I always knew that NYC has far superior water to other places, which is why NYC has the best pizza, bagels, and other foods. Thanks to our lecture, I now know that our water is so great because of the careful measures NYC has taken to ensure our water is kept safe. Instead of building a ridiculously expensive water filtration plant, NYC bought much of the land around our watersheds upstate in order to ensure that the land would not be developed and contaminate our water supply. I am actually impressed with the way NYC was able to handle this, and I do not foresee any future problems that may result from this. The only argument against this is that the towns upstate want to use the land in order to stimulate economic growth, but they can succeed without those lands. If some citizens think NYC owning the watershed land is suppressing their growth, then move to a different part of the country.

Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) is such a strange issue because of the ignorance people have towards it. I think the videos we watched were each very intriguing. The lady in North Dakota mentioned a case where a friend of hers became ill due to fracking in the area and the exposure to fracking fluids. While this has not been proven, there is pretty substantial evidence. According to the video, fracking fluid contains 29 known carcinogens, which is something I find astonishing. Fracking fluids have been detected in the water beneath the ground, but above the area where fracking occurs. It does not take a genius to figure out that the fracking fluids in the water came from fracking deep beneath the ground, even though there is no scientific evidence to support or refute this. Research needs to be done to figure out ways to prevent the fluids from making it into the water. There must be a way to continue fracking where the fluids can be contained and prevented from spreading. Research, however is going to prove costly because once it is proven scientifically that the fluids from fracking spread into the water, the amount of court cases is going to skyrocket. People suffering from illnesses due to exposure to fracking fluids are going to be demanding compensation from these large companies, and rightfully so. I am okay with fracking continuing, however I think people should be thoroughly informed and warned about the health hazards and be given the opportunity to move away from fracking areas at the expense of the large companies. My major concern with fracking is that even though it may help serve our needs for fuel in the near future and make us less dependent on other nations for oil, it is only a Band-Aid. Fossil fuels are still a finite source, which will eventually disappear completely. Sometime in the future, people will no longer remember what fossil fuels were, unless we make unimaginable strides in the near future. We need to search for alternative, infinite sources of energy.

It’s definitely a good thing that buildings now must adhere to the green building rating system from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). This system sounds like a good start, paving the way towards sustainability. Having green buildings that work efficiently and can be energy independent certainly looks good for the future. Additionally, we will be looking to create buildings following Biophilic design in which buildings will be created looking to embrace and reconnect with life, instead of creating buildings that have negative effects on life. All of our progress with cradle-to-cradle design, LEED, and Biophilic design makes for a bright, sustainable future, yet we still have a long way to go in other areas.

One more thing that crossed my mind is that in our course, we focus on NYC only. The course is called, “Science and Technology in NYC”. Why not focus on global science and technology? I understand that we have to start small and build up and that most issues in NYC apply elsewhere, but there must be issues in other parts of the world that warrant continued discussion and education.