News Review: Politics in Paris

Hey all! Thanks to everyone who looked at my recent blogs, it really means a lot to me, and I'm going to continue to reach out to more readers. This entry includes a few links to recent news stories, so here ya go:

Paris Climate Convention
The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (or COP21) is a unique opportunity for leaders around the world to meet in Paris and make monumental decisions on issues such as fossil fuel usage, carbon emissions, and financing the movement to end (or at least slow) global warming. The best explanation of the issues and their proposed solutions I've found in this article. "Long live the planet"! 

GrubHub Bans Shark Fins
The United States' leading online and mobile food ordering company has banned the sale of shark products on their site! They said, "this is the right choice to protect the world's endangered species,", and it's thanks to the group Oceana. Great job!! 

Lego League for Less Plastic Bags
For the year of 2015, my resolution was to use fewer plastic bags. I'll have more commentary on that in another blog, but the good thing is, I wasn't alone. Many individuals, and larger groups, have been moving to reusable bags. The titular link will bring you to an online petition by a club of schoolchildren vying to ban the use of plastic bags state-wide in Florida. According to Planet Ark, "Tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals and turtles are killed every year from plastic bag litter", so reducing the presence of plastic bags is an easy way to save lives. And, you know, we can put out an army of filtering trash cans in the ocean.... 

Ban on Microbeads 
On the subject of plastic, the Microbead Free Waters Act will prohibit the use of microbeads in beauty products in July 2017. Soaps and scrubs have these tiny pieces of plastic, usually for exfoliation, and they contaminate all sorts of water sources. What's more, they are consumed by animals and they can end up in the food chain. It's refreshing to see the government taking action against this environmental concern. 

Ivory meeting 
Prince William organized a meeting to discuss the transportation of banned wildlife products. In this meeting, China has sent a delegate, and why is this news? China is a key player in combating wildlife crime, and there is a great deal of progress we've seen already. For example, the value of raw ivory in China has halved in less than two years. Hopefully, this trend will continue. 

Thanks for reading everyone!