From CUNY to Harlem to Antarctica

CUNY Professor Steve Pekar is embarking on yet another voyage to Antarctica, this time with a focus on reaching Harlem Middle School students, with the hopes of generating interest in the sciences amongst minorities. His plan to engage young students from Harlem: Bring their teacher with him. Shakira Brown, a science teacher at Harlem’s Promise Academy will join him and 3 of his students for the trip in October.
An Antarctic Summer

The trip which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation-who certainly acknowledges the lack of diversity in such expeditions-, sends about 300 people to the continent for research each year. They are working towards bringing more diversity to that cohort, which at this point consists of only 3-4 non-white researchers.

CUNY’s diversity among both faculty and students, certainly reflects a commitment-and mission-towards multi-cultural education and access for all. But as Dr. Pekar stated in the article that appeared in The Times this morning, he’s “tired of having a bunch of white people running around doing science.” While CUNY’s commitment to diversity and access is not to be questioned, there is always room for improvement. We welcome and appreciate future voyages like this one.

Ok…So what Next?

The Center for Research on Environmental Decisions released a study earlier this month outlining the beliefs of New Yorkers on issues of global warming, local vulnerabilities and who is responsible for getting us on the right track to avoid some seriously hot summers.
Fluorescents are the new black.

The numbers were powerful, which is a welcome but expected result. Seventy eight percent of New Yorkers believe we live on a planet that is heating up, 82% of those folks believe humans have caused it. Sixty percent of NYC citizens say they worry about global warming and its potential effects on the region.

Potential Consequences and percent of people worried:

Heat Waves: 85%
Energy blackouts:79%
Storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes: 79%
Increased rates of disease: 72%
Flooding of subways, tunnels, and airports:70%

Perhaps though, the most powerful statistic is that 69% of New Yorkers believe that parts of New York will be abandoned due to sea level rise.  I’m going to assume that the 60%, mentioned above who worry about global warming are in there. But do the other 9% not worry about that fact?

Chock full of other interesting numbers, including who should pay for building upgrades and PlaNYC initiatives-which are largely supported-I think it is safe to say that the findings indicate that New Yorkers get the global warming situation.  Con Edison is actually sited as the group that needs to do the most! The real question now, as always, how do we turn this into pollicy?  Congestion pricing should be an interesting case study.

Where Have Things Gone Wrong?

Our fare hike of late, will not actually come with immediate improvements, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority informed us yesterday. The finances of the organization have suffered from the recent drop in real estate tax revenues.
New Service Postponed.
Higher Rates in Effect.

While I may not be a transportation expert-neither is the chair of the MTA board- I would like to think it would be in the best interest of the MTA-and us riders-that the budget not be based on such volatile revenues. And if that is just a pipedream, didn’t they know the tax revenues would be lower than expected since the mortgage crisis has been in full swing for quite a few months? Wouldn’t the right thing to say at that point be, “We are postponing the new service improvements, so we are postponing the fare hike for now as well.”

I was not opposed to a fare hike because I think that we are the unfortunate inheritors of ages of neglect towards public transportation in this city. And while I do think it is a gross injustice that New York transit riders pay a higher share of their ride than other mass transit riders in the nation and world, these are the cards we have been dealt. But the continual sentiment of paying more for less gets old real fast. And it seems like reasonable people-like me of course-who understand the need for hikes IF there are improvements will lose that fragile trust.

Things need to change here. I would start by putting someone in charge who is a transit person, not a real estate person. And while the chair of the board is more symbolic than active, that would send the right message, a more appropriate symbol for what the MTA should stand for.

Farm City Fresh Eggs

When I first heard it myself, I had a lot of questions. Where will they be? On roofs, in parking lots, in central park? But Just Food has embarked on The City Chicken Project that will promote folks to raise hens for their eggs right here in the city. According to their site, the initiative aims to:
Baby Chickens in the Big City

· promote best practices and the benefits of raising chickens in the city,

· teach people how to build coops that are structurally sound and healthy for hens,

· publicize relevant city regulations and codes, and

· support gardeners who are interested in setting-up or expanding egg production operations.

Readers, what would YOU think if your neighbors had chickens?

A) Its a cute and fuzzy way for children to live closer to animals and a healthy choice towards sustainability? (Chicken production facilities are pretty foul…no pun intended!)

B) This is not the farm and the volume of a hen at say, 6 AM does not excite me so much.

C)  I am curious and want more info before I decide on such important matters.

There is No Simple Answer

The New Yorker’s recent, insightful article, “Big Foot” based on the complexities of calculating a carbon footprint, left some feeling like all the moves they had made toward a more “sustainable” lifestyle were null and void.  However, I would argue that such an article asks us to stop and reassess what it is we are trying to do when we think about minimizing personal environmental impacts.  Where are our priorities? Perhaps they are different for everyone.
Footprints Vary Across the Map

So today we bring you the Earth Day Footprint Quiz.  Upon visiting the homepage, you will be prompted to fill in your country of residence. After which, you will discover the purpose of the quiz. “This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you’ll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet.” Those 15 easy questions range from how many people you live with to how often you have meat in an average week.

Post quiz-taking you will find out what the numbers are based on.  While this is not gospel or an entirely fool proof method of evaluating impact, seeing my footprint and being told that if everyone lived like me, we would need 2.5 earths is anxiety causing! As the initial disclaimer states: CAUTION: THIS QUIZ MAY SURPRISE YOU, SHOCK YOU, OR MAKE YOU THINK. PLEASE REMAIN CALM…BUT NOT TOO CALM!!