2016 EDITION A HANDBOOK ON CLIMATE ACTION FOR BABY BOOMERS Or anyone, any age, currently alive on this extraordinary Earth
How History’s Most Privileged Generation Can – With Guts & Gumption – Still Leave Our Kids a Livable Planet Liz Armstrong Congratulations!
You opened this handbook – and that’s a big step, because there are millions, maybe billions, thinking that climate change is just way too big a problem for non-scientists to help conquer.
It’s not too late to stabilize our climate so that it doesn’t spiral out of control. This is doable, and will happen sooner rather than later if we all pull together. Every human alive today, bar none, can contribute to the success of this urgent mission – putting the brakes on climate change – even if it is the toughest challenge we humans have ever faced.
Every phone call, email, mouse click on a petition, every letter to your Member of Parliament, and every conversation urging your friends and neighbours to take action with you – it all counts way more than you might think.
We need an avalanche of action, and for you to be part of it. Because we are going to win on this, for the sake of all life, and all generations to come.
On we go! Introduction & quick quiz
What takes your breath away? Here’s my own short-list of small wonders: The flute-like melody of a wood thrush, shooting stars streaking across the night sky, dragonflies darting, diving and hovering on gossamer wings, tiny raucous Spring peeper frogs – and newborn everything! It’s easy to fall in love with so much in this astonishing world, some just out the back door, others far-flung; some mighty, others minute. What takes your breath away? What do you love most? I’m asking because this book makes an urgent plea to lend your voice (and possibly other talents) to help this extraordinary Earth The cost of inaction through a big mess of our making. And thinking about who or is staggering, and what you love most on this planet – what’s important and beautiful and utterly inspiring to you – can be an amazing motivator. climate stabilizing What’s the mess? It’s the one that began about 250 years ago, when remedies are small we-of-the-large-brain fell madly in love with another natural change by comparison. wonder found under the crust of our grand planet Earth – colossal As one keen observer reserves of ancient, grimy stuff in solid, liquid and gaseous form said: “We can afford – the fossil fuels. We weren’t love-struck by the actual stuff itself, but we did fall hard for the ease and convenience that coal, oil to address climate and natural gas brought to ‘modern’ life once we learned how to change, and we can’t extract and burn them – and we’ve been hooked ever since. afford not to.” Fossil fuels have been the powerhouse, the energy source for so much of modern progress, but – over time – they have turned out to be big trouble too. Burning them is slowly, surely pushing life “By the time you finish as we know it to the brink. this handbook, you’ll Are you still with me? Most Baby Boomers – people of all ages really discover it’s not only – do ultra-quick U-turns when climate change comes up in any possible to take action conversation. But before you’re tempted to quietly shut this book for good, please take a minute to answer three quick questions: on climate change, you may become 1. True or False: If Earth’s average temperature rises more than 2º Celsius over pre-industrial levels (it’s already 1ºC warmer), unstoppable! And your the odds of record breaking, deadly climate catastrophes greatly kids will love you even increase. Beyond 2ºC, Earth risks large, abrupt and irreversible more for this.” changes, making it hostile to human life. 2. True or False: We already have virtually all the technical know- how we need to replace climate-wrecking fossil fuels with green, renewable energy alternatives, which will provide an abundant source of sustainable jobs. 3. True or False: It’s impossible for me (meaning you ) to help ‘fix’ an overwhelming problem like climate change.
i The answers to Qs 1 & 2 are True, as this book will share, based on the best available scientific evidence. The answer to Question 3 is, of course, up to you, and why I hope you’ll keep on reading. Yes, there is still a lot of confusion about climate change – most of it deliberately caused by fossil fuel companies interested in keeping themselves profitable and us paralyzed and silent. The key group not confused? Virtually all climate scientists – fully 97 percent from around the world – who agree that climate change: a) is happening already; b) will have catastrophic long-term consequences if we don’t change course now; and c) we humans in fossil-fuel driven economies are causing it – yes, us. (See Pogo.) Here’s the bottom line: A stable climate is vital to everything. No matter what your passions are – human rights, peace, helping kids in impoverished countries, growing heirloom tomatoes, saving elephants, enjoying fine wines – things will get tougher and costlier as the world warms. Why am I aiming this handbook at Baby Boomers? Because that’s my generation, and we still have plenty of clout to make a difference if we choose to use it. I know from recently attending my 50th high school reunion that many old friends from way back then Your voice can help prove good ol’ Pogo wrong. share my concerns, and just want to know how to help. (So here’s to you, Class of ‘65 North Toronto CI grads, for spurring me on!) Yes, we can do all sorts of things to reduce our personal fossil fuel “We know how to deal use. But the world needs to do much more. Even if all the green- with climate change. house gases reductions promised at the December 2015 UN climate We know it won’t be negotiations in Paris are achieved, we will still be on course for ‘easy’ but the economic more than 2ºC of warming, and possibly as much as 2.7ºC – sounds trivial but it’s disastrous! Unless national pledges – including and scientific literature Canada’s – are not only upped considerably but actually met, our make clear it will be kids and grandchildren won’t have much reason to hope. straightforward and Our leaders need to understand there is nothing, nothing more super-cheap – and important than leaving this planet livable for all generations to infinitely superior to come. Yes, a 100% clean, renewable energy economy by 2050 is 100% possible, but it will take political guts and gumption on the the catastrophic ‘do part of governments everywhere, driven by citizens like you and me. nothing’ approach.” Take heart, Boomers, there are many simple and effective things Joe Romm, we can do (even if you’ve never done any of ‘em before!) And Climate Progress taking climate action doesn’t need to occupy your whole life 24/7. But, to paraphrase a wise old eighteenth century guy: The biggest mistake is doing nothing because we could only do a little. So let’s get going! Liz April 2016
ii Dedication
This book is dedicated to all the kids we know and love, who are counting on us to leave them a livable planet.
