Sustainability

Sustainability is the policies and strategies that meet society's needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs according the the US EPA. http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm

Currently, the Gulf Coast has experienced tragedy with the busted oil rig in April of this year. It has left habitats destroyed, animals killed, and an overwhelming amount of Americans jobless. BP in an effort to repair the damage, is collecting surplus volumes of oil and natural gas daily, and are hiring unemployed workers to assist in the cleanup, however, with all of their impressive ideas to alleviate the damage, one must still question why more precautions were not taken in an effort to prevent the spill in the first place. http://www.bp.com/generalarticle.do It seems as though companies today worry about only today's problems instead of thinking about the damage that may be done in the future. If more ideas were put in place to protect the Coast, then the problem would have never occurred in the first place.

Another pressing issue is one that is so often seen in the summer which is stores blasting air conditioning with exterior doors wide open. It wastes unnecessary amounts of energy, and for what, cooling the sidewalks? According to the Independent Electricity System Operator, air conditioning takes up 30% of your total energy consumption, but by setting it to a more moderate temperature, and keeping the doors closed, we may be able to cut down the total energy consumption. http://www.citytv.com

Ciara Viola