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Posts by jlambros

Week 14 Response – Coming to a close

Posted on December 10, 2012 by jlambros

           It’s hard to believe that the semester is finally drawing to a close, but looking back I can absolutely say I learned a lot. Besides simply becoming far more educated on climate change, environmental issues and sustainability, I now feel like I can start to see where things are going and I have to say they aren’t necessarily as bleak as I had thought earlier. The process of reaching sustainability is absolutely an uphill battle, but it is not impossible or already lost; I now believe that we are in the midst of a messianic movement that one day are on our way to the sustainable world of tomorrow. Throughout the semester, most of my responses displayed an air of hopelessness, and after learning about the incredible amount damage that has been done to the environment I certainly see where I was coming from. Today however, I find myself looking at initiatives like LEED or plaNY and thinking that they just might work. I’m starting more and more to see sustainability and some basic environmentalism as the way of the future and that our society’s current consumerist attitudes will seem dated and foolish in 100 years. Change is being made today however, electric cars are becoming more and more common and gas-guzzling behemoths such as the Hummer have really fallen out of style. What was once seen as cutting edge is now just looked at as wasteful and excessive; culture is moving towards sustainability.

Going forward from this class, besides becoming more conscious of my impact on the environment I plan to truly try to keep up with the issues and do my part. Since the beginning of the semester, my emphasis on recycling and reusing has been far greater than ever before, as has my support for initiatives such as plaNYC. I think social contracts like plaNYC and the Kyoto protocol are where the world needs to be heading and are the way of the future, and I now understand that my voice does make a difference.

As far as the structure of the class, while initially these weekly responses and the generally heavy workload seemed like a burden, I now can understand where they are coming from. This class served as an immersion into the concepts of environmentalism and sustainability rather than a light introduction. While I do realize that there is of course so much more to learn than I know right now, I at least feel that I have a far greater understanding of the sustainability movement, as well as its goals, opponents, tactics and message.

While I was skeptical at first, I am very happy that this course is a Macaulay Honors requirement, and I simply wish everyone had to take something similar to this, for I believe that most opponents of the sustainability movement are ignorant rather than truly opposed. If more people saw places like Treece or learned of the horrible history of even our own rivers I have trouble believing everyone would still sit back and watch the world burn, for the stories are too compelling to not have any effect on a person. I wish to truly make myself more involved and more aware of these issues but this class has given me a great foundation to do that from.  I can absolutely say I walked out of this class more interested, more aware and absolutely more educated than the day I first walked in.

Class Response – Week 13

Posted on December 3, 2012 by jlambros

         New York City has to be one of the busiest places on earth and while there is a brilliance to that, it is also a fantastic problem. When you are working a 60 hour week, have to take a crowded 6 train to work and have to spend such an amazingly high percent of your time avoiding walking into someone or getting hit by a cab, considering “ your trash is going would seem pretty low on your list of priorities. All you know is you throw it out and it goes somewhere. The public’s detachment is just a product of modern life; division of labor pretty clearly states that a Wall Street investor shouldn’t be bringing his own trash to a dump, but a greater degree of self-awareness within NYC’s residents is important.

            We of course need to look to San Francisco, for their zero waste program is exactly where we need to be going in the future. In the present though, an ad campaign, like the one Daniel Choi and myself created or Joe and Jackie’s ads, simply raising awareness is crucial. Change will be hard if only a small group of honors students and some true believers are behind the cause, real change would come with the masses. The truth is we simply cannot consume at the level we do now, and if the public can accept that maybe we can actually save ourselves from a destroyed environment.

                                    Treece, is a destroyed environment. To even consider that someplace can be that thoroughly wrecked by man, not even for war but for business, is severely depressing. It may a grim thought but I have to wonder how many more “Treece’s” will come to exist in my lifetime. Fracking seems more than capable of destroying large sections of our country and yet no one looks to the mistakes like Treece that have already been made. I can at least perhaps find some solace in that if I continue to live in New York maybe I can stay blissfully ignorant to these horrible events, realistically though I doubt I will be able to.

