Live feed of the 24 Hours of reality Sept 14-15. Please be patient while it buffers – over 800k people are watching as of 11pm EST
Archive for the ‘blog’ Category
Baristanet Article :: Weather and Climate Change
A nice article in Baristanet in advance of our viewing party Sept 15th.
excerpt:
A single storm — even one as big and bad as Hurricane Irene — doesn’t prove anything. But two years of extreme weather is the beginning of a pattern, says Monclair native Greg Mattison, and it’s making people wake up to the issue of climate change. “People are starting to say, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this in my lifetime,’” Mattison says. Even close by, he says, major Passaic River flooding used to be a 5-10 year event; now it’s “at least once if not two or three times a year.”…
24 Hours of Reality Viewing Party :: Sept 15th, 2011
Come to my 24 Hours of Reality Watch Party RSVP Here: http://forms.climaterealityproject.org/page/event/detail/4v5h9
In light of our recent severe storms I thought many of you might find an upcoming event at our local Firehouse both timely and interesting.
We will be hosting a viewing party for the conclusion of Climate Reality.com’s “24 Hours of Reality” on Thursday Sept 15th at 7pm sharp. The program will begin with a 50 minute live webstream presentation about how climate change is effecting global weather patterns around the world. A community discussion will follow.
Montclair has been designated as a Climate Showcase Community by the U.S. EPA, and the “It’s In Our Power” Campaign is helping the entire town to reduce our energy use and lower our greenhouse gas emissions. At the Climate Reality event we will have information about simple steps residents can take and financial incentives that are now available to help them save money, make their home more comfortable, save energy, and shrink their carbon footprint – just in time for the winter heating season!
Montclair’s Environmental Coordinator, Gray Russell will be on hand to answer questions, as will both Connie and I. Many of you know that in addition to “Green By Design” and “Newlygreens” Connie and I have presented for Climate Reality for several years.
For 24 hours starting on Sept 14th and leading up to the Firehouse event Sept 15th, each hour, in every time zone around the globe, people living with the reality of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events – including floods, droughts and storms – and the man-made pollution that is changing our climate, via presentations carried live on http://www.Climate Reality.com. It will offer a round-the-clock, round-the-globe snapshot of the climate crisis in real time.
Hope to see you there.
When:
> Thursday, Sept 15th
> 7:00PM (sharp) – 8:00PM
Address:
> Montclair Fire Department Headquarters
> 1 Pine Street
> Montclair, NJ 07042
> Free parking in the Parking Deck
Keystone XL :: Protest Hits the White House
This week marks a turning point in the discussion over fossil fuels carbon emissions. Thousands have signed up to protest the proposed Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline at the gates of the White House over the next two weeks. Since the protests began last week dozens have been arrested.
The Tar Sands are significant because they pose a unique threat to the climate change equation in that the oil reserves there require a tremendous amount of energy to recover and process and as such are considered to have an exceptionally large carbon footprint. NASA Scientist James Hansen who has been at the forefront of climate science for four decades has cautioned that mining the Tar Sands could well be one of the fateful choices that push global warming past the point that man can reverse the effects (runaway climate change), and as such should be avoided at all costs.
To participate in the action or learn more visit the action site
Al Gore’s Had Enough with Pseudo-Science
Hear the audio here:Gore calls bullshit by ryang-1
In a speech at the Aspen Institute former Vice President Al Gore fired an uncharacteristically personal, and angry shot directly at the climate skeptic machine. Mr. Gore, passionately called various denial arguments “Bullsh@t” and drew the connection that many of the same forces behind the evil pro-tobacco campaigns of decades past were now spinning doubt about legitimate climate science.
The Vice President’s argument that climate skeptics’ tripe is not based on reality could foreshadow his comments as the closing speaker for the 24 Hours of Reality event planned for September 14th and 15th, 2011. Mr. Gore will deliver his address at 7pm EST on Sept 15th. RSVP on FB to watch the live stream
The event has been promoted as sharing the reality of climate change.
It seems we are currently in a phase where climate denial has gained traction in the media and is repeated in the resultant public echo chamber. Apparently those speaking on behalf of legitimate, objective science are not content to let this current destructive state of affairs persist unchallenged.
Climate Reality :: The Campaign for Truth
Climate reality or climate denial – is it a matter of picking sides or objectively weighing factual information?
Reality. It’s not an opinion
I choose reality. Do you?
Sept 14th-15th, 2011
Gov. Christie Deals Setback to Carbon Reduction
(Updated 6/1/2011)
May 26th, 2011 Governor Chris Christie played politics yet again. This time it wasn’t Education or public workers under his boot, it was carbon reduction. Undoubtedly setting the table for future GOP ambitions, the Governor gave NJ the dubious distinction of being the first state in the North East’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to withdraw from the 10 state coalition organized to reduce regional carbon emissions.