Cut and paste a photo of the kids you love here. (A reminder of what’s at stake…)
iii just one rule!
…And here it is: Whatever else you might do with this book, DON’T LET IT GATHER DUST ON A SHELF.
Now that that’s perfectly clear , here are two suggestions for getting started.
One: Show this handbook to a friend, saying you’re deeply concerned about climate change. Then say, “How about working together to take some action?” (I have always, always found it easier mustering courage to do new things when I have a ‘buddy’ to team up with. There’s more about this on page 83).
Two: if the buddy idea doesn’t work for you, and you don’t feel like acting alone, please pass the book along ASAP to someone who will make sure it gets quickly thumbed and dog-eared, complete with coffee stains, sticky notes and tons of emails and phone numbers scribbled all over it.
When I started writing this handbook in the summer of 2014, there was a deathly silence hovering over the topic of climate change. But a lot has changed: We have a new Liberal government promising bold action to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, and a brand new UN climate treaty signed December 12, 2015 in Paris. So now the climate crisis – yes, crisis – is front and centre, where it needs to stay until humanity arrives safely at the end of a very long road called ‘Climate Stability’.
The truth is, our now destabilized climate won’t settle down until long after we Boomers – and probably our grandkids – are long gone – that’s the slow-moving nature of our climate system. But we can’t afford to wait any longer for real action. What is already a dire situation will only get wilder and much worse unless humanity acts immediately to speed up our shift off fossil fuels. And that’s where you and I come in…hence this book.
Just 500 copies have been printed, with a little help from some generous friends. But we will crank out some more if there’s enough demand – from your book club, hiking group, seniors’ choir and so on – really anyone who wants to make a positive difference on our amazing-but-badly-abused planet. There’s also a free PDF version of the handbook on the website.
For more information, and additional copies: Liz Armstrong, Box 430, Erin ON Canada N0B 1T0 ClimateActionForBoomers.ca • [email protected] April 2016 (Third printing. First printed September 2015).
This book is printed on 100 percent post consumer recycled paper stock. ...We’re still hunting for 100 percent recycled plastic spines.
iv Table of contents
INTRODUCTION & QUICK QUIZ...... i
DEDICATION...... iii
JUST ONE RULE!...... iv
PART A: CLIMATE 101
1. Boom, Bust…and Redemption?...... 9
Will the UN Paris Agreement Save Our Grandkids?...... 15
2. We Ain’t Dead Yet ...... 16
3. Our Beautiful Green Future – Do You See What I See?...... 19
4. Global Warming 101: The Basics ...... 25
5. The Bottom Line...... 34
6. Climate Change In A Minute...... 36
7. What Are The Greenhouse Gases?...... 37
8. Never Heard of AFOLU?...... 39
9. Slavery, Then And Now...... 40
10. How Long Have We Known?...... 41
11. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly…...... 45
12. Feedback Loops, Tipping Points...... 49
13. ...And The Sad...... 51
14. O Canada, This Is Inexcusable...... 53
15. Climate Trumps Everything...... 55
16. More Jobs, Better Health, Safer Planet!...... 57
17. What’s Stopping Us?...... 59
18. Doubt Is Their Product...... 64
19. What’s Stopping Our Governments?...... 65
20. What About China?...... 68
v 21. Media Matters...... 70
22. What Happens (Sooner Or Later) If You Don’t Act Now...... 72
PART B: BOOMERS TAKING ACTION ON CLIMATE…ONE BITE AT A TIME
23. Nothing Can Stop Us But Us ...... 74
24. Ten Minutes a Day to a Cooler Planet...... 78
25. Give Up Your Guilt – Bite #1...... 81
26. Find a Climate Buddy – Bite #2...... 83
27. Break the Silence, Then Keep Talking! – Bite #3...... 85
28. Reduce Your ‘Carbon Footprint’ – Bite #4...... 88
29. Use Our Political Clout as Boomers – Bite #5...... 91
30. The Power of Public Speaking – Bite #6...... 99
31. If You Can’t Speak Up, Get Busy Writing – Bite #7...... 102
32. Start A Kitchen Table Group – Bite #8...... 108
33. Join The Citizens’ Climate Lobby – Bite #9...... 110
34. ‘Talk the Talk’ Like This Doc – Bite #10...... 112
35. Divest Fossil Fuels, Go Green – Bite #11...... 114
36. Faith, Hope + Climate Action – Bite #12...... 118
37. Resuscitate Democracy – Bite #13...... 120
38. Extra Bites + Out-of-Box Options...... 124
39. Heroes Who Inspire Me...... 126
40. Found the Key – Here You Go!...... 128
APPENDICES
Seven Steps to Success...... 129
Resources...... 130
Acknowledgments...... 131
Quick Start on Climate Action ...... 132
Postcards to Parliament ...... 133
vi Part a: Climate 101
7 8 1. Boom, bust...and redemption?
Greetings Baby Boomers!
Recognize it? Yes, an ancient roller-skate key from the 1950s.
I lost mine too long ago to remember, but can still feel that electric buzz shivering Hard to believe we early up and down my legs while Boomers are as ancient zooming along Toronto side- as memories that never walks on those old metal roller fail to astonish all the skates, way way back then. kids under 50. How are you doing? Still have your hula-hoop stashed in the basement? Or the Red Ryder BB-gun? Remember those first boxy black-and-white TVs, our It wasn’t all roller Davy Crockett coonskin caps, the saddle shoes and sock hops? skates and rock ‘n’ roll The milkman was still delivering Silverwood Dairy products by though. Unbeknownst horse and cart to the milk-box at our side door in the early 50s. to us, there was a dark The iceman hauled huge, crystal clear blocks of his splendid cargo side, with some lifelong through our kitchen every week to the icebox, keeping food fresh consequences. and the milk from going sour. Family doctors made house calls – a bit easier for ours since he lived right next door. We spent lots of Saturday afternoons at the Circle Theatre on Yonge Street watching cowboy films for a quarter, including the popcorn and a newsreel.
