The Rendering №12

The article “Endangered and Targeted:Fight to Save Oriental Stork Captivates China” was published on November 22, 2012 by Didi Kirsten Tatlow. It discusses a contest between beauty — in the form of the dramatically elegant black-and-white oriental stork — and a beast — carbofuran, a highly toxic pesticide. The author pointed out that in China this month, hunters wielding the chemical that is banned in many places targeted the endangered bird, attempting to kill dozens — and partly succeeding. It is necessary to mention that tales of the damage inflicted on the environment and wildlife are fairly common in China as the country pursues economic growth decade after decade at seemingly any cost. The correspondent explained that people continue to eat wild animals, even rare species, in the belief that they are especially nutritious.

Analyzing that every autumn hundreds of the large, graceful storks, which are listed as “endangered” on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, land in the Beidagang wetland reserve where they rest and feed for about two weeks, it is necessary to pay attention that this year, about 20 birds never took off again, killed by hunters laying down the “bird poison” known in Chinese as kebaiwei. Didi Kirsten Tatlow mentioned that the poison is also a problem in Britain, where the wildlife minister, Richard Benyon, was harshly criticized by opposition members of Parliament last month for refusing to ban the substance. The author made clear that over the last ten days, at least two dozen birds were saved by quick action by bird watchers and rescuers. It is important that shocked and angered, journalists at The Beijing News have begun a campaign to protect rare birds from attacks such as these, with a hotline for people to report crimes. The stork is a class one protected species in China and is culturally venerated here. Moreover, the bird is also considered a national treasure in Japan, where it died out and was re-introduced into the wild from captivity.

The correspondent believed that something even more important than culture was at work — money, and the still-large market for eating game. It is necessary to point out that each of the birds fetches about 200 renminbi ($32) in local wild game restaurants — not much, but clearly worth it to the hunters. In conclusion the author told that Storks aren’t the only targets, so are swans and ducks and for Chinese conservationists, it’s a horrifying tale. In my opinion, problems such this one is very topical nowadays. We should be more humane to animals and birds in order to save them all over the world.  

The Rendering №11

The article “California's first auctionof greenhouse-gas credits nears” was published in The Los Angeles Times on November, 6. It discusses that after six years of preparation, California is poised to become the first state to combat global warming by capping greenhouse gas emissions and making major polluters pay to release more of these gases into the atmosphere. The author Marc Lifsher makes clear that it's part of a landmark law approved in 2006 that seeks to cut the state's production of carbon dioxide, methane and related gases to 1990 levels — about 17% lower than current amounts — by 2020. It is an open secret that on Nov. 14, the state is scheduled to launch the market-based "cap-and-trade" program of selling pollution credits at auction.

The reporter points out that this year, the program covers about 350 industrial businesses operating a total of 600 facilities throughout the state. They include cement plants, steel mills, food processors, electric utilities and refineries. Analyzing the situation it becomes clear that these businesses have been issued free credits worth 90% of their recent emissions. Now they must either cut their greenhouse gas production to that level or buy credits to make up the difference. The correspondent mentions that companies that have more credits than they can sell them at the auction and the state will sell additional credits as well. It’s necessary to make stress that opponents are petitioning the governor, lawmakers and regulators. Marc Lifsher makes clear their requirements: the state's requirement to buy pollution credits "will impose high and unnecessary costs on California businesses, threatening jobs and tax revenues in the state.

Regardless, the state has made it clear that it's moving ahead with the long-planned cap-and-trade approach. The approach "is a reasonable, well-thought-out program with rigorous reporting, monitoring and enforcement”. There are signs that each credit allows the release of one metric ton of greenhouse gases. The quarterly auctions, has set a minimum bid of $10 per credit, and it predicts that the price could rise to as much as $50 over the next eight years. It is an open secret that the system probably will prove expensive for Cal Portland Co., a Glendora cement maker with plants in Colton and Mojave. Another unhappy company is Pacific Coast Producers, a farmer-owned cooperative that has a tomato canning plant in Woodland, buying the credits it needs through 2020 would add as much as $2.5 million to the cost of canning tomatoes.

In conclusion the author suggests that California's cap-and-trade system is much more comprehensive and ambitious than the only other greenhouse gas auction in the country. Potentially, it could provide an example that other countries and larger organizations of countries could adopt, while we work out some of the kinks along the way. As for me, I approve of the auction because I think it will able to help our planet. Not many people all over the world care of environmental protection but citizens of California make an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we should follow them and try to protect the Earth until it is too late.

