One thing that resonated with me during Catherine Flower’s talk was the different between rural and urban poverty. Before this class, I never even considered the difference between the two. After doing some research after the class, I discovered that the difference in “poverty” between rural and urban areas in the United States is 16.7% to 13%, respectively. While at first glance that may not seem like a big difference, in terms of the scale of the entire US’s population, that gap is quite drastic.
I think that the issue Ms. Flower’s described about rural septic tanks is both inexcusable and easily fixed by a solution that would benefit both rural and urban areas. That solution being the technology that converts human and food waste into biofuel, a form of renewable energy. This is a topic that my Environmental Science class discussed a lot about last semester because it seems like a no brainer. In the long run, it would essentially eliminate anthropogenic fossil-fuel emissions as well as lessen the gap between rural and urban poverty. While I know implementing this sort of infrastructure would be difficult initially, it is certainly something worth the wait and struggle. Emissions would be down and a new, renewable resource would be at our expense. This energy could provide a replacement for fossil fuels, changing the way our world runs. We could finally make progress towards the plan Bill McKibben introduced, only 350ppm of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
I want to thank Ms. Flower’s for opening my eyes to many issues we have at hand that I would have never considered before. Environmental injustice is a global issue that ties into almost every economic, social, and environmental issue at hand. It’s time to stop ignoring what is going on right in front of us and make a difference in these people’s and even our own lives. In my opinion, this all boils down to an issue of ethics and at that point it should be obvious what the next step is: start making change.
