By Sonam Ahluwalia
The idea of a one-hundred percent clean energy future seems to be a pipe dream right now.
While there has been some tremendous progress made by private industry in the creation of innovative technologies to lead the transition from non-renewable resources like coal and natural gas to natural elements, the process has been painfully slow.
No matter the number of technologies created, private companies cannot move forward without the public’s support.
The largest challenge is unity.
The private sector lacks the current partnerships to address current issues with renewable energy.
For example, currently, wind turbines use many magnets derived from rare earth minerals- most of which are ripped out of the ground in China.
This has created an ecological disaster in areas there.
These minerals are also unreliable in the longterm because they are limited.
After all, you can only take so much out of the ground before you run out and searching for alternatives to these minerals requires collaboration, which can occur through partnerships that generates a more dependable and sustainable wind turbine.
Furthermore, there also needs to be unity between companies and the general public they service.
If engineers working on magnetic wind turbines or photovoltaic solar panels view their role as imperative innovators, the public can take the role as active supporters or consumers that create a market for renewable energy.
In short, we all have to be pushing in the same direction in order for this to work.
In order for the public to support the private industry, vice versa, the communication gap between these two entities needs to be closed.
This can happen through proper education and through transparency.
Many people do not understand the benefits of cleaner energy, or how much energy we currently waste and have stored in grids from excess.
Just like people learn how to turn on the lights, set up the television, and turn on the water, people should also know where these luxuries come from.
Proper education of the current, wasteful methods can influence a large portion of the public to support cleaner energy.
As people become more educated on sustainable options, a market for cleaner energy sources needs to be created – another challenge.
Supply and demand are interdependent.
For the private sector to gain more momentum, the public needs to show an appetite for cleaner energy sources.
As the demand for renewable energy increases, competition to meet the public’s requests will stimulate production of more affordable sustainable products with higher quality.
Affordability is imperative to consumers, and it is easier to convince someone to buy something that is more energy sustainable when they are able to understand the financial benefits.
Adding competition to the mix will push companies to fabricate better, cheaper ideas.
This in term will allow those products to be available to the general public at a competitive price point.
This sector’s growth requires regulatory policies to ensure that the energy is actually clean.
Since clean energy is an ever-changing field, creating policies to assure quality is a fairly new conflict the government must learn to follow.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Activ Solar/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Adapt or Die: The GOP Should Embrace Gay Marriage So They Can Stay Politically Relevant To Young People
In June, same sex marriage advocates won a major victory when the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had a right to marry in all 50 states. The ruling was a major step forward for the LGBT community and has become a massive political powder keg for the Republican Party.
As the GOP primaries continue, many conservative leaders and presidential hopefuls have come out strongly against the Supreme Court decision in the hope of striking a chord with the religious right.
Mike Huckabee has repeatedly denounced the Supreme Court decision, going as far as to compare the Supreme Court to King George III. Huckabee was also present when Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk imprisoned for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, was released from prison and has vowed to protect Davis’ constitutional rights.
Although Huckabee has been one of the most vocal in his outrage against the Supreme Court’s decision, he is far from the only opponent.
Gov. Bobby Jindal has said that the ruling “tramples states rights” and that “no earthly court” can alter God’s will. Sen. Ted Cruz also came out against the ruling, going as far as proposing a constitutional amendment that would make justices subject to “periodic judicial retention elections”.
Although statements such as these may prove to resonate amongst the conservative base of the party, the statistics prove that they are out of touch with the viewpoint held by the majority of Americans. According to research done by the Pew Research Center, 57% of Americans now favor making same-sex marriage legal. Among millennials this number increases to nearly 73%.
So why do so many Republicans still come out so staunchly against or apathetical to same sex marriage? To understand this political paradox, one need only remember that we are in the middle of the Republican primaries.
The party finds itself at the same crossroad that the Democrats were at during the 1960’s. The party was torn between the traditional Southern Democrats who stood opposed to Civil Rights, and New Deal Progressives who were adapting to meet the demands of the American people.
In politics as in nature, the side that most often wins is the side that is most capable of adapting to the new political environment. The more inclusive any political movement is and the more receptive it is to change, the more likely that political movement is to grow in size and strength. Those who oppose this change in favor of exclusive and absolutist politics more often than not will find themselves facing extinction, and relegation to the waste bin of history.
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Cover Photo Credit: Michael Vadon/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Young Politician: A Poem
“Young Politician”
As I sit here reading about policy briefs, I hesitate, then pray for our commander in chief.
I may not agree, he didn’t receive my vote, but I am patriotic so I will maintain hope.
As a person someday soon running for office, I maintain integrity as I try to win over my caucus.
Stigmas are there, you will corrupt, your morals will go bare, but I say no, money and power will not move my hand, will not change my views, I don’t care if alone I stand.
Low funding will make difficult obtaining an electorate, but with hard work and perseverance never being separate, I believe, I predict, a change will occur, all people will unite and democracy will endure.
A flood will WASH out, flINGing TONs, remove the poison of buying power, of swearing in sons.
Maybe this is all just a young politicians dream, creating an ideological view of our decision making teams.
Once more I say that this is what I strive for, equality, dignity, and the ability to find more.
This is just my view of what America should provide, my goal is to stand for those I represent.
