Headwaters The University of Vermont’s Student-Run Environmental Publication
From Farm to State House p. 16 Building Better Businesses p. 18
For Studies or Profits? Lessons from the Pipeline on UVM’s Natural Area
By JoeyWaldinger Spring 2017
Photo by Ryan Smith
MASTHEAD President Dan Kopin Treasurer Paige Greenfield
Managing Editors Bryce Dzialo Evan Leonard Jessica NeJame Rob Persons Caelyn Radziunas Jess Savage Nathaniel Sharp Social Media Directors Krissy Payne Maddie Wood
Photo By Connor Brustofski
Managing Designer Connor Brustofski
Contents Perspectives of a female backcountry caretaker
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Beyond Education
Business Associates Rebecca Goldstein Benjamin Greenberg Carly Kreiger
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Dinner On-Demand
Web Manager William Lippolis
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Clearing the Roads
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Three Thousand Miles
The journey of the monarchs, fromVermont to Mexico
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Faith in Creation
A Catholic perspective on being pro-life in every form
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Starving Somalia
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For Studies or Profits?
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From Farm to State House
The Lt. Governor on climate change and democracy
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Building Better Businesses
B-Corps offer an alternative approach to business
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#IAmLakeUrmia
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Drugs Down the Drain?
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Asleep in a Burning Bed
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Valley Girl
@UVMHEADWATERS uvmheadwaters.org Contact us at uvmheadwaters@gmail.com Copyright Š 2017 Headwaters Magazine All Rights Reserved. All images (unless otherwise noted) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Cover Photo by Connor Brustofski
By Allison Summerly
The cost of pre-portioned meal deliveries By Adelaide Cummings
Carsharing in the modern age By Bryce Dzialo
By Joscie Norris
By Gina Fiorile
Climatic and political turmoil drive food insecurity By Rebecca Goldstein
Lessons from the pipeline on UVM’s Natural Area By Joey Waldinger
By Jessica Wymer
By Rob Persons
Iranians & Twitter in an era of new environmentalism By Anabel R. Sosa
UVM Professor studies pharmaceuticals in wastewater By Caelyn Radziunas
The psychology of climate denial By Gillian Natanagara
A radical indigenous activist fights back By Brenna Reagan
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Dear Reader, Welcome to the Spring 2017 issue of Headwaters Magazine, the University of Vermont’s student-run environmental publication. We are proud to present you with articles that critically examine controversial subjects of importance to the next generation of environmental thinkers. As students and citizens, we hope this publication provokes constructive dialogue. Are there limits to environmental education? What does it mean to be pro-life in every form? Do universities and corporations have responsibilities to protect the climate? We offer you informed student commentaries that grapple with these and other difficult questions. Our organization, drawing from across UVM’s colleges and majors, publishes student views on local, regional, and global issues in print and online. The Content, Business, and Design teams have been hard at work this semester to bring you the magazine in your hand. Dedicated and passionate students, who care enough to put pens to paper, make this magazine possible. The value of journalism has recently come into question, and it is worth taking time to find this magazine’s place in the aftermath of our nation’s political earthquake. President Trump’s election demonstrated widespread dissatisfaction with not only the established political order but also the journalistic media. A recent Gallup Poll found a mere 26 percent of Americans age 18 to 49 expressing trust in the news. We are among this population, but instead of receding into apathy, we delve deeper. We read widely and skeptically. We express our views. We aim to protect journalism and environmentalism at their best. Our magazine is made possible by the generous support of many people, including but not limited to the Ian A.Worley Award for Creative and Independent Thinking in Environmental Studies selection committee, UVM’s Environmental Program, the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, our advisor Josh Brown, the Student Government Association at UVM, and the students who spent hours writing, editing, and designing these pages. Sincerely,
Dan Kopin President, Headwaters Magazine University of Vermont ’17
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Above: Photo by Hayden Childs Below: Photo by John Benner
Beyond Education Perspectives of a female backcountry caretaker
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E HAD BEEN haunting me all day: offering to take my heavy pack when he saw me walking the ridgeline, asking me if I camp alone, joking that I should carry pepper spray. As the sun melted into the horizon, I kept staring down the trail from the porch of the lodge, wishing at least one more hiker would come to stay the night–but no one came. On that night, I lay in my sleeping bag holding my breath, and waited for morning to come. Feeling vulnerable, afraid, and utterly alone, I wondered if the mountain felt the same. As a female caretaker in the mountains of New England, I experienced the realities of male privilege, sexism, and gender-based harassment more tangibly than ever before in my life. Interestingly, my strongest emotion in the face of these experiences was not frustration or fear, but a profound sense of connection to the mountain. The abuse that I witnessed while working in the alpine zone and the treatment that I endured as a women working in the outdoors felt like two sides of the same problem. The way that we, as a society, think about women, is inextricably tied to the way we think about nature, earth, and land. For millennia, humanity has thought about and expressed the earth as being decidedly female. The eco-feminism movement links the domination of nature to the treatment of women, presenting them as two effects of the same cause. Subtle enforcements of male dominance are all too common for women on trails, reflecting a culture of entitlement and oppression. That same culture is reflected in tourists who feel like they can do whatever they please in alpine zones, as if they are momentarily entitled to the space that alpine plants have inhabited for hundreds of years, no matter the cost.
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BY ALLISON SUMMERLY As a caretaker in an alpine environment, I talked to hundreds of people every day about respecting the sensitive ecosystem and engaging in behaviors that did not impact the vegetation. Yet, every day I witnessed countless people walking off of the trails, trampling the plants, and littering. I would frequently speak to people about appropriate behavior in the alpine zone, then later that day see those same people having a picnic on the sedge, a vulnerable grass species. The disconnect was clear: caretakers were making extensive efforts to educate the public, and yet, a large percentage of people did not seem to care enough to modify their behavior. There was a general sense that the hikers were just tourists. They did not seem to see the alpine zone as an extension of the environment they call home, and therefore, they felt no responsibility for its protection. Among staff, we would often say that, “the people think we are here to protect them from the mountain, but we are really trying to protect the mountain from the people.” Environmental education is not enough to change the way people treat the land. Repairing our society’s relationship with femininity would cultivate an atmosphere of respect and responsibility that classic environmental education cannot. If we can stop dominating nature, not only will we treat the Earth more kindly, but we will also begin to break down the ideas and attitudes that lead to the oppression of women and femininity. Cultural change happens slowly, but there are choices we can all make in our everyday lives that will help us to address these problems with the urgency they deserve. Treat the outdoors like it is a place you call home.Whether you are climbing a mountain or walking down the street, take responsibility for your actions, decisions, and impact. Like nature, femininity should be respected and celebrated, not oppressed or stigmatized. Make the female-identified people in your life feel like they deserve the space they take up in the world. As a society, we must challenge the way we are and envision the way we should be.
