Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the Orca Protection and Safety Act that bans the breeding of killer whales in capacity and the circus-like shows that have the orcas preforming for crowds for entertainment. Since the documentary Blackfish was released people have taken more interest in orca welfare and have expressed more concerns for the orcas, especially ones in SeaWorld. Due to all the negative publicity SeaWorld agreed to stop breeding their orcas in all of their U.S. parks. Now SeaWorld will be legally bound to not breed the orcas in California. However, orcas can still be used in educational shows. The Orca Protection and Safety Act is a step towards animal friendly entertainment, and hopefully someday the end of the use of animals in entertainment. Keeping animals in captivity and using them for our entertainment is not okay. We need to focus more on keeping these animals safe in their natural habitat, not on exploiting them for our own entertainment. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/california-bans-SeaWorld-orca-breeding-entertainment/
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Off the coast of Rhode Island is the United State's first offshore wind farm, Block Island Wind Farm. Block Island Wind Farm has five turbines that will be able to power 17,000 homes. Currently the blades are locked, but in October they will begin to capture the power of the wind. Many people hope that the use of the wind farm will be the beginning of a new industry that will work towards reducing pollution. It is more efficient to have wind turbines offshore because the winds are stronger on the water. Using offshore wind turbines produces a lot of energy and would result in a smaller need for energy sources that are harmful to the environment. The wind turbines would produce large amounts of energy with less pollution than what traditional power plants would produce. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/23/science/americas-first-offshore-wind-farm-may-power-up-a-new-industry.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fearth&_r=0 Over 87,500 acres of land in Maine's North Woods has been made a U.S. national monument by President Obama. Elliotsville Plantation Inc., a nonprofit foundation, donated the land to the federal government. For years the foundation and others have tried to have a national park in the North Woods, but there was not enough support in Congress to create a park. However, Obama has the power to designate national monuments so he designated Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The monument will protect the geology, significant biodiversity, and abundant wildlife. National parks and national monuments are of huge importance to the world. National parks protect land, animals, and ecosystems that would be otherwise destroyed for profit. The parks and monuments preserve what the land would have been like all around the area it occupies if humans had not interfered and cut down forest so that we would benefit. The parks and monuments also protect species that would be otherwise extinct if there were not regulations to protect them. Natural parks and monuments remind us of the beauty of nature and why we should protect the land and the animals living on it. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/katahdin-woods-waters-national-monument-maine/ |
Gisselle PazArchives
December 2016
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