                                    I don’t want to condemn the earth by any means but I’m getting more and more sold on the idea of firing garbage into space. In my lifetime a space elevator could be possible and if so maybe we can actually do away with some of the damage we have already done. The idea of real change being made just seems pretty unlikely. Then again if San Francisco successfully created a no waste system, I can’t imagine New York isn’t capable of it. The issue is immensely complicated and the stories of Treece and Tullytown are horrifying, I only pray a true, viable solution can be found before the entire world looks a little too much like Treece.

            From this class I can honestly say I have become much more conscious of my recycling and waste habits and try to be responsible with my garbage whenever possible. Although it is nearly impossible in our society to truly avoid creating waste, I try to minimize it as best I can and now often get confused looks at stores when I say I don’t need a bag and just throw it in my backpack. Simply everything you buy comes with huge amounts of packaging, which is often pretty difficult to repurpose or reuse. Hopefully our society will draw back its overuse of resources, but if not I really hope we can figure out how to shoot trash or some other space age solution because with our current patterns the whole earth will just be one great big dump in a hundred years or so.

Week 12 Response – Nuclear Power

Posted on November 26, 2012 by jlambros

            Opposition to nuclear power  in my opinion  seems to come from two sources: sensational emotions of the uninformed and an unwillingness to spend for the long term, whether the decision is prudent or not. While historical nuclear accidents are hard to forget, it is worth noting how rare the events are when factoring in the mass use of nuclear power, as well as the flawed systems where  the accidents actually occurred . Although the story of Chernobyl is absolutely chilling, it should be seen a reminder of the catastrophic potential of great negligence rather than the typical outcome of the use of nuclear power. While the potential for such events does need to be taken into account, it simply means the focus on properly funding and monitoring nuclear power operations must be paramount, not that nuclear power is inherently flawed.

            Of the renewable energy options currently available, nuclear energy is by far the most practical. While solar power may be a clean and safe alternative, current solar technology is too expensive for widespread application. Wind energy is simply a pipedream at the moment. Nuclear energy, however, is a safe, affordable and green energy source when done correctly. Although I can understand the rationale in shutting down existing nuclear power plants for being unsafe, I am on the side of improving them to safe levels, or if impossible issuing debt to build new safe ones, for as long as they are approached in a careful and logical manner they will be a worthwhile investment down the line.

            Though Ben and Dan gave an equally impressive argument as Demetra and Simon, and I took their issues into account when trying to make my own decision, I simply think that from a logical and long-term perspective, the pros of nuclear power outweigh the cons. I can fully understand and even argue Ben and Dan’s points, their solutions, such as re-equipping houses, simply did not seem to adequately address the grand scale of the problems facing us. In the specific case of Indian Point, while the plant has a mixed history, the problems do not seem overwhelmingly difficult to resolve.  A problem such as operator sleep deprivation seems like a relatively straightforward issue to address in comparison to the diminished air quality that would result from using sources such as coal to make up the energy production difference from closing the plant.

            For the foreseeable future, nuclear power seems like the most practical and logical option currently available to us, though I want to make sure to clarify that I do not see it as an ultimate solution. Once energy sources, such as solar energy or even hypothetically fission, are practical nuclear energy should be exchanged for even safer options, but for now it is the best we have available to us.

Week Eleven Class Response – plaNYC

Posted on November 19, 2012 by jlambros

          Bloomberg’s plaNYC is truly an incredible effort and probably Bloomberg’s biggest ever. The initiative is very far-reaching and has actually been seeing implementation already, even though the date set for implementation of the goals is 2030. Typically I am more hesitant than anyone about these types of initiatives and efforts, and more specifically I am skeptical that they will actually work, but plaNYC actually looks promising. I think a key to its potential success will be the early work put in that has already been done. Having 97% of programs launched within the year after the program started shows that although the undertaking is massive, the Mayor’s office is starting now rather than waiting until it is too late. While I can see the logic those opposed to plaNYC would present, namely that it is too much money being spent and an example of big government, I really think Bloomberg did it right with this one. For the entire semester I have complained every week of humans not having a proper outlook or being shortsighted in their handling of the environment, but for once I think someone took a step back and actually thought in the sense of the greater good. If plaNYC is successful I think it will probably be the greatest accomplishment of Bloomberg’s time in office, and it will remain as a siginificant legacy.