The Rendering №10

The article “Australian scientists find excess greenhouse gas near Fracking” was published in The Los Angeles Times on November, 17. It discusses that environmental researchers have detected excess greenhouse gas levels near the site of Australia's biggest coal seam gas field. The author Carol J. Williams pointed out that the reported findings of methane, carbon dioxide and other compounds at more than three times normal background levels. There are signs that have stirred new controversy in eastern Australia over the pros and cons of boosting natural gas output by "fracking," a process that blasts sand, water and chemicals into deep underground wells.

Analyzing the situation the findings, though still pending peer review before publication, could influence the scope and pace of a planned expansion of coal seam gas fracking as envisioned in a white paper issued this week. The reporter pointed out that health authorities and opponents of the plans to expand fracking have called on the governments of Queensland and New South Wales to determine greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere in areas slated for new wells before they are drilled, to provide a baseline for comparison with air quality after the underground seams are fractured. It is an open secret that because widespread elevated levels, scientists need for baseline studies so they can determine whether this is due to the coal seam gas operations or not.

It is mentioned that the findings showed greenhouse gases at levels even higher than in Russia's massive Siberian gas fields, where environmental protection has been minimal.  The correspondent told about rising complaints of rashes, nausea, headaches and nose bleeds among people living close to the Tara gas fields. It is necessary to make stress that residents of rural Queensland were initially enthusiastic about the prospects of coal seam fracking bringing jobs and revenue to their state when political leaders began touting the practice about seven years ago.

In conclusion Carol J. Williams makes clear that concerns about fracking's consequences for air and water quality have been rising, though, as farmers complain of a dropping water table and piles of debris left behind by the drilling and extraction operations. As for me, I think that this problem is very important and actual. I hope that scientists will find the solution and make this part of Australia more safe.

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Review №3

The Pelican Brief

Cast:  Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington and Sam Shepard

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Synopsis: An ambitious student Darby Shaw made a problem for the US government with her article. The woman found out the real reasons of two judges’ deaths and wanted to publish it. However, instead of publication Darby became the most desired target who had to think to stay alive. She asked a political reporter Gray Grantham for help and they together started to fight with injury.

Review

The film is based on the J. Grisham’s book and it means that it pretended to be a law detective with interesting storylines and an intriguing end. The beginning of the film was not allowed me to get interest in it because of little actions and standard dialogues. Julia Roberts, as a student, seemed pretty and helpless but then my opinion about her has changed in a positive side. She turned out to be a smart reporter with clear political and civil positions. Her heroine Darby wrote a brief about the reasons, supposing them to be right, for two judges’ deaths. As she cleared up, they disagreed with the governmental desire to use a certain lake as a place for the extraction of oil. The lake had to be dried and pelicans dwelling there had to lose their home. The judges decided to save the environment at their lives cost.

Having found out such compromising brief the president of the US ordered to kill Darby Shaw and hide the materials. His political career got becoming in a great danger which he wanted to prevent. The best agents tried to kill the woman but she could stay alive in many situations. Sometimes it seemed as she was going to become died but as in every American movies, where the main character should reveal the truth, Darby could continue her way. And when she was absolutely depressed, a good political reporter Gray Grantham came for help. The woman opened all her secrets to him and faced him before a deathful danger. It is not necessary to talk that they could live through great challenges and revealed the truth to the world. Thus the political career of the president finished and Darby started to live without fear for her life.

I can say that quick actions and actors’ performance made this film good. After the explosion in the car where Darby’s professor and boyfriend (it was a one person) died, the movie acquired dynamism and rapid developments. I do not like Julia Roberts but I could not but say that she is a great actress. In my opinion, she inquired with the role of a young smart student and proofed her talent once more. Though it is a quite old film but her clothes style made me to be disappointed. I think students in the US wear more stylish clothes. As for Denzel Washington, I like him and his performance in the film. I trusted him as Darby trusted and I wished him to stay alive by the end of the film. Honestly, he remained me Barack Obama, I do not know why but not only because he is Afro-American (maybe, it is influence of the election).  

