Analyze

Characterization of loss from Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development (2018) within the Evaluation report on 10-year implementation of the national policy for ‘agriculture-farmer-rural’ development [ not available for public view] 

• “ Aquaculture households have lost 503.2 million VND (21,665 USD) per household, then fishing households 231.3 million VND (9958 USD) per household, and coastal service households 102.0 million VND (4392 USD) per household. Note that both fishing and fish farming households lost similar por- tions of their total income, around 98 percent, even as fish farmers earn twice that of fishers on average. In a country where the average yearly income of rural households is 130 million VND or 5600 USD (MARD, 2018), losing an average of 11,000 USD per household is significant.” (Truong et al., 2021, p 8). 

Characterization of the compensation schemes adopted by Vietnam’s government:

• “According to a report by the Ministry of Finance in 2018, the government was able to provide direct cash compensation to those identified as being impacted across the four provinces. This is because of the settlement with Taiwan Formosa Plastics for 500 million USD. In addition to cash, the Vietnamese government gave over 19,000 tonnes of rice to impacted households in the months following the fish kill. The government also monitored the safety of the ocean environment. As the government switched from emergency relief to recovery support, more programmes were introduced including loan access, scholarships for students, health insurance, and livelihood training pro- grammes. The government also worked with the Fisheries Department and other relevant agencies to build environmental monitoring systems, provide consistent water testing, engage in food safety monitoring, and work towards ecological rehabilitation of aquatic stocks” (Truong et al., 2021, p 10). 

Due to the recession, the bust of the oil market, and growing resistance to fossil-fuel infrastructures, courts have recently ruled to halt the Atlantic Coast and Dakota Access Pipeline projects.

The energy company, MPLX LP, halted plans to construct the Permian to Gulf Coast natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline in response to the collapse in oil prices. Instead, however, the company is now planning to expand thier currently existing pipelines. 

In the south side of Chicago, a new Illinois Solar For All program is offering access to solar energy with “no upfront costs and guaranteed savings.” This may suggest that developing similar solar energy programs could be put to use in reducing energy vulnerability and/or providing energy assistance during COVID-19? By Contrast, LA county’s programs for subsidizing renewable energy is benefitting the rich and excluding the poor: “California’s programs to subsidize rooftop solar and electric cars are disproportionately benefiting wealthier homes that often use more energy than they need to live comfortably. And they’re disproportionately leaving behind lower-income families who often can’t afford to use enough energy to stay warm or cool, depending on the season, and who would benefit greatly from cost-saving clean energy technologies.”

I am working on a digital collection for the quotidian anthropocene theme "civic infrastructure". I am especially interested in free software, open data, digital maps, and other related forms of participation that are either a direct response to the anthropocene or help to render it visible in different ways.

I will develop a digital presentation of Philadelphia quotidian anthropence and on the theme of climate change adaptation. I will be using this analytic, "Profiling a Climate Policy", which I've created to assess urban adaptation plans. I'll provide more details by next Wednesday April 3rd.

I will continue to build a digital collection on the quotidian anthropocene in Austin, Texas and will be contributing to a set of digital resources for exploring energy transition across sites.

I would like to utilize the Open Seminar conference calls as an analytical space in which sharing data across spaces can help us see our own fieldsites in better relief. Additionally, I am looking forward to learning from participants with other expertise and/or who are trained to look for/attend to facets of quotidian anthropocenes that may currently fall within my own blindspots.

I would also like to think creatively with other participants to what kinds of action and output we can have moving forward in terms of characterizing the anthropocene and engaging with actors in different spaces, including New Orleans.

Additionally (see my comments on suggestions for future field campuses), perhaps the Open Seminar can be a space to think explicitly about pedagogy--for ourselves, i.e. via collaborative design of shared analytic approaches at future field schools, as well as for thinking about how to educate others, within academic institutions (e.g. undergrads) and beyond.

It really depends on the opportunities offered and the funding available. I'd love to participate in any capacity in which I am able. 

I would love to be involved going forward in this project. I plan on attending 4S and could concieveably participate in a presentation on the work in St. Louis. I also can provide administrative support to make that field campus happen. 

Additionally, my colleagues in Baltimore are enthusiastic about bringing a Field Campus to the city. I have a project retreat early next week where I will be presenting on my participation in the campus and some brief ideas for how my research project and the Baltimore Ecosystem Study might be able to be involved. 

I followed up on this article by reading more about the Fukushima disaster, and I looked further into existing regulatory bodies such as the IAEA and and the Nuclear Energy Institute.