Since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth century our carbon footprint has only grown. What have we done in the past century to change the harm we to our planet? The truth is, we had not even thought about the effects cars, planes, buildings, factories have had on our planet. In 1975 when the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) was first established as a response to the OPEC Oil embargo which reduced United States dependence on Foreign Oil. Our planet is very fragile, just look at our ozone layer and how it has depleted four to five percent per decade since the “ozone hole” was discovered in 1985. The chlorine atoms in the chloroflurocarbon’s (CFC’s) act as a catalyst, breaking down tens of thousands of ozone molecules before they are removed from the Stratosphere. Future generation will have to deal with this daunting task. This is why it is pivotal we need to change and further expand the policies of CAFE, and add a Carbon Tax on every gallon of gas in the United States. Although trying to increase CAFE is good for our planet it is not the only solution. It only effects the automobile-companies, and our dependence on crude oil. There is a direct correlation between CAFE and a Carbon Tax. Cars emit pounds of CO2 for every gallon of gasoline we use they are directly correlated, so we lower costs while raising efficiency. This what England is doing currently, and why they have implemented a carbon tax on gas prices per gallon which why the prices are so high.
CAFE is “the sales weighted average fuel economy, expressed in miles per gallon (mpg), of a manufacturer’s fleet of passenger cars or light trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 8,500 pounds or less, manufactured for sale ...
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Global: Energy Information Agency, International Energy Outlook 2006, Table A10
United States: Energy Information Agency, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the US, Tables 7-10
US Transportation: EPA, Greenhouse gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector 1990-2003, Figure 2-2
Follow the guidelines for CAFE in european countries
Howes, Oliver. "Environmentally friendly health care begins in Madagascar." The Lancet. February 21, 1998: 577.
Mathers, C. D. (2006). Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030. Public Library of Science Medicine, 3(11), e442. April 16, 2011. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442
The Industrial Revolution was not only a turning point in the progress of human history, but the start of a great change in the Earth’s environment. Technological advances in industry and mass migration into urban areas led to a rising demand for energy sources, a demand met by fossil fuels. Casper, J. (2010) describes coal as ‘symbolic of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution’, the increased combustion of these ‘dirty’ fossil fuels further polluted the air and enhanced the volume of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Changes in land use attributed to population rise, reduced the amount of photosynthesising biomass on Earth, diminished an important ‘carbon sink’ and concluded to enhance the Greenhouse Effect.
Sustainable living to reduce your personal footprint (n.d.). In WWF Global. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from
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The entire world contributes to the carbon emissions but there are ways we can use less gases to help decrease the amount we use. One way is carpooling. Carpooling can help decrease the amount of carbon emissions we make by having less cars on the road to make carbon emissions. Carpooling also saves you money. Other ways are using alternative fuel sources. Some alternative fuel sources are biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen etc. There are also cars that use other things like electricity or less fuel. These can be cheaper than just petroleum and less harmful to the environment. “HEVs [hybrid electric vehicle] typically achieve better fuel economy and have lower fuel costs than similar conventional vehicles. For example, the 2016 Honda Civic Hybrid has an EPA combined city-and-highway fuel economy estimate of 45 miles per gallon, while the estimate for the conventional 2015 Civic (four cylinder, automatic) is 35 miles per gallon” afdc. In this day and age we are getting better at carbon emissions and fuel usage but we have a long way to go to achieve almost no carbon emissions, if that will ever
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters initially got started in 1981 as a small café in Waitsfield Vermont and united with Keurig later in 2006. The company produces specialty coffee as well as coffee makers with the help of Keurig whom produces single-cup coffee and tea makers; it is now among their product list. The company roasts 100% Arabica type of coffee transforming it into more than a hundred different coffee products available for selection. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Keurig coffee no longer retains ownership of the original café. However, the company still has its headquarters situated in Waitsfield Vermont on a vase land of about 90,000 square feet. (8,400 square meters). The company also prides on having other regional centers which are located in various cities including: Upstate New York, Washington, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut. According to the case study, “Exhibit 6 shows the net sales and growth in reference to the year 2008, 2009 and 2010” (C36 in the book, [Dess et al, 2012]). From that data, we can see how the company has developed. The rest of the 2010 annual report also helps in examining the performance of the company which can be seen in Exhibits 3, 4 and 5.
