Environmental Issues

One of the biggest disasters that hit the world in the first decade of the 21st century was the terrorists attack on the World Trade Centre twin towers and the pentagon on September 11, 2001. This incident was horribly devastating to the people and national pride of the United States and it left so many people around the world shocked and dumbfounded. It raised fundamental questions on national security of magnitude not seen before in the United States. The attack was a series of co-coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States in which 19 Al-Qaeda members hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City killing every one on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed in a span of two hours destroying nearby buildings and also damaging others .A third airliner was also crashed into the pentagon in Arlington, Virginia right outside the Washington D.C while the fourth one crashed in a field near Shanks Ville in rural Pennyslavia after some of the passenger who were on board and flight crew tried to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected towards Washington D.C.  No one survived from any of the four flights. Its believed that 2,973 victims and all the 19 hijackers died as a result of the attacks. The overwhelming majority of the casualties were civilians together with nationals from over 90 countries. In response, the United States launched war on terrorism by invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban who were believed to have harbored some of the al-Qaeda terrorists. In addition, many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers (Greene, 2001).

Recommended Industrial hygiene
Industrial hygiene is broadly used to refer to modalities aimed at protecting and enhancing the health and safety of people at work and in their communities. It covers a wide range of physical, chemical, biological and ergonomic stressors to limit personal exposures (Debra, 1999). As a member of the response recovery team, I would recommend the following role of industrial hygiene recognizing, evaluating (measurements) and controlling the potential hazards at the site of attack. The industrial hygiene program should be able to use environmental monitoring and analytical techniques to detect the extent of workers exposure and should hence use engineering controls, work practice controls and other methods to control the potential health hazards. Its through industrial hygiene that the health hazards that may have been present at the 911 site could have been detected because every workplace is a potentially a hazardous environment and with the increased interest in protection of the environment and the people working at the site it would be very necessary to have modalities to identify or rather recognize the possible dangers available (Talty, 1988). Industrial hygiene will measure the health hazards to check whether their magnitude can really cause the anticipated harmful health effects and risks to the recovery workers. Once the measurements have been carried out, the different ways of controlling the health hazards that have been identified or their effect should be put in place. Hazard control in this case means the primary means of reducing workers exposure to occupational hazards by either reducing or removing the hazards at the source or isolating the worker from the source (Talty, 1988). For the case of 911, controls may include enclosing work processes or confining work operations and installing general ventilation at the work site.

Considering that many recovery workers at the 911 site reported several serious health issues, an industrial hygiene programme with the above discussed elements would be of great aid for their own benefit, the environment and the people around.

Major Potential Hazards at the Site
The major potential health hazards available at the 911 site as assessed by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included the presence of particulate matter, metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, asbestos, volatile organic compounds, particle- bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, silica and synthetic vitreous fibers (SVFs). The assessment showed that the persons exposed to extremely high levels of particulate matter and its components, SVFs and other contaminants were likely to be at risk for acute and potentially chronic respiratory effects. Available information also shows that contaminant concentrations within and near the 911 site remained significantly elevated above ground levels for some days after the incidence occurred hence posing risk to people. Apart from the inhalation exposures that occurred on the very day of the attack, the general population was likely to suffer health effects caused by inhalation days afterward. The thousands of tonnes of toxic debris resulting from the collapse of the twin towers consisted of more than 2,500 Contaminants Non-fibrous material and construction debris (50), glass and other fibers (40), Cellulose (9.2) and 0.8 of the extremely toxic carcinogenic asbestos as well as small amounts of lead and mercury. (Lober, 2007)

In the hours and days that followed the attack, rescue, workers, volunteers contractors and other people from across the country had landed at the 911 site to search for survivors and when the search came to an end, an unprecedented recovery and cleanup of the place took over. Together with death and devastation caused by the attack, concerns were raised on the health effects caused on recovery workers by collapse of the building and this necessitated monitoring of their health (medical surveillance). In better words, occupational medical surveillance is the monitoring of employees health progress during their period of work to ensure their health is up to standard. It is mostly done to those workers who have workplace exposure to particular health hazards known to pose risk for a potentially serious health condition or to those who perform specific work tasks that require a certain degree of health and fitness to ensure the health of employees and public health (Stellman, 2008). Different exposures were associated with different health impacts but over the last five years, respiratory and mental health conditions have emerged as the most common ailments though concerns are being raised that chronic diseases may arise in the future. Many recovery workers have also developed cancer as opposed to having contracted respiratory ailments and some of these cancers are said to have developed as a result of the exposure to toxins at the site. Up to date, 75 recovery workers have been diagnosed with blood cell cancers (Stellman, 2008).

Industrial Hygiene Sampling Plan
The main objective of an industrial hygiene sampling plan should be to find whatever pollution at World Trade Center that may cause or present risk to human health (especially the recovery team) and remove it. The sampling plan should identify the following main substances (pollutants) Asbestos, man-made vitreous fibers, crystalline silica, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and lead. In addition, the affected neighborhoods and other areas likely to have been impacted by the disaster should be included in the sampling plan.

Moreover, the sampling plan should be a two-dimensional grid process to ensure that the selected buildings to be used in the exercise are geographically represented to avoid bias which may interfere with the quality of the results obtained from the analysis. The sampling plan would allow property owners-not the tenants or workers who live there to volunteer their buildings for the sampling program if the Environmental Protection Agency selects them (Hughes, 2005). Some of the direct reading instruments that may be required include Video Exposure Monitoring, Passive dosimeters, Noise dosimeters, heat stress monitors, radio frequency probes and air monitoring pumps. The Video Exposure Monitoring is an instrument used to provide better documentation of workers at risk both in Europe and in the United States and it can detect exposure sources and the interaction between work practices and engineering controls such as local exhaust ventilation. A Noise dosimeter is a specialized sound level meter intended to measure the noise exposure of a person integrated over a period of time usually to comply with health and safety regulations. Heat stress monitors measure the environmental factors that can contribute to heat stress. Air monitoring pumps are used to indicate to workers when a hazardous atmosphere is present and to maintain a record of employee exposure to chemical agents that are airborne hence ensuring the safety of employees, the environment and the public.

There are different types of air monitoring which include the following (a)Background monitoring-conducted prior to initiation of site operations to provide a baseline of reference for subsequent analyses and determine any interference in the area(b)area monitoring-provides an early warning to personnel that there is a problem and that action must be taken(c)Perimeter monitoring-used to document conditions over time and confirm a hazardous condition(d)mobile area monitoring-used to sample air borne levels of contaminants in the workplace(e)Surface monitoring-to determine if surface decontamination is required for media like scrap metal(f)Headspace monitoring-conducted on environmental samples suspected of being contaminated with chemical agent prior to offsite shipment for analysis (McGlothlin, 2005). Air samples would be collected according to the standard operating procedures into pre-cleaned and pre-evacuated canister containers using flow regulators and thereafter submitted for volatile organic compound analyses in the chemical laboratories to analyze any contaminants present (Jeebhay, 2004).

Personal Protective Equipments
The Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) are of great importance in protecting the lives of the recovery team workers and some of the necessary ones include the following. Dust masks are required and they can be used in place of self-contained breathing apparatus which are inappropriate for debris removal and they can be an initial attempt in protecting workers from inhaling airborne contaminants. Initially its said that air purifying respirators were not made available to workers in adequate numbers until several weeks after the attack and when they finally became available for use, several problems had already emerged. Therefore, face piece air purifying respirators adapters are of essential use to provide the workers especially the firefighters with an alternate choice of respiratory protection. Helmets or hard hats can be used to protect the heads from falling debris of the collapsed building. Safety glassesgoggles can be used to protect the eyes from dust, molten metals, and liquid chemical and flying objects like pieces of glass that can easily get lodged in peoples eyes during the operations. Bunker coats or high visibility vests are required so that as they work at the site through the rubbles and debris they can easily notice each other from afar because some areas at the site could be dark or not properly lit so if they dont wear easily visible garments they can easily cause harm to each other. Work gloves and latex gloves are good for protecting the hands during removal operations which involves getting hold of several dangerous materials (both sharp and blunt), chemical burns and thermal burns. In addition steel toed heavy duty work shoes for the feet should be worn to avoid stepping on objects that may harm the feet and lastly ear foam plugs are required in areas where noise levels are high to prevent damaging the ear drums because people can easily become deaf.

Work Practice and Administrative Controls
Work practice controls and administrative controls are terms that are used interchangeably and can be explained using the same terms as those controls that reduce the likelihood of exposure by altering the manner in which a task is performed. In other words they can be illustrated as changes in work procedures such as written safety policies, rules, supervision, schedules and training with the goal of reducing the duration, frequency and severity of exposure to hazardous chemicals or situations. Its of great importance that those who work with hazardous materials (recovery workers) be familiar with the administrative controls and that their employers provide information and training about the risk involved in the work they perform. Although administrative controls should always be used to control exposure to the workers, they are prone to human error and may not be relied upon to reduce exposure at all times, therefore other additional control mechanisms like substitution of less hazardous materials or procedures, engineering controls and personal protective equipment will be required to address the issue of exposure of hazards to the recovery workers (Kuntal, 2010).

