Climate Change and Sustainable Solutions: A Night with Entrepreneur Aaron Fyke

With coal lobbyists heading the Environmental Protection Agency and global emissions continuing to rise despite dire reports of the climate passing one dire benchmark after another, speaking with hyper-competent and extremely driven professionals like Aaron Fyke is always reassuring. An engineer by training, co-founder of six alternative energy companies, and outspoken climate activist, Fyke is truly the kind of motivated entrepreneur we need as it becomes clear just how much we must cut emissions in order to avoid runaway global warming.

Though Fyke began his presentation with a sobering account of the potential destruction resulting from climate change, unlike your typical tree-hugging, fist-shaking environmental activist, he did not warn us that the only way to save the planet was for everyone to turn off the lights when they leave a room or take shorter showers. In fact, he rejected this kind of small-scale activism as unnecessary shaming and focused on larger-scale solutions, illustrating with fascinating graphs and figures how many types of alternative energy had already achieved "grid parity," or become cheaper than fossil fuel sources. In the face of his bleak vision of Earth's future, this optimism was comforting and he pared with a plea for those of us who want to affect real change to pursue a career path (not just in STEM) that could tie in to addressing climate change.

I walked out of Fyke's presentation wondering whether it was all enough. The gloom-and-doom warnings and business-friendly optimism seemed irreconcilable and left me wondering whether the powers of the market would be strong enough to solve global warming or governments and international bodies would need to take drastic action that could cut into the profit margins of major corporations. I hope the market forces are as potent as Fyke made them sound because global governments seem to be in denial or else taking far too little action to address what Fyke called the greatest crisis of the 21st century.

Why is British Parliament So Rowdy?

Last week in the British Parliament, Prime Minister Theresa May barely finished introducing her wildly unpopular Brexit proposal before she was drowned out by a chorus of boos and jeers from the opposite side of the room. Chief among her antagonists was Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who quieted the room in order to  brutally berate May for the ineffectiveness of her Conservative government and the unpalatability of her Brexit deal. Corbyn's side erupted in cheers, and the Speaker of Parliament, a cantankerous gray-haired Brit in a colorful tie banged his gavel shouting "Order!"

I found myself thinking that if only America's Congress was this way, C-SPAN would have as many viewers as the Super Bowl. Last week, Iowa Representative Steve King, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, couldn't get a fraction of the jeers and taunts that PM May's good faith efforts to follow through on a promise made to her people receive on a daily basis.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn mutters to himself that PM Theresa May is a "stupid woman."

Wondering how our legislative branch ended up so radically different from our mother country, I did a little research into the history and layout of the British Parliament. I discovered that the House of Commons, where British policy is debated, is only 70 feet long, and the front benches were built exactly two swords lengths apart to keep duels from breaking out. In addition, the rowdy, brutal, and frankly awesome insult-laden debates I was witnessing were a part of Britain's Question Time, a weekly occurrence in which the Prime Minister goes in front of Parliament to have her policy decisions lauded by her own party or excoriated by the opposition. By contrast, America's separation of powers means our president rarely speaks to our Congress outside of the annual State of the Union address, a polished and orderly opportunity to reassure America that the state of our country is strong.

Beyond the fact that the British approach to government is significantly more fun to watch than our lackadaisical Congressional meetings and debates, I also believe it holds serious benefits in the legislative process. In America, impeachment and the 25th amendment are the only ways to remove a president from office; in the UK, the opposition party can trigger a vote of no confidence to replace the ruling government. In the midst of the longest government shutdown in American history, with the president hopelessly out of touch with the Speaker of the House and Congress divided starkly along party lines, I think the original accountability mechanisms—some good old yelling—could go a long way.

Paolo Soleri and the "Arcology"

Arcosanti interior.

In 1946, Italian architect Paolo Soleri came to study in the US under a fellowship at Frank Lloyd Wright's summer home, Taliesin West, in Scottsdale, AZ. It was in this year and a half and the decades that followed that Soleri would develop the idea of the "arcology." This new type of urban plan was to draw from the disciplines of architecture and ecology in order to create a city that was energy and waste efficient, aesthetically striking, in touch with nature, and built to human scale. Soleri watched with dismay as American cities expanded rapidly outward into suburbs comprised of single-unit homes and connected by highways only traversable using gas-guzzling, human-isolating automobiles. As Soleri continued to develop his vision, it increasingly stood in stark contrast to the wanton sprawl of nearby Phoenix, AZ, built seemingly without purpose during the Sun Belt migration of the early Cold War.

Bell Tree at Cosanti gallery.