Photo by Joscie Norris
Dinner On-Demand The costs of pre-portioned meal deliveries
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BY ADELAIDE CUMMINGS
HE LARGE CARDBOARD box arrives on your doorstep like any other package. Excited about what might be inside, you rip through the tape, revealing shiny, aluminum colored padding and rectangular ice packs. Under the insulation, you find bags of varying size labeled with ingredient names. There are brown mushrooms, a can of chickpeas, a packet of spice mix, flatbread, and a tiny condiment-sized container of creme fraiche.You pull out more bags and ingredients for three nights of dinner and spread them across your kitchen floor. Eager for meals to come, you begin to read the recipe cards that will instruct you as you begin cooking. Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try making dinner using Blue Apron, a leader in the field of meal delivery services. Blue Apron is the largest company of its kind in the United States, selling 8 million meal kits a month. Meal delivery services are subscription companies that put together recipes and pre-portioned ingredients, relieving customers of shopping and planning dinner for a couple nights a week. As a college student, I am reluctant to stock the kitchen with ingredients that I may only use for one recipe. It was exciting to see ingredients like creme fraiche, similar to a loose version of sour cream, and za’atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend. Everything
was portioned to the exact amount needed for the recipes, which would save me from measuring and would reduce my food waste. The first recipe was an easy to prepare yet indulgent butternut squash risotto, and by the end of the week, I was hooked… kind of. From these delectable meals, I had collected a heap of plastic containers, plastic bags, cardboard, and paper. I began to wonder about the environmental costs of using a meal delivery service. In the United States, most food is wasted at the household level, where families throw out about 25% of the food and beverages they purchase. Blue Apron helps to reduce the amount of food wasted at the household level by sending people only what they need to use for that recipe, so that less food is wasted or left forgotten in their fridge. On Blue Apron’s website, the company claims that in 2016, they saved 2.8 million pounds of food, citing a study done by BSR, a global not-for-profit consulting company. BSR allegedly found that the facilities had 5.5 percent food waste compared to 10.5 percent at supermarkets. While impressive, this study is not available to the public and is considered proprietary information, limiting my ability to verify these claims. In addition to food waste, waste from packaging is of concern to many meal delivery service customers. I surveyed 34 past and present meal delivery service subscribers, and 35 percent expressed dissatisfaction with packaging from meal delivery services. Blue Apron has addressed this concern with an online “Recycling Locator” tool that locates nearby recycling facilities. Additionally, the company gives customers the option to send the materials back to Blue Apron. Despite these efforts, customers are left with more packaging to deal with than if they had just taken a trip to the supermarket because the ingredients are pre-portioned to meet the needs of each recipe. So what is the overall impact of meal delivery services like Blue Apron? Although the Blue Apron meals were delicious, convenient, and high quality, more research is necessary to assess their environmental costs. Despite their unknown impact, Blue Apron and other meal delivery services still have their appeal. Instead of ordering takeout when you get busy, you can order meals online in advance to be delivered to your door and cooked fresh. However, there is room for improvement, especially from an environmental perspective. Working to reduce the amount of packing used in shipment or to use compostable packaging might be a start. After all, feeling good about the food you are eating is not only about taste, but also understanding how the food got to your table.
Art by Kevin Melman Headwaters Magazine
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Clearing the Roads Carsharing in the modern age
BY BRYCE DZIALO
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SHARP ZAP of static over the Greyhound bus speaker woke me at 4 AM. “Welcome to Burlington International Airport.” This was my stop, and after the six hour ride from Boston to Burlington the last thing I wanted to do was to wait two more hours for the county buses to start their routes. I try to reduce my carbon footprint when I can by taking the bus, but, in all honesty, that night I wished I had driven my car. Then I remembered: Uber. I had not used the app before and had heard the first ride was free. Why not? One less car on the road, right? Immensely convenient and loosely regulated, Uber, Lyft, and their competitors blur the line between carpooling and taxiing. Mobile ride sharing apps offer consumers instant access to a fleet of drivers to take them throughout their local areas. The drivers are encouraged to use their own cars, and can use the service as a full time job or supplementary employment. These drivers are available nearly every hour of every day and are curated by the riders themselves through in-app rating systems. These characteristics may bring to mind a modern and sophisticated sharing society, but in fact, the “ride sharing” business model has been around for much longer than those of us using smartphone apps may know. A car service method known as “jitney cabs” popped up around Los Angeles in 1914, and experienced a nationwide boom in large cities across the country following the beginning of World War I.
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Art by Julia Dalenberg
Young, unemployed men took to the streets accepting fares and crawling under the skin of taxi drivers and their companies. Jitneys could steal fares from cabs, run efficient routes on the edge of legality, and carry more passengers than standard streetcars. Over time jitney cars took on a different identity with seeded racial connotations. In Chicago, the jitneys experienced a “perfect storm” of success on the city’s South Side as the primarily white cab drivers would not enter predominantly black neighborhoods, and taxi companies would not hire African-American drivers. Jitneys offered jobs to these men, and allowed them the freedom to operate along the neatly organized South Side streets like busses, able to offer rides to many customers each day. The battle of taxis and jitneys remained mostly political in nature and was fought predominantly with words and regulations set forward locally by municipal governments. Overtime, however, extensive regulation passed incrementally upon jitneys got the better of them and led to their demise. After the disappearance of the jitney, ride sharing as a common practice went into hibernation.The idea of riding in someone else’s personal vehicle did not truly arise again until times of oil rationing, as well as when environmental concerns entered mainstream politics at the start of the modern environmental movement in the 1960’s and 70’s. The first of these oil-rationing periods came during World War II when the U.S. government teamed up with the oil industry to produce a pro-carpooling ad campaign
which encouraged patriotic Americans to join “car clubs” in order to help the boys overseas. The campaign included the creation of posters and advertisements which exploited the feelings of patriotism, fear of the enemy, and guilty wastefulness. The war carpooling enthusiasm died down just as it did with the jitneys, only to be ramped up again when President Nixon signed the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act in 1973. The act authorized the Secretary of Transportation to increase use of carpooling with approved demonstration projects in urban areas to “conserve fuel, decrease traffic congestion during rush hours, improve air quality, and enhance the use of existing highways and parking facilities.” Carpooling was just a daily routine for many Americans, and even though the support from the government was linked to the oil industry, the benefit to air quality and the awareness of the environmental movement created can certainly be called a win for modern environmentalism. So, what exactly does this mean for the future of services like Uber and Lyft? Are they just modern jitneys with a predetermined fate to suffocate in government regulation, or are they a transportation movement of a new generation destined to be a part of a sharing economy that assists in cutting auto-pollution for a green future? If it is the latter, these services will need to expand their customer base by focusing on taking cars off the road, rather than only making each car a cab. If they do not begin to offer carpool-style services like recurring trips, advance scheduling, and a community focus, apps like Uber might suffer the same fate as jitneys and die by over-regulation. While these characteristics are something Uber and Lyft do not specialize in yet, there is an app-
based company filling that niche. Wheeli is a carpool ridesharing app, and its key to success has been its focus on students and college campus communities. Dylan Philbrick, a student at the University of Vermont and a member of the marketing team at Wheeli, explains that he taps Wheeli’s network of students when he plans to go home to New York City. Philbrick does not have a car, so he checks Wheeli to see who posts when and where they will be driving and how many people they can take with them. Through the app, students are encouraged to write about themselves on a personal profile that allows their potential passengers and drivers to know whom they will share their ride with. Payments are arranged and handled right in-app. Additionally,Wheeli’s mission is to offset auto emissions by putting more people in the vehicles of those that are already driving, reducing traffic, and bringing communities together. These are three basic concepts are largely absent in big-name rideshare apps, which rely on professional drivers and, in turn, commission more vehicles onto the roads. Philbrick views the use of Wheeli as a “social and environmental opportunity,” and sees potential in the service to be expanded to large businesses or to people who share similar locations like business parks. In an interview, he likened interest in Wheeli to Facebook’s growth model: “students are the start.” Wheeli’s initiative to bring people together is a clever way of promoting a transportation culture of sharing. Innovations in transportation that leverage community relationships increasingly seem like the future. The only question: whose car do you want to end up in?