The following are examples of administrative controls  which can be considered in this case to protect the health of the recovery workers at the 911 site(a) Rotating the workers through various job assignments so that they dont develop repetitive motion injuries (b)prohibiting the workers from working with ionizing radiation once they have reached the predetermined levels of exposure(c)Reducing clutters and( this case heaps of debris and rubbles) to minimize the effects if an accident occurs (Kuntal, 2010)

In conclusion, the 911 attack on the United States was unexpected and as such, the ways in which the disaster was handled may not have been up to standard because its clearly evident that in addition to the many victims affected, even the rescue and recovery teams reported several health effects due to loopholes in disaster preparedness of the country. Its therefore important that the lessons learned from this incident be used to upgrade and improve disaster preparedness in the United States especially in ensuring that rescue and recovery workers are totally safe from any hazards at sites of accidentsattacks because the country relies on to deal with such events.

Human Impact on the Sea
The ocean has been one of the most resourceful of all the natural resources man has ever encountered. But in the last couple of centuries human impact on the sea has been enormous and has led to other chain of changes, some of them may prove to be disastrous for the mankind. This paper will discuss the human impacts on the sea in the light of  The Economist  series articles.

The resources of the sea are always considered unending, whether it is the food supply or other natural resources the ocean seems to promise to the mankind. Mankind has always think of the ocean as indestructible and immune to their actions and deeds. So has been the case since the dawn of human civilization until the industrial revolution took place and it changed everything. It changed the way the humans ever laid their eyes on the natural resources of this planet. The industrial revolution increased the lust and hunger for the consumption of the natural resources of mother Earth, not ten or hundred, but thousand folds. The oceans were also not immune to human deeds any more.

Mankind has pillaged the sea ruthlessly and mercilessly in the last two centuries. Before the industrial revolution there was no population explosion, thus the need for the provision of proteins were also less intense. The 19th century brought the harbinger of doom to the ocean. Before that time the fishermen were only using conventional methods of fishing that they have been using for the last few millennia. But then came the steam-powered whaling ships in 1873, steam-powered trawlers in 1881, and otter trawler in 1892. These heavy machinery enabled the fishermen to kill their prey in amounts hundred folds than previously. Other inventions like filleting machines, echo-sounders, and spotter planes etc, which came in the 20th century increased the pillage and make the matter even worse. (Plenty more fish in the sea)

Though the most devastating pillage of the sea began only after the World War II, it was so extensive and was done with so vigor that soon the most precious of the fish like the Cod, Tuna and Salmon were gone or diminished so that it was difficult for them to sustain and retain their previous numbers. Use of deep sea fishing trawlers also destroyed seabed, which is the habitat of many species of fish. The most profound impact on the sea by the is the on going erosion of the coral reef due to algae and CO2. (Troubled Waters)

Other horrible changes brought by the mankind are the red tides, the algal blooms and the dead zones where only simple microscopic organisms can survive. Though many of these phenomena have been occurring naturally in the past, but their frequency has increased as well as their area has expanded. Another important and drastic change brought to the ocean is its rapid increase in acidity, thanks to the man made CO2 , which is a constant threat to the coral reef and all the shell bearing aquatic animals. (Troubled Waters)

Other harmful material which are also contaminating the marine resources are the oil spills by oil tankers, tons of plastic floating on the surface of the ocean mostly in the pacific, which is the primary cause of the death of many marine animals and birds like seagulls. Global warming, which is because of increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is also playing its role, as it will result in increase in glacial melting and rise in sea level, which would devastate near half population of the world living withing 100 km of the coast.

The authors of the recent series of  The Economist  articles also want to point out the emerging problems and catastrophes as a result of human influence on the ocean and its inhabitants.
Discussion of the article  Plenty More Fish in the Sea

In this  The Economist  article the author has discussed the arguments of both sides regarding the situation of the oceans. One side argues that the oceans are in grave danger and many of the mostly edible species of the fish are about to go for good. This is due to overfishing and that it will take at least a century or more for these fish to recover if fishing them is abandoned now. Papers published by many science and environmental magazines are given statistics and data which proves that this phenomenon is not limited to the North Atlantic, but on the contrary it is worldwide and many fisheries are about to disappear. Even some predict that all the fish which are sought by the mankind will be gone by 2048. (Plenty more fish in the sea)

Alarming these figures and predictions seem to many but others, mostly the fishermen are not impressed by these facts and figures and they have their own facts and figures to prove their side of the story. Mainly because fish seem to be as abundant as it has been through out the history. Even the most precious fish like the Cod are even not gone. Other fish like Salmon have become more plentiful because of latest farming methods applied. The number of fish caught now is many folds than the number of fish caught few decades ago. This assures the optimists that all the dooms day theories are unsubstantiated. (Plenty more fish in the sea After explaining both sides of the arguments the author further analyzes these arguments and asserts that the increase in the amount of fish caught is primarily because of improved methods and latest equipments, which enables fishermen to go far out in the ocean and catch fish residing in the depth of it. He argues that this increased the exploitation of the sea hundreds of times more and the bigger aquatic animals like whales, sharks and other predators were the first to go. Even shrimp like creatures krills are caught for medicines and fish farming thus disturbing the entire ecosystem and food chain.

Finally the author suggests that no species should be fished to the point that that renders the ecosystem unbalanced. The should be given a chance to grow up and become bigger and sustain their species.

Home heating and cooling
Passive solar heating and cooling technique, which are environmental friendly and
cost effective also are used. Propane furnaces, propane water heaters , oil furnaces and
solar water heaters are the reliable and energy efficient home heating and cooling
systems.

Electric generation
Coal is used as the major source of generation of electricity in Michigan. Wind energy
is also utilized in generating electricity as an efficient renewable source of energy.
Nuclear  energy is yet another source of electricity.

Appliances and lighting
Sky lights and sky roofs bring day light into the interiors of a building. These give
good ventilation also. To avoid the disadvantages of heat gain that comes with the sky
lights, skylights are being manufactured with either manual or electronic controls. An
alternate method to using large glass panes is  to  install a periscopelike device, up
through the roof of a building. This  does not bring in heat but illuminates  well.

Water conservation
Water conservation is done by two methods
i) By restricting the amount of water that can pass through fixtures like shower heads  
 and faucet.
ii)By recycling of water that is used in kitchens or hand washing to toilet flushes.
 Stored rain water may be used for irrigation.

2 .What is meant by a healthy house
A healthy house is a house free from natural or artificial chemicals like carbon
monoxide, Nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide. Carbon monoxide is released from a
running car, a gas stove used for heating a room, to name a few. Use of unvented
gas stoves in kitchen can release these poisonous gases. A house free from these is
best illustration of a healthy house. Proper ventilation to vent the gas outdoors and by
not burning charcoal inside a house is to be done. A healthy house is devoid of
pollutants like lead that come from paints, mercury from thermostats or CFLs. Radon
that seeps from the ground also needs to be controlled.

3. What are some building products used or on display made from recycled
materials. What were the original materials used for
Some of the building products used from recycled materials are  Cellulose which is
used for insulation, Gypsum board sheeting material  or cellulose fiber board , all
made from recycled paper. Recycled  Aluminum is used by Building and
Construction materials industry in the form of weather proof shingles  and as  window
components. In the above products, original materials are paper and
aluminum.

4. Describe Earth Friendly landscaping.   List some techniques used or discussed.  (at least 2)
Earth friendly landscaping is choosing plants that are native to the region, with good
lawn-care practices that do not pollute local lakes or streams and which are not
harmful to ones pets, kids and environment.  For example, Black-eyed Susan, Blue
berry bushes or white pine trees  are native to Michigan .So selecting these in
Michigan will make these plantstrees easily adaptable to its climate. This
helps in reducing the use of fertilizers  and makes them more resistant to diseases.
Useful techniques related to these are i )If the land is mowed  high almost up to 3
inches, itll be easier to maintain and is also a cheaper and better option. ii) Place four
inch thick (or even more) layer of mulch around trees and plants. iii)  The need for
pesticides can be reduced by using a wide variety of plants.

5. What does the Energy Star logo mean  What is a 5 star energy house
 Energy efficient consumer products are labeled using Energy  Star. Environmental
Protection .Agency or the Department of Energy specify the standards required to be
labeled  with the  Star logo. This logo was established to reduce the green house gas
emissions and other pollutants arising out of inefficient energy usage. It helps the
consumers identify and purchase energy efficient products.

6.  What is life cycle costing
Life cycle cost is the environmental impact of a given product or service. Its analysis
is also called eco balance.

Our environment is either clean or littered. With a clean environment, it implies that either the people living in this environment do not litter or if they do, there is a section of the society that takes the responsibility of removing the litter. On the other hand, there are people who throw rubbish irresponsibly littering the environment. These two groups of people differ significantly in terms of their attitudes, personality and backgrounds. People who litter often lack a sense of personal responsibility, are either lazy, or they do so unconsciously whereas those who do not litter have a higher personal responsibility and awareness of the consequences of littering.

People who litter
It is not uncommon to find a person throw a cigarette butt out of their car window not caring where it will fall or even a bunch of youths leave behind a lot of paper wrappers and bottles after having a fantastic party. It is also not unusual to find left over foods thrown everywhere in the environment both in private and public premises. A closer look into what makes people end up littering in such and other ways will reveal that most people do not feel mandated to take care of the environment. Such individuals lack personal responsibility for a safe and a clean environment due to several reasons. For instance, they may feel that after all, there is someone who has been given the responsibility of collecting the litter. To them, throwing rubbish anywhere is like creating jobs and keeping people at work. This may arise from a habit of always finding that rubbish that they had thrown is collected or clearly knowing that there is someone who will do it. There is also a class of people who throw rubbish all over on the claim that there are no dust bins nearby. Such an argument indicates lack of personal responsibility as it is always possible to carry the litter to the point where they locate one.

