Journal # 12

This article about land ethic or lack thereof was one of the best I’ve read as of yet.  The idea that we need to be concerned with the well being of the land and all the life that depends on that land is a fundamental concept to any hope of sustainability.  We must change the way use land, as to not ravage and disturb nearby lands and the way the educate people about conservation.  We have in the past, massively transformed entire landscapes, uprooting whole ecosystems.  Even one species removal, however, can still wreak havoc.  The altering of the food chains is what causes this devastation.  One of the biggest problems as Leopold states, is that we depend on the government to enforce environmental regulations and protect our environment when instead we need to be getting involved personally to make an effective change because the government is incapable of doing an effective job because of the large amount of private land ownership.  In a sense, the only way to bring about these sweeping changes are by changing the way we view the land and our relationships with it.  If it remains as is, that we just se land as its potential to make money, we will never fix the problems facing us because many if not most of the biotic community of an area does not have any commercial value, but is a key member in the ecosystem.  It seems as it may already be too late to do anything worth wild to fix what we have done because entire continents have been changed and many predators that once played an integral part of the regions are long since extinct. Maybe the best we can hope for is the preservation of land that have not yet been totally devastated.

Journal #10

                The article Squeezing more oil from the ground made a logical argument.  I believe that there could be some truth to Maugeri’s case, that there is in fact a larger amount of oil than we have pumped out already.  The problem I have with it is how difficult and costly will it be to extract the remaining oil.  With gas prices at almost $4 a gallon, and that the “easy stuff” how much will it cost to move to the next phase of drilling, that is if we even want to pursue that path.

                In the video on natural gas, we once again see the industry leaders touting natural gas as our savior.  According to the video it is abundant and much cleaner than oil.  Everything sounded legitimate in the interview of one company’s CEO until he was asked about the possibility of chemicals getting into the water supply.  As soon as the question was asked his eyes got big and he went on the defensive, claiming that it is virtually impossible for the chemicals to make their way through the thick layers of rock and into the water supply.  He did a bad job of hiding the fact that he was very well aware of the cases of people who have had their groundwater turned into a flammable, toxic brew.

                Crude Awaking was a revealing video.  I think that there has to be truth behind the peak oil theory because sooner or later the stuff will run out.  I think the most logical approach would be a middle path between peak oil and the argument that we have hundreds of years worth of oil. Perhaps we do have lots of oil like Maugeri claims but peak oil theory is also correct about how much of that we can access now.  With the technology we have today we are perfectly capable of coming up with new fuels to take us into the 21^st century.

Journal #7

I thought that Douglas’ story was a very colorful, image invoking piece of writing.  For someone who has never been to the everglades—like myself, this article did a wonderful job of explaining the various plant and animal life and its processes in a way that anyone can understand.  I particularly enjoyed the story of geologic formation of not only the everglades, but the entire state of Florida.  The water flows of the everglades are explained in detail beginning with rivers in north central Florida, and how they drain into the Okeechobee Lake, down through the Glades, and eventually make its way to the sea.  The description of rock formation over millennia and how glaciers affected the landscape to the north as well as rising and falling sea levels during multiple ice ages.

                I didn’t care too much for the way the author decided to communicate the information.  Although it was effective in depicting scenery, her language focused on poetry rather than information dissemination.   There were countless references to how “green, brown, and glassy” the saw grass was.  I felt like the point she was trying to make could be done a lot quicker, without losing the attention of the reader. 

                Beside the style, the author defiantly did her research with this article.  Every speck on the map had been accounted for.  The geologic perspective enticed me and kept my attention toward the end when her boring poetic writing was starting to get the best of me.

Journal #9

                Our trip to Corkscrew Sanctuary was an outstanding place to see what Florida was like before all the development.  I was raised in Florida but am new to Southwest Florida, and there are some differences compared to further north, even just 100 miles.  I have never seen Cyprus trees so huge.  While walking the trail, I couldn’t help thinking about a painting I saw of a Seminole Indian hiding from some soldiers behind a Cyprus.  Those trees were so big that an entire band of Seminole could have taken cover behind one! 

                I felt truly privileged to witness the community of wildlife all muddled around the drying pond. It was a scene akin to a National Geographic documentary on the African Savanna.  I have never seen anything like it, and to see it in a nature preserve makes it all the more special. It was sad to see all the animals that depend on that little bit of water dying, or struggling to survive. Hopefully, it was just a natural cycle and not an event that human activity set in motion.   I will never forget how that turtle ran after being in the jaws of that hungry alligator.

                I also enjoyed the natural water purification processes that the welcome center utilizes.  It was so simple and incorporated native Floridian flora to perform a necessary function.  The possible applications in Florida theme parks, shopping centers, office buildings, rest stops and other high water use locations could be a critical and cheap way to conserve our precious local water supplies.

Journal #8

              Michael Grunwald’s article Endgame was a sad depiction of how politics can inhibit necessary action although in the case of the Florida Everglades, the system worked.  Overall I was surprised by a lot of the information presented in the article. I was only 13 years old in 2000, so naturally, the politics of the day escaped me, but like most people am aware of the debated election.  The political ramifications of Al Gore’s stance on building the Homestead airport prevented him from openly rejecting the idea and ultimately can be seen as the deciding factor of the 2000 presidential election. 

                Many groups had pledged support for the Everglades restoration project but each with its own demand.  The cost of $8 billon itself was a hurdle.  The political process required to get enough support was a huge challenge, but due to the critical thinking of Florida environmentalist, was overcome by support of wealthy retirees and the grass-roots movement that their funding provided.  Without the lucky flight paths of the planed airport, the entire movement would have been dead in the water.

                I think the biggest lesson we can learn from this whole debacle is that we must be careful with our use of land and consider all future implications.   Sixty years ago, the locals enlisted the help of the Army Corps of Engineers to drain the Everglades.  It was seen as a vast wasteland with potential and as a water source.  Today we have seen the effects of our follies and have paid dearly to correct them.  Once people settle an area, there will be a lot more opposition to restoration, than there would have been if we just left it alone.