Writing Out Thoughts

by Echang

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Wall Street: Only pretty on the outside

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DISAPPEARING BEES= DISAPPEARING FOOD SOURCES

Article from Time

I’ve been reading about bees’ disappearing for the past three years, so this news isn’t old. The fact is climate change kills bees, and we all know the importance of this tiny insect. With changing weather patterns and increasing and continued use of pesticides, bees are forced to relocate for their survival. This migration spurs a long chain environmental reaction in which flowers and other plants are not pollinated. In fact, with increasing soy and corn production, bees are losing acres of nutrition and are dying in the millions. The research article which Time based their piece is linked here. 

We must remember that different species respond differently to climate change. Our world is an ecosystem in which everything from how our electronics are produced to bees, and other pollinating species, react to climate change. 

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These are the agricultural Liverpool Plains, Australia, which the Chinese coal company Shenhua Group is going to destroy for coal extraction. 

From The Sydney Morning Herald and Jeremy Buckingham, a country Greens member of the New South Whales (NSW) Legislative Council and holds the key portfolio responsibilities of Mining, Agriculture, Regional Development, Rural Water, Sport, Youth and Western NSW.

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Securing your future

TPP has been at the front of the news recently, and just passed for a fast-track, meaning that the trade deal will not be subject to public scrutiny and that Congress can directly vote on it without negotiation. Negotiations and meetings will now be held in secret and corporations can sue nations (3rd world countries), states, and city governments if companies lose profit. This means that fossil fuel companies can sue because they can’t earn as much profit as they want. 

SIGN HERE TO STOP TPP: https://act.350.org/sign/congress-tpp/

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Update

After much consideration, I’ve decided to change the nature of this blog to something more general. I find that there are many things that I wish to write about, and I can’t have a blog for each of them. I’m in the middle of reading a rather long article, about 90 pages, and a book on infrastructure. I will post as soon as I finish these. 

Thanks,

Echang

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Paradoxical Growth

Article from The New Yorker

Written by J.B. MacKinnon, this article highlights the Patagonia’s thinking and success behind their recent rapid growth. MacKinnon opens with a description of a hippie vehicle that sold and repaired Patagonia gear.

Rick Ridgeway, the vice president of Patagonia’s environmental affairs, states he realized that shoppers starting “seeking goods that offered enduring worth,” and that Patagonia delivered on this proposition. On Black Friday, 2011, Patagonia, therefore, printed an advertisement in the Times that informed viewers to not buy the featured product: the R2 fleece sweater, one of Patagonia’s top-sellers. The ad’s infamy, however, worked for the company’s benefit, significantly driving up Patagonia’s 2012 sales, though MacKinnon does not inform us of the R2′s sales number.  

MacKinnon explains that Ridgeway argued that a model based purely on growth is a dead end and “that global environmental crises such as climate change, toxic pollution, and resource depletion were only symptoms of a larger problem.” Yet, Patagonia has expanded, and Ridgeway and others from Patagonia have stated that this growth allows Patagonia to deliver products that allow their customers to live more responsibly. 

Ultimately, Patagonia leads a somewhat paradoxical existence. The brand realizes that continued growth may eventually lead to a harmful impact-- creating more problems that solutions, but until then, Patagonia hopes pave the way in sustainability. MacKinnon ends on an optimistic note with Lydia Baird, a student at Fashion Institute of Technology, ‘“We definitely have to consume less, and there’s no way the world is going to be a perfect place. But maybe production can be done better. Maybe production doesn’t have to be a bad thing. And maybe Patagonia can lead us there.”’ Enclosure. 

Great article and one that gives us hope for a brighter future. I think that MacKinnon covered a wide range of economics and environmentalism and that Ridgeway provided answers that show he truly understands. I like that Patagonia views itself as a leader in environmentalism and corporate responsibility, especially with its repair warehouse in Reno, NV, apparently the largest in North America. The only downside, however, to this Patagonia view is that only a select percentage from the world’s population can actually afford Patagonia gear. The R2 Fleece Jack on Patagonia’s website sells for $169. So, I suppose endorse Patagonia if you can and purchase wisely and live even more responsibly if you can’t, even if environmentalism and sustainability should be for everyone. 

