Foothill Toll Road's
All those that are regulars of the I-5 south know how agitating it is to sit through the bumper to bumper traffic, especially on those 90 degree plus summer days. An alternative route is under construction which will help to alleviate some of these traffic woes. The proposed toll road will run parallel to the I-5 and will connect the current portion of the Foothill Tollway to the I-5, just south of San Clemente. As good as this sounds, many sacrifices must be made to accommodate this preferred route. Those that will feel the greatest wrath of the new road are the animals and plants that reside in the San Onofre State Park. The preferred route will be composed of a toll road which will cut directly through the 3,126 acre park.
Those that are in favor of the toll road estimate that by the year 2010, the Foothill Corridor is projected to relieve Interstate 5 of 35,000 cars per day, Interstate 405 of 22,000, PCH of 13,000 and Moulton Parkway of 20,000. It is estimated that the corridor will carry 170,000 vehicle trips per day. The 15 miles of roadway will require 24 million cubic yards of earthwork and 1.1 million tons of asphalt paving. The Foothill Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) has designed a plan with the greatest transportation benefits and the least environmental impacts. The mitigation of biological impacts includes 4 wildlife undercrossings, the creation of over 26.7 acres of wetlands and planting or enhancing 262 acres of the coastal sage scrub habitat.
Environmentalists oppose the development of this because of the wildlife that will be endangered and threatened, primarily the California Gnatcatcher. Species that will be endangered include the Pacific pocket mouse, Arroyo southwestern toad, Tidewater goby, Southwestern willow flycatcher, least Bell's vireo and the Riverside fairy shrimp. Those animals that will be threatened consist of the California red-legged frog and the southern steelhead trout (which will no longer have viable habitat in that area).
The route would cut through the canyon area that is the home to the "core" population of the California gnatcatcher. The Fish and Wildlife officials estimate that 35 pairs of the birds, which are listed as an endangered species, would be disrupted or displaced by the road and effects of the noise created by construction. There are about 100 pairs of these birds occupying the canyon area and it is from this "core" that the gnatcatchers produce new birds to surrounding areas.
As if there weren’t enough problems for scientists trying to save the Great Lakes Eco System. Many non-native species have entered the eco system and many of them are harmful. Every species in itself has played a role in the eco system. These non-native species make it increasingly difficult for the Great Lakes Eco System to be regulated.
Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.
Nothing that has occurred in the last several years in Texas has been quite as controversial as the new and increased usage of toll roads for new road construction. We have heard many statements that the toll roads are being built as a money-making system for the state (and the Department of Transportation). Statements have also been made to the effect that the state is "selling" the state, one length of roadway at a time; that the current roads could be maintained by the state, with current state funding levels. The main complaint is that the roads of Texas have always been free, and should continue to be free. But are these arguments correct?
The Elizabeth River Tunnel, downtown, and midtown tunnel tolls are completely unfair for anyone who lives or works in Portsmouth; people shouldn’t have to pay to drive to work, or even simply drive in their state. The tunnel tolls have forced people to rearrange their whole life because of one simple tax. There happen to be upsides to this new tax, which is that over the course of 58 years the infrastructure of the tunnel will be a lot stronger since the population in Virginia has increased.
Every year, over nine million hikers and adventure seekers travel to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park making it the most visited national park in the United States. There are abundant reasons for this, but many popular reasons include over 150 hiking trails extending over 850 miles, a large portion of the Appalachian Trail, sightseeing, fishing, horseback riding, and bicycling. The park houses roughly ten thousand species of plants and animals with an estimated 90,000 undocumented species likely possible to be present. It is clear why there was a pressing interest in making all this land into a national park. My research was started by asking the question; how did the transformation of tourism due to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park affect surrounding cities such as Gatlinburg and Sevier County, and in return, its effect on the popularity of the park?
Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% . Not only has prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity increased dramatically over the last several decades, but being an overweight or obese child puts one at a heightened risk for adult overweight and obesity .
Throughout its nearly 60 year history, the Interstate Highway System has served the United States of America far beyond its original goals. From its original purposes of uniting the country and aiding defense to the more mundane, (but equally important)such as ferrying goods across the country, the Interstate Highway System has firmly entrenched itself as one of the greatest feats of engineering the world has ever known. Record setting bridges, tunnels, and length of pavement have all been made by the vast expanse of the IHS FACT. As Dwight D. Eisenhower, then president, stated “Together, the united forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear -- United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts” (http://todayinsci.com/Events/Transport/HighwayInterstate-Quotations.htm 22 Feb 1955)
Unfortunately, besides the animal being such a stately and scientifically contributing creature, it has been endangered by various factors.
Although many individuals are uncertain about the increasing statistics associated with obesity, more than seventy percent of men and virtually sixty-two percent of women within the United States adult population are overweight or obese (Wilmore, Costill, & Kenney). Obesity refers to the condition of having an excessive amount of body fat. If an individual’s amount of body fat becomes too excessive, he/she is at a much greater risk of developing life-altering diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, type II diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, etc. (Wilmore, et al., 2008).
Monarchy is a type of government that still exists in today’s world. Monarchy is government where one person is in charge of everything, and they know as monarch and when a monarch die, the son or daughter of the monarch takes control, (Monarchy 1). There are few countries where monarch is the head of state and few countries where monarch has no power they are just there for tradition. There are eleven countries where monarch is the head of ...
Today, the WTO membership numbers 146 which comprises of approximately 97 per cent of the worlds’ trade (www.WTO.org). The evolution of GATT to the WTO was a significant step towards liberalising markets and ushered in a new era of free trade. Although the WTO is still a relatively young international institution, its origins are rooted in the Bretton Woods conference following the end of World War II. The WTO has evolved to cover areas such as trade in goods and services as well as Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and continues to provide the key disciplines affecting international trade.
The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment. (“What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care”, n.d.). Health should be a human right and should have access to all people. It will also show that all human beings are treated equally. Many people ask this question is Health a human right? Should people have given access to human right? I believe that health should be a human right because it provides quality of life, encourage equity, provide prevention and awareness and eliminate discrimination among people.
Simmons, Randy T. Critical thinking about Environmental issues: Endangered Species. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Print.
To discuss how the World Trade Organization impacts international trading and national sovereignty we must first explain what it is and why it was established in the first place. The World Trade Organization is designed to create the rules involved with trade. These trading rules include all countries, not just the US, and can therefore be a little tricky at times. "The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies, it does not define or specify outcome...
NASA’s planned missions to Mars, should it come to fruition, will be the furthest distance any human being has ever traversed. While this is an impressive feat in and of itself, it becomes even more so when one takes into acco...