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. . s e il M d n a s u o h T e e r Th TEXT & ART BY JOSCIE NORRIS
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1986, the Mexican government 5. Inprotected much of the oyamel forests through the establishment of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Butterflies cluster by millions on the branches and trunks of the Oyamel fir trees in the Reserve’s mountains.
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During the winter, monarchs are vulnerable to the weather and rely on fat storages in their abdomen collected from the previous fall inVermont and Canada. On warmer days, they may be able to emerge and forage on flower nectar near the forests’ rivers.
The Rocky Mountains divide the United States’ monarch populations; the western populations hibernate in California and the eastern ones fly to the Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, forming six to seven colonies throughout the forest there.
Although logging, poaching, and mining is banned from these forests, human activity still puts the habitat at risk. Cutting down trees, even on the edges of the Biosphere, impacts the insulative properties of the forest and exposes the colonies to dangerous cool air.
That’s how far Monarch Butterflies migrate between their summer range in North America and their winter hibernating grounds in central Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. In recent years, the species has faced a crisis of survival and declining populations. Monarchs are not just another pollinator; they are an international, cross-generational symbol of natural beauty. Their distinctive black and orange appearance ignites a desire not just to observe, but also to preserve. Here we plot their journey and their plight.
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Monarchs are the only known multigenerational migratory species; individual butterflies do not make the round trip from Mexico north and back again, but rather travel over four distinct generations.
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In May and June, the second generation of butterflies is fully grown and migrate north through the midwest. As adults, they feed on the nectar of flowers. Milkweed poisons left in their bodies protect them from most predators. Again, they stop and repeat the reproduction cycle. By the fourth generation, the population has reached Canada.
Global climate change, which warms the area, 7. could force the monarchs higher in elevation to survive. Studies show that monarchs will fly past their target forests without stopping if the temperature is too warm. Although monarchs are a hardy species, as temperature cues change, their migration patterns will be disrupted.
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As day length increases and temperatures warm in February and March, the monarchs emerge from hibernation and find mates.Then they migrate northward to Texas in search of milkweed plants in which they lay their eggs and die.The offspring hatch and caterpillars eat the milkweed plant, then go through a complex metamorphosis inside their chrysalises to become butterflies.
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Faith in Creation
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S A PRACTICING Catholic and climate activist in one of the least religious states in the country, I have, for the most part, been met with respectful open-mindedness from other students. Most of my peers would agree that it is important to protect life in every form and that climate change is a serious threat. I once read in an introductory biology textbook that a person who feels an ethical obligation to protect human life may also feel an ethical obligation to protect the natural systems on which human life depends. Climate change is the most serious threat to these systems. Any person who cares about protecting life, Catholic or not, should care about climate change. Our life is dependent on Creation, the term the Catholic Church uses to define natural systems. Creation is viewed by the Church as any life-giving gift, such as the Earth, that humans are commanded to care for. Catholics are called to help our fellow brothers and sisters and to restore justice for all life. But as flawed human beings we do not always listen. Despite the call to act for the betterment of all Creation, many times we fall short in the application of these ideals of truth, justice, and equity. It is so easy to become wrapped up in a culture that attempts to divide us. Climate change and other environmental issues are not political issues; they are human issues. I believe all compassionate people must step up and protect life and Creation, two of our greatest resources. Pro-life advocates believe that life begins at the time of conception and ends at the time of natural death. Being pro-life is more than a statement on abortion. From a Catholic perspective, the core of the prolife movement is love; love for women, the unborn, fathers, and the family. To be truly pro-life, a person must care about and support all people, from conception to natural death. This truth can be misconstrued by media or misunderstood by Catholics themselves. Supporting mothers facing crisis pregnancies, supporting the child after it is born, and seeing the value and dignity in any person who may be dependent is truly an integral part of the pro-life ideal. We are called to love all people in all stages of life. Being pro-life means
A Catholic perspective on being pro-life in every form BY GINA FIORILE
being compassionate to the oppressed and working to alleviate the suffering of those crushed by injustice and violence caused by anthropogenic climate change. As hundreds of millions of impoverished people are denied their basic human rights while the environment is degraded, the whole structure of Creation begins to collapse. The effects of greed, consumerism, and uncompassionate governance can be seen in disadvantaged groups, who find themselves struggling to deal with social and environmental issues. Between 2007 and 2010, African American women represented 12.7 percent of the female population but had 36.8 percent of the abortions in the United States. People of color were more likely to die during a heat wave in Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh than others. These are symptoms of a larger trend in which minority groups disproportionately suffer from slow-changing social and environmental policies. If we can come to appreciate and respect Creation with a sense of compassion, we can more effectively stand in solidarity with all of our kin in the community of life. Humans should weep for our own children who will bear the brunt of global environmental collapse. This pain may help to purify our vision and empower us to choose life for our children, grandchildren, and all of Creation. The future lies in the hands of the unborn; Catholics believe we should do everything in our power to protect this vulnerable population. Future generations will bear the burdens of climate change, so we must support the unborn by working to halt the effects of climate change so that they have the same opportunities as us to thrive on a livable planet. I see it as my duty to restore justice for those who are impacted by climate change, and to protect my brothers and sisters in Christ who are most affected by it. My conscience does not allow me to sit on the sidelines and watch this issue play out by itself. We all are a part of a spiritual battle which challenges us to step outside of our comfort zone and to protect a culture of life, to protect the gift of Creation, and to maintain justice for our brothers and sisters. We could have been born at any time in history, but we live in this era, where the effects of climate change threaten life itself. We are here so that we can defend His gifts to us. Photo by Connor Brustofski
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Starving Somalia Climatic and political turmoil drive food insecurity
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BY REBECCA GOLDSTEIN
N 1991, famine overtook Somalia. Following the overthrow of President Mohammed Siad Barre, the Somali state broke into civil war. Rival warlords spread chaos across the country, pillaging harvests and agricultural lands and forcing Somalis to flee their homes. Simultaneously, the country experienced a drought which intensified the famine. In the aftermath, over 200,000 Somalis starved. This famine was not an isolated event in Somalia. Between 2010 and 2012, drought and persistent civil conflict created a famine responsible for the deaths of 260,000 people. In 2015, Somalia faced yet another drought. The absence of seasonal rains failed to replenish pastures and water crops, resulting in a scarcity of food resources. With 2017 seasonal rains expected to fall below average, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) warns that 2.9 million people are facing acute food insecurity; without emergency food assistance, Somalia risks falling into yet another famine. Behind these increasingly frequent humanitarian crises is the same force behind receding glaciers, rising seas, and massive biodiversity loss: global climate change. We tend to rationalize famine and hunger as crises commonly ailing developing countries. Somalia appears to fit that narrative. Yet, year long droughts are not common here. Somalia reliably experiences two rainy seasons a year. Usually, these essential rains replenish food supply and grazing lands. With climate change, the usual is no longer guaranteed. As global temperatures rise, food insecurity - the inability to access proper nutrition - is expected to increase globally. Predicted increases in extreme weather events like floods and droughts, combined with gradual changes in climate, will make agricultural activities more challenging, especially to those without the resources to adapt. A 2015 study by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory predicts that the Horn of Africa will experience an increase in drought as climate change becomes more visible. Hundreds of millions of people, including Somalis, will face food insecurity. The implications of climate induced food insecurity are far reaching and drastic, particularly for the global economy. The Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations reports that 36 percent of the world’s workforce relies on agriculture as a main source of income. In Somalia, not only is 71 percent of the labor force employed by agriculture, but the country also draws about 60 percent of its GDP from agricultural activities. A decline in agricultural production does not just increase food insecurity; it causes food prices to rise and people to lose their livelihoods. In the hopes of gaining economic opportunity and access to food, rural Somalis are likely to seek work and resources elsewhere, migrating to cities in numbers above infrastructure capacity. Food insecurity also poses a security concern. Resource scarcity, though not typically the main cause of armed conflict, is often