Under RGGI the Northeastern states had established the premier cap and trade mechanism in the country. Since its inception the program raised over $800 million dollars earmarked for renewable energy projects, $100 million of which was destined for NJ. In 2010 Gov. Christie pilfered much of this money to help plug the State’s $10 billion dollar deficit. When he did he pledged to get back to RGGI commitments in 2011. Well, here we are in 2011 and lo-and-behold “Getting back to” apparently means pulling out unilaterally.
This is not the end game in this story. Many lawsuits and battles have yet to be waged before NJ can withdraw. As the Governor has found on many other issues, just because he makes a pompous decree does not make it so.
I myself have been critical of Cap and Trade as a mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas pollution given the inherent complexity of such a method however, no one can deny that industry needs both a carrot and a stick if we are going to reduce emissions. By withdrawing from RGGI Christie taken us back to a time when the reduction of pollution is basically voluntary for utilities and major industry. To remove the State from RGGI without the implementation of some other mechanism that would drive emissions reductions, the Governor has dealt a serious blow to the struggle to reduce the root cause of climate change. In a State that has had more than 5 serious floods in the first quarter of 2011 due to extreme weather, costing well over $3 billion dollars in damage, one might think think there are ample, evident, painful indicators of why we need carbon reductions right away. Obviously Gov Christie is more interested in partisan political gaming than protecting the long-term stability of his State.
NY Times article here – A friend pointed out this critique of most of the popular press’ coverage of this story: The coverage like that in the NY Times, fails to mention alternative models for dealing with emissions like Cap and Dividend. If we were to take Chritie’s comments to mean he was actually going to pursue a dialog to pursue a more effective Northeast agreement I would say that constitutes some real leadership. Regrettably, there is nothing in the Governor’s record to indicate he has any real intention to move forward on this issue. Until I see otherwise I must interpret this as a further attempt to deregulate industry at the expense of the health and well-being of the residents of NJ.
I signed. To pull NJ out of this successful program without justification and without a plan for what will take it’s place is just foolish and uninspired leadership.
Our Choice :: The iPad App
Wow! Last night I downloaded the new release of Al Gore’s Our Choice as an iPod/iPad app. As a presenter for The Climate Project and media technologist at a university I have to take a moment to express my overwhelming gratitude and marvel at what is represented in this product. This implementation of technology is elegant, intuitive, functional, and beautiful. Further, the ramifications on this work in communicating climate science solutions, and more broadly, toward using media to educate are something I recognize as completely game-changing.
I’ve had Our Choice for over a year as an audio book and while it is informative I’ve found audio books fall short when conveying large volumes of technical information. It is difficult to go back and reference things. A point that brings me to my one criticism of the new app. It would be in credibly valuable if the reader could make bookmarks or virtual “clippings” of passages and store them in a user chapter for easier access. As yet I do not see a way to do this. But that’s the great thing about Apps – they can be updated. Are you listening Pop Press and Mulcher Media?
Here is a demonstration of the book by one of the developers at Pop Press:
Or if you have the inclination you can follow this link to get a copy of the app yourself:
– Homepage for the app with guided tour from Mr. Gore.
Moving Planet :: 350.org :: Sept 24th, 2011
The next global action being coordinated by Bill McKibben and the good people at 350.org is set to be held September 24th, 2011. Called Moving Planet, this worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis will literally mobilize tens of thousands of people around the world on a single day to inspire the greater movement away from fossil fuels.
The idea is that thousands of grass-roots events will be created for bike, skates, boards, wheels or just good ol’ foot power demonstrating the willingness of individuals to mobilize to shape a carbon-neutral economy.
The event page reads, “For too long, our leaders have denied and delayed, compromised and caved. That era must come to an end: it’s time to get moving on the climate crisis.”
We initially learned of the plan from Bill’s inspired speech at Power Shift 2011
Also speaking were Al Gore and Van Jones
350.org has successfully coordinated at least 3 massively successful global actions in recent years and just partnered with 1Sky to form a more robust organization.
We’ll keep you posted on related events in our area as we learn about them.
US Mail Goes Green
For Earth Day this year the US Postal Service has released a new series of green-themed forever stamps. The 16 stamps carry messages like “Compost”, “Insulate the home”, and “Maintain tire pressure”. In addition the USPS also has several initiatives underway like increasing the number of electric vehicles in the fleet, green rooftops and more. Show your support for eco-initiatives by picking up a set of green forever stamps by walking to your local branch or ordering online here.
You can learn more about the USPS’ efforts at their green page http://www.usps.com/green/
Environmentalism a Lost Cause?
I presented a Climate Project Lecture to an Environmental Foundations class at William Paterson University this week. During the Q&A session one of the students said she didn’t see anyone doing anything to solve climate change. Her basic argument was that we are all too self-serving and greedy, and no one really cares enough about the big picture. Well, that led me to this lecture from Dave Meslin. If you are in need of a healthy does of optimism, here it is….