All this and eventually Elvis too…
Hard to believe we early Boomers are as ancient as these memories that never fail to astonish all the kids under 50.
It wasn’t all roller skates and rock ‘n’ roll though. Unbeknownst to us, there was a dark side, with some lifelong consequences:
• Starting in 1952 and ending in the early 60s, 100 above- ground nuclear bombs were detonated in the Nevada desert, scattering radioactive fallout – mainly downwind, but virtually everywhere – in North America. Decades later the US National What do you remember Cancer Institute conceded that up to 212,000 thyroid cancers most about the 50s had resulted from this exposure, with children born in the 50s particularly vulnerable, especially girls and milk-drinkers – even and 60s? breast milk. That was just the tip of the toxic iceberg.
9 • ‘Miraculous’ man-made substances such as DDT were unleashed on unsuspecting citizens everywhere. The 1950s were a pivotal point in the chemical revolution – part of what can only be described as a rather arrogant post-WW II mission to subdue Nature by quashing a whole lot of pesky species, with mosquitoes a prime target.
Farms, forests and city streets were liberally doused with DDT and other pesticides, but lo and behold, the most robust mosquitoes survived and thrived, while humanity reluctantly came to understand there was a terrible downside. These Although climate ‘miracle’ chemicals ravaged wildlife and caused a host change has crept up on of human health problems too. us gradually these past A small handful of these substances – including DDT – were few decades, it’s now at eventually banned in North America, but a much bigger genie a point where so much was out of the bottle, as tens of thousands of other chemicals escaped serious oversight. Today, more than 80,000 chemicals of what we Boomers available for commercial use have never been tested for their took for granted on this long-term toxic effects on our health and the environment. amazing planet - and There are traces of dozens of these substances in all of us, had hoped to leave for even brand new babies. our kids – is very much • The 1950s were also early days of materialism ran amok. at risk. A whole slew of new products made from novel chemical concoctions called plastics mushroomed rapidly. Single-use, disposable paper products multiplied exponentially. ‘Planned obsolescence’ – a nice way of saying “What you just bought will become useless junk way sooner than you think” became the order of the day, even for cars, which our parents were prodded to replace every two or three years.
Remember the Edsel?
Hotel being doused with DDT
10 As the 1950s hit musical Oklahoma reminded us, everything was up to date in Kansas City, but there were some bewildering long- term consequences.
Young kids were mostly oblivious to all this. We were too busy watching a couple of hours of that new-fangled invention, television. Or more likely playing outdoors all hours of the day and night until our mothers called us in for meals and finally, reluctantly, bed.
We Boomers were pretty special though, weren’t we? We were the infant heralds of an audacious new era, something akin to sunshine bursting through the clouds after all those gloomy years of the Great Depression and World War II.
Weren’t we?
Alas, along came the now-famous University of Toronto demographer David Foot to dump ice-cold water on all that bluster about Boomers: “To hear them talk, you’d think they were the most innovative and creative bunch of people Canada had ever seen...
“The only thing special about the baby-boomers is that there are so many of them,” Dr. Foot wrote rather grumpily in his 1996 bestseller, Boom, Bust and Echo. (Well, if nothing else, we can Before we Boomers take at least raise a glass to our parents’ remarkable fertility!) our final leap – after But right now our numbers count, because size matters when it long and interesting comes to the main theme of this book, and the big request that lives – we need to use comes with it. our big numbers to help So here goes: Before we Boomers take our final leap – after long ‘turn down the heat’ and interesting lives – we need to use our big numbers to help on our planet. ‘turn down the heat’ on our planet.
Yes, it’s a book about climate change. It includes some basics about climate science and politics, plus a practical section on how we can take action. But – bottom line – it’s about our moral responsibility to our kids and grandkids, because what’s at stake is nothing less than leaving them a livable future.
Although climate change has crept up on us gradually these past few decades, it’s now at a point where so much of what we Boomers took for granted on this amazing planet – and had hoped to leave our kids – is very much at risk.
Because humans are continuing to burn record amounts of fossil fuels – the main cause of global warming – we’re now en route to driving up Earth’s average temperature four to six degrees Celsius by the end of this century compared to pre-industrial times.
11 Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Even seems pretty tantalizing to those of us living in cold northern climates with long winters! But, as the American climate writer and 350.org founder Bill McKibben points out, “So far, we’ve raised the average temperature of the planet just one degree Celsius, and that has caused far more damage than most scientists ever expected.”
The best climate science, and even high profile financial organizations like the World Bank tell us that a rise of 4º C – about 7º Fahrenheit – will be nothing short of catastrophic. Imagine a child with a constant fever of 4ºC, and you begin to get the picture of the misery that is slowly unfolding as Earth’s climate warms. And while it may not have been sweltering in your neck of the woods recently, 2015 was the hottest year since modern records have been kept. 2016 is predicted to be even hotter.
Along with nukes, pesticides and plastics, nearly all of this climate warming has occurred since World War II, when we Boomers started to arrive in our multitudes. Nevada test site So here’s a key question for us: How could we let it happen? Most experts say coming generations In our defense, we were young kids when climate scientists first waved red flags in earnest about the Earth getting hotter during can be spared the worst the 1950s. I was in my final year of high school when American calamities of climate President Lyndon Johnson became the first world leader to single change – but only out climate as a pressing problem: if we can limit Earth’s “This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere temperature rise to 2ºC, on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady and preferably less. increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels,” Johnson said in a special message to the US Congress on February 8, 1965.
