Ron Paul

All over campus I’ve seen students tabling in support of Republican candidate Ron Paul. I don’t have a problem with it, but I don’t think the students fully understand Paul’s political platform.

Throughout Ron Paul’s campaign he’s been consistent, honest, and really quite normal and genuine. There is no wonder as to why university students like Paul; he supports legalizing marijuana, and he’s against war. All sound good to me.

However I think there are major flaws in his arguments regarding energy and the environment. (Well, and a few other things).

First of all, Ron Paul would like to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and settle pollution control by property owners in private courts. I greatly feel as though a central governing body on environmental issues such as the EPA is vital to the nation’s health and safety. Also, reverting back to common law will create even more chaos. In Madison v. Ducktown (two private entities), which involved a private nuisance case against a smelting copper plant, the courts ruled in favor of Ducktown because the economic value of the corporation outweighed the economic value of the land that was destroyed from the smelting. Fast-forward to today, imagine the aggregate amount of environmental and private property damage that could result.

Paul said, “The freer the market is and the more respect you have for private property, the better the environment is protected.” I disagree with this quote. There needs to be some type of regulation to protect drinking water, hazardous waste, or air pollution. Especially for something like air and water, which travels beyond state lines.

Paul doesn’t quite agree with scientists who say that man contributed factors add to climate change and global warming and opposed the Kyoto Protocol to lower green house gas emissions.

Also in 2009 Paul said, "Can't help the economy. It has to hurt the economy and it can't possibly help the environment because they're totally off-track on that. It might turn out to be one of the biggest hoaxes of all history, this whole global warming terrorism that they've been using, but we'll have to just wait and see, but it cannot be helpful, it's going to hurt everybody"

I completely disagree with this. I feel environmental protection protects both the environment and commerce. An example of this is hybrid cars. People choose hybrid cars because it emits less CO2 and lowers the dependency on oil (costs). And when Paul says, “it’s going to hurt everybody,” it kind of shocks me. How can protecting the environment “hurt everybody?” Really!

So please, before voting for any candidate, do your homework.

The Mayan Calendar

The Mayan’s predicted the world’s end in 2012. But how will the world end? Or maybe it is not a question of how, but of whom? RICK SANTORUM… dun dun dun… but, seriously this guy is a little imbalanced.

Beside from Santorum general craziness and love of sweater vest, one particular issue that is worrisome is his views about the environment. Santorum firmly denies man-contributed climate change, supports oil drilling in the Arctic, and wants to get rid of energy subsidies.

One of Santorum’s more infamous quotes, “We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth, to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit, not for the Earth’s benefit.”

This quote reminds me of Pride Rock during Scar’s reign as king; a barren wasteland, littered with corpses, dead grass, dried up rivers, and overrun with hyenas. I wonder what Santorum’s evil laugh would sound like.

But the bigger problem I have with Santorum and other republican politicians is making environmental issues a partisan issue, which can only be seen as red or blue. Santorum said about global warming, there is a “lack of real scientific evidence” and it’s “not climate science but political science.”

Why can’t it just be science? So many issues over the economy, social rights, and the environment are all so polarized. As I recall it was a republican president, Richard Nixon, who passed the Clean Air Act, and who established the heavily criticized Environmental Protection Agency.

We are at a point in time when environmental concerns don’t just effect republicans or democrats, but everyone and everywhere. So please politicians don’t make this just another debate topic.

Maryland Food Collective

Last weekend my Australian mate Sally came to visit me in College Park. We gave her the true American Experience – McDonalds (6 cheeseburgers, 2 double cheese burgers, and 1 big mac), Chipotle (2-pound chicken burrito with extra cheese), Taco Bell (big box), and Dominos (1 chicken, 1 pepperoni, and 1 cheese pizza). At the time, they were all great ideas, but as so many of us have felt before, that next day your decision weighs you down. Devo!

I would like to think that most people don’t normally eat this way. I know I personally do not. And there are alternatives to processed fried space food (exception to Chipotle) and unfortunately our friend didn’t get the chance to try them. One of those places is the Maryland Food Collective, or the Co-op.

The Co-op, located in University of Maryland’s student union building, provides food options that are nutritious, derived from local organic farms, and free of corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, or MSG. The Co-op has excellent sandwiches, salads, and lunch specials.

Beside from their delicious and healthy foods, they are environmentally conscious. You may have heard the term, “think globally, act locally.” This phrase simply encourages individuals to be aware of their environmental impact by supporting and assisting local communities.

Take meat production for an example. From the Scientific American magazine article, “production levels of meat contribute between 14 to 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of CO-2 equivalent green house gasses the world produces every year.” Which are the same green house gasses that contribute to global warming.

It is important to understand the environmental impact of our lifestyles. So please, be conscious about what you’re eating and definitely check out the Co-op for healthy, environmentally friendly food options.