I promise I will never hide.
Learning by doing is the only way, I meet with my representatives to understand the game they play.
Association leaders and coalitions alike, observing humanities definition creates an adrenaline spike.
Everyone has a stake for this is just the life we live, controlling our outcomes, finding a way to give.
Back to the community and back to the land.
Making sure the environment has a person for which with to stand.
The media may only try to show some of the viscous side, but our leaders do care for people, their jobs just happen to coincide.
A difficulty will be the fact of reelection, without missing the point of why I represent a collection.
A collection of people and of their visions.
For the future, for the culture, there is always some missions.
There are back room discussions about how to make our nation great, some see national politics as hard to relate.
I plan to start small, just a county man for now, that’s all.
But if life were to take me to the big time, I promise to never commit a crime.
Once again the struggle is to truly work for the people, the ones who worship no one and those under the steeple.
Those new to this country and those here for generations.
Creating positive change is possible, but there are always implications.
Tradeoffs and realities are hard to ignore.
For most people this is a continuous bore.
Another goal is to never neglect the process.
This is the only way to truly make progress.
I know there will be dissent and I can handle the heat.
Because I want to be the politician that everyone can meet.
That everyone can trust and rely on to do what’s best.
My approval rating will however not be that test.
It will be the smiles on all the faces of the people’s lives I have changed.
And maybe in the future another hopeful will have a meeting arranged.
My final wish is that the next generation will be even better.
More honest, more caring, and tougher than leather.
That is how this country has continued to grow.
It will never be easy however, so everyone just prepare for a show.
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RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Oliver Bildesheim/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Here’s A Reminder That Justin Trudeau Is Not A Disney Prince
By Criswell Lavery
Before starting this article, I didn’t know a lot about Justin Trudeau.
Many (white, liberal Americans) think of the young Prime Minister and immediately connect him with the monikers “feminist”, “pro-LGBT”, “pro-choice”, all of which are correct.
But very few know much more about him.
I had seen a few articles floating around talking about his stance on foreign policy, his interactions with the First Nations’ peoples, and his meeting with Donald Trump, but never stopped to read them or look further.
Like many, I was blinded by Trudeau’s liberal social values and his fabulous hair, and thought of him only with a vague fondness.
This is a trap that many fall into, even in our age of easily accessible information.
We see articles about how he’s let over 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada since he took office in 2015, and don’t see the one about the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).
This agreement was set to reduce 98% of tariffs on trade between Canada and the European Union and cause a small increase in jobs.
It also has provisions which are very similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), providing corporations with a huge amount of privileges and legal rights, allowing for them to sue entire governments to change laws and standards that impede their function.
CETA gives Canadian and European corporations these same rights, as well as giving international companies bidding rights to areas in cities, First Nation communities, and providences.
Despite the job growth and tariff reduction, it’s heavily weighted to favor big business, which one would think our Disney prince Prime Minister would be against, right?
Nope.
Prime Minister Trudeau had been pushing the agreement for months before it was signed in October 2016, and was ratified this February.
It’s been a big part of the reason recent press coverage has turned against Justin Trudeau, changing from their pretty steadily positive reporting to something a little more mixed.
He wholeheartedly supports CETA, which definitely did not fit with the ideal image of him that my little liberal heart had created.
And there’s plenty more where that came from.
A very controversial issue in Canada, just as it is in the USA, is indigenous peoples’ rights.
Like the tribes in the United States, the First Nations have been brutally treated and forced out of their lands since white people first got there, hundreds of years ago.
When Prime Minister Trudeau took office, he promised to bring the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law in Canada.
This document affixes the inherent rights of indigenous people, including the right to self-determinism and the right to not be forced to assimilate to the incumbent culture.
While the protection of indigenous culture seems like it should be assumed and respected, it’s not currently legally required.
Despite frequent promises to bring this into the new Canadian administration, in July of 2016, Trudeau’s Justice Minister stated that they would not be adopting the UN’s Declaration into law, that it “makes no sense.”
In breaking this promise, Trudeau lost a lot of respect and trust among the First Nations.
In the following year, many new blunders involving the treatment of indigenous peoples have been made, one being the support of the Site C dam, a hydro-electric power generator being proposed to be built on the Peace River in British Columbia.
The dam would destroy ancient burial grounds and threaten traditional hunting and fishing grounds.
In addition, Canada’s energy need hasn’t grown in recent years, and they even have a surplus of clean energy.
The support of this project is another check on a list of broken promises and backtracking.
Here’s the thing, I don’t necessarily think that Justin Trudeau is a bad person.
I can’t make that judgement.
Do I disagree with many of his policies?
Absolutely.
Do I agree with others?
Sure.
I’m not trying to condemn everything he’s ever done, I’m trying to illustrate the very gray nature of politics today, and the dangerous habit people have to put things in black and white.
When we’re distracted by buzzwords and a certain Prime Minister’s blinding smile, we fail to hold people accountable for their actions.
We don’t demand answers or retribution when they mess up or don’t follow through.
As much as we might like to think so, Trudeau isn’t a Disney prince.
He’s human, and a powerful political figure.
Let your ideal go, and demand answers when you have questions, ask for retributions when promises are broken.
Disney princes are perfect.
People are not.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Mohammad Jangda/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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