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1. Introduction
One of the main features of the new millennium are topics related to the environment and climate change. Even though there are still theories that climate change does not exist, and that the situation should not be taken seriously, at the end of the last century, the international community finally began to give importance to this phenomenon, seeing the urgency and necessity for changes in this field. However, even after many decades, regulations and international agreements, the major powers are abusing their position to violate the agreements and acts that they willingly acceded to, creating catastrophic consequences for climate change. One of such potential abuses is the willow project. 2. What is the Willow project? ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project is a massive and decades long oil drilling venture on Alaska’s North Slope that has been exploring and drilling for oil in Alaska for years. Willow was proposed by ConocoPhillips and originally approved by the Trump administration in 2020, originally approved to construct five drill pads, but later reduced to three. The area where the project is planned holds up to 600 million barrels of oil. That oil would take years to reach the market since the project has yet to be constructed and now that the Biden administration has given the Willow project the green light, construction can begin. However, it is unclear exactly when that will happen, in large part due to impending legal challenges. Earthjustice, an environmental law group, is expected to file a complaint against the project soon and will likely seek an injunction to try to block the project from going forward. 3. Negative impact on the climate change It is estimated that this project will emit 239 million metric tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere over the next several decades, which would be equivalent to the emissions of 64 coal-fired US power plants. Therefore, there is a good reason why environmental organizations have named this project a “carbon bomb”. In contrast to that, President of the United States has obliged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 compared to 2005 with the goal of achieving a net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050. Therefore, by approving the project, this plan would be highly jeopardized. Activists also state that Willow project is making no sense for the health of the Arctic or the planet, and they are supported both by local communities and law firms who already filed suits in regard with this case. One of their claims is also potential climate effects to the threatened species, including polar bears that reside in the region where the Willow Project would be constructed, stating that project violates several federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 4. Can the Willow project be a good thing? While some focus on the negative aspects, others see this project as a great opportunity. Some Senators of U.S. congress can feel Alaska’s future brightening because of it. These thoughts come mainly from the fact that this project will create thousands of new jobs, also generating billions of dollars in new revenues, improving quality of life on the North Slope and across the state. To understand this point of view, one has to know that Alaska’s economy is heavily dependent on oil extraction. Nearly 85% of the state budget comes from oil revenues. For that reason, one can understand the potential importance of this project especially for the state of Alaska, which is currently pumping less than a quarter of the oil it was moving in the 1980s. Also, it is important to add that, even if the President’s administration wanted to react, their hands are potentially tied due to existing and valid leases in the area with ConocoPhillips. They determined that legally, courts wouldn’t have allowed them to fully reject or drastically reduce the project. If they had pursued those options, they could have faced steep fines in addition to legal action from ConocoPhillips. 5. Do we have a solution? Environmental groups and ConocoPhillips are each racing against the clock. Construction on Willow can only be done during the winter season because it needs ice roads to build the rest of the oil project’s infrastructure. If environmental groups secure an injunction before then to stop or delay the project, it could delay construction for at least a year. And since the project needs to be fully constructed before the oil can be produced, it could take years for the oil pumped out of Willow to reach the market. How can you help? Immediately after the Willow project became known to the public, activists created a petition on the change.org website called "Say no to the Willow project". This petition has more than 5 million signatures so far. If this article convinced you that Willow project can be fatal for the environment and future of our planet, you can sign the petition at this link: https://www.change.org/p/joseph-r-biden-biden-administration-and-conocophillips-say-no-to-the-willow-project.
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1. Introduction
One of the main features of the new millennium are topics related to the environment and climate change. Even though there are still theories that climate change does not exist, and that the situation should not be taken seriously, at the end of the last century, the international community finally began to give importance to this phenomenon, seeing the urgency and necessity for changes in this field. However, even after many decades, regulations and international agreements, the major powers are abusing their position to violate the agreements and acts that they willingly acceded to, creating catastrophic consequences for climate change. One of such potential abuses is the willow project. 2. What is the Willow project? ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project is a massive and decades long oil drilling venture on Alaska’s North Slope that has been exploring and drilling for oil in Alaska for years. Willow was proposed by ConocoPhillips and originally approved by the Trump administration in 2020, originally approved to construct five drill pads, but later reduced to three. The area where the project is planned holds up to 600 million barrels of oil. That oil would take years to reach the market since the project has yet to be constructed and now that the Biden administration has given the Willow project the green light, construction can begin. However, it is unclear exactly when that will happen, in large part due to impending legal challenges. Earthjustice, an environmental law group, is expected to file a complaint against the project soon and will likely seek an injunction to try to block the project from going forward. 