Media Manipulation...Wednesday, September 9. 2009

Today in the age of mass media whether it be television news, internet, or magazines and newspapers, we are bombarded with information on global warming and climate change. Most of these messages are not consistent. One news report may say something different than the next one in regards to the seriousness of the effects of global warming and climate change and the views of the causes of climate change and global warming often differ. The same holds true with pollution. There are different reports on the causes and seriousness of pollution and how it affects human health and our atmosphere.

The Arctic is the measuring stick for global warming. The Artic is an extremely sensitive region, and it's being greatly affected by the changing climate. Most scientists view what's happening now in the Arctic as a hint of things to come. Average temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as they are elsewhere in the world. Arctic ice is getting thinner, melting and rupturing. Drastic changes are occurring in the Artic region, affecting the ice both in the open ocean and the ice, which is attached to the coast. Arctic thawing is likely to result in worldwide consequences from an increase in greenhouse gases and global weather pattern changes, according to a World Wildlife Fund report recently released. They have also discovered that Arctic ice is shrinking at a much quicker pace than previously expected. The thawing Arctic is likely to have far-reaching implications that will affect hundreds of millions of people the WWF said. Most of us have never been or will never be at the arctic in person. We can only rely on the media to give us their interpretation of the artic ice melt. No doubt it is real, but many of us feel that what happens up in the arctic will not affect us in more southern climates. That is not true. The planet is interconnected in so many ways, so what happens in the Arctic may not necessarily effect us today, but will certainly effect us in the future. We all hear reports of floods and droughts in different regions of the world when we watch the news. We also hear reports of wild fires, tornadoes and hurricanes. There is no disputing that these things are happening. What is disputed, however is what is causing these weather patterns. Does global warming cause it? If so, how much of these storms and weather patterns are contributed to climate change? What contributes to global warming? One thing is certain. In the business world a corporation's number one goal is their profit margin. If a corporation's main business contributes to something that harms our environment and affects climate change they will not jeopardize their business by reporting anything negative if they are not forced to do so. If they do have to admit to something that is negative in regards to the environment it will be watered down and they will put a positive spin on it to make the public feel better. While the artic ice is melting and maybe on a course of catastrophic consequences for the next generations, no huge company that contributes to climate change will admit to how serious it is if it means a huge loss of profit for them. They sugar coat the facts if they have to.

In some areas of the world in and even in North America, pollution levels in our air, soil and water are unacceptable. In many cases the media is controlled by corporate powers that want to dilute the truth about pollution and global warming. Do you think big oil companies want us to know about the full dangers of the pollution caused from refineries? One example is in southern New Brunswick, where I live. We have one of the largest oil refineries in North America along with two paper mills and an liquefied natural gas facility owned mainly by the company that controls all the major newspapers in the province and has control over the local government to a large extent. I believe the rates of asthma and other repertory illnesses along with other diseases, like some cancers, can in part be contributed to the high level of pollution in this area. In fact, a good friend of mine who lived in Saint John, New Brunswick for close to ten years complained about shortness of breath and decreased energy levels over the past few years (he is a non-smoker). He moved to a rural area of Nova Scotia a month ago and has told me his breathing is better already. I have heard of others that have left the Saint John area and begin breathing better shortly after. It is not a coincidence, and I believe we a not told the entire truth when it comes to the health affects of pollution in this area.

Around the globe many businesses that are doing the wrong thing in regards to harming our environment and polluting our air, soil, rivers, lakes and oceans often get away with a lot of things that they shouldn't. Many times large companies control our media and governments to a large extent. Considering that the media survives on corporate advertising revenues, do you think they are going to bite the hand that feeds them? As well, governments are dependent on the tax revenues that these companies provide and the tax revenues received by the people that are employed with these companies. It stands to reason that the more powerful a company is and the more money they are worth, they can buy positive information provided by the media as well as manipulate governments. We as people living on this planet need to pay attention to the real issues and learn to decipher through some of the information that is constantly thrown at us by the media

Short Term Pain for Long Term Gain...Wednesday, October 8. 2008

During the past month, individuals and businesses here in North America and around the globe have been deeply concerned about the state of the economy. Big banks have been faltering, the stock markets have been falling and people in the United States, especially, have being losing their homes and their jobs. There is much debate over bailout packages for banks and the rich institutions and debate over which political party will be best equipped to deal with pending economic downturn.

The one thing that has happened over the past month is that the price of oil has fallen to below $100 a barrel again. The price of gas, which dominated the news earlier this year, has taken a backseat to other issues. I hope we don't lose focus of the need to develop alternative sources of energy. We have a serious problem in relation to climate change and global warming issues. These environmental issues can't be ignored.

We in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world are in for a change in our way of doing things. I personally believe that we are headed for a severe recession on this side of the globe. As the credit crunch and the economy gets worse, we as a society will be more open to different ways of doing things. In some cases we will have no choice but to change our ways. Green energy and alternative energy is one thing that I believe that will make positive headway in the next decade.

I recently was reading an article about the future upcoming employment boom in jobs relating to "green energy". "Green jobs" or jobs relating to alternative renewable energy sources will probably be a desired field to be involved in. Consumers, businesses and organizations will seek green energy souces in order to save money, and help reduce the environmental impacts of conventional electricity generation and increase our energy independence. Employment relating to solar power, whether it is research or the manufacture of solar energy sources such as solar panels should increase in the coming years. Wind power and tidal power companies are other sectors that should enjoy some growth in the future. We will become more conscious towards energy conservation issues, as individuals as well as businesses try to survive these challenging times. Alternative energy sources will probably be used more.

Also our transportation sector will see changes. We should see a shift to more hybrid vehicles and even electric vehicles. Vehicles that run on methanol and ethanol might be used more. Even solar energy will be explored as a way to power a car. Giving an economic downturn more people will use mass transportation such as buses and trains.
Bikes and scooters will be used to drive short distances and more people will walk. Another thing that may happen is that people will get in the habit of "reduce reuse and recycle" more often. There will surely be less waste in a bad economy as more people keep and repair what they have instead of throwing it out.

It is somewhat discouraging that in our society many people want to switch to alternative clean energy sources for cost and economic reasons before "saving the planet" reasons. But the economic downturn might be the real catalyst in deployment of solar power, wind power and tidal power on a wider scale. The use of bio fuels and geothermal energy will also be used more as we are forced into using alternative energy sources.

I think we are in for some huge changes in North America. You have probably heard the expression; "no pain- no gain". I think that applies to what happens on the other side of the economic pruning we are starting to see. I believe we will see a renaissance of a new era of clean green energy sources in the future. We need solutions and less pollution.
There is no doubt that most of us will experience pain and anxiety in the coming years with a severe recession and shift in how we live in many aspects of our lives. But in the long term we will all benefit in and a perhaps a fairer, less corrupt economic system and be left with a society with greener energy sources. Renewable energy is cheaper and the long term and makes more sense environmentally. We must learn from the challenges that we are facing now and move forward with a healthier environment and society tomorrow.