Thursday, October 25, 2007

Greenhouse Gases

Well over the past few days I've read a lot of troubling news about greenhouse gases. It seems that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is significantly higher than previous "worst case scenarios" had predicted for our current point in time. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7271938. It seems Denver and Mayor Hickenlooper are trying to take some action, but local change can only do so much. Clearly we as individuals must work to enact change and force state and federal programs to assist.

Another article I read earlier this week stated that recycling in rural areas doesn't make sense because of the costs associated with transport and the issues tied to getting materials to recycling centers. It seems to me multiple benefits exist for rural recycling programs and the government should provide funding to help. First is protection of the environment; however, there are other benefits, specifically job and economic related. If the local/state/federal government would offset costs associated with local rural recycling plants there would be job growth available in areas that currently are under employed. The recycling centers would cost taxpayer money but the two-fold benefits of jobs and environmental sustainability seem to make the costs worth it.

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