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Alaska as a leading environmental protector
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Of all the fifty states in the U.S., Alaska is currently one of the leaders in implementing policies and initiatives that would ensure that Alaska will have a sustainable environment. The state of Alaska is engaged in several initiatives that would target the production of energy using renewable resources, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, and supporting entrepreneurial endeavors that capitalize on the state’s renewable natural resources.
In terms of sustaining agricultural growth through sound environmental practices, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program promotes research and conducts educational programs that deal with the proper handling of agricultural resources to maximize gain while minimizing the negative impacts of farming on the environment. The program was instituted in 1988 by the Congress to address that specific issue.
SARE believes in the idea that agriculture should not primarily be concerned with supplying food to the present generation. Instead, they stress that it is possible to produce enough food for this generation while ensuring that future generations can also benefit from this Earth’s resource. Also, it emphasizes that sustainable agriculture does not necessarily mean unprofitable, because one of the aims of SARE is to ensure that the farmers’ quality of life is reasonable and that the enterprise is able to generate income to support them.
The Northern Alaska Environmental Center is also one of the prominent organizations that deal with several global environment issues such as climate change and the state of the Arctic, as well as local ecological concerns such as air pollution and waste management in major areas of the state. The organization runs awareness campaigns and generates funds mostly though donations. These awareness campaigns span various forms of media, be it in print or web.
Alaska is also very active in pursuing the production of energy using renewable sources. Most people think of Alaska as an abundant source of petroleum, which is true, but people forget that there are also other sources of renewable energy in the state that can be utilized and be made profitable. The huge land area of the state, by default, allows people to set up plants that rely on renewable energy without having to worry much about urban proximity and safety.
Alaska prides itself in having a bounty of renewable resources to tap for its use and profit. The state has various renewable resources such as wind, geothermal, biomass, solar, hydroelectric and the ocean that have a lot of potential to produce clean, safe and affordable energy. At this point, feasibility studies are being done on ways of exporting this energy to the rest of the country, since local consumption of such energy may be very minimal due to the state’s very small population. With the proper technology, however, the potential for Alaska in becoming a major producer of renewable energy for a large part of the United States is very apparent.
In another aspect, Alaska is also one of the leaders in ensuring environmental sustainability because local and state policies strongly support initiatives to ensure that these goals are achieved. Bills and laws pertaining to energy consumption, as well as sustainable agricultural practices, show that the state’s government supports this goal of lessening the negative environmental impact that humans create. Moreover, Alaska, unlike many other states, rarely has strong proponents of policies that would adversely affect the environment. The local government is also very watchful of bills and proposed policies that might adversely affect Alaska’s environment.
Consequently, such legislation ultimately creates a business environment where investors see a lot of profitable potential – as opposed to business threats – in the responsible use of resources. A lot of businesses involved in setting up renewable energy technologies are based in Alaska, which implies that there is indeed a market for such an enterprise if given the proper opportunity.
All in all, Alaska’s is a state whose environmental practices and policies are strongly in place, with efforts from government and environmental organizations. Although the small population plays a big factor in achieving this, the fact that the adopted Arctic state can implement such things with such a small taxpayer base shows that it is possible to strike a balance between socio-economic needs and environmental concerns.
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