There is an estimate of 1.3 million cars in the world, in the United States alone the ration from person to cars is 1.3. That 's almost 255 million cars in the roads every single day. Just imagine, “Burning one gallon of gas creates 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, and the average car emits about six tons of carbon dioxide every year”(Global Warming And Your Car).Imagine how many tons of Carbon dioxide are emitted into the air by everyone in the world. The carbon that gets emitted into the air doesn 't just affect the climate it also affects us by polluting the very air that we breath. Air pollution causes around 3.3 million deaths worldwide every year. One of the biggest places with contamination is China, the main reason for that is because of all of the factories that they have and all the carbon dioxide that gets let out.People and their decisions are the main reason for climate change, they only think about the present and never about the
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society is facing today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been slowest” (geocraft). There are no known solutions yet to reverse these effects in the environment, however there are many things people can do to prevent it from increasing. By implementing a carbon tax the government can tax corporations on how much carbon they emit into the atmosphere. With the extra money from the tax, scientist can invest in alternative ways to reduce how much carbon is emitted. Reducing climate change is going to take years and so nothing is going to get fixed anytime soon, but meanwhile we can use that extra money to begin cleaning up the atmosphere. There are many ways to explain climate change, some say its due to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, others say it is the burning of the fossils fuels, some even say it’s the greenhouse gases. All of these sayings mean the exact same thing, no matter how one says it. I believe there are more convenient ways to solve climate change; and if the government would to implement a carbon tax on companies they will then be forced to re-evaluate all the carbon they emit to the environment and red...
Orme J, Powell J Taylor P Harrison T Grey M (2003) Public Health for 21st Century Open University Press
Starbucks is a company in which purchases and roasts high quality whole bean coffees and sells them along with fresh, rich-brewed, Italian style espresso beverages, a variety of pastries and confections, and coffee-related accessories and equipment (starbucks.com). During my environmental scan in which took place at the Starbucks on the corner of Fair and Newport across the street from vanguard, I noticed many things in which where never brought to my attention in prior stays and visits at Starbucks; such as the many social groups in which choose to have their meetings at Starbucks. Thus in this essay we will discuss things in which many people do not really notice when going to Starbucks.
Ever since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century, fossil fuels have been used constantly, slowly changing the planet’s atmosphere. According to Mann, “the preindustrial level of CO2 was 280 parts per million (ppm)” (N. pag). He predicts that at current rates, we will reach 560 ppm by the end of the 21st century. To make matters worse, Mann states that 450 ppm is dangerous as it will cause an increase in Earth’s average temperature by 2 Celsius. He recommends taking measures to keep CO2 at less than 405 ppm (N. pag). Mann takes note that in 2013, the value managed to reach 400 ppm (N. pag). It is needless to say that the point of no return is right around the corner. Unfortunately, the affects of pollution are already felt around the world. Pollution can cause many health issues and damage several organs in the body. When people think ...
Humans and animals breathe out Carbon Dioxide, often referred to as the greenhouse gas, as a waste product. Plants take in this CO2 and use it to make food. This is called photosynthesis. During this process oxygen is released which is then breathed in by humans and animals. This procedure is repeated over and over and a natural balance is obtained. However this natural balance is disrupted by human activity. People of the world are putting more than 5.5 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. 75% of this is caused from the burning of fossil fuels. These fuels are burnt all the time to run factories, power plants and vehicles. The main sources of CO2 emissions are electric utilities, residential buildings, industry and transportation. The other 25% is induced by the destruction of the world's forests. The reason for this is that there are less trees and plants to take in the CO2 but there is just as many, if not more, humans and animals to breathe it out.
Bruss (2001) argues that the company hopes as well to make new investments in new coffee types. Starbucks has recently developed a new type of coffee called green-coffee. These strategies are created with the objective of support Starbucks’ commitment to buy coffee that has grown and processed by suppliers. They meet certain conditions of social, economic and quality standards. In addition to that, the company is paying additional premiums to those vendors who meet the specific requirements that the company wants.
Paula Moore. Independents' day, Coffee shops take on Starbucks for market share, The Denver Business Journal. Denver: Jul 30, 2004. Vol. 56, Iss. 2; p. A17