3. Negative impact on the climate change It is estimated that this project will emit 239 million metric tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere over the next several decades, which would be equivalent to the emissions of 64 coal-fired US power plants. Therefore, there is a good reason why environmental organizations have named this project a “carbon bomb”. In contrast to that, President of the United States has obliged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 compared to 2005 with the goal of achieving a net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050. Therefore, by approving the project, this plan would be highly jeopardized. Activists also state that Willow project is making no sense for the health of the Arctic or the planet, and they are supported both by local communities and law firms who already filed suits in regard with this case. One of their claims is also potential climate effects to the threatened species, including polar bears that reside in the region where the Willow Project would be constructed, stating that project violates several federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 4. Can the Willow project be a good thing? While some focus on the negative aspects, others see this project as a great opportunity. Some Senators of U.S. congress can feel Alaska’s future brightening because of it. These thoughts come mainly from the fact that this project will create thousands of new jobs, also generating billions of dollars in new revenues, improving quality of life on the North Slope and across the state. To understand this point of view, one has to know that Alaska’s economy is heavily dependent on oil extraction. Nearly 85% of the state budget comes from oil revenues. For that reason, one can understand the potential importance of this project especially for the state of Alaska, which is currently pumping less than a quarter of the oil it was moving in the 1980s. Also, it is important to add that, even if the President’s administration wanted to react, their hands are potentially tied due to existing and valid leases in the area with ConocoPhillips. They determined that legally, courts wouldn’t have allowed them to fully reject or drastically reduce the project. If they had pursued those options, they could have faced steep fines in addition to legal action from ConocoPhillips. 5. Do we have a solution? Environmental groups and ConocoPhillips are each racing against the clock. Construction on Willow can only be done during the winter season because it needs ice roads to build the rest of the oil project’s infrastructure. If environmental groups secure an injunction before then to stop or delay the project, it could delay construction for at least a year. And since the project needs to be fully constructed before the oil can be produced, it could take years for the oil pumped out of Willow to reach the market. How can you help? Immediately after the Willow project became known to the public, activists created a petition on the change.org website called "Say no to the Willow project". This petition has more than 5 million signatures so far. If this article convinced you that Willow project can be fatal for the environment and future of our planet, you can sign the petition at this link: https://www.change.org/p/joseph-r-biden-biden-administration-and-conocophillips-say-no-to-the-willow-project.  "How many steps have you collected so far?"
I remember that this was the main thing that my friends and I discussed about for a few months in 2019. I don't even think I've ever tried so hard to walk and move around in my life as I did then. It was great to see how the steps taken using the app turn into money that "someone out there" invests where it should be invested. If you haven't already, get to know NURDOR - "We make life easier for children with cancer and their closest by providing practical, emotional and material support. We are a national association of parents of children with cancer, made up of parents, doctors, medical staff and all people of good will", they say in the About us section of the official website. Parents whose children were treated for malignant diseases 20 years ago came up with an idea of founding NURDOR, as our interlocutor and Legal and PR advisor at NURDOR, Tamara Klaric, says, with one goal - "so that no family has to go through it the way they had to: by themselves." Today, NURDOR consists of the board of directors - the founding parents, and in addition to them, eleven other employees in Belgrade, Niš and Novi Sad. When asked how they succeeded and what she considers the greatest value of NURDOR, Tamara says - togetherness. Tamara states that the biggest and most successful project of NURDOR so far is the design, construction and equipping of the new children's hemato-oncology hospital in Niš. It is equipped with the most modern medical equipment, each room has its own bathroom and a bed for the parent, and in addition, what is perhaps the most important, there is the possibility of applying humane therapy - children receive chemotherapy while they play. "Today, it is the most modern institution for this purpose in the Balkans, built entirely thanks to donations from companies and citizens." In 2018, NURDOR completed and donated the hospital to the Niš Clinical Center. She also states that almost 1,000 families have passed through the organization in various activities so far. The latest and currently the largest project for the construction of the Parents' House in Belgrade was launched, as she says, precisely because there is not enough capacity to accommodate families in Belgrade, which is the largest therapeutic and diagnostic center in Serbia and where the majority of children actually come to be treated. . "This will be the largest Parent's House in Serbia, which will enable every family that comes to Belgrade for treatment to have free and adequate accommodation for as long as the treatment lasts." As the biggest obstacles that the organization, as well as the families they are in contact with, encounter, she states that they are mainly of an administrative and legal nature, which, especially for families, represent "a completely unnecessary additional burden on the already unimaginably difficult situation in which they find themselves." . However, in most cases, they manage to cope with the bureaucratic system, ,,which is so sluggish and slow that it often seems to be working against itself.” On the initiative of NURDOR, in 2019, after six years of fight, the law on health insurance was amended and parents of seriously ill children were given the right to sick leave for the entire duration of treatment with 100 percent of salary compensation, while the previous practice was only four months of sick leave with 60 percent of the fee. They also managed to fight for the children's right to free rehabilitation after treatment. However, she states that the lack of a pediatric cancer registry in Serbia, an information system for data analysis, which would greatly help the monitoring of all data, the number of patients and those cured, short-term and long-term consequences