It may also happen that people who throw rubbish do so out of ignorance of the consequences of littering the environment. A person may often consider that just throwing a sweet wrapper is not sufficient enough to litter the environment and therefore it is justifiable. However, such a person fails to understand that the cumulative effect has a greater consequence. They assume the fact that continued littering ends up polluting the environment thus endangering the lives of all the dependants of the environment. Not only is the rubbish harmful to animals that may end up eating it, but it also presents health problems to people who may breath the polluted air or drink of the water that has pollutants from the environment.

People who throw rubbish may also do so out of mere laziness. Such people are usually well knowledgeable of the most appropriate places to throw the rubbish but they are just lazy to take it there. Finding out that no one will catch up with them and be punished, they throw the rubbish anywhere. Others still do it since just because the law does not restrict them or it is lenient on the same if they do not manage to escape. They also understand the consequences of littering but plainly defy them out of laziness. It is also possible to find people littering unconsciously especially if what constitutes litter is not clearly defined.

Non-littering individuals
There is a section of individuals who do not litter and in fact they may even go to the point of collecting litter. This class of people is made of persons whose responsibility to the environment is very high. They feel obliged to keep the surrounding clean and they do all they can to avoid littering. Such an individual will carry their litter up to a place where they can dispose it responsible in addition to setting up litter disposal facilities in their premises.

People who do not throw rubbish in addition to having a personal responsibility in ensuring a clean environment are also endowed with the knowledge on the need to keep the environment clean. They clearly understand the consequences of littering and combining these with personal responsibility. They work towards avoiding littering. Other than having such persons being informed on littering, their upbringing is highly attributed to their actions. In contrast to the likely carefree attitude of those who litter, non-littering individuals are usually brought up knowing the importance of avoiding litter. They therefore understand that staying in clean surroundings is their personal responsibility and it benefits in the end.

Conclusion
It is clear that people who throw rubbish differ from those who do not. Presence or absence of a sense of personal responsibility is the main determinant on whether a person litters or not. The individuals upbringing molds the responsibility and therefore other reasons on why people litter or not will highly depend on the individual. Knowledge of consequences of littering however is an important attribute to stress in preventing littering.

A change in the distribution of weather within periods of time that could be millions of years or even just decades is referred to as climate change.  It can be a greater or lesser change in weather and its events with either more or less events of weather occurring.  It may be restricted to a particular area or even distributed across the entire globe.  There are a number of factors that can shape or cause climate change and they are called climate forcings (Burroughs).

One of the major causes of climate change is plate tectonics.  The continents positioning affects normally determines the oceans geometry thus the patterns of circulation within the oceans are influenced.  Seas locations are also important in the control of moisture and heat transfer across the earth.  Increases in elevation like in the case of mountains also increases humidity and swings in the temperature, thus topography can also influence climate change.  Variations in temperature are more common inland as compared to the coastal areas.  Global climate can also be affected by long term and short term solar intensity variations (Kininmonth).  The variations in the intensity of the sun have caused a number of effects from oxygenation of the atmosphere to the ice age.  When the earth orbits, it encounters slight variations, which account for the amount of sunlight reaching the earths surface and its seasonal distribution around the globe.  Milankovitch cycles which is a combination of three variations in the earths eccentricity, have a big impact on climate change.  Volcanic eruptions can also cause climate change, when the smoke that bellows is large enough to block the suns radiation.  Carbon dioxide is also emitted by volcanoes.  Human activities that influence the environment are known as anthropogenic factors.  Some of these factors include the increase in the levels of carbon dioxide, owing to large quantities of emissions from fossil fuels, aerosols and manufacturing of cement. Agriculture, ozone depletion, land-use and the cutting down of forests are also other factors that play a role in climate change, owing to human activity (Maslin).

Some of the impacts of climate change include extreme weather, with the increase in storms, hurricanes floods and droughts, not forgetting other weather devastations such as the Katrina Hurricane. Climate change will also affect water sources, in a negative manner and in the long run have its effects felt in industries, health, food supply, and the integrity of the whole ecosystem. Forests are also not spared from the climate change, and thus they could be depleted by the adverse changes in the climate. Ecosystems are also in danger of being compromised by the adverse changes in the climate. There is also a meltdown of glaciers and the arctic, not mentioning the economic risks, health risks to the future generations through an increase in diseases owing to the increase in adverse weather (Maslin).

The first solution to climate change is for nations to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. But this could be difficult owing to the fact that most countries rely on these fuels for virtually everything and it would be hard for them to exist without them. There is also a need to upgrade the infrastructure to ensure that there is a reduction in the level of green house emissions. The reduction in the emission of gases through the transport system can also be reduced by ensuring that workers move closer to work. Cutting down on consumption is also one of the ways of solving the climate crisis, since less consumptions means less gas emissions (Pittock). Efficiency is also one of the ways of reducing or solving the problem of climate change. This means that people have to learn to do more with less, thus wastages in energy can be cut by more than half. The implementation of policies to ensure that industry emit less gases, with policies such as manufacturing tax increments, could ensure that industries cut back on the energy sources they use and ultimately lead to a reduction in the level of green house gas emission. Trees play a major role in the change of climate, and thus a reduction in the cutting down of forests will also have a major impact in the reduction of initiating climate change. Sane agricultural practices can also be used, to prevent adverse changes in agriculture. There are many other solutions, all that we have to realize is to look at the causes and work on reducing or preventing those causes from happening (Pittock).

The Copenhagen Accord is not totally binding, especially to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The legal conditions of the Accord are also not clear. The accord is an endorsement of the Kyoto Protocol, acknowledges that climate changes are a major challenge in this era and that there is need for a political will to deal with these underlying problems, global temperature should also be reduced according to this Accord to maintain sustainable development, it also recognizes the impacts of these changes and the impacts that these effects could have on certain vulnerable countries and the need to setup a program to that includes international support (Trefil). There is a set date for countries to have pledged to reduce their emissions which is 31st January 2010. Some of the countries involved in this pledge include, Australia, United States of America and Canada. Even though the efforts made to address the climate change is plausible, some countries have responded negatively with the European Union, terming the accord as unsuccessful and a disaster, South Africa was unable to accept the accord, Australia called for more, India claimed that the Accord didnt commit to the future effectively, Britain claimed that they needed the Accord to be binding by law, China claimed that the squabbles were as a result of mistrust between nations (Trefil).

According to my opinion, the Accord is not binding by law and thus some countries are not obliged to follow it. It is also not fully clear if the Accord is a successor to the Kyoto Protocol or it is an addition. There are no real targets set by the Accord that can be achieved to ensure reductions in the levels of emissions. The accord is also not fully inclusive as it was drafted and it was discussed upon by only five countries. The deadline set is also too long and the effects might have already been irreversible. Developing countries will also not be able to raise the millions of dollars required per year. Also the source of the funds is unclear and the amount that countries will benefit or contribute. Some nations also just took note of the Accord, which is totally different from its adoption. It is also biased towards the countries with lower gas emotions (Trefil).

The current paper discusses the role of renewable energy sources in the context of the current energy consumption. Solar and wind energy, hydropower, and biomass are included into the list of the basic renewable energy sources. The paper shows that the environmental effects of renewable energy can be readily reinforced through energy conservation. The example of Missouri Electric Cooperatives is used to show how renewable energy initiatives are being promoted at the state level.

Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation

Introduction
Our living standard is impossible without energy. Energy remains a resource critical for human life, existence, and development, as well as the resource associated with a whole set of economic, social and, more importantly, environmental issues. That the provision of energy invariably results in numerous environmental impacts no one can deny throughout the 20th century, professionals and scholars in energy engineering and management sought have been trying to assess the short-term and long-term environmental consequences of energy consumption. By the end of the century, humanity has finally realized the need for developing alternative sources of energy which would provide humanity with the amount of energy necessary to maintain its basic functions, and which would not produce as many negative environmental impacts as traditional energy resources do. In this context, renewable energy sources and energy conservation signify societys gradual transition to the new quality level of energy consumption, with energy being an essential component of sustainable economic policies and initiatives.