But with the Vietnam War looming larger, and civil rights in the While it may not have US boiling on the front burner, climate faded out of the picture. been sweltering in When the public finally began waking up about global warming your neck of the woods in the 1980s, most of us had no idea we were contributing to a recently, 2015 was creeping climate mess by doing such ordinary things as driving cars, heating our houses with fuel oil, and flying off to warm the hottest since beaches for a sunny break from frigid winter weather. modern records have been kept. 2016 is But after two or three decades of steadily mounting scientific evidence that the climate is changing as a result of our ‘normal’ predicted to be even human activities, we now know. There is no more pretending, hotter. although some of the world’s richest petroleum companies keep feeding our fossil fuel addictions without losing much sleep over it.
Our kids and grandkids are already in for a rough climate ride,
12 since we can’t take back the fossil fuel pollution we’ve already pumped into our atmosphere, our forests, soils and oceans. Our amazing planet will continue to get warmer even if we stop discharging greenhouse gases today. (Kind of like the lag between drinking way too much rum and that morning-after headache and nausea. Only the climate lag is way longer, in fact, stretching to decades).
As a result of the December 2015 Paris climate agreement, world governments – including the major industrial nations responsible for the majority of climate-changing emissions – officially re-set their sights on keeping Earth’s average temperature increase below 1.5º C, down from 2ºC. This thrilled the most vulnerable nations, already victimized by too many climate disasters occurring at 1ºC or less. But staying below 1.5ºC means there’s no more wiggle room for procrastination – we’re awfully good at that – and our emissions must be scaled down in record time. Are we capable of such an about-face? “Even if the science is imperfect, the evidence If keeping below 1.5 or even 2ºC sounds easy, let’s not kid ourselves, especially not at the feverish rates we continue to burn through is too compelling to the world’s stockpiles of coal, oil and natural gas. In fact, we’re still prudently ignore... zooming full tilt toward the 4ºC disaster zone. But it is indeed Those born after possible to shift to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2050 – or 1945 are failing their even sooner – say the experts, but only if ordinary citizens like us and a whole variety of climate allies keep the pressure on our politicians. seminal test.” James Travers You might well ask why I’m focusing on – maybe even picking on Baby Boomers. Two reasons: First, I am one of this immense population cohort, and I believe we have forever aimed to leave this world a better place – and might still be shocked into action The Arctic is global because we’re not delivering on this promise. warming’s canary Second, we Boomers are now being accused by younger generations in the coal mine. – even some of our contemporaries – of going AWOL when we This highly sensitive had the biggest chance and greatest power to make a difference on climate, and instead have made like ostriches. region is already being profoundly affected by The late, great Toronto Star political columnist James Travers, the changing climate, a Baby Boomer born in 1948 (who died in 2011), always called with temperatures a spade a spade. One of his December 2009 stories focused on Canada’s perverse role in undermining the UN climate talks in rising twice as fast Copenhagen – and it was aimed at Baby Boomers. as anywhere else in the world. Here’s part of what Travers wrote in that December 8, 2009 article. “After inheriting wealth, knowledge and health, history’s most privileged cohorts {yes, that’s us…} are rolling the dice on some- one else’s future. Those edging toward the final door are leaving behind their garbage for those they say they love. It’s a foolish gamble and a selfish indulgence.
13 “Even if the science is imperfect,” Travers added, “the evidence is too compelling to prudently ignore... Those born after 1945 are failing their seminal test.”
Excuses from (some) When I first read those words, they were like a dagger through my heart. What about yours? Boomers for not acting on climate change: Six years after Travers’ column and the disappointing – some would say disastrous – Copenhagen talks, the world – and certainly • Won’t affect me Canada under the new Trudeau government – did an encouraging • Kids will fix it about-turn at the 2015 UN climate negotiations in Paris. And though various aspects of the Paris Agreement are indeed binding • Let’s wait and see for the 195 countries signing on, their commitments to green- • We didn’t know house gas reductions remain voluntary. • I can’t change it! So the biggest question is still hanging in the air: Does the world • Too confusing – and that includes us Boomers – collectively have the guts, • Too costly gumption and political will to slash man-made greenhouse gas • Too late…* emissions enough to prevent our kids – and theirs – from going over a climate cliff?
Think of it this way: If we Boomers don’t use our enormous clout now, while we still have our wits about us, the consequences for Think of it this way: those we most cherish will be far more devastating down the road. If we Boomers don’t use our enormous clout Here’s what I think is perhaps the most important question of the 400,000-year era of human history on Earth: Is leaving humanity’s now, while we still have biggest nightmare our wits about us, the to our kids really consequences for those what we want as we most cherish will be our lasting ‘gift’? far more devastating I’m betting that most down the road. Boomers would find such an option outrageous, and totally unacceptable. *Yes it is too late for thousands of species on Earth already driven If you’re with me, to extinction by climate change please read on! (If and loss of habitat. But to say, not, go immediately absolutely, “It’s too late,” is to to page 72 to learn write off the hopes & dreams of so many you deeply love. Besides, your everlasting most of the world’s climate experts fate.) – some maybe even smarter than us – contend it’s not too late to leave a livable planet...so let’s drop Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that that excuse right now! climate change is real, we’re easily fooled by our own local weather, especially when it’s really cold…
14 A QUICK PAUSE FOR SOME INFO ABOUT PARIS WILL THE NEW UN CLIMATE AGREEMENT SAVE OUR GRANDKIDS?
Since the first edition of this handbook was printed in September 2015, a lot of things have changed. One of the biggest, grabbing mainstream media attention in December was the signing of the so-called ‘Paris agreement’. You probably watched the buoyant (and relieved) celebrations on TV as 195 countries agreed December 12 in Paris to a ‘truly universal agreement on climate change’ under the banner of the United Nations.
Yes, this new agreement broke a depressing deadlock – so many previous years lost to failed negotiations – and yes, it’s a big step in the right direction.
