In June of 2014 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed “The Clean Power Plan”. The plan states that each state identifies the carbon emission that they produce. The proposal includes steps to cut green house emissions and gradual goals by the states. Most of the green house emissions must be cut from power plants. If there is no plan to help the environment the temperatures will continue to rise and spin out control. The plan, according to Obama Administration is affordable and will cut health risks from our environment. According to the EPA, about 2,700-6,600 premature deaths will be avoided and a dramatically less amount of asthma attacks in children.

States Choice
According to the plan each state will have different environmental guidelines from the others. The states are allowed to abide by the EPA guidelines or create their own goals. The states are flexible to create other programs. The states will create different programs and see what helps or does not help emission levels. This will allow different ideas and see what helps the environment. Many states will tackle the same issues including
~expanding nuclear energy
~energy storage technology
~renewable energy standards
~transmission improvements

Obama’s Plan
June of 2013 President Obama spoke at Georgetown University to unveil his plan of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Obama has no Congressional support for this plan and is using an executive power to do so. He asks for MORE government spending to help cities find alternatives and help costal states from rising sea levels. The plan will not be finalized until early 2017, at the end of his second term. The next presidential candidate will have to deal with Obama’s regulations.

Websites used:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/science/earth/clean-air-act-reinterpreted-would-focus-on-flexibility-and-state-level-efforts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/fact-sheet-clean-power-plan-state-roles

http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/fact-sheet-clean-power-plan-overview

In the first week of lego midstream Ariana, Sabrina, and I were partners. The goal of the activity was to 1) drive the car in a 2ft radius, one revolution 2) 2ft radius in reverse, one revolution 3) have the car make a sound. The three of us started to plug in numbers for the car to move in a clockwise rotation. To do this you must put the car at different power levels to make the car operate. When we tested the car it went ~4 ft radius forward. We did not test the car to go in reverse in a 2 ft radius because our car started to have problems. When we tried to set up the robot to the computer but ran into issues. The system on the computers was not woking correctly to operate the robot. Out of the three computers we were using the system didn’t work properly so we had to use Prof. Shatz computer. By the time we were able to program the car and make it turn class was over. We were not able to complete the class activities.

In the second week we had another team exercise. The goal of the exercise is to measure the distance and speed the car moves. First we had to measure the diameter of the wheel of the car which was .5 cm. Then we had to find the circumference of the car.
circumference = 3.14 X diameter
c = (3.14) X (.05) = .157
The next part of the exercise is to run the car.
To find the rotation of the car the equation is
rotation = # of degrees / 360
The degrees that the wheel rotated is related to the turns of the wheels because it determines how far the robot will move. The distance is related to the number of turns because, number of turns X circumference = distance. Next, we put the car next to a ruler and observed how far the car will go at different speeds. In one second the car moved 29cm in one second and in two seconds the car moved 32cm. This activity shows that time and distance are correlated. Some discrepancies that could have occurred during the exercise are that the wheel and ruler could have not been matched up properly and data was off.

Fuel efficiency and emission of cars have been in the spotlight of the news and presidential debates. The Obama administration is forcing automobile companies to regulate and increase gas mileage of all new cars and trucks by 2025. The new regulations by the Obama Administration mandate that vehicles will have to get an average of 54.5 miles per gallon (Krisher). If the automobile makers don’t abide by Obama’s new regulations they will be fined. Obama’s goal is to cut greenhouse gas and fuel consumption drastically. Some automobile companies plan on changing air conditioning fluid and put circuits in cars to stop at lights for emitting less pollution. To fit Obama’s regulations, automobile companies will most likely be creating light car bodies with smaller motors. Automobile companies are gradually changing since 2004. In 2012 the average mileage of a car was 23.6, which is hopeful to increase progressivel (Plumer).

The new regulations are predicted to cost $135 billion between 2017-2025 (Krisher).
Chevorlet and GMC have started to tackle fuel efficiency problems with their 2015 trucks. The 2015 Chevorlet Colorado and 2015 GMC Canyon will get an average 17/24 mpg city/highway (Capparella). In addition to the eco boost, Chevy and GMC will be putting a 2.8 liter turbo diesel four cylinder in hopes to increase mileage numbers.

On the other spectrum the 2015 Nissan Versa Note has one of the best fuel efficiency for cars. The Note is also a reasonable price, $16,240, which makes it attractive to the public. The 2015 Note gets an about 31/40 mpg city/highway, averaging 35 mpg (Job). The Note is taking gradual steps to fit the 2025 Obama regulations. The lightweight frame of the Note allows it to get better mileage, weighing about 2,414 lbs. A lighter car means less weight to pull.

Websites used:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/13/cars-in-the-u-s-are-more-fuel-efficient-than-ever-heres-how-it-happened/

https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/2015-ford-mustang-takes-a-fuel-economy-hit-for-new-style-140403722.html

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1409-2015-chevrolet-colorado-and-gmc-canyon-v-6-fuel-economy-announced/?__federated=1

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140913/AUTO03/309130017/

A campaign to ban genetically modified crops on Hawaii is sponsored by Margret Wille. Wille studied at UH Manoa and Washington University in St. Louis. She spoke Hawaii’s County Council urging, “act before its too late.”

In May 2013 a bill in Hawaii was proposed to ban all genetically modified crops (G.M.O.s) on the island. The bill would ban all GMO’s on the island except for corn and papaya. If violated, the planter would pay $1,000 in fines per day. Because of the attention on GMO’s scientists have been researching the negative and positive affects of genetically modified foods in our diets.
Many are worried about diseases, illnesses, and GMO’s effects on children. A study conducted in the Philippines stated, “A test field of rice genetically engineered to address Vitamin A deficiency among the world’s poor (Harmon 4)”. Poor places such as the Philippines should want to feed their children the most nutritious foods since malnutrition is common among third world countries. The woman who sponsored the bill, Wille warned her colleagues, “What mattered was not the amount of food produced, but its the quality and sustainability of how it was grown (Harmon 4)”. Big business such as General Mills and Trader Joe’s stopped putting GMO’s in foods and advertise that they don’t sell genetically modified foods.

These big business decisions can influence their buyers views on genetically modified food, either decreasing or increasing sales.
An alarming report done in a Russian journal said that hamsters on a diet of genetically modified soybeans were unable to reproduce after three generations. The journal indicates that the consumption of genetically modified foods creates animals to become sterile.

Positive effects on GMO’s were discussed in the article but not often focused on. On the island of Hawaii, the island’s papaya supply was almost whipped out due to a disease. A genetically modified trait saved the islands papayas. A genetically modified trait saved the islands papaya. A positive effect of GMO’s are that they can help plants be resistant to attacking diseases.

My opinion on GMO’s
After reading the article which posed both sides of GMO’s, I believe that we should not commercially produce genetically modified foods. If GMO’s are sold in stores commercially they should clearly be labeled for customers to view.
In the article Derek Brewer stated, “Once you change something like this, there is no taking it back (Harmon 8)”. I feel as though the risks outweigh the benefits. The study on the hamsters not being able to reproduce after three generations because of a GMO diet is alarming. In my opinion we should study the result on GMO and their effects on humans to back up the bill on banning them. It would be safer to stay away rather than suffer the negative outcomes.

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