M7.7 Agency Roles

-
I chose the department of Agriculture. Agriculture plays a major role in the environmental quality. They do this through "leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition". A lot of pollutants in the environment come from agriculture (farming, dairies etc.). They help rural america thrive, by pushing policy agendas with agricultural growth at the forefront. This is beneficial for us to have readily available food, however, it comes at a cost-the environment.  They consider the benefits to the farmers and the agriculture communities, but they lack understanding or motivation to improve the environment at the same time. 

Comments

  1. Daisy AlbarranOctober 15, 2018 at 11:37 AM

    Hi Kera,
    The Department of Agriculture is looking our for the workers' interests. I think it is very valuable in knowing this information. It seems relevant to what we learned in class about the coal miners. As in, if we want a positive environmental transitions, we also need to consider the effects of eliminating jobs will do to these workers who have done these jobs for many years and is their livelihood. It goes back to compromise. I am interested to see if there can be a compromise that is equal for the environment and the people.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 17, 2018 at 9:24 AM

    Hi Kera,
    Great description about The Department of Agriculture, they do play a very important role in the environmental quality in many ways. I agree that there is currently a lack of understanding to improve the environment especially considering the pesticides and many air pollutants that are released and the harmful results of pushing for monoculture agriculture.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

M1.4 Blog Assignment: List of Environmental Exposures

-
There are several different types of exposures you can come into contact with in your lifetime. You spend the majority of your time at home, work, school, and in the community. It is important to be aware of the chemical, radiological, and biological agents you can be exposed to in those areas. For example, I currently live in Half Moon Bay. In Half Moon Bay it is common to get termites and whenever a property is sold, it is required to be fumigated. When I see so many tented structures, I cant help but wonder how effective are they are sealing and preventing access to those places and what are the lingering effects of sulfuryl fluoride on the things in the home. I did some digging and found an interesting report done by the EPA on fumigation and the risks that it poses to individuals: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-12/documents/_epaoig_20161212-17-p-0053.pdf Even if you feel healthy, it is important to know that you are still being exposed to hazards. One haz...
Read more

M2.3 Household Products

-
Image
In addition to all of the health risks that you can be exposed to through your personal care products, products that you use almost everyday can also pose a risk. The two products that I use a lot and wanted to look up on the Household Product Database were "Nature's Miracle 3 in 1 Stain Remover" and the "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser". I was surprised that the pet stain remover showed minimal risks. I figured that, based on the previous products I have looked up, it would be in the moderate-hazard range since it is a product for pets. The Mr. Clean Magic eraser also surprised me. I assumed that something that markets as "magic" cant be all that good for you. The HPD website showed that it was an irritant, but it also did not have any known hazards. I do think that we need to be more mindful of the different products that we keep in our homes and not just buy products that have "Green", "Organic", "Healthy" in the names. Ever...
Read more

M6.4 Industrial Farming

-
I am aware of the issue of vanishing bees. I found the teatronaturale article very interesting and informative. My dad used to bee keep (part of his many hobbies) in our home in Bakersfield. He taught me how valuable bees are and to not be afraid of them. He explained to me the importance that bees have on the environment and the world we know. This article addressed a lot of the concerns that he had told me about when I was growing up. One thing I did not realize before reading this article, was that loss of pollinators can cause detrimental health effects.  " The researchers found that the complete loss of animal pollinators globally would push an additional 71 million people into vitamin A deficiency and 173 million more into folate deficiency, and would lead to about 1.42 million additional deaths per year from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and malnutrition-related diseases—a 2.7% increase in total yearly deaths. A 50% loss of pollination would result in roughly ...
Read more