            Part of what I think makes plaNYC so appealing is the plan really does not outstep its fair sphere of influence. An initiative of this kind seems perhaps best on such a small scale, for truly what plaNYC is setting out to accomplish is not necessary applicable to every city; tailoring the plan specifically to New York City insures that it is exactly what we need. If the federal government tried such an initiative I really suspect that some spending would likely be wasteful and the problems would not be handled with the appropriate degree of detail.

            One example of the well-chosen initiatives is the plan’s call for expansion of mass transit use, and specifically the updating of the strong system we already have. The controversial congestion-pricing proposal, while perhaps seeming a bit extreme at first, would also do an incredible amount to create a more sustainable and less congested New York City. I can understand why the proposal was not passed, but I just can’t imagine it being something that people would want revoked once it had settled into the normal. While eight dollars is enough to make a serious difference, it also isn’t such a high price that it will have any serious impact on business on a greater scale. If it was a big enough difference even to close a few businesses, the others that were able to operate while making a smaller impact on the environment should be favored anyway.

            I’m really very glad that Bloomberg created plaNYC and I have very high hopes for the program. I think the legislation could potentially seen as monumental in the future and could be a large part of what’s keeping New York City perpetually on top and ahead of the game. Sooner or later different cities are going to have start adopting similar initiatives and I’m glad to see New York leading the charge.

Week Ten Class Response – On the laziness of man, groups projects and personal duty

Posted on November 11, 2012 by jlambros

It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that many of the irrational decisions made by man in regards to their culture and the enviorment, are simply from an inability to see issues from a scope any longer than a year; and even that may be giving us to much credit. Mankind’s problem with climate change may be immense, and our addiction to our currently unsustainable lifestyles may be difficult to kick, but the change is absolutely possible. Scientists have devised ingenious strategies and technologies to live our lives in a more sustainable manner and even undo much of the damage we have done. While of course man’s achievement in finding solutions should be praised, it if anything leaves us with a sad reality: although we can change, we simply don’t care enough to actually make change happen.

Whether simply cultural or in fact inherent to human nature, examples of this laziness are seen all the time. People constantly complain that they need to go on a diet or that they need to study more, however the vast majority of the time if there is any change in action whatsoever, the change is remarkably short-lasting and fades just as soon as the next distraction comes along. Humans truly have a attention problem. Most people will not argue that they should not try to live in a more environmentally manner, however few will actually act on it. The reason environmentalists push legislation that applies to the entire population, forcing citizens into action rather than giving them total freedom is because they see no possibility in actions otherwise, not simply out of an insistence on controlling others. Sadly however even those measures will likely not work, as people are far better at doing what they want to do, and moreover what they what for short term gratification, than what they need to do even if it is in their own best interest.

I realize this is quite a fatalistic outlook on things but I truly believe that, unless mankind is able to start acting against their own nature, change will not come until what is better long term also happens to be better in the short term. Wind and solar energies are only becoming of interest as oil prices continue to rise, and while oil is still the cheaper option I just don’t see people being willing to pay more solely for the environment on a great enough scale to make any real difference.

Because of this flaw in human nature, the study of personal, smaller projects that have difference, as is to be covered in the last part of the arc of this class, to is me, brilliant. Sadly while the concept of few doing the work of the public is unfair, it is a reality that must be accepted and acted on as a reality. Humanity is in many ways like any classic group project, one or two people do all the work, some purely leach and bring nothing to the table and some fall in between perhaps supporting the effort but in reality doing little or nothing, making them not much better than their cold-hearted counterparts who do nothing. While I can admit to often being in that middle group when it comes to issues such as the environment, I’m hoping to find ways I can make an impact, as I don’t trust the public to handle these matters themselves.

