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Environmental Science and Environmentalism

CSI Greener Library Interest Group

Image result for staten island greenbelt

Mission of the Group:

  • acts as an information provider about environmental issues through its Web presence and physical displays
  • raises awareness of environmental issues among library users and staff, and serves as an example of sound environmental policy and practice
  • advocates for implementation of sound environmental policy beyond the Library and participates in campus-, university-, and community-wide discussions
  • networks and partners with environmental-concerned groups

 

 

U.S. Inflation Reduction Act Guidebook

Spotlight Video -- Fresh Kills: From Landfill to Park on Staten Island

 

 

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The transformation of Fresh Kills from landfill to public park began with the closure of the landfill that operated on Staten Island for fifty-three years. "What Would Staten Island be like today if the Fresh Kills landfill never closed?" marks the twentieth anniversary of the landfill's closure on March 22, 2001, and its environmental impact on borough residents. This article was posted on the silive.com website on March 20, 2021. 

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On May 24, 2022, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) certified closure of the last section of Fresh Kills Landfill at a ceremony at the top of West Mound attended by NYSDEC, the NYC Department of Sanitation and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. "Milestone reached for closed Fresh Kills Landfill; years of work still needed before it becomes parkland" was posted on the silive.com website on May 24, 2022.

 

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FreshKills has volunteer opportunities in various areas of its operations. Interested individuals can complete this volunteer application form.

Freshkills Park Resources

Freshkills Upstream: Freshkills Park @ Home offers online resources to help you explore the park from home.

Classroom resources for lessons and information about Freshkills Park, including external resources about sustainability, waste disposal, and recycling.

Freshkills Park Oral History Archive from the NYC Department of Sanitation.

Search Library Resources

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View a full alphabetical list of available databases here: https://library.csi.cuny.edu/az.php.

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Spotlight Topics: Ecology, Urban Development, and Climate Change

Earth: A Tenant's Manual

 "It's impossible to grasp the whole planet or integrate all the descriptions of it. But because we live here, we have to try. This is not just an artistic compulsion or an existential yearning, still less an academic exercise. It's a survival issue. This is the only planet we have. We're stuck here, and we don't own the place-it would be the height of arrogance to assume that we do. We're tenants here, not owners, but we're tenants with hope for a long-term tenancy. We want to extend our lease just as far as we can." -- from Earth: A Tenant's Manual

 

CSI community members can access this book online using their CUNYFirst log in credentials

 

In Earth:  A Tenant's Manual, the distinguished geologist Frank H. T. Rhodes, President Emeritus of Cornell University, provides a sweeping, accessible, and deeply informed guide to the home we all share, showing us how we might best preserve the Earth's livability for ourselves and future generations.

Rhodes begins by setting the scene for our active planet and explaining how its location and composition determine how the Earth works and why it teems with life. He emphasizes the changes that are of concern to us today, from earthquakes to climate change and the clashes over the energy resources needed for the Earth's exploding population. He concludes with an extended exploration of humanity's prospects on a complex, protean, and ultimately finite world.

It is not a question of whether the planet is sustainable; the challenge facing life on Earth-and the life of the Earth-is whether an expanding and high-consumption species like ours is sustainable. Only new resources, new priorities, new policies and, most of all, new knowledge, can reverse the damage that humanity is doing to our home-and ourselves. A sustainable human future, Rhodes concludes in this eloquent, sobering, but ultimately optimistic book, will require a sense of responsible stewardship, for we are not owners of this planet; we are tenants.

Surveying the systems, large and small, that govern Earth's processes and influence its changes, Rhodes addresses the negative consequences of human activities for the health of its regulatory systems but offers practical suggestions as to how we might effect repairs, or at least limit further damage to our home.

Featured eBooks from the CSI Collection

Databases

Resources from the Library of Congress (LOC)

Resources in the Spotlight

  

Kanopy: Live streaming media collection that covers a full range of disciplines including environmental topics. 

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Film Platform: Streaming documentary films from across the world in a full range of subjects including environmental studies. All films are available immediately without the need to request access from the library.

Featured Environmental Websites