Oscar's Green Lens

  Hello! There are some big, big changes going on, so let's cover them. Firstly, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has proposed to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which requires large industrial facilities to report their annual emissions. The motivation for the proposal is to reduce regulatory burden and save money for businesses. However, even if the GHGRP is ended, some certain oil and gas facilities would still have to report in 2034 due to the Clean Air Act. However, oppositions argue that removing these reporting hurts transparency, and makes it harder to track climate progress. In my opinion, this is a huge step back for climate regulation, and I think in order to continue moving forward, we need more real data and numbers, not less. However, this proposal conflicts with existing laws and requirements, which could lead to legal challenges. As of yesterday, the University of Exeter's Global Tipping Points Report has reported that the Earth ...

 Hello, welcome back to my blog! Instead of the usual "monthly rundown", I'd like to share a little of what I have been up to in the past few months (hopefully it's interesting enough to excuse my 2 month absence from posting).        About 1 month and a half ago, I learned about the Line 5 pipeline  n the straits of Mackinac. I quickly became interested in the issue, especially the debates surrounding the topics. I was able to get in contact with a couple of the involved parties, including the EGLE, Enbridge, and Sierra Club. I asked each of them the following questions:  1.) If all sides (Environmentalists, Enbridge, etc.) came to the table tomorrow with an open mind on the Line 5 issue, what would the first compromise look like to you? 2)How do you personally weigh the risk of ecological damage against the economic benefits of Line 5, and where do you draw the line between acceptable risk and irreversible harm? EGLE (Department of Environment, Great...

Hello! Apologies for the nearly 2 month break since my last post. The end of the school year is always a busy time, and I wasn't able to make time to write a post. Nonetheless, here is the big news of the month! Global Warming Heating Up: Global Warming is a pressing environmental issue that is widely debated and researched. However, the issue it presents is becoming more and more relevant to public health as time passes. According to UN news, "nearly half of humanity already living in areas highly susceptible to climate change," and because of this, hundreds of thousands of people are dying to heat related issues across the world. The UN also notes that Europe accounts for a third of the world's global heat-related deaths. To combat this, WHO/Europe on Wednesday created a new program, called the "Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health". I think this program is a step in the right direction. However, more drastic measures need to be made by our world ...

 Hello! Here are some recent updates in environmental policy from the past 2 weeks! LG & Samsung vs. Indian Government: As some of you may know, LG and Samsung are massive tech companies based in South Korea. Recently, they have filed a law suit against the Indian Government over their new e-waste recycling policy. Put simply, the policy requires that manufacturers pay 22 rupees(or 25 cents) per kilogram of e-waste produced to certified recyclers. The policy aims to increase e-waste recycling in a more formal way. Samsung and LG claim that the policy unfairly raises prices and lacks clear environmental benefits. In my opinion, the policy is fair. However, officials should provide official reports that show significant environmental impact from the policy. What is your opinion on this policy? UK Government vs. Small Businesses On a similar note, in the UK, the government has created a new policy, a new tax, that affects businesses with over 25 tons of packaging annually. It aims...

 Hello! A little different from my scheduled posts, but I felt this was worth sharing. Today, I attended the Chicago Energy Conference at UChicago. I had a lot of fun listening to the various speakers and panelists, and learned a lot about the work being put into sustainable energy. I took some notes on some interesting and notable things from each speaker/panel, so I will share them here. Keynote Speaker 1: King Ringness -Discussed how the government is cutting funds for research and environmental efforts/projects -Used a nice metaphor about a hummingbird--A forest is burning down, and all the animals are running, yet the one singular hummingbird is taking drops of water out of a puddle to try and put out the fire. In my opinion, this is a really cute but relevant metaphor to the efforts to stop climate change. It takes just one person to create change and take a stand.  Keynote Speaker 2: Seth Darling - "The Energy Ouroboros" ==========================> -Energy Demand ==...

 Hello again! Apologies for the wait, school has been quite busy recently. Today, I'd like to share some of the recent government/environmental news from the past few weeks.  The ATA, or Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, is a yearly assessment made by U.S. spy agencies which details worldwide threats to the U.S. 4 days ago, on March 25th, the 2025 issue was published, and for the first time in 10 years, Climate Change was not one of the threats listed. This removal is largely tied to the Trump Administration, who is moving to remove Climate Action from the federal agenda. When questioned at the Senate Intelligence Committee, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said, "What I focused this annual threat assessment on, and the [Intelligence Committee] focused this threat assessment on, are the most extreme and critical direct threats to our national security." In my opinion, this removal is unjustified. While climate change is not as imm...

     As I write this blog, I intend to stay as neutral on various topics as possible, only viewing them in the lens of environmental science. This is especially true when I discuss the topic of politics. As some of you may know, the United States recently inaugurated the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump. I assume most of you have heard his name echo through the news channels and social media. I like to think I keep up with the news, whether that be through the NYT or TikTok or Instagram. I hear all about Trump's new executive order or his new plan for the economy, so I thought: what is Trump doing in terms of the environment. So: I did a little research.          As of February 10th, 2025, a little under a month ago, President Trump signed an executive order that immediately bans paper straws from being used in Federal buildings, and " requires the development of a National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws within 45 days", ...