Koyaanisqatsi and the Qatsi Trilogy

Posted on November 5, 2012 by jlambros

Godfrey Reggio’s “Qatsi” trilogy of Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi are artistic representations and discussions of human life in its many forms. Qatsi is taken from the Hopi word for life and the translations of the titles, as used by Reggio, are “Life Out Of Balance,” “Sorcerer Life” and “Life as War,” respectively.  These titles provide some platform on which to examine the plotless films.

Reggio has stated outright that the films were made “not so much about something” nor with “a specific meaning or value,” and that their power comes from making the audience ask their own questions and have their own experience rather than simply dictating one to them. However, these films are absolutely not without intentionality. The brilliant image selection and intense cinematography,  in conjunction with Phillip Glass’s incredibly abstract scores, makes each  film a deeply powerful event, making it impossible for one who views it seriously to not be moved.

Koyaanisqatsi, the first and most well-known of the films, is deeply environmental in tone and exhibits mankind’s distance from environmental equilibrium. The opening sequence of a rocket during takeoff, with a chorus repeating “Koyaanisqatsi” over a dark organ progression, immediately imbues the viewer with an eerie feeling, a vibe which the music continues when Reggio next moves to the deserts of the southwest. His images of mining operations, atomic bomb blasts and other interruptions of nature, such as oil fields and dams, are followed by images of human society, then interruptions to that with powerful images such as the destruction of a housing project and time-lapse shots of massive crowds moving through streets. Reggio jumps between images displaying the artificial and the natural world, contrasting nature and society while showing the dissonance that mankind brings to all that we  interact with.

Powaqqatsi, or “Sorcerer Life” brings the focus away from the mass interruptions that technologically evolved societies are capable of and instead examines countries in the developing world and highlights the evolution of society and its interactions with the environment as the society grows. The film begins displaying smaller cultures and smaller scale interaction with their surrounding environments and people are shown in a very primitive light, only carrying things with their hands or on their heads. The evolution of technology and tools then builds, first with a pottery wheel, followed by metal knives and machetes eventually concluding with a society much like our own. The film also makes a point of displaying the difference sizes and densities of societies using aerial perspectives. The societies begin nearly one with nature and move to a point where nature is so distant from every day life that society itself was not derivative from it. Earlier shots in the film display nature in an overwhelming light, displaying the immensity of mountain ranges, bodies of water and other geographic elements, while the end of the film shows the pure awesomeness of society with shots of enormous crowds of people in the cities of the same developing countries.

Naqoyqatsi, “Life as War,” is the most difficult of the trilogy, focusing on societal pressure, artificiality and mankind’s new existence in a technological culture rather than a naturalistic one. The film works off the idea that technology is the new nature, with Reggio calling technology the “big force” and like oxygen, for “it is always there, a necessity that we cannot live without.” Naqoyqatsi shows man’s development of language and through it false reality with money, a purely man made idea, becoming the most central part of life in society. The film draws to a close on a word filled with madness and “civilized violence,” the film’s interpretation of the Naqoyqatsi. While the first films create their scenes with intense time lapse and slow motion shots focusing primarily on man and environment, Naqoyqatsi uses an erratic blend of images from modern society, weaving them together in a non-linear way that produces an intensely disgusting view of the modern world. Where in Powaqqatsi nature is falling out of human society, in Naqoyqatsi, nature is gone, playing no roll but to be harvest by man simply to maintain the gross existence that our conquest for money and an endless appetite to consume. Of the three, while Koyaanisqatsi was likely the most enjoyable, Naqoyqatsi was the most powerful, with an air of dystopianism reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange.