a contributor and can increase the chances of conflict relapse. Rebuilding a government, reducing poverty, and fighting the terrorist group Al-Shabaab are just a few of the challenges Somalia currently faces. Adding food scarcity to the mix will increase pressure on the government, potentially exhausting an unstable country. It should therefore be unsurprising that countries facing climate change-induced food insecurity are building resilience into their food systems. In 2014, the African Union (AU) signed the Malabo Declaration, which reaffirmed the AU’s commitment to agricultural development across Africa and addressed climate change in agriculture. The resulting project, the Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance (Africa CSA Alliance), started a Pan-African collaboration between governments, resource organizations, and non-governmental organizations to implement climate-smart agricultural practices. The Africa CSA Alliance has worked with smallholder farmers across Africa to implement CSA techniques; however, this organization has not reached Somalia. For the past two decades, international efforts in Somalia have been focused on short-term stabilization rather than on long-term adaptation strategies. With a changing climate threatening food security, this trend will likely continue. During the Obama Administration, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) appeared to be actively supporting adaptation strategies in Somalia. USAID has trained farmers to produce local crop varieties, encouraged collaboration, increased investments in agriculture, and worked with farmers on ways to improve crop quality. Despite this progress, President Trump’s recent budget proposal, which seeks to cut USAID and State Department Funding by 28 percent, places these programs in danger. While still allocating funds for food aid and economic development, this proposal suggests that countries like Somalia, from which travel is currently restricted, will receive little or no aid. The situation in Somalia highlights inequalities present in a world where climate change impacts human lives. When climate change becomes visible, the world’s poorest, most vulnerable populations are the first to be impacted. Yet, these same people are the lowest emitters. It is important that we, as a global community, recognize that climate change is presently affecting human lives, interfering with something as basic as the ability to access safe and nutritious food in Somalia.
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For Studies or Profits? Lessons from the pipeline on UVM’s Natural Area
Geprag’s Park, Photo by Connor Brustofski
By Joey Waldinger
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N 2013, the family of Henry H. Carse, a Vermont public servant and advocate for conservation, donated 225 acres of land to the University of Vermont in his memory. UVM announced the Carse family’s donation in a press release, quoting the Vermont Land Trust’s assessment that the Hinesburg property’s “wetland, calcium-rich ledges, and uplands have an impressive mix of uncommon species and forest types.” UVM’s stated plans for the property were ambitious. “Acquiring the Carse conservation land will allow our students and faculty access to a wonderfully diverse landscape for educational and research pursuits,” said Rick Paradis, Director of UVM’s Natural Areas Center. The Carse family echoed this sentiment. “Our basic interests were clear: to preserve the natural treasures of the land while providing public access and educational programs.” Today, the Carse Land is home to a section of the 41 mile long Addison Natural Gas Project (ANGP), which stretches from Colchester to Middlebury. Vermont Gas Systems Inc. has been trying to complete the ANGP for years. The ANGP is an extension of Vermont Gas’s current pipeline infrastructure, which carries natural gas from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to Vermont. The pipeline’s progress has been stymied by the opposition of Vermont citizens and environmental groups, however. The Conservation Law Foundation has opposed the environmental impact and rising cost of the pipeline, which ballooned from $87 million in 2013 to $154 million in 2016. The Burlington Free Press reported Vermont Gas plans to ask its customers to cover $134 million of those costs. Vermont Gas has been undeterred by its opposition. In December 2016, the Vermont Supreme Court lifted a stay on construction, allowing Vermont Gas to finish the last 2,000 feet of pipeline in Geprag’s Community Park in Hinesburg, Vermont. Opponents enjoyed a small victory in January 2017 when the federal Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration began investigating whether the pipeline’s construction complied with minimum safety standards. Despite community concerns and a $95,000 fine incurred by Vermont Gas for safety violations, pipeline construction is proceeding during the investigation. Asa Hopkins, former Director of Energy Policy and Planning at the Vermont Department of Public Service, says that natural gas is “ecologically and economically better than the fuels it is replacing.” The demand for natural gas has grown due to its status as a cleaner, cheaper alternative to coal and oil. In 2012, the average American paid $732 to heat their homes with natural gas in the winter season, compared to $2,532 with oil.
Although natural gas emits less carbon than oil, it is frequently extracted through hydraulic fracturing, a process wherein mixtures of sand, water, and chemicals are blasted through bedrock. Fracking, which can degrade water quality and ecosystem health, has been banned in Vermont, though the transportation of fracked gas is still allowed. “Natural gas is better than what we now use, but is not the end goal,” says Hopkins. Vermont Gas spokeswoman Beth Parent says that the ANGP is a welcome sight to “thousands of families waiting for natural gas service,” but the pipeline seems out of place amidst the rolling hills of the Carse Property. In fairness, the pipeline was built on a path that had been cleared to make way for a power line operated by the Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), mitigating harm to the property’s highly sensitive environmental areas. It is difficult to know, however, if Vermont Gas was keen to make protection of the park a key component of the easement granted by UVM. “All easement negotiations remain confidential,” says Dave Walker, a Vermont Gas employee who was involved with UVM post-construction. But Paradis, Director of UVM’s Natural Areas Center, says that he worked with representatives from Vermont Gas as well as with UVM’s Campus Planning Services to ensure that the project was conducted in a safe and responsible manner. According to Paradis, some of the guidelines that he outlined were later adopted in the easement. Like the requirement to keep the pipeline and its construction within a small, already utilized area of the park, there are many other precautions outlined in the easement that reflect responsible land management. For instance, UVM retained the right to “observe and inspect the performance of any work undertaken by [Vermont Gas] on the property.” Additionally, Vermont Gas cannot construct any “driveways, roads, or utility lines… on, over, under or across the Protected Property” without the written per-
Geprag’s Park, Photo By Connor Brustofski Headwaters Magazine
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mission of Vermont Land Trust. Roughly a year after Richard Cate, UVM’s Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, signed the easement on July 21, 2015, the Carse Property remained as lush as ever, says Autumn Maust. Maust, a junior at UVM who worked in the Carse Property, was essentially a steward of the land, charged with “making and closing trails, adding signage, and picking up after visitors.” Though Maust speaks positively of her summer in the scenic Carse Land, her tone changes when she reflects on the pipeline’s construction. “Visitors to the area complained about the constant noise, machinery, and dump trucks,” says Maust. In order to dig the trench in which the pipeline would be buried, construction workers would have to blast bedrock, a practice that was so loud, according to Maust, Vermont Gas had to call homeowners near the property and warn them before doing so. “For most of the summer they were digging and blasting and clearing,” says Maust. At the end of the summer, the pipeline was constructed next to the trench, where it was eventually placed in August. The disruptive noises of the summer were temporary, but there is another cause for worry: an ecologically significant wetland near the pipeline. Officially termed 2013 AW-CM-10, the wetland provides services including water storage for runoff, groundwater protection, wildlife habitat, and erosion control. UVM’s Natural Areas were established in 1974 to preserve properties “to the greatest extent possible in their natural state, and for educational purposes insofar as such uses are compatible with the preservation of their natural character.” It is difficult to understand how exposing a sig-
Geprag’s Park, Photo by Connor Brustofski
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nificant ecological resource to the possibility, however unlikely, of a natural gas spill is “compatible” with preservation. According to Lisa Kingsbury, the university’s Campus Planning Manager, UVM was paid a total of $13,400 for the easement. But if a spill occurred on this property, how much would the environmental and reputational clean up cost? While Vermont Gas has been cooperative in working with UVM, the company can sell the easement to another party that may not share its willingness to mitigate some environmental concerns. According to the easement, Vermont Gas also has “the right to construct, reconstruct, operate, maintain, move, relocate, replace, alter, inspect, repair, remove, and abandon in place a single subsurface operating pipeline.” In other words, if Vermont Gas felt it necessary, the company could simply abandon the pipeline to decay. To be sure, UVM has offered students opportunities to research the Carse Property, including Maust’s summer experience and a field semester that resulted in a recreational assessment and proposal of the property. But UVM’s sale of the easement to Vermont Gas teaches students another lesson. This April, the ANGP will come online. Natural gas, a cheap methane emitting fuel with a high global warming potential, will move over Carse’s property. The uninterrupted flow of natural gas, delivered from the tar sands of Alberta to the Carse Property in Hinesburg, signals UVM’s indifference to the impact this pipeline will have on students’ learning experiences and on humanity’s future.
