Developing a Research Question

To begin my next research project, I'm exploring some new research questions to eventually conduct a rhetorical analysis.  Here are the questions I've formed on the topics I found most interesting:


How has Pope Francis's speech individual Congresspeople's views on climate change?

Pope Francis recently visited the US, and was the gave the first papal address Congress has ever received.  In his speech, he made some stirring remarks about global warming, insisting that the US needs to prioritize combating climate change.  He noted his support for Obama's new policies to cut carbon emissions.

This debate is really interesting, because it's a combination of science, politics, and religion.  Pope Francis's speech has been an encouragement for Democrats, and has given some trouble to some Republican representatives who refuse to recognize the threat of climate change.  Many Republicans representatives use their religious morals to justify their stance on abortion, but here their allegiance might be split.  The Pope's speech has the power to enact some serious legislation, that in turn might have some significant environmental impacts.

Bruno, Jeffery. "Canonization 2014." 4/27/14 via Wikimedia Commons.
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

Is drilling for water the best/most realistic way to cope with California's massive drought?

Farmers in California have resorted to drilling for water, because their reservoirs are decreasing too rapidly.  They need to get water from somewhere for their crops.  And although drilling for water is expensive, and environmentally unsustainable, it might be the most realistic solution.

In a perfect world, we could do something to decrease the amount of water we consume, which would allow nature to naturally replenish our aquifers at the same rate we extracted it, avoiding the problem of water scarcity.  However, the reality is farmers need water right now, so they'll do whatever it takes to get it.

This doesn't just impact the farmers.  The food that they provide affects the whole public.  If farmers can't produce at the rates they need to, the drought could easily turn into a food crisis.  And it's also very relevant to us personally in Tucson, since we don't have a lot of water supply, and what we do have is decreasing.  The issues California is facing now Tucson will surely face in the near future.


Are the benefits of recycling e-waste greater than the hazards?

China imports the most e-waste, which then is sorted and dismantled to recycle different materials within the discarded electronic products.  While recycling always sounds like it's something environmentally friendly, the people who are sorting and separating the e-waste are exposed to dangerous chemicals without proper protection, and toxins leech into the soils and rivers that destroy the environment and pose further health risks.

I'm really interested in China-US relations regarding waste management and waste trade.  I'm hoping to become fluent in Chinese so I can work with both governments to find ways to protect places like Guiyu, China, which is considered the "e-waste capital of the world."  This issue also has a lot of justice aspects, because those who are affected most by the hazards are people in rural China who are handling all the e-waste, not the people who are generating all of the e-waste.