Mother Jones NASA Review

After reading the last few sentences of our last post, one reader asked to know more about my personal experiences in Ghana.  Having spent a considerable amount of time there as an obruni, (obruni means foreigner but since the first foreigners were white the term has become interchangeable between the two) I see things differently than both locals and foreigners.  I will never forget the first time I travelled through Accra with other volunteers, to be told not to look outside.  This was done out of consideration for their knowing the work I did in Montreal at the time and my field of study, however like anyone else, I did just the opposite and looked.  My heart sank when I looked out the tro-tro (this is one of the two primary forms of transportation in Ghana) window to see a river so filled with waste that we could not see the water, nor was the water flowing! Upon return to Canada, I knew I wanted to help, as this is a problem for the locals, they cannot drink this water, wash with it, walk around without seeing waste everywhere, anything.  My first semester back, I wrote a paper for my Resource Analysis and Management class on the effects of waste in Ghana.  I had so much fun doing the research for this paper, learning about the waste problem in Korle Lagoon, as well as learning about the lack of infrastructure in terms of waste management.  I spent more time reading for that paper than doing most of my other coursework that semester.

The reader who made this request is the person who brought Alfred and I together and I want to quote what she said:
“My tro ride where I met Alfred, he and this other guy where yelling about environmental issues, the other guy blamed the government and Alfred stuck by his belief that it’s not only the government but the people too, and how their attitude towards it affects overall change.”
The reader brought Alred to meet me immediately after this particular ride she describes and we had the same views.  Everything we said, the other agreed with.  It took a while for us to get our vision under way, but here it is getting started.  I hope we have enlightened you and continue to do so, as we firmly believe in what we do.  Also, remember that Alfred is Ghanaian, so this is something that can show how different cultures can come together to achieve the same goals.  As an obruni, part of my goal in working with Alfred is that I don’t want to push my views on Ghanaians.  Instead, I want to use what I know and have learned to help Ghanaians bring Ghana to where Ghanaians want it.

Now, for today’s post:
The article “What NASA's Blue Marble Photo Reveals About Climate Change” by Bill McKibben is not about the kind of waste WaPreG deals with.  It is, however about another kind of waste that must not be ignored.  This particular waste is the carbon emissions that are causing climate change.  We cannot see the problem from where we stand, however it has been shown in the comparison of the photos of the earth from 1972 to that of 2012.  Knowing the facts would give the impression that we would be changing this problem however we are actually in denial of it.  This can be seen in politics, the media and most importantly, the fossil fuel industry.  Because of the effect acting for the environment would have on the economy, denial is widely accepted.

This article fills no void within the literature that already exists on the topic, as this is an alternative to mainstream media.  It would be very helpful for mainstream media to begin discussing, though this should have been discussed from the beginning of understanding the problem.  As per the article, however, there is too much funding against the effects of oil on global warming by the oil industry.  Because of their campaigns, the general public doesn’t understand the urgency of the problem, believing we can continue with the status quo, deeming activists working to solve the problem as nothing more than “radical hippies”.

Though the article does not contain any "breakthrough" information, McKibben does a good job at bringing information together in a clear and concise manner.  McKibben revisits information that is already known in the field, but in an accessible manner for those who may be interested (remember, this is an alternative source) but who may not study or work in the field.

“What NASA’s Blue Marble Photo Reveals About Climate Change” is well written and is also clear.  As I already stated, this article is accessible to all who choose to read it.  The information I felt was missing, however, was the solution to the problem.  It is one thing to condemn politicians, the media and the oil industry, but without a clear solution, many will deem the article as nothing more than following the conspiracy theory path.  Because of this, more research is needed on the solutions.  We need a holistic understanding of the problem and its relation to politics, media and the fossil fuel industry.  We also need to understand the issue from each of these points of view, as well as that of the general public.  Only then can we find ecologically prudent solutions that will please as many people as possible.  Understanding this is crucial to WaPreG’s success.  The reason for this is that we need to be just as holistic in educating those we serve.  Our goal is to prevent waste in Ghana through education about the problem and solutions.  The way we can be holistic is to ask those we work with to collaborate so that this becomes an educational experience for ourselves also, while using the knowledge and talents that these people all have.  This will be done by working together, not by our teaching in an institutional way.

And the weekly quote, this one by Richard Rogers:
Everyone has the right to walk from one end of the city to the other in secure and beautiful spaces. Everybody has the right to go by public transport. Everybody has the right to an unhampered view down their street, not full of railings, signs and rubbish.