Environmentalism is undoubtedly one of the core ideas behind the Qatsi trilogy with each film displaying mans different interactions with the environment. While Koyaanisqatsi’s shots of the seemingly endless deserts of the South West may display some artifacts of our old nature, Naqoyqatsi all but dispels that hope. The larger concept of society consuming and exhausting nature may be most prominent in the developing world of Powaqqatsi, however without Koyaanisqatsi’s look at the capabilities of man and the futuristic result of the development the study would not be complete. Each film can of course function on its own but the experiences of seeing them are far stronger as a collective work than by themselves.

When seen after understanding the concepts of this class and the questions to be considered such as how much is too much and what are the values of the environment and environmental sustainability, the Qatsi trilogy provides a wealth of images extremely suitable as a backdrop to try to help one come to their own conclusions. The trilogy fails slightly however in that the sense of overwhelming doom, particularly in Naqoyqatsi, leaves the viewer with a slighted towards simply accepting this warped, culture. Like the beginning of the semester when lessons focused on all of the damage being done without any solutions, the Qatsi trilogy pounds out a dark future for our planet and for mankind. However while the semester developed in an arc, where solutions are raised and addressed, the trilogy stops short before giving any sign of hope, conversely ending far darker than it came in. Although Reggio’s intention was to simply create an intense experience to which one draws their own message, the experience seems somewhat incomplete even if that is exactly what he wanted. Never the less they are profoundly successful in creating an experience the viewer can draw much from. The Qatsi trilogy is an incredible collection of images, sounds and ideas each with a powerful intrinsic greatness that when brought together creates a truly extraordinary experience, with the same being said for the films themselves and as parts of a collection.

Class Response – Week Nine

Posted on November 5, 2012 by jlambros

            For a class about sustainability, the environment and climate change, to not address one of the largest storms to ever hit New York City and certainly one of the most intense and surreal experiences of my entire life would be wrong. The week of Sandy was truly an alternate reality. My house was not destroyed, my family and friends survived physically unscathed and the city remained in at least relative order compared to the immense chaos I would expect from an event as cataclysmic as this, so honestly my loss of power and water for a week seems trivial to even talk about. Yet in reality, it wasn’t.

I constantly found myself immensely bored and unsatisfied and did little the entire week. Nearly everything I would normally do was at least in some way connected to, and often dependent on power. I would look to my laptop or an electric guitar for pleasure and distraction; gone. Browse the internet? Not without an internet connection I wasn’t. Even when I forced myself to simply break down and read a book (and I realize how sad the reality that my only time to turn to this was out of desperation) my natural schedule had me awake at night, and while reading by candlelight sounds like a novel and romantic idea, in reality the dim light got old quite fast.

Once I was able to put my first world problems aside however there was definitely brilliance to that week. Being in such an intensely changed world certainly makes one reexamine what they take for granted and how in many ways surreal their world may be. My house was in the blackout zone but was merely a few blocks from power and, luckily, my parent’s garage. I was able to take their car out to run errands and see friends, and my experience going to a friend’s house uptown was truly surreal. I entered my car in a world that looked straight out of a post apocalyptic film; the streets were eerily quiet and dark, there was garbage and destruction all around me. I hadn’t showered in days and had seen few signs of life that night; except for an occasional beam of flashlight light moving by inside of a window.

When I got out of my car on 73rd and 1st however, it was truly like I had entered another world; either having travelled to a world of the future from the dark ages or coming back from a dark apocalyptic future to see a period of high and extravagance before society’s collapse. Life had not been affected in the least. My friend’s parents made jokes about me being a refugee as they sat in their well lit apartment knowing full well they could go and grab anything from their fridge whenever they wanted, could turn on the TV and find infinite distraction or even simply use the bathroom or wash their hands without worrying about their water usage.  When I washed my hands there, I found myself using only drops of water and even being able to take the elevator instead of taking to the stairs was an incredible feeling.

All of a sudden, the luxury of my everyday life became apparent to me. When I hear people across the world simply can’t understand the American way it is not that they are in some way wrong or backwards, the fault is on us. The grandeur of things we find so basic is remarkable on a global scale. Even though I live on the second floor I had probably used the stairs instead of the elevator on at most a handful of occasions. Truly the thought just never even crossed my mind; if I have an elevator why not use it. Similarly if I want to take a 40-minute shower and I can, then why not. My issue is less even with the wastefulness of these actions, but rather with my complete ignorance to the wastefulness.