Renewable energy
Energy is defined as the ability of a system to cause external action (Kaltschmitt, Wiese  Streicher, 2007). Energy exists and is being used in a variety of forms, including mechanic, electric, thermal, chemical, solar, and nuclear energy in practical energy appliances, the effects and external action of energy within the system readily reflect through heat, force, and light (Kaltschmitt, Wiese  Streicher, 2007). In case of nuclear, solar, and chemical energy, such external action becomes possible only if the former is being transformed into mechanical or thermal energy (Kaltschmitt, Wiese  Streicher). In 2005 alone, the levels of worldwide energy consumption exceeded 441 EJ 1-3, with 28 of energy consumed by Europe, 27 - by North America, and 32 - by Asia and Pacific fossil energy consumption was distributed among 36 of crude oil, 28 of coal, 24 of natural gas, and 6 of nuclear and hydropower energy (Kaltschmitt, Wiese  Streicher, 2007). The information about the role and scope of renewable energy consumption is rather scarce, but it is clear that the whole world is gradually moving away from traditional energy resources, like coal, closer to the renewable energy sources, like wind. The development of renewable energy production and consumption is still in its infancy, but the variety of renewable energy applications makes it possible to significantly reduce the negative environmental impacts of energy and to reconcile the principles of sustainable development with the energy needs of society. For example, solar heat provision can be successfully utilized in passive energy systems, while solar tower plants, solar chimney plants, photovoltaic conversion, and Dish Brayton systems can be used to transform solar energy into electric power. In the same way, wind turbines can help utilize the energy potential of wind to the fullest, while ambient air and shallow geothermal energy could be used for heat provision (Kaltschmitt, Wiese  Streicher, 2007).

Solar energy is probably the most popular and well-known form of renewable energy today. Because sun is fairly regarded as the basic source of heat, light, and energy on the planet and because it is believed to be an ever-present form of delivering this energy to species and plants on the earth, the sun has attracted professional attention as a potential carrier of the new renewable energy vision. The term solar energy is used to define energy from the sun (Craddock, 2008). In present day energy science, several different forms of solar energy are used. These are active solar systems, passive solar systems, and direct solar systems, and these are the forms that shape the basis for developing a complex network of solar energy solutions, which would serve societys most sophisticated energy needs. Active solar systems use mechanical components to gather sunlight and to later transform it into heat or electricity passive solar systems employ non-mechanical ways of gathering and transforming solar energy into lighting, cooling, ventilation, or heating (Craddock, 2008). Direct solar systems are one-step-systems that directly convert solar energy into usable energy (Craddock, 2008). Solar energy, however, is not the only form of renewable energy today.

Biomass has already turned into a convenient form of energy generation and consumption all over the world. Biomass may consist of almost any biological materials, including wood scraps and sawdust left over from lumber processing, forest and crops grown specifically for biomass, etc. (Craddock, 2008). The possibilities which biomass offers in terms of energy generation and consumption are virtually limitless. More often than not, direct combustion is used to convert biomass into energy. Unfortunately, despite its low-cost maintenance and absolute reliability, this method of energy production is not without its problems biomass makes it difficult to maintain the homogeneity of the source material, and thus the overall rates of efficiency in biomass systems do not exceed 18 percent, compared to traditional fossil fuel systems (Craddock, 2008). In this context, hydropower could become a good means for society to replenish the scarcity of traditional energy resources water is the earliest and one of the most effective renewable energy resources. Different types of turbines are used to convert hydropower into mechanical and electric energy and add to the list of reliable energy sources in sustainable society (Craddock, 2008). Finally, winds represent an effective alternative form of renewable energy resources used by countries and societies to satisfy their growing energy needs today, Scandinavia is considered the pioneer and the leader in developing and using practical wind power solutions (Craddock, 2008). It should be noted, that the concept of renewable energy is integrally linked to the concept of energy conservation, and professionals in energy studies often view energy conservation as a good means of resolving the existing energy issues and an instrument, equally or even more effective than renewable energy sources.

Energy conservation
Renewable energy sources look like the most beneficial and promising option in the societys striving to promote sustainable environmental policies, but renewable energy is not without its problems. The fact is in that the majority of renewable energy systems are still too costly to be routinely used by individuals and countries solar energy requires building large networks of solar cells, while wind energy is impossible without large turbines, which are often embedded in the empty coastlines and distort the scenery (Parfit, 2005). The real problem is not in how much energy we are able to produce, but in how efficiently we can use this energy to satisfy our energy needs. Energy conservation is about decreasing the quantity of energy consumed through efficient use of the existing energy resources, and when combined with renewable energy, this strategy is likely to become the major alternative to the use of non-renewable, scarce, and dangerous to the environment fossil fuel systems.

In the context of renewable energy, statewide organizations often work to promote the vision of sustainable energy consumption Missouri Electric Cooperatives is an organization representing 47 electric co-ops, which tries to help individuals, businesses, and organizations resolve the problem of the global climate change (AMEC, 2010). In cooperation with Chamois Power Plant near Jefferson City, Missouris Electric Cooperatives has developed and currently implements an idea of using algae to capture the carbon emitted by power plants that work on fossil fuels (NRECA, 2010). That means that Missouri Electric Cooperatives seeks to use the benefits of biomass to resolve the existing and emerging ecological issues. In the same way, Bluegrass Ridge, the first wind farm built with the help and support of Missouris Electric Cooperatives, signifies the new approach to using renewable energy on a statewide basis Missouri-based wind power provides a reasonably priced, green and renewable source of electricity displaces more expensive natural-gas-based generation spurs economic growth in rural Missouri and helps meet growing electricity needs among cooperative members (AMEC, 2007). It would be fair to assume that the attention toward renewable energy on the side of official organizations is reflects the growing energy concerns, as well as the realization of the need for developing alternative energy solutions. Given the benefits of renewable energy and the positive potential of energy conservation, these are likely to dominate societys energy thinking in the coming decades.

Conclusion
Renewable energy has become the issues of the national and global concern. With the growing scarcity of traditional energy resources, and under the influence of the global climate change, society gradually realizes the need for developing effective sustainable energy policies. In the context of the current energy consumption crisis, renewable energy looks like the best option, but it is likely to lose its relevance without energy conservation. The problem is now in how much but in how effectively is energy produced and used. The example of Missouri Electric Cooperatives shows that renewable energy and energy conservation are likely to dominate global energy thinking in the coming decades.

In simple terms, atmospheric pressure is the weight of air at any given point on earth. It is affected by elevation and temperature (Tarbuck and Lutgens, 2004). At higher locations, the pull of gravity is weaker hence the air is less dense and lighter. Towards the center of the earth, atmospheric pressure increases because of the growing pull of gravity.

Temperature also affects atmospheric pressure. Air molecules expand when heated, therefore there is less air per unit volume at higher temperatures. Conversely, air contracts when it is cold so there is more air per unit volume.

Air rises when it is heated, and fast rising air leaves behind a low pressure area near the ground. Hot air can hold more water, and as it rises, it cools and contracts. The water condenses and precipitates. This is a low pressure system characterized by hot and wet weather. In contrast, high pressure systems create the opposite. As heavier and colder air descends to the ground, it gets warmer and expands, creating dry and clear skies.

Wind is caused by the differences in atmospheric pressure. At sea level, air pressure is around 1013.25 millibars. When it drops radically, the surrounding air rushes in to fill the impending vacuum. This can cause storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. In 2005, hurricane Katrina fell to 920 millibars, the third lowest in US history (NOAA, 2008). The greater the discrepancy in air pressure, the faster the air moves.

The airs composition also affects its weight. According to NASA (2009), air is composed of 80 Nitrogen and 20 Oxygen, weighing approximately 1.26 grams per liter. Water vapor, on the other hand, weighs 0.8 grams per liter. Substituting water vapor (or humidity) for some of the air actually makes it lighter.
In a single measurement, atmospheric pressure takes into account the airs temperature, elevation, and composition. That is why it is the best indicator of current weather conditions. And because air always moves from high to low pressure areas, atmospheric pressure also points to how the weather will change.

Every hour or every minute of the day we consume a particular amount of energy. Whenever we use our cellular phones or computers to communicate with our friends, or go to the mall for a shopping spree we use energy. Almost everything that gives us comfort, protection, safety, and satisfaction, such as car, air-conditioning unit, laptop, printer, heater, etc. breathes and consumes energy. Innovative technology and new inventions improve our lives and provide us the necessary comfort and protection. However, it seems that most people today ignore the fact that energy and all the technologies and life-saving gadgets that provide us a comfortable life depend upon our planets limited resources. Also, most people pay no heed to the need to conserve energy by being more aware of proper waste management and efficient use of energy.

In my studies I have learned that we have to be more aware of the proper and efficient ways to conserve energy if we are to make this world a better place to live. In the past few years we have witnessed the rapid rise of technological and scientific innovation that continues to provide us more protection, more comfort and a better life. But we have to understand that we all live in a global community that depends on a scarce, limited amount of resources and energy. Every food we eat, every item we buy from our favorite department store, and every luxury we indulge in comes from our limited resource. And everyday we hear media reports about climate change, over-exploitation of natural resources, habitat destruction and fragmentation, diseases, and all kinds of environmental issues.

This particular piece of extra study, which focuses on the impact of efficient energy use and waste management on energy conservation, is important because this is an issue that most people take for granted or ignore today. People need to understand the role of energy conservation in the protection and preservation of mans one and only habitatplanet earth and to discover the most efficient ways and strategy to achieve this goal. The result of my extra study reveals that in order for us to conserve energy, we must first discover and understand the role and importance of waste management and the efficient use of energy. Furthermore, this extra study fits into the module, as it is an integral, significant aspect of environmental management.

Extra Learning
For several days I studied a number of articles online, particularly those in the website of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and other online news reports and journal articles. These readings gave me additional insight into the impact of efficient use of energy and waste management on energy conservation. The titles of the CIWEM articles are the following Sustainable Communities and Water Incineration. Online news articles include the following Energy efficiency and Technology, Energy Pulse Survey Homeowners in 2009 Prefer Appearance Over Energy-Efficiency, Sainsburys to Turn Food Fuel into Biofuel, Waste Management and Energy Savings Benefits by the Numbers, Household Hazardous Waste, All New Starbucks Stores to be LEED-Certified, UK Home Owners Take a Liking to Energy Efficiency Technology, and Tesco in 100M Boost to UK Green Economy, among others.