In 1970, Paolo Soleri moved his family from his home in Scottsdale to the Arizona desert between Phoenix and Flagstaff to found the community of Arcosanti, a sustainable "arcology" built from Soleri's own vision and intended to support 5,000 residents. Since 1970, Arcosanti has expanded significantly to include many single and family residential units, public spaces including a gallery and amphitheater where numerous musical events are held, and sustainable energy infrastructure. The signature arcs that make up Arcosanti's architecture were designed using cement-pouring techniques picked up by Soleri from Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West. Much of the revenue for Arcosanti comes from the making of unique bells that are crafted in a foundry at Arcosanti, as well as Soleri's home and gallery of Cosanti in Scottsdale. Though Soleri passed away in 2013, around 70 people currently live at Arcosanti at any given time, and it has ambitious plans for expansion.

Taliesin West exterior.

Over winter break, I had the privilege of visiting Arcosanti and Cosanti, as well as Taliesin West, on a family road through Arizona. Soleri's vision seems to me to fit squarely under UN Sustainable Development Goal #11: "Make cities inclusive, safe, sustainable, and resilient." As my Global Scholars grant proposal with Ian McLeod is currently working on tackling this same goal by expanding affordable housing, I feel truly inspired by Soleri's work and want to keep his philosophy in mind as I move forward with my project.

Mixed-use amphitheater and apartment spaces at Arcosanti.

Birthright Citizenship: A Cornerstone of the American Constitution

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." These are the first words of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, passed in 1868 at the height of Reconstruction to protect the rights of newly-emancipated African-Americans and other historically-marginalized groups like immigrants. It very clearly defines who an American is and then goes on to outline the rights of an American, which include, but are not limited to, the right to citizenship.

President Trump's threat to revoke the right to birthright citizenship is not just fear-mongering, race-baiting, or even downright xenophobia—it's an attack on our very Constitution. From our beginning we have been a nation of immigrants, a haven for the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free," and the children of these immigrants form the backbone of our republic. I don't have very high expectations at this point in the Trump president—their ideals seem to conveniently fall in line with Trump's every time he tweets a new policy decision—but if they have any conception of what truly makes our country great, I hope they'll take a stand against this blatant threat to the very foundation of our democracy.

SoundCloud Rap in a Global Context

Last Friday, some friends and I (including fellow Global Scholar Ian Macleod), Ubered to the Novo in Downtown LA to see one of our favorite up-and-coming rappers, Denzel Curry. Though he first gained attention on the independent music-streaming platform SoundCloud through his hardcore single "Ultimate," which featured a catchy double-time hook and a pounding bass drop, he has since transitioned somewhat into the mainstream and began taking on controversial topics like voter suppression and police brutality.

For Friday's concert, Denzel linked up with fellow SoundCloud rapper Kid Trunks, a friend of the late XXXtentacion and one of the foremost Asian artists on the scene, who often draws on his background to add an under-represented voice to the genre. After Trunks opened with some of his head-banging cult favorites and a tribute to X, Denzel came out to perform to his album in three acts. Between mosh-pit anthems, Denzel rapped, "When I sho
ot the sherif if he not demoted, then bang! / This for Trayvon and Tree / Burn the bush and chronic, speakin' honestly / We livin' in colonies, CNN sit-comedies" and called on the crowd "run with lions on the road to Zion" in lyrics that recalled the militancy of Black Power leaders like Huey Newton and Malcom X.

Recently, the egalitarianism and freedom from record-company demands has made SoundCloud a haven for teens making trap beats and dropping bars in their South Florida garages. Though this populist take on music has enabled many a mindless crowd-pleaser (like Lil Pump and Smokepurrp), it has also opened the gates to a worldwide market for independent rap music. Recently, I've expanded my rap taste to Saüd and AKA Keyz from the Persian Gulf, the Higher Brothers from China, Skepta and Chip from England, and Kwesta from South Africa. In an age of powerful record company tycoons and corporate consolidation, the freedom of SoundCloud provides a platform for independent artists from around the world to speak their truth over a bumping bassline.

Celebrating International Human Rights Day with UNA Pasadena

On Saturday, four Global Scholars and I convened on the Poly Upper School Library for an assembly featuring the illustrious Ryan Kaminski, the Senior Program Director for Human Rights at the United Nations Association. The UNA is a global non-profit organization created as an auxiliary to the United Nations in order to facilitate grassroots community involvement and diverse perspectives in places not in close proximity to official UN meeting places (almost all of the world).