Now I am not going to try to say I am a completely changed man after 5 days without power, but honestly it did make me see things a little differently. Maybe I can in fact deal with a little less pampering for the sake of the environment and a better future. Also I think it gave me a new understanding of education and of the point of this class. Although changing people’s actions is important, I really think it is secondary. It is far more important however, to make people self-aware. Maybe in a year I’ll forget all of this, but even it I do it’ll stay somewhere in my brain, subconsciously influencing me towards more grounded, rational actions. But one can’t only live in the future and in hypotheticals – for now I am simply more grateful for what I have and finally have some appreciation for it. And for now I still take the stairs.

Week 8 Response – 12 Principles of Green Engineering and the Messianic Moment

Posted on October 29, 2012 by jlambros

            I actually quite like the 12 principles of green engineering. They are to the point, they assess everything that needs to be considered, and they provide an easy to use yet strong framework for green engineering. These principles remind me somewhat of the goals of LEED, simply a more formal and established realization of these concepts. This list should be printed on a aesthetically pleasing poster and hung in every engineering department and lab, for they display the future and the direction we need to be moving in as a society and within the world of engineering.

            For such a short list of ideas and concepts, the 12 principles are successful in essentially covering the environmental issues we discussed in class. They incorporate an emphasis on sustainability through balancing economic and environmental needs through examining issues on a greater scope than is presently done. I think Number 6 is particularly important, “Embedded entropy and complexity must be viewed as an investment when making design choices on recycle, reuse, or beneficial disposition.” While many seem to view environmental endeavors as unnecessary or coming at too high a cost, those who think that are simply missing the point. “Investment” is a great word choice for that is why environmentalism must be stressed; our actions now are investments for the future, not for the present. Number 11, “Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a commercial “afterlife,” touches on a similar idea.

            A fundamental reason as to why I so enjoy these principles is their basis in reason. Number 8, “Design for unnecessary capacity or capability (e.g., “one size fits all”) solutions should be considered a design flaw,”  is a good example of a principle that is based on common sense.  The “one size fits all” mentality it addresses often means doing something the easy way rather than the right way. On top of that, when implemented in conjunction with the “recycle, reuse, or beneficial disposition” concept of Number 6,  an engineering project with a special purpose is far more likely to do its job in an effective manner than an off-the-shelf solution. I would love to see these principles become the basis of legislation, with tax incentives or something similar given to manufacturers whoes products abide by these principles. The 12 principles will undoubtedly be second nature sooner or later in the future, and seeing them applied across the board would mean great things for the world and the environment.

            The concept of a messianic movement is also absolutely worth talking about, for while I never knew a formal name for the idea I think it is remarkably important when striving towards such a difficult goal as sustainability. The truth is that small actions can make a difference and it is easy to forget sometimes what kind of impact one person out of billions can really make. The “keep at it” attitude associated with messianic movements is also essential, for sustainability will not be an overnight success, but when we get there it will be worth it. When humans are able to bring ourselves to a sustainable point, the world’s focus can move to even greater issues and will likely cause a technological boom. Sustainability is not impossible, and while it may be difficult to see an end in sight, persevering on this initiative is essential to the continued existence and health of the human race; sustainability is not a matter of choice, it is a matter of survival.

Waiting for the arc to take a turn – Week Seven Response

Posted on October 21, 2012 by jlambros

When I first heard that the third Macaulay seminar was based around the environment and sustainability, I won’t lie I was a little unsure as to what I thought of that. I recycled, I understood the world had environmental problems and thought that in some sense that was enough; I had little idea of how bad the planet’s environmental problem really was, both in a physical pollutant sense and in the sense of how oblivious and ambivalent our culture is on the issue. The BP discussion last class really made me reconsider how bad our culture’s ignorance on the issue.

