Annotated Bibliography

In the following post I have written an annotated bibliography of the sources for the first major project regarding the controversy on Obama's policy on climate change in Alaska.  The formatting is almost correct to the APA style, but I was still unable to fix the problem of indenting all lines but the first in the actual citation.

Brehmer, Elwood. (2015, Sept. 2). Obama paints dire view on climate change. Alaska Journal of Commerce. Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/.

Although this article comes from a relatively new journalist, it also comes directly from Alaska and highlights information directly from officials and conferences from the state.  It gives the inside perspective of what the Alaskan government and people are actually worried about, while still presenting accurate and relevant information.  I will utilize this source for quotes and the Alaskan perspective on the Obama tour.

Chapin, F. S. III., Lovecraft, A. L., Zavaleta, E. S., Nelson, J., Robards, M. D., Kofinas, G. P....(2006, Nov. 7). Policy Strategies to Address Sustainability of Alaskan Boreal Forests in Response to a Directionally Changing Climate. PNAS. 45, 16637-16643. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0606955103

This article is an inside look at the scientific community in Alaska and the climate change issues that they have recognized and faced for years.  The purpose of the scientists to create this paper was to unite the scientific community with a strong basis about what was happening in their respective region and supply an ample amount of data to start conversation.  They link together climate and landscape data with government policy and what is occurring on a global scale.  This article holds it’s value in that it shows how much data and community can be formed when climate change is recognized and taken on at its head.  I will use this article to portray the active research and communication occurring in Alaska’s scientific community.

Darryl [@GameANew], ok but [@dtftho]. (2015, Sept. 3). @POTUS @WhiteHouse Climate Change/Global Warning is a liberal myth! Weather is cyclical![Twitter conversation between two users]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/639508843773468672?lang=en&lang=en&lng=en&lang=en

The tweets I chose as a source provide perspective to the public perspective on climate change.  There is little to no evidence or fact included in the tweets.  It is simply a representative of the population interpretation of the controversy.  I will use this to explain the chaos that social media is creating on the conversation on climate change.

Eilperin, J. (2015, Sept. 1). In rural Alaska, Obama works to speed renewable energy revolution. The Washington Post.http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/09/02/in-rural-alaska-obama-works-to-speed-renewable-energy-revolution/.

This article focuses mainly on the impact of Obama’s policy to the people of Alaska.  She presents the situation, the incredibly high electricity rates in isolated tribal cities that are quite literally eroding away.  These isolated towns are the perfect locations to further develop renewable energy, as they have been doing for years, so Obama announced his decision to add an additional $4 million to the funding.  However, the effect of climate change on the people and the state and federal government’s inability to fund the massive project of relocation is happening incredibly fast.  This article is incredibly useful as it showcases the human side of the issue and brings out the importance of highlighting the effects of climate change.

Keating, Joshua. (2015, Sept. 1) Obama’s Alaska Trip Isn’t Just About Climate Change. It’s Also About Russia. Slate. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/09/01/obama_s_alaska_trip_isn_t_just_about_climate_change_it_s_also_about_russia.html.

This article is another focused on a controversy within a controversy.  It changes the conversation from climate change to the supposed economic battle between the US and Russia for the arctic area and it’s resources.  I will use this article as a hyperlink to give the audience some perspective on how this is an internationally developing story and ever more controversial story, as it appeared after I researched the original topic of climate change.

Kruse, J. A., White, R. G., Epstein, H. E., Archie, B., Berman, M., Braund, S. R., Chapin, F. S. III....(2004, Dec). Modeling Sustainability of Arctic Communities: An Interdisciplinary Collaboration of Researchers and Local Knowledge Holders. Ecosystems. 7, 815-828. doi: 10.1007/s10021-004-0008-z

This paper is very extensive in discussing the physical, economic, and social effects that climate change can create.  They present the problem, possible ways to address the solution, and explain why this is such an important topic to discuss and research further.  They also want to push for a focus at the community level, they want further research and policy to be adapted, but they realize change must have a solid basis in the general population as well.  This paper is highly comprehensive in it’s conversation on multiple variables in the climate change issue.  I will be able to use this information as evidence and explain the possible processes that may be considered in addressing the situation in Alaska.

Nelson, Colleen McCain. (2015, Sept. 2). President Obama’s Alaska Tour Is About More Than Climate Change. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/09/02/president-obamas-alaska-tour-is-about-more-than-climate-change/.

This article is yet another distraction, but it also pulls up a key issue on how climate change is viewed in the public.  Often climate change is disregarded for lack of caring about the beauty of the environment and the living things that humans share the planet with.  Climate change is often heavily dismissed by a large portion of the population because of this.  This article perfectly demonstrates this public viewing of climate change, so I will use it to show why this viewpoint is a major issue in regards to environmental policy and change.

Reilly, Mollie. (2015, Sept. 2) Bristol Palin Is Not Happy About Obama Restoring Denali’s Name. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bristol-palin-denali_55e772eae4b0c818f61a91b5.

This article represents one of the red herring controversies within the larger controversy of Alaskan Climate change and Obama.  The mountain name was changed to the name of the native language, which many who supported President McKinley were unhappy with.  The name change was rather controversial in the first place, so the change to Denali has been considered a respectful and culturally sound decision.  Newsgroups and social media have been hyper focused on this name change. drawing the focus away from climate change.  I will use this to talk about how using a buzz person like Bristol Palin, draws in this red herring attention.

The White House. (2015, Sept. 1). On Board with President Obama: Touching Down in Anchorage [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watchv=NXOXiBZw5CY

This video came directly from the President, the individual at the source of the controversy.  It is part of a series covering his Alaska tour with the intent of bringing conversation to the issue of climate change.  The video features majestic shots of the Alaskan landscape intermittent with explanations of Obama’s policies and statements on the importance of protecting the US natural resources.  This video gives direct perspective on exactly what Obama and his team wanted the media to cover and the public to understand about the tour.  I will be using this video as direct perspective from the center of the controversy.

Worland, J. (2015, Sept. 1). Obama's Trip to Alaska Shows Both Sides of His Climate Change Legacy. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/4018544/obama-climate-change-alaska/.

This article discusses the complications that Obama faces at every turn regarding his climate  and renewable energy source stances.  In an attempt to please the environmental advocates, provide funding to Alaska's renewable energy research, and put a focus on climate change Obama highly publicized his tour to Alaska.  Worland discusses how this act of appeasement brought disdain from all sides of the issue, whether it was complaints about his continued support of oil drilling, the possible impact of extracting that oil, or that the tour itself was a waste and drew up nothing but controversy.  Worland presents a level headed account of the data on Alaska's climate change, the current US developing policy on climate change, and the turmoil Obama must now face.  I will use this article as a solid base for the background of the issue and establishing why exactly this situation is a controversy on a national and worldwide scale.

NOTE: Here is a link to a guide to the APA format.

REFLECTION:

Looking back at Evan's and Alex's Annotated Bibliographies I discovered that I definitely wrote a lot more than I actually needed in my explanatory paragraphs.  Evan wrote in the same style that I did, APA, while Alex wrote in AMA, a style that I have only ever heard of.  It's interesting to see the slight differences in the information each style requires.  The AMA style is definitely more wordy than that of APA, so I now appreciate having a very clear citation style.  I can't imagine having to learn a mishmash of a bunch of different styles that only have the tiniest of differences.  Citation is incredibly important, but it is odd to see how nit-picky the different styles can be.  I think I did alright in my own Annotated Bibliography, but I definitely appreciate only having to worry about a style I already know.