Neal Smith

Hour 4
1.) Items to be sustained
o Earth
o Biodiversity
o Ecosystems
o Ecosystem Services
o Resources
o Environment
o Cultures
o Groups
o Places

Items to be developed
o Child Survival
o Life Expectancy
o Education
o Equity
o Wealth
o Productive Sectors
o Consumption
o Institutions
o Social Capital
o States & Regions

How long?
o Now and in the future; Forever.

2.) Mercy Corps

Actions

o Mercy Corps goal is to help transform places hit by natural

disasters, conflict or economic collapse by moving
quickly from relief to recovery initiatives fostering local
entrepreneurship, re-building social capital and stimulating
markets

Statement to Donors
o If you choose to donate to Mercy Corps, your money will be
going towards humanitarian purposes such as establishing
mobile bank accounts for the unfortunate bunch who find
themselves without a safe place to keep their money, and
sending educated volunteers to help farmers in lessdeveloped countries learn effective ways of getting their
crops to leading retailers. The money you will donate will
be used in a cost-effective, as well as innovative, way to
provide a better standard of living for those less fortunate
than us. Annually, we reach 17 million people in over 110
countries.

3.) Ecological Footprint Quiz

4.) Ted Talk

2 most efficient and realistic renewable energy sources for the

future
o Solar Power
o Wind Power

Email to state legislator

o Esteemed Senator Franken,
I urge you to look deeper into the uses of solar power to combat
the use of Fossil Fuels, which are being used for 90% of our
energy needs today. Fossil Fuels are non-renewable and pose a
huge threat to our standard of living. This threat stems from the
undeniable fact that they are destined to run out eventually. In
order to create a more sustainable energy system in our state, I
believe we should be taking to the use of solar power. Solar
power can provide enough energy, if used correctly, to
completely replace our use of fossil fuels. Yes, this is not an
immediate solution as I realize that solar power is one of the
more expensive ways of acquiring energy. What I implore you to
discover is that solar power can pay for itself in a matter of two
years (depending on cloud cover and sun strength). This
payment is through the free energy that the sun is giving off.
Rather than buying expensive, foreign fossil fuels from the
middle east, we can produce large amounts of our own energy. If
we were to cover 28,000 square kilometers (12.5%) of our
Minnesotan land with fully-functioning solar panels, we could
produce enough energy to meet half of our states needs. At the
very least, I request that you look deeper into the possibilities of
solar power and what it can do for not only our state, but our
world.