OPower Essay Example for Free

OPower Essay Answer the following questions that are based on the article reading below. Keep your responses to 1-2 paragraphs (150-300 words) per question. Posts must be clear and concise, and must address the questions being asked. You must also respond to at least one of yourpeers Discussion Questions: Even though Laskey and Yates are of the opinion that OPower has been extremely successful in the years since its inception, they also believe that the behavioral science-based approach could produce even better results. They also feel that they needed to work on convincing more regulators to adopt this new version of behavioral energy efficiency. 1. What changes could they make to drive more positive results? Laskey and Yates have done an outstanding job with a marvelous business model idea. This business model definitely has the Win, Win, characteristics; OPower, the consumer and the environment all win. The behavioral science strategy of a little competition with the neighbor and a little fear of judgment is obviously working well. However, OPower could rise the level of competition to a different level by rewarding the biggest saver in a designated area. This could be done by announcing the winner in everyone’s bill in that area, and reducing his next month electrical rate to a lower rate. In other words, the less a consumer consumes the less is the charge per unit cost. This competition level could be raised, to city level or even state level. Such incentives could help Laskey and Yates achieve the 5% energy use reduction. 2. Were there other things they could do to have an impact on energy uses—or on the environment more fundamentally? Information-based energy management is one of the most exciting innovations in the utility industry. Behavioral science and targeted, multi-channel communications make it possible to stimulate utility customers on a large scale, leading to increased engagement and sustained energy savings. However, there is more that can to be done to reduce our negative environmental impact. OPower model only stimulates consumer for less energy consumption. It does not create incentives to use sustainable energy. I believe that any problem can be most effectively solved when prevented rather that cured. If we were using sustainable, renewable, and cleaner resources rather than non-renewable, highly dangerous and, polluting resource to create energy, it would be a better solution. OPower could generate a study and show the impact difference in coil generated electricity versus so lar generated electricity to promote cleaner electricity producing resources. 3. What could they do to more quickly move state governments to approve their program?  The OPower program has already received our current Presidential recognition. This is a huge leverage to influence other State representatives to recognize the impact the energy saving could have at a state level. The company representatives could use the President’s endorsement as a leader’s opinion, and lobby their services to influence other possible leaders such as governors and presidents of other countries. I also like the idea of Opower to provide their services to bigger consumers. It obviously would show greater energy reduction if the consumer is larger user of energy. It would also be a great way to market their service, because the corporation using OPower could let their customers know that they are using less energy by utilizing OPower services.

Searching For a Balance in Education :: Learning Education Essays

Searching For a Balance in Education The definition of "education" encompasses many different meanings. It can be defined as schooling, studies, learning, the educational system, and the list continues on. Both Adrienne Rich and Jon Spayde feel that education is composed all of these elements. But learning at a school, inside of a classroom is only the beginning. There is much more to learn other than what is inside of a text book. Learning, in large part, will come from experiencing the happiness, horrors, tragedies, and other lessons that life will bring us. We will not be able to truly appreciate our gift of knowledge until we learn to look within ourselves and to gain the self- awareness we need to recognize the meaning and importance of education. Spayde and Rich feel that a school education alone does not prepare us for the real world. Both Spayde and Rich give accounts of what they have experienced inside the educational arena. (66) Jon Spayde, author of "Learning in the Key of Life, ²s ntless experiences of many writers to illustrate the various types of education that exist in today ¹s society. He and his colleagues don ¹t necessarily believe that a formal education is the only way to learn, but instead there are various avenues for acquiring knowledge.  ³The whole world is a classroom, and to really make it one, the first thing is to believe it is. "(62) In Spayde ¹s essay, Elizabeth Sutton- Lawrence discusses Greek education, known as "in-the-street education,"where the Greeks "learned largely in part from first-hand experience. Socrates met and challenged his "pupils ²"in the streets, at dinner parties, and after festivals. ²"(us) Even if universities had been established in Greek times, Socrates, most likely would still have chosen to educate himself in the streets. He probably would have chuckled at the idea of formal schooling. (62) According to Spayde, not only did the Greeks believe in self-education, but so did other classical philosophers. They believed that to enliven the mind  ³"You need to be very alert to the world around you."(63) Awareness is so critical to our learning experience. We ¹ll never appreciate the beauty that life brings us if we don ¹t sit back and reflect on the experiences that we ¹ve learned from. New York Jazz and rock writer Gene Santoro expressed that we can also learn a lot from  ³popular culture. ² "Jazz", for example,  ³"is the artistic version of the American experience.

