VIDEO: Manhattan-Sized Ice Chunk Breaks Off Glacier

February 3, 2014 – Filmmaker Jeff Orlowski discusses what he witnessed while shooting the largest ever recording of a glacier calving.

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

What did Big Oil know and when did they know it?

Steve Kretzmann, January 31, 2014

According to multiple sources the State Department will issue its long awaited Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline later today.

The early spin today is that “environmentalists will be disappointed”. But consider the source. Last week, Jack Gerard, the head of the American Petroleum Institute, told Reuters that ”It’s our expectation it will be released next week” Apparently Gerard cited sources within the administration.

“We’re expecting to hear the same conclusion that we’ve heard four times before: no significant impact on the environment,” Gerard said.

Two facts are important here:

1) Jack Gerard is saying the pipeline won’t impact the environment. This is about as surprising as the sun setting in the west.

2) Jack Gerard was apparently briefed by “sources within the Administration” on the timing and content of the report. Before the environmental community. Before Congress. Before anyone else.

If that doesn’t prove once and for all what a corrupt process this has been, I don’t know what will. The oil industry, which has had this process rigged since the word go, are the first to know, because of their cozy and corrupt role in this process.

Even so, the report that comes out today may in fact show what we already know, that the Keystone XL pipeline will by any measure fail the President’s own climate test. Even a corrupt process like the one we’ve seen can’t beat back such a fundamental truth.

Last June, President Obama noted that he and others in Washington needed to be less concerned with ‘well connected donors, and more concerned with the judgment of posterity.’ And in the recent State of the Union, he implored, “It should be the power of our vote, not the size of our bank account, that drives our democracy.”

We intend to hold the President to his word.

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Community Perspectives On Research

PublicHealthBuckeyes

Uploaded on Apr 18, 2011

The College of Public Health’s Prevention Research Center presents community perspectives on academic research.

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Protecting the Rights and Welfare of Human Subjects – What is an IRB?

What is an IRB?
An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a committee whose primary responsibility is to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects. In accordance with Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, an IRB reviews research proposals to ensure risks have been minimized and the potential for benefit has been maximized before human subjects participate in the research. The authority conveyed to the IRB includes decisions to approve, disapprove, require modifications, monitor, suspend and terminate research projects involving human subjects.

The IRB also ensures, as required, that human subjects volunteer to participate in research only after providing legally effective informed consent. Investigators may not solicit subject participation or begin data collection until they have received approval from the appropriate IRB or written concurrence that the research has been determined to be exempt from IRB review.

Certain populations of human subjects may be particularly vulnerable in a research setting, e.g., children, prisoners, pregnant women, fetuses, persons with physical or mental disabilities, and economically or educationally disadvantaged persons. When reviewing research involving these subject populations, the IRB will apply additional protective safeguards as required by federal and state law, institutional guidelines, and any other applicable agency/entity regulations.

All research activities involving human subjects must be reviewed and approved by an IRB unless the Office of Responsible Research Practices (ORRP) can prospectively determine that the research falls into a category of exemption established by federal regulation. See exempt research for more information.

…(read more).

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Submission to the Institutional Review Board | OSU CCTS

https://ccts.osu.edu/education-and-training-programs/research-education-and-training-programs/clinical-research-coordinator-resources/submission-to-the-institutional-review-board

All research activities involving human subjects must be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) unless the Office of Responsible Research Practices (ORRP) prospectively determines that the research falls into a category of exemption established by federal regulation. In accordance with the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) guidelines and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, the IRB reviews human subjects research proposals to ensure risks have been minimized and assessed against the potential for benefit before human subjects participate in the research. The IRB also ensures, when required, that human subjects only volunteer to participate in research after providing legally effective informed consent. Investigators may not solicit subject participation or begin data collection until they have received approval from the appropriate IRB or written concurrence that research has been determined to be exempt from IRB review. The Ohio State University (OSU) has three internal IRBs to review, approve the initiation of, and to conduct periodic reviews of research involving human subjects or materials obtained from human subjects: 1. The Behavioral and Social Sciences IRB

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Research Best Practices in the Community | OSU CCTS

https://ccts.osu.edu/research-support-services/community-engagement/research-best-practices-in-tthe-community

Community Engagement: Researcher Resources

Researcher/participant and researcher/community partnerships require familiarity with research participant perspectives, outreach and engagement best practices, and available resources. Below you will find a list of services available through the Community Engagement Program and a number of documents, websites, and training programs focusing on Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Program Services

• Assist in project planning for a community-based or community engaged project
• Assist with recruitment, data collection, or other study-related activities in Appalachian-based projects
• Explore collaborative opportunities with Appalachian Translational Research Network Community Partners
• Explore collaborative opportunities with Appalachian Translational Research Network Institutional/Regional Partners
• Explore Collaborative Opportunities with OSU researchers to conduct studies in the Appalachian region
• Pilot Study Funding

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Congress Passes Farm Bill, Cuts Food Stamps

AssociatedPress

Published on Feb 4, 2014

The Senate sent a massive, five-year farm bill to President Barack Obama that provides subsidies for the nation’s farmers and cuts the food stamp program by about $800 million. (Feb. 4)

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics
Food-Matters

Mold, mice and zip codes: Inside the childhood asthma epidemic – In Plain Sight

Fri Jan 3, 2014 4:20 AM EST

Amelia Krales / NBC News   See segments of NBC study.

Amanda, 6, poses in her Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment. Amanda’s mother, Rossana de la Cuadra, has had mold in the bathroom of the apartment on and off for most of the 14 years that she’s lived there. She believes the mold may be a contributing factor Amanda’s asthma. Rossana de la Cuadra and Jose Santos are fighting their landlord to provide an asthma-safe environment for their sick daughter.

By Linda Carroll, NBC News contributor

Javier Sepulveda watches the cockroaches skitter across the floor of his Harlem apartment with a mixture of anger and angst. For him they are more than just a nauseating nuisance: They’re one of the main reasons his 12-year-old daughter, Melissa, sometimes struggles to breathe with the scary sensation that she’s suffocating.

Like many others living in low-income neighborhoods, Sepulveda has discovered that his home is implicated in his daughter’s asthma—and that there’s little he can do about it, a Dateline investigation, part of the year-long NBC News “In Plain Sight” poverty reporting initiative, found.

Not long ago scientists noticed a link between poverty and asthma. Now they’re starting to discover that where you live plays a big role in explaining the connection. From dilapidated and deteriorating housing to smog-choked outside air, impoverished inner-city neighborhoods are a breathing hazard for both young and old.

Studies have shown that roaches and mice produce powerful allergens that can kick off allergies and asthma. And while those pests can crop up in more affluent urban neighborhoods, they are a virtual epidemic in communities inhabited by the poor.

….(read more).

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Details of Bipartisan Farm Bill

E120, e130, e145

Global Warming – “Glaciers”

Competitive Enterprise Institute

or alternatively:

Uploaded on May 18, 2006

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has produced two 60-second television spots focusing on the alleged global warming crisis and the calls by some environmental groups and politicians for reduced energy use. The ads are airing in 14 U.S. cities from May 18 to May 28, 2006.

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics