The Waccamaw Indians fought for federal recognition up until 2005 when they became South Carolina’s first recognized tribe. Federal recognition honors the tribes’ inherent rights of self-government, tribal sovereignty, and they are entitled to receive federal benefits, services, and protections because of their special relationship with the United States. In June 2006, the United Nations Declaration…
Category: Environmental Impact
Proponents of offshore oil and gas exploration affirm oil spills are unlikely to happen. According to a report from British Petroleum in 2009, if a spill were to occur, adverse effects to the environment would not be expected. One year later, in 2010, Deepwater Horizon happened, a large, deep water oil spill that gushed “4.9 million…
Earth’s natural and “abundant” resources exist within limits. While these resources may rejuvenate and renew themselves time and time again, at what point do they stop becoming readily available? How would we adjust to a changing world where these resources may one day become truly scarce? Can we ethically consume an endless supply of electricity,…
According to the Brundtland Commission report, sustainable development calls for “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Long before the report was published in 1987, Native American indigenous cultures lived by the proverb, “we have not inherited the earth from our fathers,…
As the world modernizes and realizes the urgency for cleaner energy sources, countries are writing policies to introduce more renewables onto their grids. Germany is a leader in this movement and has developed a policy that expedites this process. Energiewende is Germany’s energy policy enacted in 2011 to introduce a significant increase in the use of…
Wind energy is a renewable energy source which means there is an inexhaustible amount of energy that can be cultivated. With zero greenhouse gas emissions, wind energy has very low impacts to the environment and can be used virtually anywhere the wind blows. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the wind industry has generated…
Europe’s wind-energy industry plays a large and positive role in Europe’s economy. Even in economic recession, the wind power sector employed around 238,000 in 2010. Also in 2010, the wind energy sector contributed almost 0.3 percent of Europe’s total GDP. There are 15 wind farms off the coasts of Europe consisting of 754 wind turbines all built…
Forms of wind energy, such as windmills, have been used for hundreds of years to pump water, grind grains, and perform other farm-related tasks. It was only in the early 1980’s that people began to convert wind into electricity. The first wind farm was built in 1981 in Crotched Mountain, New Hampshire. Directly following, wind farms…