Methane :: The Other GW Gas
While presenting the other night I had a few questions about methane levels in the atmosphere. There were some great questions so I thought I’d post the answers here.
First some background.
Methane (CH4) is a powerful green house gas as compared to CO2 but ranks 2nd to CO2 in terms of overall influence on atmospheric warming because there is less of it. CH4 is measured in Parts Per Billion (PPB) CO2 is measured in Parts Per Million (PPM). Methane is currently responsible for about 20% of the current radiative forcing (the heat our atmosphere retains). Slightly more than half of current methane emissions come from human activities.
How does methane get removed from the atmosphere?
Methane (CH4) and CO2 are quite different in many respects. Although both are considered long-term greenhouse gasses, you can think of methane as having a strong warming effect over a relatively short term – it breaks down in the atmosphere in about 10 years as a result of chemical interactions in the atmosphere. Interestingly it actually breaks down into mostly CO2 and water. CO2 by contrast has a relatively small effect over a very long time – CO2 is removed at a rate of 50% in 30 years, 30% in a couple hundred years, yet 20% remains in the atmosphere for thousands of years. It’s this long CO2 life-cycle that causes it to accumulate and makes it so problematic as a Green House Gas (GHG). It’s not just what we’re emitting now, it’s a good portion of all the stuff we’ve been emitting for ages.
Is methane growing in the atmosphere?
Yes. And human activity is currently driving greater CH4 emissions than nature. The IPCC 4th Assessment Report states “Current concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 far exceed pre-industrial values dating back 650,000 years… The CH4 abundance in 2005 of about 1774 ppb is more than double its pre-industrial value. …(The increase we’ve seen in the last two centuries is) the fastest change in this gas over at least the last 80,000 years.” However, since the early 1990s the growth has decreased significantly and has been close to zero from 1999 to 2005. The recent decline in growth rates implies that emissions now approximately match removals. This is in sharp contrast to CO2 concentrations which have grown steadily since the dawn of the industrial age. Currently it is very difficult to predict what future methane emissions will be. Past variability means we don’t have a good trend to extrapolate from. Emissions from the vast stores of methane in the soil and in the ocean’s methane clathrates (see our interviews with Dr. Henry Pollack) will be significantly effected by climate change but so will the processes that remove methane from the atmosphere. For example, the rate of swamp thaw and rainfall have a significant effect on methane emissions and as such make future emissions vary hard to estimate.
Since it’s a stronger GHG should we be paying more attention to methane emissions than CO2?
According to the IPCC 4th Assesment CO2 emissions “dominate all other radiative forcing agents.”. Because methane emissions follow the other changes they are called feedback emissions. However, scientists are monitoring CH4 levels very closely. The fear is that warming temperatures and climate changes will initiate the release of the tremendous natural deposits of methane giving rise to “run away” climate change.
To put it another way, we currently have an “off switch” for the driver of global warming in our CO2 emissions. We can stop burning fossil fuels. If however, we jump-start natural CH4 emissions (which we seem very close to doing), these emissions can very quickly surpass our own. The really scary part is that we have no off switch for these once they start, hence the term “run-away”.
Most of what I referenced here about CH4 and the other GHGs in our atmosphere I pulled from the IPCC “Science Basis” reports.
Energy Efficiency :: The Path out of Recession?
Environmental Research Foundation
…Has just posted a comprehensive list of books from 2010 detailing exactly how clean energy sources can meet our demand for energy when combined with off-the-shelf, affordable efficiency technologies. If you are looking for inspiring reading that sets the course for where to take the discussion of clean energy next, look no further than the link above.
Purgen One :: CCS in NJ
We’ve been following CCS developments pretty closely for the last couple years. A prototype CCS facility has been proposed in Linden, NJ about 20 minutes from our house called Purgen 1. We’ll be revising this post as new information comes in.
SCS Energy (the developer) info on Purgen Here (the warm and fuzzy)
Opposition position http://stoppurgencoalplant.org/
Interview with the developer Part 1
Interview with the developer Part 2
Interview with the lead opposition Part 1
Interview with the lead opposition Part 2
Recent press report on private Canadian study alleging Carbon not staying put Here
Crafting a More Optimistic Message
In our work giving climate change presentations we’ve noticed an encouraging trend from our audiences. More and more audiences are asking for less explanation about climate science, less time spent on recounting the terrible environmental degradation that is occurring as a result of climate change, and instead asking for more information about solutions and what they can take part in personally.
This strikes us as a really positive thing. It says to me that people want less convincing and are tired of waiting for solutions to be implemented by someone else. Enough of the bad news, let’s get on to making it better.
This lead to me trying to craft a more positive message in my presentations. As I looked for inspiration (and information) I came across this presentation from Drew Jones at TEDx, Asheville – 8/30/09. I love it because he uses models and charts to help people visualize how we can reach the reduction targets we need. If you want hope, and inspiration please check it out.