From Farm to State House
Photo Courtesy of Zuckerman for Vermont
Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor on climate change and democracy
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AVID ZUCKERMAN is not your average politician. Vermont’s recently-elected Lieutenant Governor co-owns the 155-acre Full Moon Farm in Hinesburg, VT. During his campaign, he was endorsed by environmentalists like Senator Bernie Sanders and activist Bill McKibben. Zuckerman takes a strong stance on controversial issues like renewable energy, equal pay, genetically modified organism labeling, fair labor laws, and cannabis reform. He wears his hair in a long ponytail. He graduated from the University of Vermont (UVM) with an Environmental Studies degree. On Friday mornings, Zuckerman hosts “Coffee with Constituents.” His website reads: “Please join me in the Lt. Governor’s office for a cup of coffee and share your ideas or ask questions. Lt. Governor’s Office, State House, 1st Floor, Montpelier.”
BY JESSICA WYMER
Zuckerman is the highest ranking Progressive politician in Vermont history. Zuckerman took over from current Republican Governor Phil Scott, who held the position for six years. But Zuckerman and Scott have very different agendas. Governor Scott claims to support the state’s goal of obtaining 90 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050, but his budget has little to support initiatives in pursuit of Vermont’s goal. This is frustrating for David Zuckerman, whose personal and financial assets will be impacted by climate change. The warm temperatures Vermont saw this winter have Zuckerman antsy to get out in the fields. Full Moon Farm is anticipating several climate change curveballs, which are expected to alter the growing season in Vermont. Zuckerman shared his concerns over the threat of new pest Headwaters Magazine
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populations and diseases. Crops are expected to face warmer weather pests earlier in the season, and farmers are going to see pests that they have not dealt with before. At Full Moon Farm, Brassica crops have recently been struggling with Swede midge, an invasive pest with no organic remedy. This species was first seen in the United States in 2004, and has since been wreaking havoc on broccoli and cabbage crops. Full Moon Farm is expecting lower overall yields from their Brassica crops this year; some crops might not produce at all. According to Zuckerman, nobody is ready for climate change: “We’ve seen year after year increased warmth. As a farmer, I am seeing it every day.” Climate change impacts also affect David Zuckerman and his family on a more personal level. His spouse, Rachel Nevitt, suffers from chronic Lyme disease, a tick-borne infection that has become increasingly pervasive in Vermont. In 2015, Vermont had the highest rate of reported Lyme disease in the United States, whereas in 1990, there were only 13 cases reported in the state. An Environmental Protection Agency study projected that climate change could contribute to the expanded range of ticks, and that warmer winters will likely lengthen the season for the risk of human exposure to the disease. Older farmers in Vermont did not grow up worrying about ticks. “Now there are ticks everywhere,” says Zuckerman. “That is not because ticks have adapted to Vermont’s climate; it is because Vermont’s climate has changed to being more readily available for ticks.”
Photo Courtesy of Zuckerman for Vermont
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As these climate impacts manifest, Zuckerman expressed frustration with Governor Scott’s energy policy. “It’s not particularly vibrant,” says Zuckerman. “There isn’t great leadership coming out of the governor’s office on energy.” In his budget address speech, Phil Scott mentioned the environment only three times, and each was in reference to improving the economy. The only energy related comments made by the governor pertained to an incentive for electric vehicles and a commitment to not “destroying” ridgelines with wind energy. Phil Scott ended his budget address with a discussion of how Hurricane Irene affected Vermonters by flooding streets and destroying homes. But events such as Hurricane Irene may become more extreme and increase in frequency unless we can transition away from fossil fuels. As a Progressive politician, Zuckerman fears the growing divide between Democrats and Republicans in Vermont and in the United States. He believes that political parties need to work together on issues that all sides care about. “If we do not have a fundamental belief in a system of fairness and justice in making our laws, then we are not going to have any faith that the laws are fair and just once they are made,” says Zuckerman. In light of the consequential issues facing Vermont, Zuckerman says public engagement is his top priority. His message to Vermonters is to get involved, and to stay involved. “The silver lining of this presidential election is that it woke people up,” he says. “Democracy and public policy is not a once-every-four-year exercise.You have to remain engaged.”
