These are the other winners in the essay contest sponsored by the  League of Women Voters - Jefferson County.

Calliope Mosher

2nd Place

Melting polar ice caps will incite worldwide heatwaves, rising sea levels, food instability, species extinction, and large methane releases into the atmosphere. 195 countries have signed the Paris Agreement, pledging to keep the global temperature rise under 2°. Many of the leading greenhouse gas-emitting nations, including America, have set a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. To facilitate this, President Biden has enacted the Federal Sustainability Plan, which will aid in reducing carbon emissions by the government, but does not address the main source of global greenhouse gas emissions: corporations. If humans’ reliance on fossil fuels is to change before ecosystems across the globe reach tipping points from which they can’t return, we must start at the source, and limit further damage by companies. Not only have just 100 companies caused 71% of greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, but they maliciously obstruct public awareness of the issue. In 2015, an investigation by InsideClimate News revealed that ExxonMobil knew about climate change as early as 1977. Nevertheless, the company continued to produce advertorials denying the reality of global warming.

When outright denial was no longer a viable option, fossil fuel companies shifted the blame onto consumers. In the early 2000s, British Petroleum ran the advertising campaign “Beyond Petroleum” popularizing the concept of a “carbon footprint,” which successfully promoted the idea that climate change wasn’t the fault of oil giants, but a failure of individuals. As president, Donald Trump approved a bill giving big oil companies billions of dollars in tax benefits and withdrew from the Paris Agreement due to the “economic burden.” Biden’s reinstatement in the Paris Agreement averted the gross display of a global superpower disregarding the worldwide attempts to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change. Biden has made continued efforts to alleviate the climate crisis through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and while he is on track to achieve many of his ambitious goals, we must be wary of a dereliction of duty. Hollow promises for the sake of reputation have the potential to be more harmful than ignoring the problem outright, and ineffective enforcement of environmental regulations creates one of the greatest barriers to environmental progress.

As the most powerful nation in the world, America must set an example, forging the path toward environmental stability. Unfortunately, neither of our candidates is sufficiently capable of tackling the problem. Trump actively impedes efforts to reduce environmental harm and routinely denies the existence of climate change. Biden, whose policies look good on paper, at best doesn’t address a considerable source of greenhouse gas emissions, and at worst actively masks the problem through performative action. Only through collective action and resisting massive corporations’ overwhelming force, will tangible change occur. If action isn’t taken the average temperature will rise 1.5 above pre-industrial levels, within 20 years, at which point, the planet’s ecosystems will catapult into a rapid downward spiral that will be unstoppable and practically irreversible, causing untold damage to life as we know it.

Kepler Edmundson

3rd Place

A majority of people are convinced that seeing is believing. It has never once crossed their mind that a video or image of their friends, or family, or even their president could be completely faked! With the rise of AI, multiple websites have sprouted up that allow the user to create fictional videos and images that look very convincing. This can be a lot of fun, but this makes it insanely easy for anyone to produce misinformation. As one AI video generator, Synthesia, said on their website, ”The entire process is as easy as writing an email.” This allows big corporations to crank out propaganda in a matter of minutes rather than weeks. I’ve seen this tactic of misinformation used to sway votes for elections, to promote scams, and even as hate crimes. That is unacceptable. Also, there are absolutely no restrictions on this, which means that anyone with a computer can whip up misinformation with a press of a button or the flick of a switch. I believe there should be laws restricting the use of deepfakes and AI images. It may be too late to stop the creation of AI images and videos. However, I believe there could be punishments if you get caught spreading AI generated misinformation. In closing, I believe that AI images and videos make propaganda and misinformation far too easy to abuse. I believe that, as time goes on, AI will only get more refined and convincing. I believe that it is extremely important to restrict the use of AI videos and images. If I was voting in the presidential election this year, the candidates’ outlook on this topic would heavily influence my vote.