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It’s systemic dude.

We’re So Green video

I learned about this video in class and wanted to discuss it here. The video implies that being “green” is a moral obligation and that if one is green, one would feel good. The video isn’t wrong, but it isn’t entirely correct either.

1. Not everyone has a smart phone 2. Not everyone owns houses and can afford solar panel installations 3. Not everyone has access to public transportation 4. Not everyone has a backyard to grown his/her own food 5. Not everyone speaks English. This video isn’t available in other languages. 

The issue at hand is so much bigger than this video. Going green shouldn’t just be about the people who can afford to save planet (although that is necessary). It’s also about providing a safe environment for everyone, regardless of whether they can pay or not. The “green” lifestyles modeled in this video perpetuate the mainstream idea of “green” and don’t move the conversation on the environmental movement. In fact, the video reinforces the status quo. But environmentalism is a social justice issue because disadvantaged communities disproportionately suffer environmental degradation and consequences. They can’t “be green” because they’re too busy trying to put food on the table. But they can’t even purchase healthy, clean food because the agricultural system is entirely messed up. My point is that our current system, especially our economic one, doesn’t help the environmental movement. Solar panels and other environmentally helpful installations are expensive and most of the population can’t afford them. We, therefore, need to shift the conversation from “being green” to being real by addressing the infringement of human rights. 

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All about that growth, ‘bout that growth, no trouble

Article from Harvard Business Review

In this article, George Serafeim maintains that one of his previous studies suggests that making socially responsible investments can lead to greater profitability and higher stocks. Serafeim, however, emphasizes that firms must invest in social and environmental issues that benefit the company. For example, transportation and fossil fuel firms may not experience aforementioned results because these kinds of socially responsible investments in the environment may not reap the same benefits as those whose investors are in healthcare. Serafeim’s study, therefore, provided the map for initial analysis. The study showed that firms making investments in material socially responsible investments “outperform[ed] their peers in the future in terms of risk-adjusted stock price performance, sales growth, and profitability margin growth.” The study’s results suggest that companies need to examine which social and environmental issues are most strategic to improve their performance and that if chosen correctly, businesses can improve both their social and financial standing. Enclosure.

Here’s the problem with this thinking. It’s all about growth for the investors. Companies are investing in these social and environmental issues in hopes of improving their image. So what happens when an issue isn’t deemed as lucrative as another? Does that issue persist, unfixed? Well, if it were up to me, businesses shouldn’t even be considered to try to “fix” social problems. To be honest, businesses don’t exist to fix anything. They exist to provide, to feed demand, and to earn money. Serafeim does bring up a good point, but one that can’t solve the problem. We’re at a paradigm conflict that is currently locked in debate. Neoliberalism isn’t going to provide water in California. The invisible hand in the free market actually exacerbates the problem because it’s drinking everything up and exporting it. And the government isn’t doing anything substantive. We can’t afford to only think about growth for the investors. We need to think about what’s best of the most amount of people. And most likely the answer to that problem is getting drowned by businesses’ machinations.

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Introduction

WELCOME! My name is Emily, and I’m a rising sophomore in college. This blog aims to examine whether environmentalism, the stewardship of our physical environment, can thrive in our current economic paradigm, which centers on growth. I want to emphasize that environmentalism (now I’m not a fan of bolding things, but it’s become a norm) is more than just taking care of trees and birdies. Environmentalism has branches that extend into social justice and human rights. This blog, therefore, will feature articles from a plethora of sources, which will be as reliable as possible. Ain’t gonna be no Buzzfeed on here. Or Bloomberg. And most definitely not Yahoo. I will summarize, analyze, and discuss those articles, focusing on said topic. I, however, am not an expert on business or economics or conservation or anything practical really.

I’m 19.

I am using this blog as a way to explore (hence the url) this interest in environmentalism and business. 

If you have any questions/ideas/anything, feel free to inbox me. I’ll respond ASAP. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy!