comparitive essay 5 pages with bibliography and atleast 4 secondary sources

-1-

LEANNA I come from a place of barren landscapes and infinite skies. I come from a place of rugged mountains, imperial glaciers, and tundra-covered permafrost. I come from a place where North is where you stand and South, everywhere else. Where there are five seasons and no trees. Where the days last twenty-four hours and the nights too. I come from a place where skyscrapers are made of ice and proudly ride winds and currents. I come from a place where the only crowds are air, sea, and land creatures that gather each year by the thousands. I come from a place where you can walk onto the ocean and, if you’re lucky, beyond the horizon itself. I come from a people who have kept accounts of the early days when the world was rich and urgent and new. When unknown forces lay like pebbles to be picked by those who stumbled upon them. When spirits roamed the land like polar bears and muskoxen and caribou. I come from a world where life and death walk hand in hand like giggling teenagers. I come from a land whose wisdom reminds us of our humanity. This place I come from we call Nunavut. It means “Our Land” in Inuktitut. It’s where we, Inuit, have thrived for more than four thousand years. It’s where we strive to realize our full potential. It’s where we nurture our knowledge of who we are.

But Nunavut, our land, is only as rich as it is cold. And today, most of it is melting.

– 2 –

The coast. Two silhouettes clad in warm winter gear. One of them is looking through binoculars. JEAN Là-bas out by the – out by the pressure ridge. Tu vois? A mother and a cub. THOMAS Oh yeah . . . JEAN Extraordinary animals. They can weigh up to fifteen hundred pounds and travel on ice so thin it wouldn’t support a man. THOMAS Mean motherfuckers though. One of them attacked a man in Cape Dorset last year. By the time the search party tracked it down two hours later, there was no flesh left on the bones. I’m telling you, one comes within a hundred feet, endangered or not, I’m shooting it down. JEAN They’re listed as threatened not endangered.

THOMAS Whatever. Have you given some thought to our conversation? JEAN I can give you the names of other very accomplished – THOMAS Jean, they don’t need any old scientist who’s gonna set up his fancy instruments and three years later hand them a pile of data the size of a phone book. They need YOU. JEAN I’m busy. THOMAS Doing what? JEAN One of the last remaining sheets of multi-year ice is predicted to break away from the coast this summer. THOMAS So? Put a graduate student on it. Isn’t that what they’re for?

THOMAS Whatever. Have you given some thought to our conversation? JEAN I can give you the names of other very accomplished – THOMAS Jean, they don’t need any old scientist who’s gonna set up his fancy instruments and three years later hand them a pile of data the size of a phone book. They need YOU. JEAN I’m busy. THOMAS Doing what? JEAN One of the last remaining sheets of multi-year ice is predicted to break away from the coast this summer. THOMAS So? Put a graduate student on it. Isn’t that what they’re for?

THOMAS Whatever. Have you given some thought to our conversation? JEAN I can give you the names of other very accomplished – THOMAS Jean, they don’t need any old scientist who’s gonna set up his fancy instruments and three years later hand them a pile of data the size of a phone book. They need YOU. JEAN I’m busy. THOMAS Doing what? JEAN One of the last remaining sheets of multi-year ice is predicted to break away from the coast this summer. THOMAS So? Put a graduate student on it. Isn’t that what they’re for?

THOMAS Whatever. Have you given some thought to our conversation? JEAN I can give you the names of other very accomplished – THOMAS Jean, they don’t need any old scientist who’s gonna set up his fancy instruments and three years later hand them a pile of data the size of a phone book. They need YOU. JEAN I’m busy. THOMAS Doing what? JEAN One of the last remaining sheets of multi-year ice is predicted to break away from the coast this summer. THOMAS So? Put a graduate student on it. Isn’t that what they’re for?

THOMAS Whatever. Have you given some thought to our conversation? JEAN I can give you the names of other very accomplished – THOMAS Jean, they don’t need any old scientist who’s gonna set up his fancy instruments and three years later hand them a pile of data the size of a phone book. They need YOU. JEAN I’m busy. THOMAS Doing what? JEAN One of the last remaining sheets of multi-year ice is predicted to break away from the coast this summer. THOMAS So? Put a graduate student on it. Isn’t that what they’re for?

– 3 –

A frozen bay. MAMA bear and her young cub wait by a seal breathing hole. MAMA is still. The DAUGHTER fidgets, trying to distract herself from the long wait. MAMA Stay low, paniapik. MAMA gently flattens her DAUGHTER on the ice. DAUGHTER Yes, Anaana. MAMA The seal sees you. He sees the shadow of your paws moving across the ice. The seal hears you. He hears the symphony of ice crystals shifting under your weight. You must learn to be attentive and silent. They wait. DAUGHTER (whispering) Anaanaa, how will I know when the seal comes?

MAMA The bubbles in the water will tell you that he is here. Stay low, paniapik. Downwind of the aglu and low. The DAUGHTER looks at MAMA and tries to imitate her. They wait. After a while, the DAUGHTER starts to fidget again. DAUGHTER Why is it taking so long? MAMA Shhh . . . DAUGHTER Can we go back to the land and search for something there? MAMA The sun is getting higher. The ice won’t be here much longer. And when the ice goes, the seal goes. We need seal now while the ice is here so we can wait out the long summer.

