was looking over mine and realized I left out one citation. Other than that I think for the most part mine were good. Also my bibliography was pretty good too.

1. ___Intro. Is your thesis stated clearly? Do you grab the reader with a hook? Are your sources introduced? Has the background of the issue been stated sufficiently?

For this one I’m gong to give myself a 10 out of 10. This is because I feel that I had a very strong hook in my paper and I added all the needed background info, and lastly I had a very clear thesis in my paper.

1. ___Conclusion. Is your conclusion a confident pronouncement of “I SAY”? Does it re-state your position/thesis? Does it leave the reader compelled to ask more questions about the subject beyond the last sentence, using either a hypothetical or rhetorical device? Does it warn of the consequences should your action plan/thesis proposal not be heeded? Does it offer a “celebration tale” if your thesis is followed?

For my conclusion I believe that I get and 8 out of 10. I think my conclusion does pretty well wrapping everything up. I gave a solution that could potentially help gene mutations. We just need time.

Dalai Lama says it is best exaggerating to us “it is simply to point out that we must become aware of the awesome implications of this new area of science” (Lama 63). Dalai Lama is surely right about becoming more aware of the implications of gene getting because as technology advances we will get closer to being able to successfully edit genes. We need to know how that fully effects a human though before we jump right into testing on humans.

 Also, they believe that Gene editing can get rid of a hereditary disease when a baby is an embryo and not even close to being born. Dalai Lama even touches on this topic: “So it is conceivable if we humans utilize our newly found genetic knowledge skillfully, it could help foster a greater sense of affinity and unity not only with our fellow human beings but life as a whole”(Lama 67). Dalai Lama is surely right about this because as he may not be aware people like He Janiku are rushing gene-editing studies before anything can be concluded about them. Showing that running these experiment is more important than knowing about the implications first