In conclusion I would like to say that “The Pelican Brief” pleasured me to watch the actors’ performance and the fight for the environment. Less and less people nowadays are concerned about the situation in the world and it is great that some human beings think about it and make something to improve its conditions, or, like in the film, do something to stop its deterioration. The world needs such films with good ends where bad men are punished and justice prevails. They nudge some people to make high-minded actions.

The Rendering №9

The article “Ending Its Summer Melt, Arctic Sea Ice Sets a New Low That Leads to Warnings” was published in The NY Times on September, 19. It discusses that the drastic melting of Arctic sea ice has finally ended for the year, but not before demolishing the previous record — and setting off new warnings about the rapid pace of change in the region. The author Justin Gillis makes clear that the apparent low point for 2012 was reached and sea ice that day covered about 1.32 million square miles, or 24 percent, of the surface of the Arctic Ocean.

But it’s necessary to point out that sea ice at its lowest point in the summer typically covered about half the Arctic Ocean, but it has been declining in fits and starts over the decades. It is an open secret that a shell of ice will cover much of the Arctic Ocean in coming months, but it is likely to be thin and prone to melting when summer returns. Analyzing the situation from scientists’ point of view it is necessary to mention that the rapid warming of the region to be a consequence of the human release of greenhouse gases, and they see the melting as an early warning of big changes to come in the rest of the world. The reporter mentions that the collapse of Arctic sea ice has already started to alter atmospheric patterns in the Northern Hemisphere, contributing to greater extremes of weather in the United States and other countries.

There are signs that the Arctic Ocean could be largely free of summer ice as soon as 2020. It was revealed that the Arctic melting should serve as a warning to the public of the risks that society is running by failing to limit emissions. The correspondent stresses the importance that The extra heat in the ocean appears to be contributing to an accelerating melt of the nearby Greenland ice sheet, which does contribute to the rise in sea level.

In conclusion the author gives a warning that the sea is now rising at a rate of about a foot per century, but scientists expect this rate to increase as the planet warms, putting coastal settlements at risk. As for me, the problem of global warming is greatly important. People should stop destroying the planet otherwise we will have to live in the awful planet or not live at all. 

The Rendering №8

The article “What Is Iran Doing in Syria” was published in The National Security on September, 21. It discusses that until recently, the Islamic Republic's military involvement in Syria was shrouded in mystery. The author Ali Alfoneh makes clear that on September 16, IRGC Commander Mohammad-Ali Aziz Jafari admitted that the IRGC's Quds Force, which is the extraterritorial operations arm of the IRGC, "are present" in Syria. But it’s necessary to point out that he added that "this does not mean that Iran has a military presence" there and that Iran's aid was limited to "consultancy and economic assistance."

Analyzing the situation Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast further complicated interpretation of Iran's messaging by condemning what he called some media outlets' "selective, incorrect, and politically motivated use" of Jafari's statements. It is an open secret that on May 26 Iranian forces were present in Syria in an attempt to "prevent great massacres" there and on August 22, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi declared Iran's readiness to "live up to its defense and security obligations upon Syria's request”.

There is a general feeling to believe that the IRGC organization has an interest in making its presence known in order to increase its leverage over other branches of the Iranian government. The reporter mentions that the United States should negotiate with the Quds Force rather than other branches of the Islamic Republic in order to solve the problems it was facing in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. There are signed that those who desire a negotiated solution to the crisis in Syria must involve the Quds Force. It is revealed that the Foreign Ministry, on the other hand, probably opposes Iran's military involvement in Syria lest it result in the Quds Force taking the lead on Iran's Syria policy.

The correspondent considers the statements of Iranian military involvement can also be interpreted as the IRGC's way of threatening to increase its intervention, which would transform civil war in Syria into a regional war. Speaking of a certain Brigadier General Hossein Hamadani has been sent to Syria to oversee the Quds Force's operations it is necessary to point out that he has extensive experience in suppressing the Kurdish separatist movements in Iranian Kurdistan in the immediate aftermath of the 1979 revolution and during the Iran-Iraq war.

In conclusion the author suggests that with the protests in Syria having developed into an armed rebellion, and with the rebels gaining access to more sophisticated weaponry, he may find himself fighting a very different war than the one he won against peaceful protesters in the streets of Tehran. As for me, I think that there are many evidences that the Iranian government makes different plans and programs towards Syria. And it is very likely that Iran follows their own plans and it is not to help Syria.