by Sarah Becker ©2020 Earth Day Celebrates 50 Years “The time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils shall have been still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields, and obstructing navigation,” President Theodore Roosevelt—a progressive New York Republican—told State Governors in 1908. “Conservation of our natural resources, though the gravest problem of today, is yet but part of another and greater problem to which this Nation is not yet awake, but to which it will awake in time, and with which it must hereafter grapple if it is to live,” Roosevelt continued. On April 22 the country, the city of Alexandria celebrates Earth Day’s 50th anniversary. That said what exactly do we celebrate? “Rising sea surface temperatures and acidic waters could eliminate nearly all existing coral reef habitats by 2100,” the University of Hawaii Manoa explained on February 17, 2020, at the Ocean Sciences Meeting. Coral reefs harbor the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem globally and directly support over 500 million people worldwide. In fact, scientists “project 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs will disappear over the next 20 years as a result of climate change and pollution.” Although pollution poses numerous threats to ocean creatures, “the new research suggests corals are most at risk from emission driven changes in their environment.” “Much of the emissions spike is driven by the continued rise of transportation emissions, now the nation’s top source of emissions,” the Rhodium Group explained. Rather than develop mass transit competitively, plan and market its metro stations fittingly, the city of Alexandria, despite its multi-modal policy, mostly encourages auto-driven streets. Born in 1858, in New York City, Teddy Roosevelt…
©2019 Sarah Becker Greenhouse Gases “Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have grown faster in the United States than in the rest of the world…reinforcing calls for unilateral U.S. curbs on the global-warming gas,” The Washington Post wrote in 1989. Today the United States is the world’s second largest carbon emitter. Carbon dioxide molecules, once emitted, remain in the atmosphere for almost a century. Do Americans, Alexandrians for example who reside in the U.S. Route 1 residential corridor adapt to climate change—as President Donald Trump’s environmental policies suggest—or do local, state and federal governments mitigate? At present Alexandria promotes accelerated auto transportation. Six Metro stations are closed for summer repairs. Most U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are human roused—the result of burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) for heat, electricity, and transportation. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (84%), methane (10%), nitrous oxide (4%) and fluorinated gases (2%). According to the Rhodium Group carbon dioxide emissions rose 2.7% in 2018, the second largest annual spike since 2000. “Much of the emissions spike was driven by the continued rise of transportation emissions, now the nation’s top source of emissions.” “The hardening scientific consensus has pushed governments to move toward negotiations for international controls,” The Post continued in 1989. The United Nations Montreal Protocol (ozone) became effective in 1987, the Kyoto Protocol (emission reductions) in 1997. “In 1997 the United States signed a non-binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—primarily carbon dioxide,” The Washington Post reported. Then U.S. carbon dioxide emissions “exceeded the Kyoto target by 18%, or 220 metric tons per year.” The percent of excess continues to grow. Rather than develop mass transit competitively, plan and market its metro stations fittingly, the city of Alexandria encouraged auto-driven streets. It still does knowing that in 1990 “Virginia ranked 19th among the states—and ahead of industrial…