DAUGHTER But Anaana, what if I’m not a good hunter? MAMA You are a good hunter, paniapik. DAUGHTER But Anaana, what if I’m not a good hunter? MAMA You will be a good hunter. DAUGHTER But Anaanaa, what if I’m not a good hunter? What if I’m not a good hunter? What if I’m not a good hunter? MAMA It is my duty to make you a good hunter. DAUGHTER How good? As good as you? MAMA

Yes, as good as me. So you may live a long life and be a great nanuq. DAUGHTER Like the nanuq who climbed into the sky? MAMA Like the nanuq who climbed into the sky. DAUGHTER Tell me the story again! . . . She rubs her head against MAMA’s neck. Please? . . . MAMA In the early days – DAUGHTER No, you have to start with taissumaniguuq! MAMA Taissumaniguuq . . . when strange powers were shared among animals, people, and the land, when all creatures spoke the same tongue and traded skins with ease, it is

said that a great nanuq roamed the land. This nanuq, called Nanurjuk – Suddenly, a shift. MAMA sniffs the air at several levels then steadies her attention on a fixed point in the distance. Stay low, paniapik. He’s coming. He’s under the ice. We hear the sound of bubbles rising to the surface followed by a tinkle of water. MAMA pounces. The DAUGHTER leaps in excitement. DAUGHTER Roar! Beat. Where is he? Where is the seal, Anaana? MAMA Come. This one wasn’t ready for us.

– 4 –

Leanna’s house. LEANNA and THOMAS. LEANNA No, I’m sorry. THOMAS You can take time to think about it. LEANNA Thomas, I can’t come out and say that publicly. THOMAS It’s all in the way you frame it, I mean, if you position it so that – LEANNA Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. And I’m not saying I’m personally against it but taking a public stand on this would be political suicide. THOMAS Leanna . . . LEANNA

LEANNA I can’t in one breath talk about protecting the Arctic and, in the other, lay out a plan for dredging a channel right in the middle of it! THOMAS That’s not what I’m – LEANNA Besides, now that I have the government’s attention, I don’t want to say anything that might inflame the media. THOMAS I don’t think having the government’s attention is working in your favour. The feds are pretty pissed at you. LEANNA Good. Then maybe they’ll do something to help. THOMAS You do realize that filing that petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was the equivalent of Canada shitting on its own plate, right? LEANNA Don’t be gross.

I can’t in one breath talk about protecting the Arctic and, in the other, lay out a plan for dredging a channel right in the middle of it! THOMAS That’s not what I’m – LEANNA Besides, now that I have the government’s attention, I don’t want to say anything that might inflame the media. THOMAS I don’t think having the government’s attention is working in your favour. The feds are pretty pissed at you. LEANNA Good. Then maybe they’ll do something to help. THOMAS You do realize that filing that petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was the equivalent of Canada shitting on its own plate, right? LEANNA Don’t be gross.

THOMAS The U.S. is our biggest trade partner. LEANNA And one of the biggest emitters. They have to set an example. THOMAS I don’t disagree. But suing them for a violation of human rights might not be the best way to motivate them. LEANNA You don’t intend to go public with this project while the Prime Minister is here, do you? THOMAS I was thinking about it. LEANNA It’ll confuse the issue. THOMAS The way I see it, if Nunavut wants to address its problems, it needs to develop its economy.

THOMAS The U.S. is our biggest trade partner. LEANNA And one of the biggest emitters. They have to set an example. THOMAS I don’t disagree. But suing them for a violation of human rights might not be the best way to motivate them. LEANNA You don’t intend to go public with this project while the Prime Minister is here, do you? THOMAS I was thinking about it. LEANNA It’ll confuse the issue. THOMAS The way I see it, if Nunavut wants to address its problems, it needs to develop its economy.

LEANNA Give me a few months. THOMAS I don’t have a few months. This is my last season. LEANNA What? THOMAS My wife granted me ten years. If I don’t quit at the end of this year, she’s walking out on me. LEANNA A few weeks, then. THOMAS I’ll tell you what. I have a German scientific ship waiting in the bay. It got all the required permits to do seismic testing up in Baffin Bay, but the Hunters and Trappers Association slapped an injunction on it. If you talk to them – LEANNA I’ll set up a meeting for you.

THOMAS Great. But as soon as the Prime Minister is back in Ottawa, I’m going public. LEANNA Fine. Beat. Is this really your last season? THOMAS All good things must come to an end. LEANNA Who am I going to fight with when you’re gone? THOMAS You may have to take a break. LEANNA

Bilodeau, Chantal. Sila (The Arctic Cycle) (pp. 22-23). Talonbooks. Kindle Edition.

Bilodeau, Chantal. Sila (The Arctic Cycle) (pp. 21-22). Talonbooks. Kindle Edition.

Environment An Interdisciplinary Anthology Eds. Adelson, Engell, Ranalli, Angelton

Key texts in environmentalism and related topics

Introduction: Martin Buber, “I contemplate a tree” (1923)

Part One: Concepts and Case Studies:

Key essay: Aldo Leopold, “Fusion of Lines of Thought” (1935)

Key Essay, Gifford Pinchot, “Birth of Conservation,” (1947)

1. Climate Shock, p. 17 (intro)

John Gribbin, “Earth’s temperature Trends” (1990), 34

2. Species in Danger (see Blackboard, Content on Polar Bear)

5. Paradox of Sustainable Development p. 138 (intro)

“Our Common Future,” World Commission on Environment,” (1987, 142

8. Globalization is Environmental, p. 248 (intro)

Thomas Friedman, “Politics for the Age of Globalization” (1990), 253

9. What is Wilderness and do we Need it? p. 280 (intro)

Part Two: Foundational Disciplines and Topics