1. Together, we’re now aiming to restrict the average global temperature rise to 1.5C or less compared to pre-industrial times (rather than the 2ºC increase agreed in Copenhagen in 2009). 2. Every country is obligated to set greenhouse gas reduction targets, for which they’re accountable (but the targets are voluntary, not binding; there’s no penalty for missing them). 3. Much more investment in renewable technology is promised. 4. ‘Vulnerable’ countries will get US$100 billion a year to help adapt to climate change.
All good. But: 1. There is no binding commitment to restrict the average global temperature increase to 1.5ºC, just a promise to try. 2. So far, the greenhouse gas reduction pledges from the 195 countries signing the deal don’t come anywhere close to keeping temperatures under 1.5 or even 2ºC. Rather, we’re headed for a catastrophic 2.7º – and only then if every country’s voluntary commitments are met. More if they fall short. 3. Aviation and shipping were totally left out of the agreement – a huge omission.
What does this mean for you and me? May Boeve, Executive Director of the international climate campaign 350.org put it plainly the day the Paris deal was signed: “Without pressure from ordinary people, world leaders would have gladly ignored {global warming} entirely. It’s pressure from people that will close the gap between what was signed today, and the action we need.” Bottom line? We Boomers – well, everybody! – needs to get persistently pushing our politicians until real change on climate happens. Starting right now.
15 2. We ain’t dead yet
First-wave Baby Boomers – those of us born between 1946 and 1955 – have pretty much completed life’s major tasks – raising kids, paying off mortgages, saving for retirement and looking after aging parents if they need our help. In other words, most of us now have more time on our hands.
You younger Boomers in your 50s and early 60s may still be busy But regardless of your with family and jobs, but we need you to start acting now on age, who wouldn’t climate issues because time is running short (and you can snooze make time given longer in a few years’ time, after that critical action has been taken). what’s at stake? But regardless of your age, who wouldn’t make time given what’s at stake?
“Where can I possibly start?” That’s the question most often Remember what the asked once friends and colleagues truly understand that global Dalai Lama famously warming is a problem unlike anything else humans have ever faced. And it’s often asked in a bewildered sort of way. “I’m just said: “If you consider one person. What possible difference could I make?” you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping Answer(s): More than you think. And none at all if you don’t try. with a mosquito.” Remember what the Dalai Lama famously said: “If you consider you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
Thankfully, there are a fair share of Boomer-era climate heroes we can learn a lot from: Elizabeth May, the first Green politician elected in North America, Winona LaDuke, Al Gore, Bill McKibben, Guy Dauncey, Van Jones, Sandra Steingraber, Amory Lovins and Joe Romm, to name just a few. (All are definitely worth a Google search, and there are photos of some of them in Chapter 39 on page 124.) However, these climate champions – and many more – haven’t yet been able to turn the tide.
Even with all the positive fanfare of the new UN Paris agreement, we all need to lend a bigger hand, no matter how much or little we’ve done until now.
If you’re nervous about what might be required, take heart: you don’t have to get arrested protesting in front of the White House, or occupying Wall Street, or even your local gas station (although your stock with the grandkids would probably soar if you did!) And you don’t have to suddenly go 24/7 on climate action.
There are many simple ways – even at this eleventh hour – that
16 we Boomers can get active and show younger people we know that climate stability is Job 1. But we have to ‘come out’ as soon as possible, with guts and gumption, and get to work.
For starters, would you be willing write one or two letters a month? Make a few phone calls? Talk about the climate crisis to some of your friends?
In order to protect the people we love most, such a modest set of There are many simple actions sounds almost silly, doesn’t it? I don’t have children of ways – even at this my own, but I know from talking to many awestruck new parents, eleventh hour – that we they would go to astonishing lengths to keep their babies safe from harm, even vowing to die for them. Boomers can get active and show younger Well, your babies need you now. people we know that Once you have decided to act, any time you pick up this handbook climate stability is and muster the courage to ‘do something’ is the right time. The Job 1. sooner the better, of course, but this is not a short-term enterprise. It’s all about convincing the powers-that-be that nothing short of an energy revolution to get off fossil fuels – again, the sooner the better – is acceptable, for the sake of all generations to come.
Need hope? As Oberlin College professor David Orr so powerfully says, ‘Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up.’ Action is by far the best response to despair about climate change – and its very welcome by-product is hope. And with action fueled by love for this amazing planet – and all the kids on it – we can:
• Break the silence about the climate crisis and our addiction to fossil fuels. We can’t solve problems we don’t talk about.
• Take action to reduce your personal fossil-fuel use. For example, jet travel causes huge global-warming emissions, which may I know from talking to make your Bucket List look pretty grim from a climate stand- many awestruck new point if it includes a lot of long-distance flight destinations. If you have to fly, purchase ‘carbon offsets’ (see page 82). Other parents, they would go carbon-saving lifestyle hints: Eat less meat (page 89) and grow to astonishing lengths some of your own food – nothing like veggies fresh from the to keep their babies garden, or off your balcony. safe from harm, even • Flex your political muscles. Demand genuine climate action vowing to die for them. from the governments we have elected. After too many years of Well, your babies need delay, most governments are now pushing forward on this file, you now. but they need to hear from us in big numbers with this message: We can and must shift to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050, and preferably much sooner.
• Give as generously as possible to groups acting boldly to fight
17 climate change and promote the blossoming fossil fuel-free economy. There are many good ones. Have a look at their websites, and just be sure to earmark your donation specifically for climate action. In my opinion, some of the best include: 350.org, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Pembina Institute, Environmental Defence, David Suzuki Foundation, Sierra Club and Greenpeace.
