My experience with writing my blog post “Is The ADF Lying About Their Emissions?” was a process of renewal. In that I remade the story twice before creating something I genuinely liked.
My first story was about the German soccer team Bayern Munich, and their dominance in their sport. The assignment was to create a story with multiple data graphics created through using programs like Excel and Flourish, I initially chose the story owing to it being a common conversation topic with a football fan friend, as well as soccer’s penchant for extensive data collections for player statistics, strategy success predictions, various betting sites putting out historical and seasonal reports for teams (as well as endless advertisements which I had to suffer while researching the piece.)
The project seemed lively and interesting, I could see an angle popping up very quickly as I thought through what the story might potentially look like, my football friend was also very quick to send me some material regarding the football team and the question that I eventually came to, which was “What Is To Be Done About Bayern Munich?” turns out, that’s a question every single football commentator has a hot take. The debate had been going on for years, people had died for their opinions, and fought on battlefields. I lost hope for the article when I realized that my lack of knowledge on football (as well as a general cluelessness as to the culture of football) were major barriers for me completing the project in time, I simply was unable to figure it out. My insight from that (other than knowledge of football related blood feuds) was simply that it’s ok to move on from an idea that can’t be fulfilled, the best idea is one that you can make real.
I moved on from the project, I stuck my head into another article about video game speed runs, but I quickly realized that I would rather complete the project that became the article. I had recently read Agustina Bazterrica’s “Tender is the Flesh” and was thinking about the mass market meat industries effect on the climate, I then came across an article by The Guardian about a loophole in the Paris Agreement that allows for western countries to not disclose their militaries C02 emissions. I then found the official numbers provided by the DOD and ADF, created graphs that I then explained and contextualized to add clarity to why the Paris Agreement military C02 blackhole is so egregious.
