Lecture on Aussie Environmental Issues

Last night, I spent a solid hour, if not longer, touching on every part of this lecture, my reactions, and tying it back to the central Wisconsin community. Apparently, when I started typing it, my computer went offline, thus eliminitating the automatic save feature that I hold so dear. I did not realize this until I went to submit the post and lost everything. Because the next morning I'm still a little heart broken, I'm just going to touch on some of my favorite things and let you know that I really enjoyed this lecture and am willing to discuss this further on a private basis including a timeline of Australian environmental policy as compares to US.

The first thing that struck me about this lecture was the refrain from a Karen Savoca song, "It's the same all over." Issues being dealt with in Australia aren't all too different from those in the US--runnoff, invasive species, desertification, etc. Something that isn't as big of a deal, in Wisconin anyway, is that of water conservation. In Sydney, there are rules about what times of day hoses can be used (as compared to the Stevens Point court house where I've walked by during a rainstorm and seen the sprinklers going off, or around the hottest part of the day) as well as subsidies for those who use rainbarrels. It is interestng to me though because in the dorm where I'm staying, the faucets, toilets, and shower heads, are incredibly leaky and inefficient. Also, I've heard no mention of any "If it's yellow, leave it mellow" policies.

Because hooved animals are so hard on Australia, there was brief mention of a Kangaroos not Cows movement. I love that and think it's a little bit hilarious, not to mention that it turns out that kangaroos are delicious. Though it turns out that Aussies are a bit reluctant to eat one of their national symbols on the same scale as beef, I think it demonstrates a willingness to work with the land rather than attempt to dominate it--not that I'm knocking beef on any scale. I wonder how the western US would change if we switched from cattle to bison?

Also mentioned in the lecture was that the solution to environmental issues is to find a solution that is more economically beneficial than the problem behaviour. This is why eco-tourism--canned tour-y things--are so important despite the modern young travelers search for an "authentic" experience. This also leads me to wonder if I can be an "environmentalist" without having a strong, or even mediocre, understanding of economics. In this same vein, as Salt Water Crocodile populations have risen, they've begun to cause some problems by hanging out in swimming areas, golf courses, back yards, etc. Local people, the people most directly working with them want them dead (kind of like wolves?) or some sort of population management. However, the government really, really likes the money brought in by people wanting to see the salties. So, in a lot of ways, tourism drives protection of species, and I don't know if that's bad or not. It's kind of like why we have elk in Wisconsin--once the herd reaches a huntable size, I am sure that people will come to Wisconsin in order to hunt the majestic Wisconsin elk.

The aboriginals (the pc term here, by the way) used burning forever and ever as a land management tool, and like a lot of debates surrounding native americans, there is a debate surrounding the pristine myth of these people and the land.

Whaling is an issue, oil tankers and mining in the Great Barrier Reef, and Peter Jackson has his own brand of ciggarettes. Oh! In my environmental education, cod keep coming up which is starting to get to a laughable point. I really had not realized how ubiquitous they are. Read Cod: A History of the fish that changed the world by Mark Kurlansky. It really is an apt title.

There, I give up now. Best Wishes.