Wednesday, May 15Maximizing our Collective Impact

Month: November 2022

A Summary of The Inflation Reduction Act
10Nov By Riley SheltonNo Comments
Global News & Policy

A Summary of The Inflation Reduction Act

Riley Shelton Signed into law on August 16, 2022 by President Joe Biden, the Inflation Reduction Act is meant to lower prescription drug costs, curb inflation, lower healthcare insurance, and incentivize clean energy. Pouring $370 billion (Penn Today, 2022) into legislation addressing climate change, this bill is extremely progressive in terms of environmental legislation.  By Elson Bankoff This bill was initially proposed by Biden as the “Build Back Better Act.” It was meant to make the largest public investments into social, infrastructural, and environmental programs since the New Deal during the Great Depression. Passage of the Build Back Better Act was halted when West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (Democrat) pulled his support due to his opinion that the bill consisted of ov...
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Patagonia Takes Control of the Fight Against Climate Change
10Nov By Quinn LaudenNo Comments
Pop Culture

Patagonia Takes Control of the Fight Against Climate Change

By Quinn Lauden Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, recently made a monumental contribution to the fight against climate change. Chouinard, the rock climber turned environmental entrepreneur, gave away 100 percent of Patagonia’s equity to the earth this past September. With 98% of the stock going to the Holdfast Collection, a non-profit, and the other 2% of stock and decision-making transferred to a trust, Chouinard has made the earth the only shareholder of the $3 billion company (McCormick, The Guardian). This act does not come as a surprise to many. Patagonia, a clothing company specializing in outdoor apparel, has been recognized for supporting numerous causes, especially their support of the fight against climate change. Patagonia announced the transfer of ownership throu...
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Sustainable Agricultural Practices Help Farmers Adapt to Climate Change
10Nov By Tara PrakashNo Comments
Community News & Policy

Sustainable Agricultural Practices Help Farmers Adapt to Climate Change

By Tara Prakash Jose and his wife, Aurelia, are farmers in Guatemala, working on the land their families have owned forever. The views are breathtaking, with endless fields covering lush mountains, and the air is clean and fresh. But, it’s a difficult life.  Farming on a steep mountainside, Jose and Aurelia’s fields are often subject to harsh weather.  Relying on a single cash crop (coffee), their income is precarious and shockingly low. They earn roughly two hundred dollars per year if they’re lucky. They live far from cities in an isolated and rural area with limited access to resources. Planting on poor mountainside land with unpredictable rainfall and no irrigation, they have no control over global coffee prices or the weather patterns that affect their crop growth and therefore, t...
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Climate Change Is Here, If Hurricane Ian Is Any Indication
10Nov By Anya VedantambeNo Comments
Eco-STEM

Climate Change Is Here, If Hurricane Ian Is Any Indication

By Anya Vedantambe Beginning on September 23, 2022, Tropical Storm Ian swept through the Caribbean, devastating the Southeastern Coast of the United States. Claiming over 110 lives, this was the deadliest storm in Florida since 1935 (AccuWeather, 2022). The damage caused by Hurricane Ian can lead to insight into some of the effects that climate change will have on our planet. But isn’t climate change supposed to be something well off into the future? We can see now how rising sea levels, extreme weather, and uncontrollable flooding are not just intangible instances existing far off into the 21st century and beyond. If Hurricane Ian is any indication, the effects of climate change are already here.  News outlets began to release stories coming from Florida ranging from firefight...
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Untitled
8Nov By Quinn LaudenNo Comments
Literature

Untitled

By Quinn Lauden a beam of light sets slowly over a sharp rigidly beautiful mountain but it has yet to rise again we are stuck in the dark in the smoke we are searching for air but are guided by suits with dollars for eyes whose goal just is not the same the seas, the fields, the skies, the tides, are being taken over by ignorance by shortsighted vision for the green of a paper, for the benefit of an account, of a status and this beauty of the world that surrounds us is lessening. the trees are not as colorful the grass is not as green the oceans, not as clear. And all the while Creatures disappear people starve and suffer we fear of losing life nevertheless, the world responds. light strikes stronger the world blows at us harder and the tears of the earth pound aiming to kil...
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Do you?
8Nov By Julianne ParkNo Comments
Literature

Do you?

By Julianne Park Do your lips crack when you stand at the podium the way the ground cracks beneath our feet, dry from ferocious heat waves and blistering winds? Do you reach over to sip the water we never had, because the grass for your green lawns and bentgrass are drowning from sprinklers so you can get a hole-in-one? Do you hear the sound of children screaming and houses burning and fire alarms blaring and families weeping or is your luxurious extravagant mansion sound proof too? Do your tear ducts fill with tears and trickle down those cold gray cheeks because you destroy the lives of millions and our futures? —or it is because your stock plummeted and the cash sitting in your vault is not growing fast enough? By Elson Bankoff
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Mangroves Combat Climate Change
8Nov By May ChanNo Comments
Eco-STEM

Mangroves Combat Climate Change

By May Chan  In Hong Kong, there is a coastal wildlife reserve full of trees with dense tangles of prop roots; the roots make trees appear to be standing on stilts above water. Those odd-looking trees are called mangrove trees. According to the National Ocean Service, mangrove trees: “only grow in areas with low-oxygen soil of tropical or subtropical latitudes near the equator,” and where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to collect. Their location makes them adept for protecting coasts from erosion and acting as a haven for living creatures, such as cormorants, snails, and insects. Moreover, a recent study found that mangrove trees are capable of absorbing significant amounts of carbon, which plays a large role in regulating the Earth's climate. Source: May Chan (A view ...
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Slides on Climate Justice
8Nov By Iris ZhanNo Comments
Activities, Community News & Policy, Resolutions

Slides on Climate Justice

Part of our mission is to provide resources for student leaders to use at our schools (Mutual Education). Iris Zhan, founder of Fridays for Future Digital, created these slides for us to present to our clubs! Click the link below to access them! Thank you, Iris! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18kdjvmCHNlWDHdXXhbKR8cu2pCst0K7UIeEz38D_HZE/edit#slide=id.p
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