“California Budget Delays Regulation of Deadly Diesel Pollution”
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Being a resident of California my entire life, I too am concerned for the condition of the state as a whole. I appreciate your diligent analysis of the irresponsibility’s of the state legislature in passing the new budget with its lack of green initiative. While I can recognize the serious ramifications of passing the budget with the absence of ecological reform, I think it is also important to consider how grave the California financial crisis is as a whole. The California unemployment rate is almost at 10%, the state’s total debt ($42 billion) rivals that of many developed countries, and the darkest clouds of the recession are still to come. With no end in sight, it is a top priority to have a budget laid out and initiated as quickly as possible, even if that means that some obvious issues are negated. I can appreciate you mentioning the serious health factors at stake, but you might be expecting a slight bit too much from California. It is quite the feat to have our state’s most important budget proposal thought up, written out, passed in legislature, and executed. Arguably the toughest of those processes is going through the legislative process. I’m sure it is safe to assume that careful consideration was given to the grueling nature of the process while the budget was being drafted. You mentioned yourself, “…months of ugly stalemate” were the cause of the premature nature of the budget proposal.While I recognize the importance of a speedy budget proposal, I do agree with you in that there are many environmental issues being neglected in the package. In addition to the diesel fuel crisis, the budget approval will also be lifting many already existing environmental hurdles in order to speed up the permit process for 10 major road construction projects. While I’m sure this is successful in stimulating the state economy, this is certainly one of the evident slaps in the face to all green thinkers. The state budget also plans to exempt many crucial environmental regulations in the hopes of creating a more efficient excess state property sale process. It would be safe to assume that there are probably hundreds of other social groups with legitimate concerns and complaints about the budget plan. It is unfair to place the environmental agenda above any others’. When analyzing the legitimacy of the budget proposal, it is important to consider the first priority of the state budget proposal… to financially stabilize the state.
“Cities Greener than Suburbs”
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I find it interesting how it was only 20 years ago that the notion of moving to the suburbs was deemed the most socially accepted / conscious choice an American young professional could make. It’s exciting to watch as writers like yourself are beginning to note the obvious inconveniences and general incompetence associated with the suburban American lifestyle. It’s encouraging to hear intelligent factual analysis begin to be incorporated in discussion of the fallacies of suburban neighborhoods. As a designer, the notion of a makeshift community evolving arbitrarily 30 miles away from all relevant forms of life is innately flawed. I am glad to hear the scientific community contribute to the hopeful demise of the suburban routine. I think it is going to be extremely thrilling to watch as environmental concerns begin to play a greater factor in determining urban sprawl than out of date social norms.While I agree that city suburbs’ mistreatment of transportation and clean electricity supplies contribute heavily to hazardous C02 emissions, I think that the fundamental ideologies that are existent within our societies are more of a concern than individual urban strategies. I live in an extremely urban neighborhood in Los Angeles, a neighborhood where people drive to the supermarket that is five walking minutes away from their home. As much as I would love to imagine it, I don’t ever imagine myself using any form of transportation other than my car to reach the supermarket. This is partly due to the environment I live in, but it is mostly due to the fact that I am a product of the American lifestyle that hasn’t placed enough of an emphasis on efficiency and global responsibility in our day to day lives. I would blame this on a (general) lack of eco-initiative coming from Washington and state departments. It is only now that environmental concerns are beginning to impact the way government policy is formed. Only through actions like the current California State budget proposal’s 12% gasoline tax will people begin to realize and question the inefficiencies that exist in their lives.
Though I personally know very little about the many eco-initiatives finding their way to the surface of various industries today, I enjoy reading posts such as yours which highlight the importance of “going green.” Overall, this is a very well written post. Your opening paragraph works well to preface your comments on other bloggers, as well as providing positive examples to contrast the negative and irresponsible decisions of the state of California. However, I would suggest refraining from some of the grammatical choices you’ve made, specifically your use of the “/” when describing two aspects or feelings. I want to also suggest you be aware of how you begin some of your sentences. In your response to the first blog on California’s Budget proposal, you began a few sentences with prepositions that would have been easier to read without them.
ReplyDeletePutting the technical aspects of your writing aside, I really enjoyed the view you took for each of your responses. Though I understand the gravity of California’s debt, it is unfortunate that the budget proposal is neglecting environmental concerns. Though you do emphasize that the purpose of the budget proposal is to stabilize the state financially, I am curious if ignoring the green initiative is really going to make such an extreme difference chipping away at the state’s debt. Your second response is perhaps the most intriguing to me. Coming from a small town in New Hampshire to a large city like Los Angeles, it is hard to imagine that my home town will be making more of an ecological imprint than the traffic-infested world of sky scrapers. To counter your thought on the fallacies of suburban life being “30 miles away from all relevant forms of life”, I would like to emphasize your example of a trip to the supermarket. You point out that, though you live in an area where you could walk to the grocery store, you do choose to take your car instead. My question to you is, though you place some of the general blame on the not-so-green American lifestyle, is it not also for your own comfort and ease? Having attempted to carry groceries from the store not far from where I live, I have found myself struggling to carry everything I needed for a weeks worth of meals the entire “five walking minutes away.”
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