I can fairly safely say that I too would have written BP off as one of the good guys prior to the spill. You don’t often see commercials advertising the environment so I would have assumed they were a company with some significant ties to green initiatives and definitely would have taken the same message we all extrapolated, that everything is fine and our gas consumption is perhaps a necessary evil for right now. The commercial did not advocate change, responsibility or even really awareness; it simply reinforced American’s addiction to oil while plugging their oil over their competitors. BP completely spun the issue of environmentalism to their own benefit, using a serious danger as a marketing ploy.

Again sadly though I will admit if I had simply been glued to my couch watching Family Guy or something similar and that commercial came on I wouldn’t have gone through any of this. I would have sat through it and perhaps maybe thought its good that BP was doing something about the environment while subconsciously the commercial lulled my scared thoughts about the environment to sleep.

The true danger with the environment is simply the lack of consciousness on the issue. Prior to this class, even I, an honors college student who follows the news and cares about the environment had little idea of what was really happening, and just stopping for a moment to consider the awareness of the issue of my fellow classmates in my regular classes really saddens me. The population seems just so entirely oblivious to what is really going on.

I know the fabled arc of the class foretells solutions rather than simply more problems but honestly for me it can’t come soon enough. I really believe that the only way changes can be made is by individual efforts for I think the masses may be long lost. It will be likely be a long time before the mainstream public really comes to grips with the importance of sustainable culture and engineering so the work of those that do understand it is simply that much more important. Now that I have been “brought out of the cave” as Plato’s famous analogy goes, recycling my bottles and giving a nod of “keep up the good work” to those who are trying to make a difference doesn’t seem like enough. So once again I eagerly await the solutions portion of the arc.

Week 6 Response – The Triple Bottom Line

Posted on October 18, 2012 by jlambros

            Achieving proper balance in life and society is to some extent the ultimate goal in human life. Not letting your work or your play time or anything else take over your life is a challenge that everyone deals with. Prosperity would be ubiquitous if people could only accord the proper level of interest to all of the right things. For our world and our class there are three things to be balanced: the economy, the society and the environment – the triple bottom-line.

            As great as it would be forget about this balance, unfortunately that option is out. Disregarding the environment is poisoning our very existence but without an economy and the ability to purchase what we need to survive humans also face dire problems. Unfortunately perfectly satisfying any of these without disregarding the others is impossible; ultimately sacrifices need to be made. Only with a healthy balance of each of the three is sustainability possible, and when introducing other sets of threes, such as the differing interests of individuals, corporations, and government, things get far more complicated. Once again however balancing these differing interests is essential.

Truly the only way change is possible is through submission to a social contract by everyone from all of their different roles. Agreements such as Kyoto may not have been completely successful, sadly in part due to reluctance from our own United States, but it is these types of measures that will make change ultimately possible. When looking at basic game theory you can see that while it is in everyone’s own best interest to act with the environment in mind, as long as it the individuals own role is not the tipping point they won’t care; someone else will do it.

Bloomberg has done a lot to force people into acting in their own best interests between the soda ban, the indoor clean air act and countless others, and while I can absolutely understand the argument from those opposed there is no other way to see real change. Humans are not and never have been a species with especially strong self-control and much of our animalistic lack of processing still adversely affects our society. As I’ve discussed before truly most of the world’s environmental problems stem from seeing problems from a limited scope, for if an issue such as fracking were examined from a scope of a hundred years rather than 5 years (if that), the logical course of action in choosing to benefit the environment would be obvious. Sadly however, that is just not how humans seem to think.

Creating a social contract makes people follow what is in their best interest even if it isn’t for their immediate benefit, for it is for the benefit of society and as members of society, themselves. To truly deal with all parts of the triple bottom line, society must come to a consensus and agree to stick to it, electing a higher power to manage them. Sadly the harsh polarization in our current political world makes this easier said than done but hopefully when this disruptive trend comes to a close and the dust settles our government can see the importance in works such as the Kyoto protocol and more generally in balancing environmental interests with economic ones.

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