Gulf Oil Tragedy

Humor and satire have long been effective rhetorical angles. To this end, here's a clip from the Jon Stewart Show.

This article by Maureen Dowd describes the role of the Minerals Management Service (MMS).

This clip from MSNBC also discusses the MMS.

Here's a video from outside the mainstream media. See what you think. Remember: the focus is on rhetoric, not booming, per se.

View from Mount Holyoke (The Oxbow), 1836

Thomas Cole (1801-1848), oil on canvas 51.5"X76"

What sense of nature and wilderness does Cole's well-known painting convey?

Julia Butterfly Hill - Adventures In Treesitting

You'll find a 3-part documentary here about Julia "Butterfly" Hill's protest as well as a NBC Dateline feature. See page 45 in our text for more information.

What do you think of Hill's protest?


Part 1

Part 2


Part 3

Dateline News Feature

Chapter 3: Citizen Suits

We're not going to read all of Cox's third chapter because I'd like to focus on a key issue (so-called "citizen suits").

Read pp. 99-104 in the text.

Then read the following two articles:

1. "Novel Antipollution Tool Is Being Upset by Courts."
By WILLIAM GLABERSON of the New York Times.

2. Christopher Stone's "Should Trees Have Standing." (See class handouts for the article.)

Wilderness Act 1964

I'll attach a few links about the well-known Wilderness Act, which was pivotal in defining the term "wilderness" as it relates to federally protected land.

The Wilderness Society


A summary of the law from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

You can find the law's full text on our Blackboard site.

Blogging about the Environment

As Cox indicates, environmental issues routinely make the news (13).


I'll keep a running list of blogs that Cox and others reference. Hopefully, the list will be a good resource for you. If nothing else, you might skim some of the entries to get a feel for the genre of the blog post:

Dot Earth

A blog hosted by the NY Times.

Environment News Network

This blog reports on issues such as health, green technology, energy, and wildlife.

Grist.org

Grist reports on environmental news with a not so subtle touch of sarcasm.


National Geographic: Daily News

You'll find recent environmental news here--and award-winning photography.

A Timeline of Key Moments in Environmental History

A Timeline of Key Moments in Environmental History