Neville Mars, the chief architect of Mars-1 Space Design in Beijing as well as the founder of the Dynamic City Foundation, has designed the idea of a solar forest to both cool and charge solar cars. A canopy of solar panels that follow the sun, maximize the energy absorption while allowing cars to plug into their “trunks”. Currently miniature prototypes have been created, a step in the right direction to the development of a life size, functional solar forest.
To read more on Mars or his Solar Forest see below:
Since April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, somewhere between 18 and 44 million gallons of oil have leaked into the ocean at a conservative estimate of 210,000 gallons per day. Eleven workers were killed in the initial explosion before the entire ship sunk two days later around fifty miles from Louisiana and began releasing enormous amounts of crude oil into the Gulf. Currently the impact of the spill has spread across a diameter of 150 miles, extending from Dauphin Island, Alabama to Grand Isle, Louisiana. Large clouds of oil pollute the Gulf in areas as deep as three hundred feet, causing the death of much wildlife in the area. Since the spill, eighteen dolphins and 183 sea turtles have been washed ashore, and the death toll of countless other animals is expected to rise as the oil continues to spread.
Initial attempts to slow the oil flow failed when the blowout preventer (a safety device that is designed to stop the flow of the oil in case of an explosion) did not succeed in preventing further leakage. Other methods, such as the use of a containment dome and a mile-long siphoning tube, did not work sufficiently and BP has been forced to look for other means of containing the spill. The most recent effort—the “top kill” technique—also proved unsuccessful after four days and BP is now attempting to stem the flow with the use of robot technology.
The oil disaster has also raised some questions in regard to President Obama’s initial intent to expand offshore drilling and work toward passing an environmental bill that would address bipartisan sentiments. This recent event has certainly altered Congress’s approach to the environmental issue and will force Democrats and Republicans to work closer together toward an effective result. President Obama has announced plans to increase regulation of oil companies by separating the Minerals Management Service into two sections, one that would oversee safety issues and another to deal with leases and royalties. Several senators have also expressed interest in banning Pacific drilling altogether.
Yet taking legitimate action in this situation will prove to be a challenge, as this event has reminded Washington and America that the oil industry still holds tight reins on the government. Almost all means of preventing further damage lie in the hands of BP, a fact which has caused rage in many government officials who want an increase in government assistance in preventing the flow. Not only does the government have substantially limited power in addressing the disaster, but the spill has exposed just how limited current regulation laws are in comparison to the sheer advancement of current oil technology.
This addresses the underlying problem which perhaps has been the main contributor to this disaster—the strong connection between government and oil industries. This link has existed since the discovery of crude oil as an energy source and as certainly dominated politics since the 1970s. Governmental oil interests have arguably served as the main force that has prevented America from taking more significant steps toward an environmentally friendly future. And this fact has certainly resurfaced in recent events as America begins to recognize the amount of regulation necessary in the oil industry. The industry’s partnership with government is just beginning to weaken with the arrival of a more liberal environmental policy in the White House. But this partnership must be fully broken if America hopes to prevent such disasters as the present oil spill from occurring again.
Berwick Academy Green Alliance has been working with the Middle School Green Committee on a community wide water bottle pledge that was put in place at the Earth Day celebration on April 23rd. The pledge is in effort to reduce the use of disposable plastic water bottles campus and community wide by having participants instead use a reusable aluminum water bottle. For every pledge, each participant received an aluminum reusable water bottle with the Earth Day 2010 logo to help get them started. Plastic water bottles are wasteful and damaging to the environment through the processes used to extract the plastics as well as the pollution it produces from improper recycling and disposal. This pledge kicked off on April 23rd and is open to any willing participant who wants to make a difference and effort to preserve the environment. BGA and members of Middle School Green Committee collected signatures for students and faculty during lunches the week of Tuesday, April 27th which was a great success. There was lots of
Earth Day water bottles
participation and interest in signing at all grade levels. Pledge signing will continue the remainder of the year for anyone interested as well as be open to students for years to come.
The annual Earth Day celebration was held the morning of April 23rd outside of the Commons. This year’s ceremony was completely student run, comprised of a few words from students and musical performances from all three divisions. Among the speakers were Lydia Waldo ’13, Noah Landis ’14, MacKenzie Levy ’14, and Alex Zannos ’11. Fantastic performances from the All School Chorus, Jo Fletcher ‘10 and Jamie Meader ’13, Middle School African Drummers, fourth grader Emma Wahl, and Middle Schoolers Sam Salvati and Austin Fishbaugh also took place in celebration. The special focus of this year’s celebration was to make an effort to stop using plastic disposable water bottles by introducing a campus wide water bottle pledge which you can read more about in “Water Bottle Pledge”.
The Cornerstone 