Art By Connor Brustofski
Building Better Businesses
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HAT IS ICE CREAM’S carbon footprint? From the materials used in creating containers to the fuel necessary to transport the final products to stores, ice cream, like every other product, has an ecological impact. Companies are often unwilling to disclose the unsavory aspects of their supply chain. This lack of transparency allows for worker mistreatment to go unnoticed, and ecological detriment to be overlooked. Consumers are kept unaware, so even the most environmentally conscious people can be misled. If global ecological health is to improve, business practices must change. Leaders in politics and industry assume that markets will correct themselves in accordance with current social and environmental conditions. This mentality has often led to inequality and resource exploitation. Businesses must make decisions with the benefit of both humans and the environment in mind - a concept called corporate social responsibility (CSR) - if they are to stop toxic corporate practices. B-Corporations (B-Corps) are for-profit entities that seek to improve social and environmental conditions while still generating profit. In 2006, the nonprofit B-Lab was created with the vi-
BY ROB PERSONS sion of updating the business as usual mindset to include social and environmental stewardship goals, along with the bottom line of profit. Today, there are 2,064 certified B-Corporations across fifty countries, which includes iconic brands such as Etsy, Cabot, and Patagonia. As a third party non-profit organization, B-Lab offers B-Corp certification to companies that score at least 80 out of 200 on the B-Corp Assessment, which focuses on transparency, social and environmental impacts, and the corporate structure of the company. B-Lab also mandates that the language of a company’s corporate governing documents is amended to ensure that responsible initiatives are not abandoned after a socially-minded executive leaves the company. B-Lab’s standards are vital to ensure that companies pursue activities aligned with their rhetoric. Benefit corporations offer another framework for sustainable business practices. Although both are for-profit entities, benefit corporations differ from B-Corps in that they offer a legal framework for companies to pursue environmental and social consid-
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erations. The legal classification of benefit corporation prevents shareholders from firing an executive who sacrifices potential profit for social or environmental causes, protecting business leaders who choose safer practices over cheaper ones. In 2010, Maryland became the first state to pass legislation permitting the establishment of benefit corporations. Today, 30 states and Washington D.C. have similar statutes. Although many benefit corporations use the B-Corp assessment, they are not held to the same rigorous independent standards. The B-Corporation and benefit corporation certification models offer promising outlets for social and environmental empowerment. Comparing other corporate models, an article in the William and Mary Law Review argued that “the benefit corporation most effectively blends profit with social and environmental goals, and accountability with flexibility.” Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once detracted proponents of corporate social responsibility for “attempting to undermine the basis of a free society.” Friedman describes any requirement of a private corporate entity to consider the public good as a form of “pure, unadulterated socialism.” He notes that corporate executives are the employees of company stockholders, so their actions should work only to forward stockholders’ interests. Reflecting Friedman’s theories, only a few companies have chosen to adopt either CSR model. Contrary to these concerns, some large companies are adopting corporate social responsibility goals, along with benefit and B-Corp certification. In 2015, Ben & Jerry’s, the world’s fourth best-selling ice cream company, earned $1.23 billion in global sales as a B-Corporation. In accordance with B-Lab’s emphasis on transparency, Ben & Jerry’s publishes a life cycle analysis where the consumer can see the actual impacts of their products. “The life cycle analysis was more of a behind-the-scenes study in 2014, which was Ben & Jerry’s checking itself to see what amount of carbon was being produced at each stage of the process,” said Jeremy Hulsey, manager of Ben & Jerry’s at the University of Vermont. Ben & Jerry’s found that one pint of their ice cream emits two pounds of carbon dioxide from conception to consumption, the equivalent of driving a car for two miles. In addition to examining their carbon footprint, the company has also launched an initiative to transition from synthetic refrigerants, which contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion, to more efficient hydrocarbons. As a B-Corp, Ben & Jerry’s is not afraid to show the consequences of their business practices, and is still able to make billions of dollars in profit. The life cycle analysis demonstrates that Ben & Jerry’s is not perfect. While the company still emits more carbon than they offset and relies on conventional agricultural practices, Ben & Jerry’s, unlike many other companies, acknowledges their impacts. By enhancing transparency and working towards environmentally beneficial goals, Ben & Jerry’s educates consumers about the impacts of business that
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are most often swept under the rug. Increasing consumer awareness may inspire future investment in more sustainable business practices. But environmental activist Bill McKibben has shown little optimism about voluntary corporate social responsibility practices. He points to BP’s failure to take action after signing the World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s manifesto in 2004. The BP Deepwater Horizon spill, the largest corporate oil spill in history, occurred only six years after the company had committed to promote sustainability. McKibben argues that business can, in theory, be a true force of good. If adoption of benefit and B-Corp practices remain voluntary, there is question as to how corporate social responsibility standards will become mainstream. As of now, companies like Ben & Jerry’s are rarities. Voluntary corporate social responsibility is impossible without visionary business leaders. Still, Ben & Jerry’s adherence to the B-Corp model could encourage more responsible corporate behavior. Once consumers know the carbon footprint of their ice cream, they may challenge other companies to make similar disclosures and expand their efforts to mitigate environmental harm.
Art by Arturo Espinosa
#IAM LAKE URMIA Iranians and Twitter in an Era of New Environmentalism BY ANABEL R. SOSA
T
HE MIDDLE EAST’S largest lake, Lake Urmia, has been shrinking for decades. The lake provides not only critical habitat to over 200 species, but also agricultural irrigation for over six million people. Once spanning Northwest Iran, Lake Urmia now covers only a mere 10 percent of its original size. When the Iranian parliament rejected an emergency rescue plan for the lake in 2011, protests erupted across the Azerbaijani cities of Tabriz, Iran. Video footage shows protesters crying out: “break down dams and let water flow into Lake Urmia.” Police arrested dozens during the protests, which quickly turned violent.
Art by Marisa Cigliano
While the public argued that poor government management had accelerated Urmia’s shrinking, government officials placed blame on drought and climate change. Research has shown that the Lake’s plight was not uniquely the fault of an idle state presence. Dam construction, illegal practices by citizens surrounding the lake, and the drying climate have all deprived Urmia of its water. Protests eventually quieted down, though the Iranian regime had yet to address the crisis facing Lake Urmia. Five years later, a conspicuous hashtag, “#IAmLakeUrmia,” appeared on Twitter and Instagram. A global audience took notice. Launched in August 2016 by Iranian environmentalist Mohammed Khazaei, the “IAmLakeUrmia” social media campaign
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quickly gained momentum. A United Nations petition was created to receive funding for restoration. With the support of athletes, politicians, celebrities, and the wives of 12 Iranian ambassadors, the petition was delivered to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with over 1.7 million signatories. In their fight for a voice, the people of Iran have utilized social media as a platform to display a thought provoking message. It is a confrontational consequence to the actions of the Iranian Government and a daring message from the people of Iran who refuse to be complicit bystanders to Lake Urmia’s crisis. The slogan, “I Am Lake Urmia,” makes the environmental crisis personal. NASA has captured startling satellite images of the lake’s transformation for almost two decades. The images display an obvious change in land coverage over time, but more alarming is that the shrinking waters are leaving behind a massive salt marsh surrounding the lake’s parameter. These salt marshes can have a significant impact on the ecosystem, and can even lead to salt storms that may be devastating to neighboring countries such as Turkey and Iraq. The inflow of water in Lake Urmia has steadily declined since the 1960s, but a dramatic decrease began in 1995. According to a study observing climate variability and change in the Lake Urmia basin, the average annual inflow dropped by 45 percent between 1960 to 2010. Due to severe drought caused by decreased days of rainfall, the lake has lost close to half of its initial water inflow over the past fifty years. An intriguing part of the crisis facing Lake Urmia is the striking red tint of the lake, seen only in summer. Scientists are uncer-
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tain about the cause of Lake Urmia’s redness, but some suggest that the lake’s reduction in size has made it an ideal environment for salt-loving bacteria. These organisms, known as Halobacterium, create a red pigment that absorbs sunlight for conversion into energy. Seasonal rainfall and melted ice from the mountains usually bring fresh water back into the lake and balance out the extreme salinity, which in turn relieves the water of its harsh redness. But with fewer days of rainfall, particularly in the summer season, the red tint will remain a common appearance. Since Lake Urmia has no alternative outlets for water to escape other than evaporation, salt remains even though water has disappeared. Although salt-water lakes often turn red, the striking nature of the images of Lake Urmia’s transformation have contributed to #IAmLakeUrmia going viral. Social media posts with pictures of Lake Urmia have started a global conversation about Iran’s environmental crisis. In the context of the hastag, NASA has gone so far as to suggest that without proper water management, Lake Urmia’s redness could become increasingly common. As a social media strategy, Iranian environmental activists have used the impressionable online world’s audience to their advantage. Thanks to the UN petition, this has become a political, civic and environmental watershed moment for their nation. Progress in changing agricultural practices has been slow, and without government support, Lake Urmia’s waters will continue to disappear. But with the globe watching, the stakes of the Iranian government’s inaction are as high as ever.
