Blog 6

“Chasing Cancer” written by my colleague, Song Mayo, did an excellent job in presenting the article published by the Texas Tribune. She made a great introductory statement for her blog, that grasped my attention to continue reading her thoughts. I do believe her blog made valid statements that supported the short article about clinical trials for cancer treatment. I wished she would have provided more information such as the website for those who want to participate in a cancer clinical trial. However, with every pro theirs always a con. Clinical trials for these patients may not be the answers to all those who have cancer. We are all different, in the sense that our bodies can have different reactions upon taking the trial medication. In addition, what if the patient is part of a standard treatment (placebo treatment) instead of an investigational. This would be devastating to those patients who are inputting their valuable time and not receiving the appropriate treatment.

Texas, a Fossil Fuel Addict State

Texas should implement a solution for our earth's climate change. How? By reducing the amount of fossil fuels we consume. Fossil energy sources include oil, coal, and natural gasses. These fossil fuels are consumed in our everyday life. For example, we use fossil fuels when we drive our cars and the electricity we consume. How is energy produced? The fossil fuel power plants burns carbon fuels to generate steam that drives large turbines to produce electricity. The fossils that are burned produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, which causes climate change. In a recently published documentary called "Before the flood," states that the average American in the United States consumes the same amount of energy as 34 citizens in India. However, if we look at the consumption of energy per Texas home, the average is 26% higher than the national level, which is equivalent to 43 citizens in India. The state of Texas must take a stand.  

How can we implement the reduction of fossil fuels? There are many ways to reduce theses consumption. One way is to implement the use of solar energy In order to achieve this Texas can build Gigafactories and Windmills  to produce clean energy. According Elon Musk CEO of Tesla and Spacex, a gigafactory can produce 500,000 battery packs per year; that's an average of 80,000 American homes. For this reason, Texas should lead by example and allow the gigafactories to be built in the state to encourage solar power. If we can get Texas to be a fossil fuel state, we are one step closer to save our eco system.