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A Message Home to the US: What Actually Happened at COP21

Morgan Heckerd December 12, 2015 0 Comments
  by Morgan Heckerd Over the past two weeks 196 governments have spent hours within consultation rooms and plenary halls in efforts of reaching an agreement. They are here in Paris because they know that the era of emissions need to come to an end. The urgency of climate change is no longer a concept that they can deny. But– the developed countries have fallen short in adopting the...

Words, words, words: The Failure of the Paris Agreement

Paige Nygaard December 12, 2015 0 Comments
In reaction to the text that was released this afternoon, later passed tonight, the spirits today are all different. My heart is heavy and confused: torn between being part of a strong movement that is demanding climate justice while watching a plenary unfold that is delivering an unambitious and immoral deal made of false promises. The Paris agreement did not start here, or last year. Although...

A System of Perpetuation: Free Trade and Climate Change

Aura Silva Martinez December 12, 2015 0 Comments
Free trade is the exchange of products and services between nations without the impositions of tariffs or quotas on foreign products, as well as subsidies on domestic products. Although free trade is defined as a win-win strategy because it allows nations to exploit their comparative advantage and maximize economic profit, there are many negative implications hidden behind these encrypted massive...

A history of failure: Free Trade

Aura Silva Martinez December 12, 2015 0 Comments
We live in a world that revolves around the neoliberal economic system in place. Where free trade has becomes more and more normalized everyday. With such rapids trends of globalization happening around the world, it is worth taking a look at the institutions ruling this process. After the World War II, the General Agreement on Trade an Tariffs (GATT) was created. This institution had some...

Climate Chaos and the Externalities of Americanism

Matthew Kennedy December 11, 2015 1 Comment
“The American way of life is not up for negotiations. Period.”   ~Pres. George W. Bush “To accept your rewriting of the Convention is to accept the destruction of our societies.”       ~The delegation of Malaysia to the UNFCCC, COP21 The Negotiator as Mythmaker American climate negotiators are the guardians of a precious, ridiculous, and destructive ideal. Therefore they must be at...