Impact of International Trade on the Environment

International trade has a great potential to uplift the lives of people in developing countries as well as increasing profits for companies in the developed world. It can also have environmental consequences if the transactions are not consciously provisioned. This potential can flourish when countries come to a common agreement on trade laws that protect against the damages that using these products can bring upon the local community. Pesticide use for agriculture and disease control has been a controversial topic for decades given its toll on people and the environment.Its monitoring has been increasingly successful in industrial countries but almost non-existent in developing countries causing detriment to the health of thousands of farm workers around the world as they repeatedly come in contact with and inhale harmful chemicals. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), different pesticides, when consumed, have varying and inter-related effe cts as they pass through the food chain. Therefore, the larger concentrations of pesticides are found on larger predators, including men.Among the damages to living organisms, including aquatic species, are cancers, tumors and lesions, reproductive inhibition or failure, suppression of immune system, disruption of endocrine system, cellular and DNA damage, physical deformities such as hooked beaks on birds, poor fish health marked by low red to white blood cell ratio, and death. In some cases, chronic effects are passed from generation to generation and only become apparent in time 1. The persistent and rapidly spreading properties of toxic chemicals present in pesticides do not concern only the developing world.Some, including PCBs can originate in India and ride the wind to the Arctic in just 5 days 2. The FAO’s research discovered that â€Å"in the Great Lakes of North America bioaccumulation (or movement of a chemical from the surrounding medium into an organism) and mag nification of chlorinated compounds in what is, on global standards, a relatively clean aquatic system, caused the disappearance of top predators such as eagle and mink and deformities in several species of aquatic birds† 3.In recognition of the disadvantages many harmful pesticides such as DDT have been banned in the United States, yet their manufacture for exportation is still permitted. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the imports and exports of these products in an effort to prevent health and contamination issues as well as to supervise fair competition. The law requires that â€Å"exporters of unregistered (or unapproved) pesticides first obtain a statement signed by the foreign purchaser indicating the purchaser's awareness of that product in the U. S† 4.Despite this awareness, some countries continue to use them because it is an inexpensive way to keep their crops blemish-free and fight diseases like malaria, for example. In tropical and subtr opical regions, â€Å"in addition to pesticides used in the normal course of irrigated agriculture, control of vector-borne diseases may require additional application of insecticides such as DDT which have serious and widespread ecological consequences† 5. Such large demand in countries with endangered eco-systems like Brazil has lured many companies in industrial countries to keep producing and exporting.More than 312 million kg were exported from the US in 1996, a 40% increase since 1992. Some even move their production to third world countries where environmental regulations are far less restrictive. In many past cases pesticide packages were exported without the proper disclosure of all chemicals, making it difficult to distinguish their consequences. This was especially unsafe for farmers in developing countries where protecting equipment is scarce 6. Improvement is underway, but sometimes it also means taking a few steps backwards. Since the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC), adopted in February 2004, the U.S. is also making an effort in sharing the responsible use of 39 hazardous chemicals listed by the Convention 7. Some developing countries followed on the initiative to ban or restrict hazardous pesticides for health and environmental reasons, yet this positive step towards resolving the situation has led to water contamination concerns. These countries lack the monetary resources to properly store or dispose of about 100,000 tons they no longer use, sometimes because they have deteriorated in storage. Drums are kept exposed to sun and rain running the risk of bursting open or leaking.Some are kept near markets contaminating the soil, groundwater, drinking water, and irrigation. In efforts to decrease their stocks some countries have opted to donate them in foreign aid programs. Far from resolving the problem, this only moves it elsewhere. Solutions seem farfetched for the developing world since FAO estimates it would co st $80-100 million in Africa alone to dispose of them appropriately 8. EPA’s law to allow exporting banned pesticides is greatly flawed because these harmful chemicals return on imported food, wind currents and rain or snow.Despite efforts to regulate the tolerable chemical residue on imported foods, as long as toxic chemicals are still manufactured the global environment and public health will continue to deteriorate. Unfortunately, environmental legislation usually takes years to take effect and is mostly driven by business interests. A sensible solution would be to radically eliminate the use of these chemicals globally and replace them with natural ingredients and green technology.

Research Reaction Paper - 2561 Words

Research Reaction Psychosocial Development Based on Age of First Birth PS315 Theories of Personality Summary Topic area: Teenage pregnancy is one of the most common problems that are growing worldwide. This condition is most predominant in developed countries like the U.S. There are a number of factors responsible for teenage pregnancy. For example, higher rates of poverty, lower education levels, etc. This research reaction paper examines the psychological status; social relationships; and home, work, and parenting stress and satisfaction in their young adulthood for a sample of rural women who were teen mothers compared to their cohort who had their first child in their twenties. Service providers need to understand†¦show more content†¦The second group were young adult mothers who had their first child between the ages of 19 and 22, while the third group delayed childbearing until the age of 23 or later. My critique of this study is quite simple. I do believe the study has positive as well as several limitations. On the positive side, this research involved repeated observations of the same variables over a twelve-year period of time. The study made observing changes more accurate by tracking three different age groups; which can be applied in other fields. The study was mostly observational, in the sense that they observe without manipulating it. The internal and external validity of this study is in question. In order for a sample to yield valid and reliable information an appropriate sample size must be selected. The sample in the group of people was only comprised of 98 girls; which may not represent the population well. Also the study sample was limited to Caucasian females from one specific residential community/school district in only one state. The study didn’t mention sampling any minority groups. Studying females as well as subjects from other residential facilities could have provided more credibility to the results. Also, it was not mentioned if the research participants knew about the risks involved in research and if they were being studied. Was an informed consent obtained? Did a debriefing occur? TheShow MoreRelatedStem Cell Research- Reaction Paper1543 Words   |  7 PagesHEAD: Stem Cell Research- Reaction Paper Reaction Paper: Stem Cell Research Heather A. Lail Liberty University Stem cell research has bought about heated debate since the time it was reviled. Many different debates have been raised to justify and unjustified the use of stem cells for research throughout the years. The two most enduring debates that have stood the test of time have been the legal and ethical issues. 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