I devoted the second week of my studies to reading journal articles in order to learn some important matters concerning the efficient use of energy, and this led me to the scholarly work of Cullen and Allwood (2009) entitled The Efficient Use of Energy Tracing the Global Flow of Energy from Fuel to Service. This study shows the need to map or trace the global flow of energy in order to discover the most effective ways to conserve energy. Other journal articles that are incorporated in this paper are the following A Review of Municipal Solid Waste Composition in the United Kingdom (Burnley 2006), The Role of Build Environment Energy Efficiency in a Sustainable UK Energy Economy (Clarke et al 2008), Weather Sensitivity in Household Appliance Energy End-Use (Hart and de Dear 2003), while books include Energy Efficient Homes for Dummies (DeGunther 2008), Environmental Management, Sustainable Development and Human (Laboy-Nieves 2008), The Economics of Energy Efficiency Barriers to Cost-Effective Investment (Sorrel 2004), and ) Handbook of Energy Audits (Thumann and Younger 2008).

These online and journal articles gave me an idea that energy conservation can be achieved through efficient use of energy, which can be fulfilled through reduction or curbing of greenhouse and carbon dioxide emissions. Indeed, this topic has a global significance since all countries today confront the issues of energy crisis and pollution. Waste management, on the other hand, plays a significant role not only in the process of waste disposal, but also in each stage of products life cycle from acquisition of raw materials to consumption.
Energy conservation is not the main concern of politicians, policy planners, environmental management experts, environmentalists, global warming advocates, big corporations and businesses. Every individual on this planetrich or poor, business owner of a plain housewifemust be aware of and interested in the proper ways to conserve energy. We cannot deny the fact that everyday we consume a specific amount of energy. In my case, whenever I drive or commute to a nearby mall or to any place, I know I consume a specific amount of energy. This only means that all of us are highly dependent on energy and important technologies discovered and invented in our period. As long as there are inventors and innovators who discover new wonders, we continue to use and spend energy.

Now I believe that since almost all aspects of our lives depend on technologies and material needs, it is difficult for us to adjust to our energy needs. Not all people can afford energy-efficient cars. Not all households can have solar panels that generate electricity. In order to address energy crisis or any environmental issue (e.g. pollution, toxic wastes, illegal logging, etc.), it is important for us to know the proper ways and means to conserve energy or to discover alternative energy resource or technologies that consume less amount of energy.

Description
I came to understand that as most of the developed countries in the world face overpopulation and environmental issues, it is only necessary to look at the role of environmental management in understanding the modern societies and their relation with the environment (Laboy-Nieves 2008 68). I live in a modern society where people spend a considerable amount of energy everyday. The progress and development is self-evident. Luxury cars that consume gallons of gas per day can be seen everywhere in the streets. People love to go shopping or travel to different places within the country or abroad. This made me think that perhaps our modern culture necessitates too much energy consumption.

In my case I love to travel and go to beautiful and interesting places. I spend more than six hours in front of my computer everyday. My place is complete with modern appliances like television set, air-conditioning unit, cooking materials, and dishwasher, among others. Thus I can say that I am a voracious energy consumer. I understand that the more we buy things to consume and the more we depend on modern technologies, the more we consume energy and the more amount of waste we produce. However, it is the last chain of energy use, which is the production of wastes that many of us tend to ignore or take for granted.

Article Critique
Waste management has a great impact on the environment, as it affects air quality, water, and soil, but energy consumption as well. We all know that the United States is the biggest energy consumer in the world. In 1999 the Americans were said to have produced 230 million tons of solid waste, a situation that posed a great challenge to the US government on how to manage this great amount of waste (Choate and Ferland 2008).

When it comes to energy conservation and waste management, it is important to know the life cycle of products. This life cycle includes the following 1) acquisition of the needed raw materials, 2) production or manufacture of new goods, 3) the use of these products by consumers, and 4) their disposal.

Waste is produced or generated from the very first stage of this life cycle. The acquisition of the needed raw materials necessarily generates wastes. I am aware that illegal logging is rampant in other countries. Logging activities, whether legal or illegal, do not merely produce tons and tons of cut trees, but produced too much amount of waste as well.

Not only does irresponsible logging activity severely affect the ecological balance of mountains or rainforests, but it also has an impact on the people living in any given community. Apart from the environmental impact of logging, it also has both human and economic costs. Indeed, logging activities could produce a great amount of waste, as well as potential hazard on the lives of the people living near that area, and my assumption is that this kind of activity produces both actual and potential wastes.

An official report states that the United Kingdom generates some 177 million tonnes of waste per year from construction and demolition sites, industries, factories, and households (CIWEM n.d.). In order to solve this problem the UK government uses the following technologies for the incineration of MSW mass burn, fluidized bed combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis (CIWEM n.d.). UK authorities also applied the waste management hierarchy as its waste management policy (Unversity of Liverpool 2010). The main goal of this policy is to reduce the generation of waste and to use recycling methods. However, the problem with most households is their improper disposal of hazardous wastes. This proves that even a highly developed nation like Great Britain also experiences problems concerning proper waste disposal.

Some irresponsible households just throw their wastes into storm sewers or pour them down the drain. This improper waste disposal also happens in my place. I believe that it happens almost everywhere in the world. This is the reason why we have to understand the role of environmental management, which must focus on the political side of various environmental issues, and the necessity to come up with environmental protection and conservation programs, as well as the needed resources in order to achieve a specific goal.
As an individual I need to be concerned about the impact of efficient energy use and proper waste management on energy conservation. This is because more amount of energy spent means more expenditure. Most successful companies and businesses understand the relation between energy conservation and more profits. For example, Tesco, one of the top companies in the United Kingdom, recently announced its plan to invest 100m in green technology (MyNewsDesk 2010). This is not surprising since UK is a fast rising green economy.

Starbucks Coffee also joined the green bandwagon as the company planned to turn all its more than 8,000 coffee stores into LEED-certified outlets (Hurst 2009). As a result of this company policy, Starbucks started replacing traditional incandescent bulbs with light emitting diodes (LEDs) since 2009. This decision was intended to reduce seven percent of energy each store and cut maintenance expenditure. Also a British retain company, Sainsburys, planned to convert food waste into biofuel (BusinessGreen 2009). This move would turn Sainsburys into an energy-efficient store that would save the company more money and help in the global initiative to combat energy crisis.

There are still a lot of business owners in my city who ignoreor are still not aware of the impact of energy preservation on their income or profits. This is the reason why I chose this extra study in order to dwell into the economic and business advantages of conserving energy. Most people today must understand that energy conservation does not merely pertain to environmental issues it may also impact their monthly savings or household expenditure. But thanks to the efforts and initiative of environmental educators and scholarly journals that tackle environmental issues because according to a latest survey, more people today recognize the importance of recycling (Whitney 2010). This survey states that 40 percent of the people surveyed know that recycling of electronic gadgets or products like computers, batteries, televisions, paint, aluminum cans, used motor oil, glass, fluorescent lamps, and Christmas tress is important. But recycling these items are not merely important, it could only give the people more money or more savings.

I understand that waste management sounds like a costly venture. For instance, some people in my place thought that waste management requires a huge amount of capital and technology. This may be true but the problem is they are merely looking at the other side of the coin. It is true that waste management requires capital outlay, resources, and technical know-how, but it can be a very lucrative venture. Now I understand that there is a need to change peoples consciousness or perception in regard to the issue of waste management or even environmental management.

Based on my observation, some, if not most, people thought that environmental management and waste management are a highly technical and costly endeavor. Now I believe that the solution is to help them understand not only the environmental benefits, but also the economic advantages of waste management. I also observed that most people tend to be more interested in and attracted to a given activity or venture if they knew they would gain economic benefits from it.

In the United Kingdom, problems concerning waste management led environmental experts to shift from landfill-based to resource-based waste management (Burnley 2006). However, resource-based waste management necessitates higher skills and greater knowledge about the composition of municipal solid waste. According to recent surveys, there was a good agreement over the composition of collected waste from homes or households. I believe that one possible good explanation for this is that the waste management programs, as well as the waste containers, provided by the local governments influenced household-collected waste generation. This is the reason why local authorities must play a role in the waste management efforts or initiatives in order to encourage households, including businesses, to support the government waste management and cleanliness program.

The United Kingdom is now trying to discover revolutionary technologies to cut the dependence on foreign energy sources and to help heighten energy efficiency (British Embassy 2010). To achieve this goal, the British government has increased its funding and focused on policy guidelines and research. There is no doubt that energy efficiency plays a major, significant role in built environment, particularly in the United Kingdom. However, in order to achieve energy efficiency in the built environment, it is important for the UK environmental planners to ensure greater public awareness. Thus, policy-planners and environmental managers must take into account such aspects as improved building regulations, legislation concerning environmental awareness and policies, building technologies, and new efficient domestic appliances (Clarke et al 2008 4605). This is consistent with the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Managements pronouncement that UK needs to establish sustainable communities in order to achieve the three pillars of sustainable development social equity, protection of the environment, and balanced economic growth (CIWEM 2003).

