Obama's mobile app approach to raising climate change awareness

Environmental Sciences

Obama Turns to Web to Illustrate the Effects of a Changing Climate

This article discusses how the use of technology and the internet can aid in the overall global warming education process. The article explains how President Obama is using a mobile app to depict the effects of global warming in local communities. Through technology, Obama hopes to create awareness of the overall global warming issue, and its impact on communities. The article states that out that individuals given a list of 20 issues, rank global warming as 19th. Through the use of the app, the Obama administration hopes to create an overall sense of urgency within the general public.

A particularly interesting aspect of the article was the amount of detailed coordination needed to produce the app. The mobile app is unique in that it attempts to depict the impact global warming has on communities' overtime. As such, geographically aspects will need constant surveillance and monitoring to accurately depict damage caused by global warming. To complete this task effectively requires technological expertise and coordination. The article mentions that private companies such as Google, local governments, and even federal agencies all work together to create the technology used within the app (Lomborg, 2007).

What the article lacked were the costs associated with the overall program. I believe the aspect of cost is particularly important given the contentious budget issues currently plaguing congress. Voters in particular want to see restraint and prudence used in regards to allocating taxpayer dollars. The article alluded to the fact, that society currently doesn't place a high priority on global warming issues. As such, would they want the Obama administration allocating much needed resources to an issue many Americans do not care particularly care for? This is particularly true as America grapples with mounting debt, and a stagnate economy.

Climate Change Knowledge and Social Movement Theory

This article discusses how the overall notion of social movements contributes to the ability of society to gain knowledge. The climate change movement is no different in this regard. Since 1970 proponents of global warming have been attempting to educate society through the use of this social movement. The article explains three different stages of the overall movement, and how each movement either detracted or contributed to the overall progress of the social movement.

An interesting aspect of the article was the overall longevity of the climate change movement. As indicted by the article the movement originated in 1970 and has gone through server different iterations since. History has proven that overtime many movements abate or diminish entirely. In recent memory, the "Occupy Wall-Street" movement was particularly short lived. To realize how the longevity of this social movement has influenced the masses across the world is particularly interesting. In addition, the contentious nature of climate change has warranted a mass amount of discussion. Particularly the neo-conservative movement contributed heavily to the overall disagreements regarding the merit of global warming. Finally, I thought it was interesting to see how many of the more precise social movements of today were a direct result of broader societal concerns (Jamison, 1990). In particular, as the article states, many social movements began prominent in the 1960's. This period was marked will massive student revolts. Civil rights, women's liberation, and anti-imperialism were just a few of the results that started in the 1960's (Mansfield, 2007).

Overall the article was very informative and interesting to read. I would have like to see a discussion on the economic implications of this social movement represented in dollar figures. America and Europe, where the movement is the strongest, function on a market economy. I would have liked to see a more detailed discussion on how feasible is was throughout history to actually implement this social change. I believe, particularly in 1960, the concept of global warming was prevalent, but society did not have the infrastructure or the will to actually implement changes.

Climate, Carbon, and Territory: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Seattle, Washington

This article focuses primarily on the methods used in Seattle, Washington to help mitigate green house gas emissions. The article discusses how government involvement in global issues, can actually benefit society if done correctly. Through territorialization, of carbon, Seattle is better able to mitigate the damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

The concept of territorialization is very unique relative to other concepts and methods to reduce GHG emissions. (This concept is so new; Microsoft word 2013 doesn't even recognize it!). By creating local jurisdictional capacities, Seattle is better able to monitor and regulate policies on climate change. This is particularly interesting as society tends to favor private sector solutions to environmental problems within society. Many individuals contend that first, government should not be meddling in environmental climate affairs when more pressing issues take priority, and second, that government will be unable to do the job correctly. However, as the article illustrates, Seattle have been able to mitigate carbon emissions better than most of its counterparts (Lutsey, 2008). This has been done due to Seattle breaking down jurisdiction on a granular level. By related emissions to local communities, Seattle is better able to abate the impacts of GHG emission on local communities.

I would have liked to see a more comprehensive overview of the Seattle budget throughout this mitigation process. I believe an aspect holding the quick adoption of the Seattle strategy is budget concerns regarding implementation. I therefore believe a discussion on specific budget line items would be warranted in the discussion.

Environmental Politics

This article discusses the conditions that have facilitated