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Student Opinion Matters
Save old-growth forests, not just trees
N athan F isher
co-Editor-in-Chief
The "No-Print" day is
supported by many people
under the false idea that it
will save trees. It isn't really
trees that need saving, per se,
but instead the focus should
be on saving old-growth
forests.
Today, most paper that
you use comes from trees
grown specifically for
making paper. Makes sense
right? We need trees, so we
grow trees. These are grown
on tree plantations. If these
plantations are created on
old agricultural land or
other unforested land, they
can actually be beneficial to
the ecosystem. However, in
practice they usually replace
old-growth forests and
disrupt their ecosystems.
Because plantation forests
are specialized for growing,
they have very high yield
and, therefore, can take up
less space. This means that
a smaller amount of land is
required to produce the same
amount of wood as a natural
forest.
I believe that saving
individual trees is
unimportant. We have
more trees today than we
did 80 years ago due to
the reforestation that has
taken place since the big
days of the great timber
baron era of deforestation,
But we also have fewer
healthy forests. The trees'
age diversity is important
to a healthy, balanced forest
ecosystem. We need to stop
eliminating old-growth
forests and instead utilize
already cleared land for tree
plantations.
Also of note, is the
drain of public money
caused by recycling
paper and other
materials. The impact
on the environment of
the many industrial
processes that recycled
materials go through
and the pollution of all
of the vehicles used to
transport "recyclable"
material end up
negating much of the
positive environmental
benefits. Recycling
requires public
garbage collection
to double its fleet
of trucks to provide
both services, which means
double the amount of fossil
fuel used by these trucks.
Recycling would probably
work best as a replacement,
but as it stands, it just sucks
up public money. In fact, in
some cases it is as much as
twice as expensive to recycle
one ton of material instead of
just throwing it away.
If recycling was beneficial,
it wouldn't need to be
subsidized. It would support
itself. But recycling many
commonly recycled materials
costs more than producing
them from virgin sources,
not all though. Aluminum
and some forms of paper,
like newsprint (but not your
common white office paper
like our school uses) actually
are beneficial to recycle. My
point here being that not
everything is financially
beneficial to recycle all the
time every time; it is more
complex than that and we
need to recognize that and
recycle accordingly.
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West Linn High School, 5464 West A Street, West Linn, OR 97068
Linn
s by the West
and
in
Editors-in-Chief
Roya Elizeh
Nathan Fisher
,
Lauren Levine
Business: Simon Kirsch &
Lauren Levine
Photo Editors: Malia Chong &
Cole Fiala
rechnology: Nathan Fish
Erbin, Chris Garfield, Max Hays,
Mary Wood
Staff Reporters
Megan Butts, John Campbell,
Katie Carnahan, Katie Carney,
Malia Chong, Mike Gorgone, Sa-
viable
and will
continue to
drain the
wallets of
taxpayers.
Instead
of focusing
on recycling
everything
we should
focus on
pre-cycling
and using
products
that are
made from
renewable
sources.
We should
Photo by Cole Fiala
put more
time and energy into using
Much of the recycled
or developing alternative
material that is produced
materials to paper, like hemp,
today is inferior in quality
and to petroleum based
when compared to its
plastics, deriving them from
virgin counterpart. For
non-petroleum sources. We
instance, recycled plastics
should also focus on growing
are unprofitable and require
a limited number of tree
public money to function.
plantations in areas where
Eventually it will become
their yields, compared with
economically viable to
required space, are optimal
recycle expended resources,
but until we start running out and where they will impact
the environment the least.
of original sources, recycling
We will always need
will not be economically
paper, and we need to find
a way to make that paper in
the least harmful way. So use
less paper to save the school
money, or use less paper to
reduce the demand for tree
plantations, thereby saving
old-growth forests, but don't
use less paper just to save the
trees; they’re here to stay. We
need them and they need us.
I recommend to anyone
surprised by any of the
information in this article to
perform their own research.
I, myself, did not really
question recycling and just
accepted its benefits as most
people do, but then I saw the
libertarian view of Penn &
Teller's: Bullsh!! episode on
recycling which motivated
me to look deeper. One good
place to start for yourself
might be Wikipedia's article
on recycling criticism which
cites many of the sources
I have taken information
from for this article. The real
point here though, is to be
analytical when it comes to
any kind of information and
not just accept anything
hear as truth because is f e S
good.
White House conceals global warming
M egan B utts
Staff Reporter
There have been
documents obtained proving
that White House officials
have edited and removed
their own government
scientists' research concerning
global warming. I can't think
of any reason that scientific
information regarding global
warming should be kept a
secret.
In Antarctica, scientists can
measure the amount of carbon
dioxide (C02) that was in the
atmosphere from the ice for
over the past 650,000 years.
This is huge because they can
look at cyclical nature and big
changes in temperature and
C02. They have translated
this information into charts
that show where the ice ages
and earth warming have been.
The levels of C 02 corresponds
with the temperature; the
more C02, the higher the
temperature.
Over the past 650,000
years C 02 levels have never
been more than 300 parts per
million. That is, until now.
C 02 levels are far above the
natural cycle, and higher than
have ever been (recorded)
according to many sources
which includes A1 Gore's
movie "An Inconvenient
Truth."
The ten hottest years ever
recorded have occurred in the
past 14 years. The hottest year
was 2005. There have been
heat waves all over the world,
killing many people. Oceans
have been warming leading to
an increase in wind velocity
and moisture content, causing
more intense hurricanes.
Ice caps are melting at a
continually increasing rate.
Within the next 50 years,
the sea level will raise 20
feet, wiping out millions of
peoples' homes all over the
world. This is the first time
in history that polar bears
are drowning—because they
can't find ice. There have been
changes in many ecosystems,
destroying many species'
populations while there is
a rise in potential disease
bearing pests.
Think about how much
money the auto parts, oil coal
industries...etc. would lose if
we took action against global
warming, Both President
George Bush and Vice
President Dick Cheney are
former oil executives. They
are linked to oil companies
and make a lot of money
from oil production. If oil use
is reduced, they would lose
money. It is pretty sad when
people are so greedy they are
willing to destroy the earth
over it.
People need to recognize
global warming is serious,
and that our president along
with the administration, is
trying to hide the facts from
us because it directly affects
their income. Well, how useful
will their money be when
there is no planet left?
The U.S. is one of two
countries that has not signed
the Kyoto Treaty which limits
greenhouse gas emissions;
Australia is the other. We are
not getting necessary political
support. We need to campaign
and vote for candidates who
recognize global warming as
an important issue.
There is so much that
individuals can do: replace
regular light bulbs with
compact fluorescent lights,
choose cars with more
efficient gas mileage, drive
less, turn off electronic
devices when not in use,
use less hot water, recycle,
plant a tree, and more.. And,
most importantly, raise your
voice by educating your
peers, getting involved in
a club or environmental
organization, writing letters to
politicians, and campaigning
and/or voting for issues
and candidates that support
coming up with solutions t c ^
global warming.
EBBS