• Look closely and critically at your financial investments. If, as I did, you find you’re supporting dirty energy industries, there are now many more opportunities to shift to greener investments Demand genuine – and still make a decent return. (Page 115.) climate action from • Muster the resolve to rejuvenate our sad-sack democracy, so it the governments we serves everyone and this beautiful planet that makes all life have elected. They’re possible. (Page 120.) now ready to listen, If you’ve never spoken up about an overwhelming subject like and need to hear climate change before, here’s a helpful tip: work in pairs, or with from us. a small group. The ‘buddy system’ makes speaking up and taking action far less daunting, and – believe it or not – even fun.
And despite the many climate hazards ahead, there is a better world Maybe, at our ready to burst on the scene. Much of it has already arrived some- where on the planet, as you’ll see in Chapter 3. We can definitely advancing ages, we help hurry this better future along. Boomers all need higher doses of oxytocin, the So c’mon, Boomers, let’s get active and give our kids and grandchildren the best reasons ever to remember us: that we helped slam the brakes so-called love hormone, on the old fossil fuel era and usher in the exciting new world of to ignite a great gush clean, green energy. of planet-saving action. How to get it free of charge? Hug lots of people, especially your kids and grandchildren.
18 3. Our beautiful green future – do you see what i see?
A big part of creating a positive, healthy future is imagining it, seeing it in our mind’s eye, understanding that it’s not only possible, it’s already here, somewhere on Earth. And if it’s not here yet, then it’s ‘this’ close.
Beware, pessimists. This chapter is full of faith, hope, and lots of sunshine.
Yep, sunshine. The Beatles were on the right track when they crooned ‘All You Need is Love’, because loving and revering this magnificent planet of ours is a giant step toward respecting its limits and helping restore climate stability. The Fab Four get even better marks, though, for their 1969 tune, ‘Here Comes The Sun’ on the Abbey Road album.
Sunshine, above all else, makes our world go round.
FACT: Every hour, Planet Earth is flooded with enough sunlight to Beware, pessimists. generate all the power we humans need for a full year. One hour, a mere 60 minutes = 365 days’ worth of energy. And our collective This chapter is full of ingenuity is beginning to convert that sunshine directly into usable faith, hope, and lots energy on a large scale, rather than burning 300-million-year-old, of sunshine. non-renewable, climate-busting fossil fuels.
As I wrote this chapter, Solar Star, one of the largest photovoltaic solar power plants in the world, was completed in California. At peak capacity, it will generate 597 megawatts of electricity for Beyond solar, there is nearby Antelope Valley, CA. In 2010, the largest solar facility in huge capacity in wind, the US generated just 20 megawatts. And by the time you read ‘hot’ geothermal and this, there will be more Solar Star-type projects coming on stream, some likely larger. tidal power – three technologies that will Beyond solar, there is huge capacity in wind, ‘hot’ geothermal and ultimately help us cast tidal power – three technologies that will ultimately help us cast aside the need to steam gooey black bitumen out of Alberta’s tar aside the need to steam sands, to ‘frack’ (now there’s an ugly word) practically everywhere gooey black bitumen out for natural gas and oil, and blow off mountaintops in Appalachia of Alberta’s tar sands. to unearth tons of coal to burn for electricity. “If we could harness a tiny fraction of the available solar and wind power, it could supply all our energy needs forever, and without adding any carbon to the atmosphere.” Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Cosmos 2014, Episode 12
19 For an excellent description of 10 clean energy technologies – complete with stunning photographs, interesting commentary, pros and cons, and useful charts that are anything but humdrum – I highly recommend Tom Rand’s Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World. It not only educates, but does wonders for one’s psyche and soul.
Rand also touts the huge savings delivered by energy conservation and efficiency, aka negawatts. That’s not a spelling mistake: ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ is a fitting way to describe the negawatt, so named by American energy guru Amory Lovins. “Not using a watt of energy is the same as producing one,” Rand explains, “but cheaper and easier.” Conserving energy and achieving better efficiencies can circumvent the need to build more power plants, but it’s also crucial to get all existing power plants off fossil fuels and onto renewables.
Another writer I highly respect on climate issues is Guy Dauncey of Victoria, BC, who helped me overcome my paralysis about global warming by painting wonderful word pictures of our green future. “A climate-friendly city will be more neighborly, enjoy a rich culture, and have a stronger economy, stimulated by the “Negawatts require wave of new green-collar jobs,” Guy writes. conservation and efficiency. Together, “It will look and feel more like the great cities of the past but with the blessings of clean water, clean streets, clean energy, abundant they are the cheapest, trees, advanced resource-recovery sewage treatment, electric fastest and biggest transport, a public plaza in every neighborhood, glorious public new sources of energy parks, thriving arts, green buildings and community democracy.” available.” There will also be plenty of walking and bicycle trails; shared Tom Rand, community gardens; storm-hardy and drought-resistant trees Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit (including plenty of edible fruit and nut varieties); excellent, affordable public transit; car-sharing; green roofs; triple-glazed windows; heated floors and, not least, freedom from sky-high energy bills. (And so long to those growling Harleys that run on gas, but – never fear – the new all-electric ones are pretty amazing too.)
I was curious about the ‘advanced resource-recovery sewage treatment’ that Guy mentioned. Although the subject of human poop is almost as taboo as climate change, it’s a fascinating ‘business’ (sorry). It turns out that sewage contains 10 times the energy needed to treat it, so in Stockholm, Sweden for example, 80,000 apartments get their heat and hot water from biogas extracted at the local sewage works.
We already have ‘passive houses’ that in cold climates need no furnaces and are net-zero on the energy front, but there will be The new electric Harley soon be ‘living buildings’ – the new exemplar of sustainable
20 design and construction. “Living buildings are structures that generate all of their own energy with renewable, nontoxic resources, capture and treat all of their water, and operate efficiently – and with maximum beauty,” Yes! Magazine explained in 2010.
