Your Questions About Green Living

The Expert answers:

Sustainable development is development that makes sure we use the earth’s resources in a way that is not wasteful so that future generations can have stuff left over. Also, development that doesn’t harm people or nature. You could give examples of technology that can be used to reduce the use of fossil fuels like oil and gas.

Selling music on the internet reduces the number of cds that need to made, packaged and sold (as well as the fuel used to transport them).

Other examples are
-The electric car
-Solar power
-energy efficient lightbulbs

The Expert answers:

Better consult some Chinese government web site.

The Expert answers:

I don’t mean to sound rude, but that last entry was completely useless. I have a degree in English and I am not a secretary, nor did my degree prepare me to be a secretary. Further, colleges all have different policies (even state schools within a particular state function differently) and you may be able to double major as a freshman, which I did.

A degree in English means that you have highly developed reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. You might work well in a public relations position, in a writing/editing position, or in any job that requires creative and adaptive thinking skills. It is a flexible degree, meaning it doesn’t necessarily prepare you for a particular position or career track (how limiting!).

There has been a lot of expansion in “green” or “eco-friendly” jobs recently, and they are about as diverse as they are competitive. A degree in sustainable development may land you a job doing research in the field, developing products or awareness around a particular type of sustainable resource, or coordinating conservation programs for companies. If you check job search postings you can find more details about the types of jobs and salaries in this field in your area.

I will say that a degree in English may complement sustainable development well, because a lot of research-based and emerging fields (like sustainability) rely on grants for funding positions and programs. With an English degree you may develop just the writing skills you need to write grants, which is a very valuable asset in an employee, particularly for small and non-profit organizations.

Having these degrees would be beneficial on a global scale, too, as sustainable practices are spreading around the globe. A degree in English is also helpful in developing communication skills, which are vital in any sort of international field.

I recommend checking with an advisor at your college/university. Advisors should be able to discuss job prospects and can help you choose majors/minors that suit your interests and career goals. They can also speak to the credibility of your school’s programs and help you look at other schools if they are better for your academic needs.

Best of luck!

The Expert answers:

* The European Energy and Climate Policy:
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=> Proposed by the Directorate General of Environment (DG ENV) and the Directorate for Energy (both part of the Commission)
=> Based on approaches and recommandations/inputs from independant private consultants
=> Input from the civil society (industry lobbies and NGOs as well)
=> Final legislative package decided by the directorates
=> Vote by the EU Parliament
=> Once a directive has been implemented by the parliament it is mandated that national states translate it into their national law.

* National laws of EU countries:
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* For example, garuanteed purchase price for renewable electricity (as first implemented in Germany), known as “feed-in tariff
* Based on EU aggregated goal for renewable energy (20% by 2020) and the split of the effort into national goals
* Put in national legislations

Some US states and even developing countries (total of 50 countries) have adopted equivalents of the european concept of feed-in tariff for renewable power generation

Low chances of similar sustainable development goals in the US as a result of MUCH MORE DIFFICULT AND SLOW POLICY MAKING. The reasons are: dogma of parties, low consensus, low interest and off course the lobbying of established industries which prefer to fight change than to adapt.

The Expert answers:

Fisheries!