Environmental Justice

I think Environmental Justice is a great thing because it promotes the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

My favorite part of learning about Environmental Justice was getting to read about Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which states “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” I love learning about laws as I am a Criminal Justice.

Terrorism and the Environment

In relation to this weeks assignment "Terrorism and the Environment", I was able to find an awesome source at http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/. GreenIsTheNewRed.com is a website that focuses on how fear of terrorism is being exploited to push a political and corporate agenda. It focuses on how animal rights and environmental advocates are being branded “eco-terrorists” in what many are calling the Green Scare.

The Department of Homeland Security warns that“Attacks against corporations by animal rights extremists and eco-terrorists are costly to the targeted company and, over time, can undermine confidence in the economy.” This is just one type of terrorist influence over the environment. There are many ways that a person can harm the environment without even realizing it.

Ecological Literacy

I love Florida and all its natural wonders, but there is also much beauty in nature in other parts of the world. The website http://www.ecoliteracy.org/ tells us that nature is our teacher; sustainability is a community practice; the real world is the optimal learning environment; and sustainable living is rooted in a deep knowledge of place.

Southwest Florida is dominated by wetland ecosystems, 40 percent of which are in conservation lands. Mixture of temperate and tropical species contributes to high plant and animal diversity and the region is considered one of the Earth's biodiversity hotspots. Just more reasons why Florida rocks!

Earth Chapter?

Before the Earth Chapter, I thought ok well this will be something new for me to comprehend. After the Earth Chapter, I thought…. OMG, what is this about? I’m not going to lie, I was so lost. I still don’t understand what this Earth Chapter is about. I wish I were their advertising or marketing director because I would conduct the procedure in a more profitable way. I just could not get from ANY of the site, what they were about, what they were trying to achieve or what their main propose was.  From looking at their website, there is no way I would even consider contributing to their cause point blank!

"The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century". Ok, this I get, but other than their conferences, I don't really see what active community programs they have in place. I was disappointed with this assignment. I feel that there are other organizations that would have been a better choice.

Floridiana: Cross Creek

Cross Creek, what can I say about my experiences in relation to the book Cross Creek? Well, given that we had a nice list of books to read for our Floridiana module and the book Striptease was the most appealing after reading the description of the book. I actually rented it from the library as well as Cross Creek, but after the first few pages into it, I couldn’t see how any of that were relative to our class studies thus far and went with Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. I feel much like Ms. Rawlings in that I came from a small town in the backwoods of North Carolina, on a farm. We didn’t have much and neither did many of the people I knew. I was determined to escape. I was determined to do better and live up to everything I knew I was capable of accomplishing.

My first step was education. I moved from my farm after graduating from high school and attended the University of South Carolina. (Go Gamecocks!) This was my first step, but it also allowed me to see a different part of life. Not only was I attending college, but I was no longer trapped in the small town destiny that I was sure to become trapped in forever. Even now, reflecting back, I see many of my old friends on Facebook and they have no clue that they don’t have to be subjected to the hard times they go through.

Reality is that, after spending four years in South Carolina, I needed to move even further, which led me to Florida. Now, my life makes sense. I have purpose. Anyway, I’m not trying to make a bio out of my journal, which is probably why the beginning parts are so short, but the book Cross Creek holds a deep meaning to me personally as I can understand and respect  Marjorie for all of her achievements.

Florida Everglades Here I Come!

I really wanted to visit the Florida Everglades with this week’s marine field trip assignment, but I live a good distance away and I had a lot going on with my full time job so I was not able to venture out. I am an experienced kayaker and would love to try out my skills in the Everglades of some of the most beautiful wildlife. Plus, while doing research in our forum, I looked up information on the Everglades National Park at http://www.nationalparks.org/discover-parks/?fa=viewPark&pid=EVER. While doing so, I discovered that this is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles exist side by side as I had previously mentioned in our forum. I’ve got to say that this would be above and beyond AWESOME to see! I hang out with the alligators all the time during my exploration of different rivers in my kayak, but I’ve NEVER seen a crocodile up close and personal. Before this exercise, I had not thought much about or had any interest in visiting the Everglades, but after reading more extensively about it, I plan to add it to my list of places to explore.