We will have self-driving electric cars, with vehicles getting their energy from a super-grid, Green Cities predicts. “There will be no exhaust pipes, no carbon dioxide emissions, no gas stations, and no car accidents.” Sound far-fetched? US electric car-maker Tesla says it’s just around the corner, with full auto pilot in as little as five or six years. Some are already on the highway in California. And Google continues to develop the 21st century ‘bug’ pictured below.
While global warming and climate disruption are real, we are indeed close to an incredibly different world that doesn’t run on dirty, destructive fossil fuels. Many of these innovations are already Although the subject of here, and just need more political and business backing to multiply fast. Others are just getting off the ground as pilot projects. human poop is almost as taboo as climate We can easily afford to move ahead with all of them simply by change, it’s a fascinating shifting over huge government subsidies (our tax money) still being shelled out to fossil fuel companies. ‘business’ (sorry).
Many of these new ideas and designs are found in nature, and now being imitated by some brilliant human ‘copycats’. Janine Benyus is a Boomer whose terrific bookBiomimicry: Innovation “It is time for the Inspired by Nature was published in 1997. In it she takes us to ingenuity and ‘meet’ many of the scientists known as biomimics, who are scrutinizing and copying what nature teaches in order to create innovation that put new products like these: a man on the moon and a computer in your • solar cells that imitate leaves; • steely fibres woven spider-style; pocket, to develop the • shatterproof ceramics modeled after mother-of-pearl; capability to power our planet without destroying it.” Diane Dreier, Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition
21 • perennial grains for food, inspired by prairie tallgrass.
As Benyus writes: “The biomimics are discovering what works Termite dens don’t look in the natural world, and more important, what lasts. After 3.8 anything like the usual billion years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to survival.” models for human building, but they are Here is just one example of how biomimicry has inspired an surprisingly comfortable exceptionally energy-efficient office and shopping complex, based on a design created by…termites! even in climates that feature wild daily swings Termite dens don’t look anything like the usual models for human from hot to cold. building, but they are surprisingly comfortable even in climates that feature wild daily swings from hot to cold.
The resulting 333,000 square-foot Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe, designed by architect Mike Pearce, uses 90 percent less energy to heat and cool than traditional buildings. “The building has large chimneys that naturally draw in cool air at night to lower the temperature of the floor slabs, just like termite dens. During the day, these slabs retain the coolness, greatly reducing the need for supplemental air conditioning.”
Finally, no discussion about our green future would be complete without a few paragraphs on waste. No matter what you call it – garbage, litter, trash, rubbish, junk, debris – waste has to be the worst human invention.
Invention? Surely not. But many argue that since waste is a huge byproduct of so many of our other modern creations, it definitely belongs in the category of ‘human invention’, albeit unwanted, ugly and colossal.
There is no such thing as waste in nature. Whatever gets eaten, dies, rots or is left over becomes food for something else, part of Earth’s magnificent system devoted to 100 percent reuse and recycling.
For all of our smarts, however, we humans have managed to create swirling oceans of plastic that don’t degrade, mountains of landfill, junk galore, chemicals that contaminate our bodies – and everything else – and an earthly atmosphere that’s a free dumpsite for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are the root of global warming.
Imagine a world with no waste. No plastic bags, no landfill sites, no chemical poisons, no junk at all.
And this is where a brilliant Boomer named Bill McDonough enters. He’s an architect, visionary, and co-author of two ground- Termite shopping centre
22 breaking books, Cradle to Cradle and Upcycling. Who wouldn’t hug a guy who starts all of his design projects with questions like this one: How do we love all the children of all species for all time? And how the answer to that question is reflected in all finished designs and products.
Bill McDonough’s idea of sustainability goes far beyond the idea of eco-efficiency, non-toxic materials and high performance technology. His whole approach is dedicated to reusing many resources infinitely, and capturing anything toxic in a closed loop system to be used over and over again.
And just like nature, cradle-to-cradle means returning safe materials to the biosphere – air, water or soil – where stuff will decompose naturally without contaminating the rest. Bill McDonough Two cases in point:
1) A Swiss fabric company, Rohner Textil, made a decision to clean up its act, knowing that textile manufacture is one of the world’s most toxic industries. Rohner brought in Bill McDonough and his colleagues to help eliminate all toxic chemicals from its processes. And just like nature, They studied thousands of chemicals commonly used in textile cradle-to-cradle means production, with a standard of acceptance that was simple: the returning safe materials a-okay compounds had to be ‘safe enough to eat.’ to the biosphere – air, Of all 8,000 chemicals they tested, fully 7,962 failed, leaving only water or soil – where 38 that passed the test. Yet with just these choices, Rohner was stuff will decompose subsequently able to create a complete line of fabrics containing every colour except black. When the Swiss government came naturally without to analyze water flowing out of the plant, there were zero toxic contaminating the rest. chemicals in it; it was drinkable. As for the financial bottom line? The cost to Rohner was 20 percent less than before – a substantial bonus for doing the right thing. Make It Right yielded 2) After Hurricane Katrina plunged New Orleans into chaos in August 2005, it was mainly poor black citizens who suffered the 150 healthy homes, most devastating losses. In a partnership with actor Brad Pitt, plus an impressive and Bill McDonough created a housing project called Make It Right, hopeful understanding and set about to design homes that were not only built to the of what the future can highest eco-standards, but also affordable and fully sensitive to social justice issues. “It is about dignity, it is about building respect be everywhere. for the people who will inhabit what we do, for their neighbors and for the world at large. And it’s time has come,” McDonough explained.
Make It Right yielded 150 healthy homes, plus an impressive and hopeful understanding of what the future can be everywhere – and will be, as long as enough of us give it a big push.
23 COMING SOON TO A NEIGHBOURHOOD NEAR YOU
The houses in Solar Village, located in Freiburg, Germany generate 40 percent more energy than they consume. That’s not all. According to PlanetExperts.com, “The houses are wooden and built from sustainable materials and to Passive House standards, meaning they are optimized for passive solar heating and lighting. Each is equipped with photo- voltaic panels that cover the entire roof, angled so that they allow the winter sun to pass through the windows but shading the interior during the summer months. PV panels also cover the area’s parking lot, which keep the cars cool as they generate electricity.”