Photo by Connor Brustofski
Drugs Down
the
ROM BIRTH CONTROL to ibuprofen, we are all likely consuming some form of medication on a regular or occasional basis. With large concentrations of young people inhabiting college campuses across the United States, one could reasonably expect that the pharmaceutical use of college students makes a noticeable impact on local water resources. Dr. Christine Vatovec, an Assistant Research Professor of Human Health and the Environment at the University of Vermont, is currently investigating the complex relationship between students and pharmaceutical waste. With a background in the natural sciences and a Master’s degree in conservation biology, Vatovec shifted her research interests to the social sciences while earning a Ph.D. in Environment and Resources. She currently holds a primary position in the Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources and a secondary position in the College of Medicine and her combined interests led her to investigate the impacts of human medicine. In her previous research, Dr. Vatovec looked at the ways in which medical facilities affect the environment. She found that pharmaceuticals are one of the major sources of environmental concern emanating from healthcare. Multiple studies have been conducted on the ecological dangers of these chemicals, which have the capability to easily enter waterways, where they may pollute human drinking water. Thus, in 2014, her investigative focus
turned to Lake Champlain, specifically to the chemical concentrations present within its waters. Most pharmaceutical waste reaches water sources by means of wastewater effluent, the liquid that remains after enduring the wastewater treatment process. Pharmaceuticals may enter municipal wastewater through excretion, bathing, or being flushed down the drain. Once in the wastewater, these chemicals pass through treatment facilities and are then carried into larger bodies of water. According to Dr. Vatovec, excretion is a major distributor of pharmaceutical chemicals, and depending on the drug, up to 90 percent may be excreted. Here in Burlington, Vermont, much of this wastewater ultimately drains into Lake Champlain. Dr. Vatovec’s research has followed two inquiries. The first looks at common methods of pharmaceutical disposal, with particular attention given to those of university students. The second is related to the effect of demographic changes on the concentration of drugs in the wastewater effluent. Specifically, how does the chemical concentration of medications change when students, representing about one quarter of the city’s population, leave Burlington for summer break? The first part of Dr. Vatovec’s investigation consisted of an online survey shared with 359 UVM students. Greater than half of all surveyed students possessed either over the counter or prescription drugs. Students were also surveyed on their disposal methods. Despite the fact that a majority of students responded as
F
Drain? BY CAELYN RADZIUNAS
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possessing leftover drugs, only 9 percent reported actually throwing away over the counter drugs, and only 13 percent threw away prescription drugs. Only 1 percent flushed their pharmaceuticals down the drain, which is a direct pathway to Lake Champlain. Many students choose to throw their pharmaceuticals in the garbage. Although this technique may appear less harmful to water systems than flushing, pharmaceuticals have the capacity to leach out of landfills into groundwater.This method does little to reduce the presence of pharmaceutical drugs within important water systems. Interestingly, the majority of students were just holding onto their unused drugs. “If you extrapolate that to a larger level - an international or national level - there are tons of drugs accumulating in people’s medicine cabinets,” says Dr. Vatovec. The next step in Dr. Vatovec’s investigation was to analyze the chemical concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the wastewater en-
tering Lake Champlain. Although few students reported flushing their pharmaceuticals down the drain, Vatovec was curious about which pharmaceuticals enter the lake and whether or not pharmaceutical concentrations increase when large volumes of students are preparing to leave campus. To study the fluid entering Lake Champlain, Dr. Vatovec teamed up with Dr. Patrick Phillips, Supervisory Hydrologist for the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Over a period of ten days, during which the UVM summer move-out period occurred, the pair analyzed wastewater effluent running into the lake and found over 50 chemicals present in 80 percent of the water samples. A key observation made by Dr. Vatovec’s team was that pharmaceutical concentrations in wastewater effluent decreased as
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students departed from campus and chemical concentrations increased after students had left. Her results were not what she expected, but they made sense. College students, as a younger and healthier demographic, tend to contribute fewer pharmaceuticals to their wastewater. Therefore, the wastewater of students tends to have a diluting effect on the pharmaceuticals in the remainder of the city’s wastewater. “UVM students are not contributing very much pharmaceutical [waste] right now; and yet, the role that they can play is to increase their awareness of this potential problem,” says Dr. Vatovec. According to Dr. Vatovec, it is important that college students become aware of biyearly National Drug Take-Back Days, during which citizens can safely dispose of drugs at designated take-back facilities. In her words, take-back is considered the “low-hanging fruit.” Although only a small percentage of the total pharmaceuticals entering the lake is prevented through take-back days, they are an important method of drug control. For city residents who are uncomfortable attending a take-back event, several locations in Burlington regularly offer take-back services. Although further research is required to understand the ways in which pharmaceuticals affect ecological systems, all residents can reduce their own personal contribution by engaging in take-back initiatives. Dr.Vatovec’s research, while illuminating the demographics of pharmaceutical disposal, highlights a major problem. Little is known about the environmental impacts of these often heavily used drugs. According to Dr. Vatovec, Photo by Connor Brustofski the mixture of pharmaceuticals produces a “cocktail” effect, in which it is difficult to isolate the individual effects of any specific drug. To fully understand the ecological consequences of these cocktails, different mixtures must be tested individually on several different species. Due to the high costs of researching the pharmaceutical concentrations within wastewater, few extensive studies have been performed to better understand the role of these chemical concentrations in altering ecological systems. Further investigation is needed to fully understand the impacts of our society’s affinity for pharmaceuticals. In the meantime, Dr. Vatovec’s research can encourage students to develop a deeper understanding of their personal role in mitigating environmental harm.