Saturday was the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, published by the UN at its third meeting in 1948 and voted through by 48 of its then 58 members. The UDHS lays out a fairly concise list of 30 articles detailing the essential rights that all people of the Earth are entitled to, from equal protection under the law to health and education. The document was revolutionary for its time—a reaction to the global atrocities perpetrated during WWII—yet it remains entirely relevant to this day and holds up as one of the most influential legal codes in world history.

After Ryan's presentation on human rights, the five of us had the opportunity to mingle with Public Health major who had come from Cal State Dominguez Hills to attend the presentation and members of the Pasadena branch of the UNA. In the end we made origami lotuses, which can grow from the harshest conditions to sprout beautiful flowers, in order to celebrate the importance of fundamental human rights and the tremendous opportunities that protecting them provides for all humans to blossom.

An Inside Look at the Trump White House

Reflecting on my experience at the St. Albans School of Public Service, one of the most memorable moments came unexpectedly, during an event that I thought would go a very different direction. It was a Wednesday near the end of the program, and we were all looking forward to the night's programming, a panel and dinner focused on varying perspectives on the crisis in Venezuela. We had been reading about and discussing various aspects of the situation, from the history of Venezuelan socialism to Nicolas Maduro's authoritarian streak and corrupt administration to what could be done to save the Venezuelan economy from its record instability and hyperinflation; now it was time to meet four experts and survivors and hear them talk about Venezuela in person. The panel was a moderated by a conservative Venezuelan ex-pat and St. Albans parent who regaled us with stories of the Kennedys and the CIA and also included opposition leader David Smolansky, whose work mobilizing college students has earned him renown around the world and criminal status in Venezuela.

Alex and I posing with Mr. J.

Though these speakers and others on the panel presented harrowing stories and fascinating insights into the situation in Venezuela, the most memorable moment of the night came at the dinner reception afterward. My friend Alex and I happened to be seated at with with a former high-ranking member of President Trump's National Security staff who asked not to be named and to speak off the record (I'll call him Mr. J), and over a dinner of arepas and tres leches, we questioned him about the Trump administration's often-unclear foreign policy stance and how he thought it would respond to the international emergency worsening by the day in Venezuela. As the dinner progressed, however, it became clear that Mr. J was involved with far more than Venezuelan foreign policy, and in fact had spent a significant amount of time in intimate settings with the president, answering his questions and briefing him on international relations.

When it became clear just how much time our esteemed guest had spent with the president, the tone of the conversation shifted, and we entered the Fire and Fury portion of the night. As we put away plate after plate of Venezuelan cuisine—the irony of this considering the massive, government-sponsored famine currently occurring in Venezuela was not lost on us—Mr. J first corroborated the sort of rumors you read about on Vox or Vanity Fair, but then chimed in with some of his own stories, from darting into Trump's room on Air Force 1 to brief him during ad breaks in Fox and Friends to giving the President his McDonald's order during a meeting in which Trump was hungry and particularly distracted.

It was sort of incredible hearing Trump's "Leaking White House" coming to life before my eyes. Though the tales of Trump's love of Big Macs and ignorance of international affairs were throughly enjoyable, the most memorable story of the night had far higher stakes, and much greater implications for our national security. Mr. J was a holdover from the Obama administration serving under former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, and when we searched him up on Google, he was targeted by multiple alt-right websites and message boards as a top "Swamp Creature" in the Trump administration. Mr. J told us he had been harassed online and even had his home address posted, and he said the trolls were always looking for an opportunity to bring him down. They got that opportunity during Putin-congratulations scandal, when someone inside the White House leaked that the President had congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his very dubious win in a notably unfair and unfree election, when the first bullet point on his briefing read "Do not congratulate." Though Mr. J assured us he had nothing to do with the leak, the alt-right trolls already doing their best to smear his name blamed him for it, and their close proximity to President Trump was enough to convince him that they were right. So Trump offered McMaster, who was more establishment-leaning himself, an ultimatum: he had 48 hours to find out who the leaker was, or Mr. J had to go. The President himself had been experiencing significant disagreement with McMaster over his "America First" foreign policy and seemed to be looking for a way to get back at McMaster, who he knew to be close friend of Mr. J. McMaster protested that an investigation like that would take months, and even though he proved the leaker couldn't have been Mr. J (he hadn't even received the Putin call talking points), Trump still insisted McMaster fire him. So McMaster quit too.

Now our National Security Advisor is John Bolton, who wanted to "strike first" against North Korea and supports an invasion to topple the Iranian government. Which just goes to show you how much influence white supremacist trolls have on our very own President Trump.

Thanks for a night to remember, Mr. J.