of treatment and therapy, etc., remains an unresolved problem. Although NURDOR has been advocating for this for many years without results, "We will continue this fight, with the never-forsaken hope that the institutions will recognize that what we are advocating for is only a change for the better." For all of us.", says Tamara. When asked if she thinks that their actions reach a "sufficient" number of people and if it is difficult to reach them today, she answered that it can always be better and that it would be great if every adult in Serbia knew about NURDOR, not because of the increase popularity, but because that way we would get a sanctified society. ,,...I am sure that you will never, in any era that humanity will go through, find a man who does not feel good when he does Good. You just have to offer people that possibility, devise a way and give them the opportunity to see that it really makes sense. If we succeed in that - then Good becomes power." I also agree with Tamara. Everyone around me, myself included, was collecting steps and feeling good. Our interlocutor describes NURDOR in one sentence with a quote from Margaret Maed: ,,Never underestimate the possibility that a small group of dedicated people can change the world. After all, they are the only ones who have done it so far." However, I would like to end this story about NURDOR, these endlessly inspiring people and their selfless goal and importance, as Tamara says and tells, with a short anecdote: "One little princess, who celebrated her third birthday in the NURDOR parent's house, after a successful operation and treatment, returned to her city with her parents. After a few days, mom noticed that she was sad and asked what was wrong with her, if she was in pain, and she replied: "I would like to go home to Belgrade." The exhibition Mileva: “We are one rock” was opened on New Year's Eve in the Museum of the City of Novi Sad, at the Petrovaradin Fortress, and presents the public and private life of the scientist Mileva Marić Einstein through the combination of art and science. Mileva Marić Einstein, Serbian physicist and mathematician, was born on December 19, 1875 in Titel, and died on August 4, 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland. She attended the Girls’ High School in Novi Sad, and graduated from “Realka” in Sremska Mitrovica in 1890 as the best in her class in physics and mathematics. She was only the fifth woman to be admitted to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1886, where she met her future husband, Albert Einstein. Mileva and Albert were married in 1903 and divorced in 1919. What is still controversial is Mileva's contribution to Einstein's scientific work. It is known that Mileva's average in physics at university was 5.5, just like Albert's. Mileva and Albert did work together, but one of them was denied recognition for their joint work. Unfortunately, due to the lack of documents that would confirm this, modern science does not recognize the genius of Mileva Marić and her significant contribution to science to the extent that it should. What is interesting is that in Novi Sad, on the street Kisačka 20, the family house of Mileva Marić Einstein, where Mileva and Albert lived for some time, was located. The house was built in 1907 and renovated in 2019. There are stories that, while they were staying there, Albert was nicknamed "the goofy son-in-law of Marić" because of his unconventional behavior and long, disheveled hair. Due to the scarcity of information about the life of this great scientist, we can learn about her based on the letters that Mileva and Albert exchanged. It was in these letters that the artist Dušan Jovović found inspiration for this exhibition. The exhibition consists of 12 units, and the space is divided in the composition into "light" and "dark" and they form one inseparable unit. The entire exhibition involves a combination of different types of art and technology such as 3D animation, digital sound, hologram, as well as sculpture, graphic design, drawings and paintings. We invite you to visit the exhibition, which is open for the next 3 years, and in this way pay tribute to Mileva's character and work, which certainly deserved it. Each room has a certain significance or represents some aspect of Mileva's life. According to the author of the exhibition, the dark tunnel at the very beginning of the exhibition represents a metaphor that marks the entry into the "bright mind" of the scientist. In the middle of the first room there is a white bicycle, which was characteristic of Vojvodina and was important for this scientist, because she had difficulties with walking. When you sit on it and turn the pedals, "Mileva's perspective" opens before us. The closer we are to the end of the exhibition, the more we move away from the light, which marked the productive period of her life, and get closer to the darkness, which represents that part of her life filled with suffering due to divorce and illness. The firefly in this exhibition carries the meaning of life, new possibilities and infinity, and the author of the exhibition found the inspiration for that metaphor during Mileva’s stay in Titel, at the moment when she watched the choreography of fireflies above the Titel hill, and one of the rooms in the Museum is dedicated to this very moment. The reason for being fascinated by this exhibition is not only because we see in it a combination of art, science and new technologies, but because we can experience different emotions by observing different aspects of Mileva Marić's life. What stirs the emotions is not only the narrative of Mileva's life, but also the combination of warm and cool colors, light and dark, and projection. The projection of water and the waves moving on the ceiling and the waterfall descending to the rock form a magical image that leaves the viewer mesmerized. The exhibition came to life with its interactivity, the grand piano in one room conveys with its notes the feelings that Mileva felt in difficult moments, and her hologram speaking in Serbian and German gives us the impression that she is in the room with us at that moment. From this exhibition, one can learn a lot about Mileva's life from a more personal perspective, rather than from a biography, documentary or any book. The melancholic atmosphere, the rich symbolism of the exhibition and the importance of this scientist as a person, as well as her work, will definitely remain etched in our memories after visiting the exhibition. Also, the exhibition invites us to view Mileva not as a victim, but as a brave and brilliant figure who opened a scientific window to the expanses of space. We invite you to visit the exhibition, which is open for the next 3 years, and in this way pay tribute to Mileva's character and work, which certainly deserved it. Authors: Teodora Šiklošić and Katarina Klisura |
AuthorFellows of Studenicca Foundation Archives
October 2024
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