However, we cannot deny the fact the most people have their own choices and decisions. There are some people who are aware of the advantages of recycling and waste management while there are others who just do not care. One possible explanation to this social behavior is the fact that most people today are hooked on modern gadgets and technologies. A survey conducted last year revealed that most homeowners would prefer to improve the appearance of their homes rather than embarking on energy efficiency upgrades (Burney 2009). Another survey also conducted last year revealed that most people, particularly the young ones, would choose modern gadgets and electronic products over the environment (Treacy 2009). This is indeed true in our generation since there are now an unlimited array of electronic gadgets and modern technologies available in the market.

It is interesting to know and understand peoples perception in regard to their lifestyle and market behavior. Perhaps this understanding would provide a clearer view for environmentalists and environmental policy makers on why the global effort to encourage people embrace energy-efficiency idea is making a slow progress.

On the other hand, proper insight into the efficient use of energy is the key to solving the problems posed by carbon dioxide and greenhouse emissions (DeGunther 2008 19). In their study entitled The Efficient Use of Energy Tracing the Global Flow of Energy from Fuel to Service, Cullen and Allwood (2009 75) introduced two factors that play a significant role in appraising societies potential gains from the use of energy efficiency technologies the scale or extent of energy flow and the scientific potential for improvement or development. We all know that energy flow starts from the use of energy or fuel to the delivery of final services to end-users or consumers.

It is already given that the continued improvement in the efficiency of energy use is intimately related to the expansion and development of industrial societies. The issue of energy crisis encouraged or forced the innovators, scientists, and creators to look for alternative sources of energy. The same crisis also led the innovators and creators to look for potential ways in order to save energy. In the past years we have seen drastic and aggressive technological and scientific innovation that greatly improved human condition and cost of living. This is one of the positive corollaries of energy scarcity, as the innovators and the creators of wealth are compelled to discover alternative technologies.

In order to understand how to properly conserve energy, Cullen and Allwood (2009) traced the global energy flow, which starts from fuels or petroleum products to the delivery of final services. However, unlike previous studies, the researches considered two novel aspects, which are important for future research and studies the concept of passive systems and the technical conversion mechanisms in each energy chain. I understand that these two aspects must not be overlooked, as they help identify the technical areas, which could probably explain the ways by which to generate the highest level of efficiency gain by means of tracing the complexity of global flow of energy, which primarily involve the following technical areasinitial energy sources, end-use conversion methods, passive systems, and the final services

Based on this study, I understand that the two important actions to help overcome the problems posed by global energy crisis are energy conservation and efficient energy use (Thumann and Younger 2008 223). Several nations today, which include the country where I live, have given so much interest in informing the public on the efficient use of energy. However, it appears that information dissemination process is not enough based on the surveys, which I tackled above.

According to a recent report, homeowners in the United Kingdom become more attracted to energy efficiency technology (Becks 1010). UK homebuyers today have started to recognize the importance of energy efficient technologies in their homes. It is interesting to observe how public perception changed today, as there are now more people who are aware of the role of technology in energy-saving initiatives. I understand that the global energy crisis both effects developed and less developed nations. Most countries today are seeing the need of new electricity generation because of various factors like the increase of population, the availability of new technologies, gadgets and electronic goods, and economic expansion that leads to the creation of new businesses, among others.

We all know that buildings and new infrastructures are integral part of the commercial sector that heavily relies on energy. This situation should pressure environmental managers and policy makers to focus on cost-effective efficiency investments (Sorrell 2004 2). The efficient use of energy may lead to more savings for businesses and families. For example, homes and building-users might replace energy-consuming technologies, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, and hot water heaters with innovative and highly efficient models (Hart and de Dear 2003).

Apart from helping reduce the amount of greenhouse and carbon dioxide emissions, this move could provide more savings to households and businesses and help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and greenhouse emissions. Since industrial and transport sectors also consume a great amount of energy, they may also embark on energy efficiency methods to reduce carbon emissions and gain more savings through more efficient use of energy.

It is almost a universal knowledge that efficient energy use leads to energy conservation. One does not have to study environmental management in order to understand this dichotomy. The only problem I see is personal implementation and technological distraction. My observation of the people in my community proves that personal commitment is lacking in the global effort or initiative to conserve energy. Government policies concerning environmental protection and energy conservation are clear. In fact most governments spend too much money and resources on information campaign.

Reflection changes and initiatives
In order to encourage people to conserve energy through energy efficient use, changes may be made with respect to government policies, industry-level efforts and personal-level efforts. Government policies may focus on giving incentives (e.g. tax credits, subsidies, awards, loan, etc.) to innovators or manufacturers so to encourage them to discover clean alternative energy, energy-efficient technologies, and new technologies for waste management. This strategy might spur technological and scientific innovation on the part of the manufacturers and companies. It might also encourage businesses and communities to embark on clean and proper waste management disposal.

On the industry-level, the forces of the markets are the best form of control. Consumers tend to support and
patronize companies and business establishments that care for the environment. In my case, I like going to Starbucks not only because I love their coffee, but also because of their environmental advocacy.
But how do we encourage individuals to conserve energy through efficient energy use How do we encourage them to replace their light bulbs, air-conditioning unit, heater, furnaces and other appliances with energy-efficient technologies These are the questions that not only bother environmental managers, but policy-makers as well.

People have their own choices. Personally I am attracted to modern gadgets, sometimes without knowing if they are energy efficient or not. Personal commitment is something that must be grounded in proper understanding of the issue at hand and its consequences. Today one of the most important and challenging issues is energy conservation. It does not merely challenge nations or societies, but individuals as well. On the individual level, it challenges them to make a commitment, that is, a strong commitment to conserve energy.
But there is one thing that could prevent or preclude us from making personal commitment, and this is technological distraction. Every year we are distracted by the introduction of new technologies and electronic gadgets to the market. The appeal of new technologies is so strong that it could change our lifestyle. Technologies are important to our lives. In fact, they are already part of our lives.

We use technology from the very moment we wake up in the morning. We consume energy whenever we cook our breakfast, go to school or work, or travel to different places. And every time we consume energy we produce wastes. The manufacturer that produced the food we eat generated wastes, while the retail company where we bought it also generated a certain amount of waste. The chain goes on and on.

In order to conserve energy it is not necessary that I have to change my lifestyle. There are alternative energy-efficient technologies in the market that can replace energy-consuming appliances and gadgets that I use. Such appliances as hot water heaters, furnaces, freezers, refrigerators, and air conditioners may be replaced with highly efficient and innovative models that consume lesser amount of energy.

What is necessary is change in terms of ones personal beliefs and convictions. It would be hypocritical to say that I have to totally abandon the use of electronic gadgets and technologies, which are important to my studies and work. The availability of energy-efficient alternative technologies in the market can help solve the issue of energy crisis, thereby encouraging people to conserve energy.

For a period of five decades or more, global players in international food security have tried to convince the world that the only way that humanity can sustainably be fed is by practicing large-scale or industrial agriculture and the use of herbicides and pesticides. During the 1940s, a movement referred to as the Green Movement was established towards this cause. According to St. Peter, The Green Revolution that began in the 1940s promised that advanced technologies in machinery, seeds and chemicals would finally eradicate poverty and hunger, and create prosperity for the worlds poor (2). However, the revolution does not appear to have kept to its promises. As St. Peter continues to add on, Yet more than sixty years into the revolution and one billion people live on less than 2 a day, and  cities around the world are bursting at the seems as rural people flee the countryside in search of food and work. This is a clear indication that the Green Movement was a total failure but its ideas have given way to yet another revolution the Biotechnology Revolution. Although the claims and promises remain the same, one significant addition that catches the worlds attention is the introduction of genetically engineered seeds as the solution to sustainable food production in this era of increasing climatic change. It is the Biotechnology Revolution that has given rise to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) which La Via Campesina and other organizations are so much opposed to (St. Peter 2).

What is La Via Campesina
La Via Campesina refers to an international movement that has been conceived from a desire by the worlds peasant or small-scale farmers to oppose corporate dominance in world food production. The movement is made up of over 150 rural social movements based in over 79 countries in the world 12 of which are from Africa (Holt-Gimenez 3). La Via Campesina proposes that world food crisis can only be resolved through food sovereignty a move based on the view that the small scale agriculturalist should have a right in the decision-making process regarding food production as well as food distribution. This is largely because over the past 20-30 years, peasant and family agriculture is slowly being phased out and these small-scale farmers have continually watched as government and national policies, political parties as well as international monetary institutions that supported rural agriculture slowly lost legitimacy in promoting peasant rights such as right to land and right to produce at small-scale. It is the desire to revive the fight for such rights that has re-united peasant farmers all over the world under the La Via Campesina movement or according to Martizez-Torres  Rosset the peasant way(1). Through the movement, their social struggles are linked together on a global platform and social and political policies are addressed in unison. La Via Campesina has largely succeeded in bringing together peasant farmers, workers and landless people from both developed and under-developed countries under one cause. The movement has been relentless in its derisive critiques and protests against WTO (World Trade Organization), FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), FAO (Food Agricultural Organization), World Bank, WSF (World Social Forum) and more recently the transnational corporations like Monsanto and others who have been spearheading GMOs in agricultural production. La Via Campesina owes its success to its ability to bridge diverse cultural divides to create one global voice through different organizations (Martizez-Torres  Rosset s 1-7).