Asleep in a Burning Bed The psychology of climate denial
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BY GILLIAN NATANAGARA
N THE UNITED STATES, a dichotomy has emerged in which climate scientists have reached near-consensus about the existence of human-induced climate change, yet many citizens are still undecided or even in denial. The Pew Research Center found that 87 percent of Democrats believe that the planet has been warming, compared to only 44 percent of Republicans, indicating a distinct partisan disparity. Notable climate change skeptics like Myron Ebell assail peer-reviewed studies, accusing the scientific community of attempting to advance a political agenda at the expense of economic growth. But the politicization of climate change is not the only issue; there is a psychological dimension making humans prioritize less consequential matters over environmental protection, as well as a societal tendency for adhering to the status quo. In accepting our role as stewards of the planet, we should examine the psychology of denial and the power of narrative in influencing half a nation to distrust evidence supporting anthropogenic climate change. To begin understanding, one must identify the target subjects – in this case, those who are susceptible to denying anthropogenic climate change. Kirsti Jylhä, a graduate student at Uppsala University in Sweden, published her thesis on the link between climate change denial and certain social tendencies. Different elements such as “political orientation, authoritarian attitudes, and endorsement of the status quo” were bound together in a characteristic named social dominance orientation (SDO), which referred to one’s acceptance of hierarchical structures in society. The strong positive correlation between SDO and climate denial indicated to Jylhä that “individuals who accept the unequal distribution of the risks and benefits of climate change, more easily can keep demanding more evidence for climate change before admitting and addressing it.” Those who
have been raised to accept a belief in superiority are less empathetic to the struggles of their fellow man. Another study conducted at Harvard University found that SDO was positively correlated with right-wing political parties and negatively correlated with empathy and altruism. Addressing global warming and environmental inequity would require compassion and admitting a state of vulnerability, contradicting societal standards imposed upon many individuals who become climate change deniers. Social factors are not the only barriers to understanding the threat of climate change; human psychology plays a major role as well. Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, attributes the lack of action to the manner in which our brains evolved to process threats. The first criterion that a threat must possess to incite action is whether or not it is intentional. Addressing a crowd during Harvard Thinks Big 2010, Gilbert noted “the smallest intentional action captures our attention in a way that the largest natural accident just doesn’t.” Evolved to respond to predators, our brains are triggered by acts of malice, not large-scale hazards in the form of weather that we experience every day. Also, if a threat sets off mental alarms for being immoral – for example, terrorism – it prompts action. The process of climate change itself does not incite strong emotions of fear or disgust, and it can doom us to complacency. In addition to intentionality and immorality, the imminence or instantaneousness of a threat are relevant as to whether or not it invokes action. In 1983, John J. Magnuson first coined the term the “invisible present” in reference to the slow rate of earth’s change. Scientists may be able to project how the climate will rise in the coming century, but the gradual shift is imperceptible to humans. Global warming is occurring fast enough that scientists Headwaters Magazine
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can project future trends and warn about climate mitigation and adaptation, yet it is too slow to galvanize many Americans into demanding government action. Climate change is not intentional, immoral, imminent, or instantaneous. As Daniel Gilbert puts it, climate change “fails to trip the brain’s alarm, leaving us soundly asleep in a burning bed.” There are a myriad of other psychological reasons to explain climate change denial. In his 2011 study, Robert Gifford lists seven major influences: limited cognition, ideologies, comparisons with other people, sunk costs, disbelief, perceived risk, and limited behavior. Altogether, these form a social construct with inertia that can be difficult to overcome. Gifford dubs this “system justification, the tendency to defend and justify the societal status quo.” Leaders with an anti-environmental regulation political agenda succeed in manipulating the public by exploiting distrust and discrediting environmental beliefs. In Gifford’s study, he states that increasingly polarized partisanship contributes towards “believing that what the other [party] offers is inadequate” and “outright denial of the veracity of the other’s belief.” Arguably since the Reagan administration, Republicans and Democrats have both gravitated towards opposite ends of the political spectrum, causing a rift where staunch ideologies hinder compromise. Before then, it was not considered betrayal to acknowledge truth in the opposing party’s proposal; for example, Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act and helped create the EPA. This polarization, however, has prompted right-wing politicians to obfuscate and discredit evidence presented by the scientific community that supports Democrat-backed legislation. After the first presidential debate of 2016, Rush Limbaugh urged his radio show listeners to reject fact-checking: “[the media] fools you into thinking they have an objective, nonpartisan staff… when in fact the fact-checkers are no different than the biased left-leaning columnists.” Figures with political influence, like Limbaugh, seek to discredit facts in order to create an evidence vacuum in which concrete proof is irrelevant because the messengers are fundamentally flawed. Aside from a dispute of personal principles, there is another reason that political conservatives may form the narrative of climate change as a hoax. Between lobbyists and unregulated super-PAC contributions, the fossil fuel industry gives millions to politicians willing to defend their interests. For example, Congressman Lamar Smith, Chairman of the House Science Committee, has been the recipient of nearly $700,000 from the fossil fuel industry. Since Smith became Chairman, the Committee has ordered more subpoenas, targeting climate scientists, than in its 54-year history. A paradigm shift away from fossil fuels would thus seem to require not only defying human nature, but also defying the powerful corporations that pump funding into the political sphere. With these reasons in mind, concerned citizens may wonder what they can do. There is no simple solution. Our county is home to a significant portion of disaffected people who are unable to comprehend the severity of climate change. Advocates need to learn to better communicate these issues. Environmentalists need to position climate change to fit within the scope of many people’s psychological boundaries. Is it possible to make global warming appear more immediate and immoral? Can people learn to trust fact-checkers? All of these questions are waiting for answers.
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Valley Girl A radical indigenous activist fights back
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BY BRENNA REAGAN
N NOVEMBER 2016, Vanessa Gray was acquitted from charges for shutting off and chaining herself to a valve on Line 9, an Enbridge Inc. oil pipeline. She faced 25 years to life in prison for acting against degradations she calls an ongoing cultural and environmental genocide. “We can say these things, we can freak out on them, and they never do anything about it,” says Gray. “At least we have that; it’s not like they ever listen.” Gray is a 23 year-old activist from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve in Sarnia, Ontario, which Gray says is largely ignored by the Canadian government and multinational corporations in the Chemical Valley. This 15-square mile area, the location of over 60 oil refineries and chemical plants, makes up 40 percent of Canada’s petrochemical industry. Gray’s reservation shares a fence with this industrial hub, where scars from the injustices of colonization have left the Aamjiwnaang indigenous community politically inferior to the government and the petrochemical industries it supports. When oil was discovered near Sarnia in the mid-1800s, rapid development of processing plants and chemical refineries followed, producing goods like plastics, gasoline, and fertilizers. Multi-national corporations such as Royal Dutch Shell, Dow Chemical Co., and Suncor Energy Inc., concentrated into this refinery hotspot before environmental consideration was a public issue. In 2011, the World Health Organization reported that the city of Sarnia had the most polluted air in all of Canada. In response to their environmental and personal tragedies, Vanessa Gray and her community have turned to activism. Each household in the community has been impacted to some degree, as rates of leukemia, breast cancer, miscarriages, stillbirths, and asthma continue to rise.The impacts of the Chemical Valley caused
the premature death of Gray’s cousin at the age of 17 due to cancer. Gray has suffered from respiratory issues herself, further motivating her fight for justice. Many of Gray’s actions are guided by her elders and her indigenous responsibility to protect the land. To the people of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, the land is sacred and has provided them with all of the necessary resources to thrive. Now that it is threatened, the community believes that they must give back to the land by protecting it. In 2005, 131 million kilograms of pollutants were emitted from plants in Sarnia. According to the National Pollutant Release Inventory, the Chemical Valley collectively emitted 16.5 million tons of greenhouse gases. That same year, a study found that 39 percent of women on the reservation had experienced at least one miscarriage or stillbirth. In 2008, the roof of a benzene tank of Imperial Oil collapsed, exposing local community members to the carcinogen. Locals are left to discover and report these spills themselves. “We know who is doing this to the indigenous people,” says Gray. “Why aren’t we holding them accountable?” The indigenous activists have raised awareness for these injustices by holding toxic tours, or tours that take people from outside the community around the Chemical Valley to show them the severity of its impacts to their land.The tours are designed to engage visitors and foster solidarity by making them breathe the polluted air of the reservation, meet affected locals, and highlight the fact that the Aamjiwnaang tribe’s presence in the area was seen as inferior to industry. They also reach out to news sources, scientists, researchers, and educational institutions. University communities, like the University of Vermont, have hosted Gray. She argues that students carry a privilege by having “blank slates moving into this world.” But Gray also says hosting is not enough: “solidarity isn’t doing something just one day… it’s making morally-based decisions in solidarity.” Support for the Aamjiwnaang First Nation is growing with the environmental justice movement against the petrochemical industry. For Gray, the movement against the Chemical Valley and the current indigenous protests against pipelines in the United States represents a watershed moment in making change to a system built on racism, fear, and insecurity.
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