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Flat Lorax: LEED Certification of Raleigh-Durham International Airport

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Flat Lorax: LEED Certification of Raleigh-Durham International Airport

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On the way home from North Carolina from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Flat Lorax spotted a LEED Certification award. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is a rating program created by the U.S. Green Building Council that evaluates the environmental performance and sustainability of a building and encourages the implementation of sustainable design and structure. In order to become LEED certified, a company must implement green building practices that improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality, maximize daylight, reduce pollution, and use recycled or reused building materials. Not only does this promote sustainable practices in the community, but it also can result in cost savings and improve labor productivity. Many agencies, cities, states, such as California, New York, Oregon, and Washington, give subsidies for green buildings or require green building certification of public buildings. The U.S. government has recently adopted green building standards for certain public service buildings, and thirteen countries have expressed interest in LEED standards. Promoting green building and sustainability aids in reducing pollution and degradation of natural ecosystems, slowing global warming through reduction of greenhouse gases from combustion of fossil fuels, and helping protect human health (such as through improved air quality). This can help preserve biodiversity and protect essential ecosystem services and natural capital that we depend on in our daily lives, such as the purification of air and water, nutrient cycling, and absorption of waste.

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Flat Lorax: Keystone Species in the Valley of Mo'ara

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Flat Lorax: Keystone Species in the Valley of Mo'ara

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Flat Lorax recently took a trip to the Valley of Mo'ara in Disney's Animal Kingdom. On this trip, the Lorax learned of the Mountain Banshee, a keystone species in the Valley ecosystem. Keystone species have a significant effect on the types and abundances of other species in an ecosystem, and in turn help maintain local biodiversity. Similar to how a keystone supports the structure of an arch, entire ecosystems can depend on the role of a keystone species. Keystone species can play several critical roles in maintaining the structure of ecosystems, including being top predators that help regulate the populations of other species, like the Mountain Banshee, or by being pollinators, which help maintain plant abundance and biodiversity. Threats such as deforestation and pollution in the Banshee ecosystem, as a result of human activity and resource exploitation, can impact food webs and lead to the collapse of a keystone species. For example, pollution can lead to a decrease in fruit production, which would cause Tetrapteron populations, the prey of the mountain banshee, to significantly decline, reducing the Banshee food supply. If the Mountain Banshee were to be eliminated from the Mo'ara ecosystem, a top predator would be removed, and population regulation of other species could grow exponentially, affecting the populations of species on lower trophic levels, such as insects, which are important pollinators.
An example of another keystone species is the Sea Otter, which if eliminated from its ecosystem would cause sea urchin populations to increase significantly and in turn degrade kelp forests, which provide habitats for a variety of species. Therefore, it is imperative that we try to preserve these habitats by taking steps to eliminate pollution and deforestation, especially in vulnerable ecosystems. By protecting biodiversity, we prevent the loss of critical natural resources such as potential medicines, lumber, fuelwood, paper, and natural services such as the purification of air and water, nutrient cycling, population control, climate regulation, pollination, and absorption of waste.

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Flat Lorax: Electric Vehicle Charging Station

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Flat Lorax: Electric Vehicle Charging Station

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Today Flat Lorax took a vacation to the electric vehicle charging station at the Courtyard Marriott in Crabtree Valley, North Carolina. Electric-powered vehicles present a more environmentally sustainable fuel alternative than gasoline, which is derived from petroleum, a fossil fuel. The combustion of fossil fuels significantly impacts the Carbon Cycle by adding large amounts of Carbon Dioxide to the atmosphere and enhancing the Greenhouse Effect. The Greenhouse Effect involves greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide, Water Vapor and Methane, which trap heat and warm the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface by absorbing infrared radiation. Although the Natural Greenhouse Effect is necessary for life on Earth, human activities are adding a significant amount of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and in turn causing Global Warming. Although electric vehicles get power from coal-producing plants, the amount of greenhouse gases that are released is much less, and carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by as much as 22% when compared to gasoline-powered cars.
In addition, electric cars reduce the amount of smog-forming pollutants that are produced by ordinary cars by as much as 32-99%. Air pollution, including the production of ground-level ozone, occurs when emissions, such as those from motor vehicles, react with sunlight and heat and create smog. Not only is smog unsightly, but it also can be harmful to people, animals and crops, due to its ability to cause and aggravate respiratory problems, such as asthma and emphysema.
By providing an electric vehicle charging station, the Courtyard Marriott is promoting sustainable practices and making it easier and more convenient for people who own electric (or hybrid) vehicles.

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While on vacation in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Flat Lorax came across a solar farm connected to the Holiday Inn Hotel in Crabtree Valley. Large-scale solar farms like this one in Raleigh harness enough energy from sunlight to generate electricity and power for thousands of homes and businesses. Solar farms are made up of multiple solar panels that are constructed of photovoltaic (PV) cells made of silicon, which each gather a small amount of energy. The power is transferred into the electrical grid the same way the energy from the combustion of fossil fuels is, but unlike fossil fuels, solar panels produce no pollution of any kind. Therefore, solar panels are an ideal source of renewable energy: energy that is collected from renewable resources that can be naturally replenished within a human lifetime. Fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum and natural gas, are considered nonrenewable resources, because they exist in a fixed supply and take millions of years to be replenished. The combustion of fossil fuels is harmful to the environment because it adds significant amounts of Carbon Dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon Dioxide, along with Water Vapor and Methane, traps heat and warms the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface by absorbing infrared radiation. This process is called the Greenhouse Effect, and although it is essential for life on Earth, humans are intensifying it and causing Global Warming. Global Warming has major impacts on the environment, including rising sea levels, which can lead to increased coastal flooding; melting of polar ice and glaciers; ocean acidification; more destructive natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires; more frequent and intense heat waves; widespread death of organisms who fail to migrate or quickly adapt to the changing climate; increased health impacts (from air pollution); an increased number of extreme weather events; more severe drought in some regions; and increased pressure on groundwater supplies. By installing solar farms, officials are providing a more sustainable energy source for their cities and helping to combat global warming.