The Objectives of La Via Campesina
Behind the agenda of GMOs has been one transnational corporation, Monsanto, which has aggressively marketed this form of food production to the detriment of not only farmers but the world consumers and ecosystems. Monsanto has benefited from this ostentatious campaign than any other corporation. The corporation has used American Public Media to deceive the listeners and viewers about its commitment to promoting sustainable agriculture, conserving the environment as well as creating biotech and hybrid seeds that will lead to increased crop yields. St. Peter confirms this allegation by stating that, Everyday on Marketplace, a program of American Public Media, listeners around the country hear Monsantos underwriting ad that claims the company is committed to sustainable agriculture..and conserve natural resources (3). But biotech and hybrid seed are not the real solution to alleviating global hunger and poverty. While the players of global food policy and supply continue to ignore these facts, hunger and poverty are in reality the direct results of landlessness, lack of water, sustainable food production technologies as well as local markets. Recently, Roger Beach, a GM crop pioneer under Monsanto was appointed by the Obama Administration to head the newly created NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture) a clear indication of the extent to which Monsanto and other related biotechnology proponents continue to have control over those in key positions of governance. But more genetically engineered seeds, corporate control of food production and supply, as well as global trade policies cannot offer a solution to the broken world food system. This is the reality that La Via Campesina is trying to put across in the campaign against GMOs (La Via Campesina Call to Action  2 St. Peter 3).

Various events that took place in the year 2009 triggered La Via Campesinas campaign against Monsanto and other Transnational Corporations (TNCs). The TNCs used such forums to openly display their intentions to control worldwide agriculture and food systems, lands, water, seeds, markets and probably all in nature that is related to food production. FAO held a Food Security summit in Rome, Italy WTO held a ministerial Conference in the city of Geneva, Switzerland and the United Nations held a climate summit in Copenhagen, Germany. TNCs such as Monsanto, Cargill, Nestle, Archer Daniels and Midland were well represented in these international summits and they went to an extent of hiring armies of lobbyists to these events that would help shape policies in favor of their operations. On April 17, 2010, La Via Campesina members come together in solidarity to commemorate what they refer to as the International Day of Peasant Struggle. The movement is calling upon member organizations as well as their supporters and allies to come together in a campaign against TNCs which appear headed for the complete control and subsequent destruction of the worlds agriculture as well as food production systems through GMOs (La Via Campesina Call to Action s1-2).

Lately, the U.S based Monsanto has even been lobbying for public subsidies for Roundup resistant Soybeans which they claim to be helpful in climate change reduction because they can be planted on un-ploughed land. La Via Campesina supports this claim by stating that, Monsanto claims Roundup Ready soybeans reduce climate change because resistance to Roundup means the soybeans can be grown without ploughing the soil ( 6). By claiming eligibility for carbon credits from the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism, Monsanto and others only ignore the fact that they promote a type of unsustainable industrial agriculture that leads to climatic change and other environmental problems. La Via Campesina is one of the environment friendly movements that are strongly committed to fighting against such deception. Members of the La Via Campesina movement feel that such companies continue to make huge profits at the expenses of the worlds population which continues to wallow in hunger and poverty. Instead of industrial agriculture and genetically modified seeds, the movement proposes an agriculture system in which such companies will be replaced by worldwide peasant farming on medium-sized farms where healthy foods will replace GM foods and will be produced for both local and regional markets. The proposed peasant farming also states its intention to protect water catchment areas (most of which are being cleared of large forests for industrial agriculture) preserve biodiversity revitalize rural economies and impound carbon. Rosset states that, We can have a food system that gives all of us healthy, tasty, affordable and culturally appropriate food. That helps human beings  peasants, family farmers, indigenous people, and others  stay in rural areas, and that protects rural environments and ecosystems (80). To mark the campaign against TNCs, La Via Campesina suggests various methods of raising public awareness such as public debates, protests, organizing of farmers markets, song or picture contests and film screening among others (La Via Campesina Call to Action s 3-6 Rosset et al., 80).

Target Groups participating in La Campesinas Campaign against GMOs
La Via Campesina traces its origin to Latin America where neoliberal policies during the 1980s led to a sharp decline in standards of living made worse by unequal distribution of income as well as land resources. According to Martinez-Torres  Rosset , The birth of La Via Campesina as a global peasant movement was foreshadowed in Latin America by the founding of one of its direct forebears, the Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (Latin American Coordination of Rural Organizations, or CLOC) in the early 1990s (CLOC 1994). This is not surprising since Latin America is the region of the world with the most unequal distribution of land and income, and the region that particularly experienced a sharp decline of living standards during the lost decade of the 1980s as neoliberal policies hit Latin America ( 12). This gave rise to a networking of the peasant civil society throughout the continent beginning with the 1981 Continental Conference held in Managua in which national, independent as well as revolutionary peasant organizations came together to exchange their experiences. These include landless peasants in Brazil and Mexico, surplus-producing farmers in Indias region of Karnataka, South Korean rice farmers, small-scale German dairy farmers and farm workers in Nicaragua among others. La Via Campesina has become home to many of these organizations spread out in different countries whose struggles were not respected or recognized. Through the movement, these organizations have obtained both national and international respect not only from other institutions but other social movements as well. La Via Campesina is conducting its campaign against GMOs by uniting over one hundred of such organizations worldwide which are supporters of a sustainable pro-poor and rights-based rural expansion. These groups have different political agendas, working methods as well as different world views but they are the best forum for the campaign against GMOs due to certain unifying commonalities that unite them. The most outstanding characteristic about these organizations is that they are somehow representative of those within their sub-national, national or international contexts who are politically and economically marginalized. Such people are the best tool to use in an agenda where certain views need to be successfully put across (Martinez-Torres  Rosset Borras Jr. 3  9).

La Via Campesina has also taken advantage of international events organized by other world organizations as appropriate forums for advancing its campaign against GMOs. October 16, 2009 was for example declared by FAO as an International World Food Day. La Via Campesina took advantage of the food theme to campaign against GMOs by mobilizing its allies globally to protest against Monsanto and GMOs as proposed agents of food sovereignty. The movement organized various events in places like U.S.A, Brazil, Europe, and India. As reported by Hoff, In the United States today, protests and teach-ins against Monsanto are taking place in Maine and Wisconsin. In Brazil, Via Campesina members are carrying out actions in the headquarters of Monsanto and Syngenta. In Europe, where nine countries have prohibited GMOs, Via Campesina organized an anti-Monsanto brigade traveling throughout the region. In India, thousands of farmers and allies are carrying out hunger strikes and occupying lands ( 2). The campaign also spread out across about 20 countries and all other areas where the movement has a strong presence. La Via Campesina had succeeded in using an internationally recognized day to pass the message against GMOs to millions of people worldwide (Hoff s 1-2).

Women are a marginalized group in most parts of the world. La Via Campesina has however gradually realized the kind of input that women have in the agricultural sector and small-scale food production and has identified them in its fight against GMOS. La Via Campesina has subsequently recognized the need to use womens organizations in this campaign recognizing that women form the backbone labor for the agriculture system. Most government policies have for a long time been discriminative of women and La Via Campesina has tried to address this issue through its approach towards gender equality in food sovereignty campaigns. According to Holt-Gimenez  Patel, Central to these efforts have been the work of women and womens organizations-women grow the majority of the food on the continent, yet they shoulder the triple burden of needing to work for a wage, build community, and feed their family (131). The issues of gender and the role of women in food sovereignty were first addressed at the 1996 International Conference of the Via Campesina that was held in the Mexican city of Tlaxcala. The first woman representative, Nettie Wiebe of Canada was appointed at this conference. Four months later, womens representatives from other regions such as North and Central America as well as Europe came together in the first Via Campesina Womens Working Group (VCWWG) at San Salvador. The group later changed name to Via Campesina Womens Commission (VCWC). The movement uses VCWC and other forums to teach women about diversification in agriculture and use of natural seeds for production of healthy foods that should replace the GMOs that have slowly been infiltrating the market. Through this movement, many women farmers have been helped to better their education so that they are better placed in society to teach others about better food production. Rosset and others state that, Rural women have actively participated in the debate and the political construction of this movement, and La Via Campesina is seriously committed to the struggle for gender equality (194).  (Holt-Gimenez  Patel 131 Paget-Clarke Rosset et al., 193-196).

Campaign against GMOs targets TNCs and International Organizations
In its campaign against GMOs, La Via Campesina targets FAO and all those transnational companies like Monsanto, Syngenta, Nestle and others whose corporate interests seem to have taken over the agendas of the organization. The movement accuses FAO of promoting GMOs as the best solution to curbing the global hunger crisis while in reality the technology offers no solution at all. GMOs are a painful and rude slap in the face for La Via Campesina which has been working so hard to defend food sovereignty. For the indigenous people, peasants, consumers, migrants and landless workers who make up the movement, TNCs such as Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta and DuPont are the main enemies of La Via Campesinas daily struggle towards food sovereignty and sustainable peasant agriculture for all people. This is largely because these corporations have taken control of more than half of the seeds that are being planted worldwide. Through the movement, members are devoted towards the protection of native seed from being phased out by such corporations. By organizing the protests of October 6, 2009, La Via Campesina sought to bring to the attention of the Civil Society the plain truth that food sovereignty was in the hands of the global capital while it should be the right of the people to protect not only the future of their food but also their resources and especially the seeds. La Via Campesina argues that GMOs are not the solution to world food problems but are instead a tool for the powers that control agri-business and global governance to utilize the desperate plight of starving nations and expand GMO-based agriculture globally (Hoff s 3- 4).

