The Age of Stupid

Mgmt. 650-04
Age of Stupid questions:
1. How many of these issues were you aware of before?
I was aware of global warming; however I was not aware of what the contributing factors were, how severe it was, and how we as Americans are bad consumers and our decisions are effecting our environment.
2. What did you learn? Pick two issues mentioned and describe how they are related.
I learned that thousands of years ago, the energy needed to grow our crops and feed our animals was limited by the daily sunlight falling on the earth and we were sustaining but now we use the energy equivalent to hundreds of years of sunlight every single year. Americans now consume twice as much oil than Europeans; nine times more than a Chinese person, fifteen times more than an Indian, and fifty times more than someone from Kenya and in doing so, the level of greenhouse gases and emissions increase pollution and affect the climate which contributes to global warming. It also further puts demands on the economy to produce oil, which is very expensive and dangerous to manufacture.
3. How is business connected to the environment? Name two ways.

The movie talks about “resource curse” when interviewing the young woman from Africa. It was said that finding oil increases countries poverty because as oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of few; the agriculture, education, and health system of the country become neglected and often collapse. Due to the political system, the 13% of revenue that is supposed to be spent on community development is lost. Profit will always proceed when you have a demand for a product regardless of how it effects an environment. The movie explained that “flares” emit about 70 million tons of carbon dioxide every year which is more than the annual emission from ten million British homes and is the leading cause of asthma, bronchitis, skin disease, and cancer in areas where oil is found, yet it is easy to transport and sell so business is continued.

4. What do you feel are relevant and useful approaches to innovation that can make a difference to the direction our planet is going (in relation to information shared here)? And how might we improve that, or build on that?
Incorporating and taking advantage of alternative methods of energy such as solar panels, green products, electric cars that don’t require fuel/oil and using the remaining oil we have and building a society that can function without it instead of using tens of billions of barrels each day. As Americans we need to become better consumers and downsize on things we really do not need. The movie talked about consumerism and how it is a continuous cycle of wasting resources we really do not have. In order to improve or build on approaches to innovation, we first must educate ourselves about things like preventing deforestation, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
5. Find an example of innovation, from any source, to substantiate your idea. (cite your source). Be ready to share this in class.
California's climate is expected to become considerably warmer during this century. Projections indicate that if global warming emissions proceed at their current rate, average temperatures are expected to rise 4.6 to 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. In contrast, a lower emissions rate would keep the projected warming to 2.8 to 6.0 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists expect these temperature increases to have widespread consequences including substantial loss of snowpack, increased risk of large wildfires, and reductions in the quality and quantity of certain agricultural products. Tropical deforestation accounts for about 10 percent of the world’s heat-trapping emissions equivalent to the annual tailpipe emissions of 600 million average U.S. cars. Reducing tropical deforestation can significantly lower global warming emissions and together with efforts to reduce emissions from fossil fuels plays an integral role in a comprehensive long-term solution to global warming. We already know we are putting too much heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air when we burn fossil fuels to generate electricity, fuel our cars, and heat our homes but by cutting down and burning trees, we are also releasing an astounding amount of the same heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Tropical forests not only provide oxygen for us to breathe, but also take CO2 out of the atmosphere and store much more carbon than forests in temperate regions (like those in the United States). Losing such forests greatly hampers Earth’s ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere and avoid the worst effects of global warming. ("Ten Reasons to Reduce," 2014).
Ten Reasons to Reduce Tropical Deforestation. (2014, 06 17). Retrieved September 5, 2014, from Union of Concerned Scientists website: http://www.ucsusa.org/ global_warming/solutions/stop-deforestation/protecting-trees-protecting.html
6. What does any of this have to do with intelligence? In particular with which one do you see?
It shows that we have not been smart about using our resources over the past one hundred or so years. We have cared more for profit and not about protecting the world we leave for future generations. As far as intelligence goes, this can be considered greedy, uneducated, ignorant, selfish, etc. on our behalf. However, the damage is already done so if we are to prepare or prevent further damage; we all need to get on board and educate our generation about the pros and cons of oil consumption and its consequences as time progresses.