Media used by La Via Campesina in the Campaign against GMOs
La Via Campesina has been conducting its campaign against GMOs in several ways that attract both local and international media attention. The movement has for example been organizing international conferences worldwide. By organizing its activities in different cities of the world to take place on the same day or same week, La Via Campesina brings together various activists under one cause. On April 17, 2009 for example, the movement declared an International Day of Peasants and events were organized in different parts of the world. Events to mark this day took place in such places as Syracuse and Chicago, U.S.A Madrid, Zaragoza, Basque County and Galicia, Spain Geneva, Neuchatel and Jura, Switzerland Lille, France Brussels-Liege, Belgium Bangladesh, Uruguay and Camerun. Protests, debate forums, demonstrations, concerts, films and roundtable conferences were among the activities used to advance the campaign against GMOs. La Via Campesina has also taken advantage of forums organized by other organizations like the UN, FAO, and WTO among others to enlighten delegates about the dangers of GMOs and the need to shift from advancing such kind of food production (International Land Coalition Hoff 1-4 Aktionsbundris).

Membership in La Via Campesina is highly diversified. According to Borras, Via Campesina has a highly heterogeneous membership, ranging from dairy farmers in Germany to landless peasants in Brazil, from farm workers in Nicaragua to rice farmers in South Korea (9). Such diversity of people united under a common goal has been a good type of media because these people pass on the messages to one another as they update one another on the progress of the movement. This has been of great help to the movement which has used these groups to establish a political forum that it can use to advance its campaign towards food sovereignty, as well as push WTO out of agriculture besides promoting womens rights, sustainable peasant farming and putting a complete ban on GMOs. During international conferences organized by World Bank and FAO as well as at WTO ministerial meetings, the movement has not only been good in organizing protests but has also been very vocal in demanding an end to land grabbing for industrial agricultural production and advancement of GMOs. According to Borras, It has figured prominently in politically contentious campaigns such as those against the WTO global corporate giants such as McDonalds, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), along with the transnational companies that promote them such as Monsanto (133). The movement has also used such meetings to oppose industrial agro-fuel and has also been calling upon the international community to overlook everything about the Green Revolution and biotechnology (Holt-Gimenez 3-5).

Main Messages used by La Via Campesina in the Campaign against GMOs
One of the main messages used by La Via Campesina is that food is one of the basic rights that every human being is entitled to and all people and nations must therefore have the right to draw up their own food and agricultural policies. As quoted in Holt-Gimenez and Patel, The right to be free from hunger is a fundamental human right (100). Through this concept of food sovereignty, the movement has managed to gain the sympathy of all the marginalized people of the world who have going hungry while TNCs continue to export tones of food from their land. The movement promises its audience that food sovereignty gives priority to local production and consumption and that under this policy, only excess food should be exported. Such strong messages are meant to de-popularize WTO which advocates for the right to import and export and considers food sovereignty an impractical approach to solving the food crisis. One of the strong messages that the movement uses is that WTO should be phased out of agriculture. Rosset states that, La Via Campesina has made WTO out of food and agriculture its rallying cry, backed b farm and peasant organizations worldwide (77) (Holt-Gimenez  Patel 53-54 Rosset 77 Atasoy 272).

By taking advantage of international forums organized by the United Nations and other international organizations, La Via Campesina has hung out banners with several of their messages to attract the attention of delegates and viewers worldwide. During the 9th Conference of Parties for example, the UN organized the Convention on Biodiversity and after secretary general Ban Ki Moon had finished his address, La Via Campesina activists hang banners which according to Aktionsbundnis displayed such messages as, Nature for People Not for Business and No Agro-diversity Without Farmers. The movement had been denied participation at the main celebration day and used the conference to attract delegates attention as well as the attention of the international media. According to La Via Campesina, small-scale farmers not only have the solution to hunger but also the power to safeguard the worlds biodiversity (Aktionsbundnis).

La Via Campesinas Challenges or possible sources of failure
One of the major challenges that La Via Campesina has to overcome is the rapid expansion of the agro-fuel business. Biotech companies such as Monsanto and Sygneta are left with opportunity to irreversibly convert the worlds agriculture production into GM crops if the massive clearing of vast tracks of land for agro-fuel production is not stopped. As stated by Holt-Gimenez  Patel, In 2008, 80 0f corn, 92 of soy and 85 of cotton in the US was genetically modified (GM) (USDA 2008c) (77). Agro-fuels remain a backdoor platform through which GM crops will be grown as energy crops and not food crops. Because no protection is given to indigenous seeds, corn and soy production for ethanol processing plants poses a great risk to contamination of indigenous crops accelerating the already extensive loss of indigenous seeds and disappearance of family farms. Vast tracks of arable land will suffer from soil depletion due to lack of crop rotation or fallow periods, soil erosion and excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides  and such land will be rendered unproductive in future. According to Holt-Gimenez  Patel, Environmental degradation has proceeded apace soil erosion excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers soil depletion from the absence of crop rotation and fallow periods the loss of biodiversity due to the spread of monoculture, desertification, and the depletion and contamination of water resources through excessive irrigation have all been among the disastrous consequences of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), (67). The campaign against bio-fuel production is a great necessity as a precaution towards sealing any loopholes that TNCs may be trying to use to advance GMOS (Holt-Gimenez  Patel 67, 77). Another major challenge stems from WTO policies. WTO has been using the food crisis to push its agendas while La Via Campesina sees the crisis as an opportunity to highlight WTOs failures and push the organization out of world food production and distribution (Borras 109 Holt-Gimenez  Patel 53-54, 67, 77).

La Via Campesina also faces the major challenge of engaging in its agenda, big organizations such FAO, European Commission and Parliament as well UNDP and others which have been on the land reform agenda for a long time.  Some members of such institutions are also members of La Via Campesina and while some are pro-reform, others are not. Whether allies or enemies, the only way that Via Campesina can identify their motives is by critically engaging those institutions within which its members are embedded. The movement is also home to various organizations, societies, farmers movements and NGOs. Apart from conflicting views and ideas, LVC also faces such other challenges as Civil Society, participation, accountability, transparency and consultation among others. The significant differences that characterize the positions that La Via Campesina and member organizations take over an issue remains the most challenging factor in the campaigns (Borras Jr. 19-21).

To advance its campaigns, La Via Campesina uses mobilization and demonstration as a defense tactic against her interests by openly opposing those institutions and policies that wage hostility against her interests. The movement also uses collaboration and negotiation as a tactic for influencing policy changes proposed by others. However such issues as culture, history and political context must be addressed. The movements boycotts, direct action and mass demonstrations have however continued to be very effective although at specific political environments and in certain contexts. Cooperation and collaboration nonetheless offers a better option for creating social change in situations where there is room for negotiation. To achieve any kind of success, the movement must be very articulate in addressing the diversity of its membership. Every effort to balance the diverse interests that its membership represents is essential especially the careful addressing of such issues as culture, race, class, gender and NorthSouth solutions which are potential sources of divisions (Borras 137 Borras Jr. 21-23).

La Via Campesinas Measure of Success in the Campaign against GMOs
At the CFSC (Community Food Security Coalition) annual conference held in Des Moines Iowa on October 11-13, 2009, La Via Campesina proudly received the 2009 Prize on Food Sovereignty in recognition of the movements struggle to advance food sovereignty globally and its campaign against industrial agriculture. The movement was hailed for creating a food system that was more democratic in solving hunger worldwide and one that was also environment friendly (St. Peter 3). The movement has also helped to increase the level of awareness about food sovereignty across the globe. Through community and media debates it has spread the message that the world can successfully avert the food crisis through ecological farming and that GMOs have no solution to the crisis. Although multinational corporations appear to be having the upper hand and continue to benefit from the crisis, the message has been driven home (Maiga s 6-7). Small-scale sustainable agriculture has obtained some degree of success in Central America through the Brazilian organization Compesino a Compesino. If the success of such practices would become evident to other farmers around the globe, then La Via Campesina will have an easy job of advancing its campaign against GMOS and towards sustainable small-scale agriculture (Holt-Gimenez 3-6).

Conclusion
Rising food prices have created a global crisis that has coerced governments that had initially ignored La Via Campesina to pay attention to its messages. According to Holt-Gimenez  Patel, Not until the global food crisis burst upon the scene were the worlds governments forced to question the wisdom of using resources for fuel production, (68). Food riots have become a common phenomenon in the Americas, Asia and Africa and many people have suddenly taken notice of this issue and the movements that promise the way out of the crisis. It is also quite evident that the GMOs, herbicides and pesticides promoted by TNCs are destructive to the future productive capacity of agricultural lands. La Via Campesina will have succeeded if it takes advantage of the new kind of attention being paid to its activities for the promotion of ecological farming which has so far been proved to be healthy and environment friendly (Holt-Gimenez  Patel 68, 126)