It’s pretty easy to get all wowed by ‘breakthrough’ announcements, such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s April 2015 unveiling of his company’s Powerwall battery for storing energy from solar panels on residential roofs, and the even larger Tesla Energy Powerpacks for industrial use. Musk claims this duo is capable of transitioning the entire planet’s power grid off fossil fuels but, as one Toronto-based, MIT-educated engineer explained to me,“Musk’s 900 million Powerpacks might be about right, but there isn’t enough lithium in the world to make them…and this kind of cheerleading gets some people very stubbornly entrenched on a narrow set of celebrity solutions.” So, he suggests, let’s also look at a whole range of lesser-known made-in-Canada solutions, in companies such as Hydrogenics, Temporal Power, Zooshare, ecobee, and Pond Biofuels, all worth a Google search. Zooshare will recycle manures from the Toronto Zoo and food waste from a large Canadian grocery chain into renewable power for the Ontario grid, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and returning nutrients to the soil. (Great logo and marketing line too: Poo. Power. Profits.)
Nobody’s perfect…yet
Capturing the abundant energy of the Sun is essential to our green future, but the irony is that conventional solar panels and the batteries that store their energy are fabricated using fossil fuels and other hazardous materials. In order to push manufacturers to be responsible for the environmental impacts of their products, etc., various watchdogs issue ‘report cards’ to measure their progress. One example: solarscorecard.com. At least one California company, BioSolar, is pioneering the manufacture of renewable, petroleum-free ‘back sheets’ for solar panels made from – wait for it – cotton rags blended with a type of nylon made from castor beans.
24 4. Global warming 101: the basics
Around our 1960s’ campfire in Ontario lake country, we sang a loud, lively song with a bit of a religious motif called I Ain’t Gonna Grieve My Lord No More. The idea was for the campers to make up their own verses, but there were a few standards to get everybody started, like this one:
Oh, you can’t get to heaven On roller skates Cause you’ll roll right by Those pearly gates…
Fifty years later, hindsight confirms we should have paid a ton more attention tothis verse, (retrieved from Google, not my iffy memory.)
Oh, you can’t get to heaven In a limousine Cause the Lord don’t sell No gasoline…
God was apparently an early adopter, the first to renounce the use of fossil fuels, or – more likely – never addicted in the first place. Now we humans have got to ‘get clean’ too – and there’s very little time to spare.
All you really need to know about global warming – and the fossil fuels responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions – is in the simple Identified illustration at right. Resources
(40,000 GtC02) The large circle represents all the identified fossil fuel resources in the world, about 40,000 gigatonnes of CO2. The middle circle represents all proven fossil fuel reserves, about 5,000 Burnable (1,000 GtC0 ) gigatonnes CO . (This is the amount that oil-gas- 2 2 Reserves coal companies consider to be ‘recoverable from (5,000 GtC02) well established or known reservoirs with the existing equipment and under the existing operating conditions.’) The centre (smallest) circle is the maximum amount of burnable fossil fuels – about 1,000 gigatonnes. Burning less than 1000 gigatonnes gives us a 66% chance of staying below 2º Celsius of warming compared to pre- industrial times.
Even if you are more chart-challenged than I am, it’s obvious we have serious problem: Oil, coal and gas companies have already discovered and claimed far more fossil fuels than can safely be burned to prevent extreme climate consequences.
25 Still, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies, Exxon Mobil, stated publicly in March 2014 it was willing to take this risk. “Any future capping of carbon-based fuels to the levels of a ‘low-carbon scenario’ is highly unlikely due to pressing social needs for energy,” the company said. Then, in July 2015, this bombshell: Exxon Mobil’s own scientists had discovered clear evidence that burning fossil fuels caused climate change as early as 1978 – 10 years before it became a public issue – and then spent tens of millions of dollars over the next three decades covering it up. Can there ever be a penalty strong enough for such immorality? Even exceptionally conservative, pro-business organizations are worried too much fossil energy will be burned. The World Bank, global accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers and the International Energy Association, among others, have all sounded major alarms about shooting past the 2ºC mark if we continue along our current path. As noted before, we’re on course to hit an increase of 4 to 6º Where’s Miss Morgan? Celsius by the end of the century. Suicidal. Unthinkable. Humans are the major This is the bare bones, plain English chapter of the book. cause of the current It outlines some climate change and global warming basics, sketches escalation of warming, out what is already happening, and shares some predictions for and that it is no longer the future if we don’t act with guts and gumption, starting ASAP. some future occurrence. I don’t pretend to be an expert on climate science – far, far from It’s here and happening it. Climate is an extremely complicated, complex subject. But I do know enough to trust the world’s top climate scientists on these now, at faster rates than issues, and they are in near unanimous agreement that humans originally predicted. are the major cause of the current escalation of warming, and that it is no longer some future occurrence. It’s here and happening now, at faster rates than even they had originally predicted. You may already know much more than what is in this chapter. In November 2014, no If so, please skip right along to the next one. less a figure than Bank For everybody else, here are six issues that I hope will make the of England governor climate change picture clearer for you. Although my memory is Mark Carney warned dim, I learned a lot of these basics, like the carbon cycle, way back ‘the vast majority of in Miss Morgan’s Grade 6 class at Blythwood Public School. She was made of stern stuff, and rarely smiled. (Maybe she knew way {fossil fuel} reserves are more about this than she let on.) unburnable’ if climate • The Sweet Spot – Earth’s climate, after the last Ice Age. change is to be limited • The Greenhouse Effect: What it is, why it’s good to 2C, as pledged by (but enough already). the world’s governments • The Carbon Cycle: Our key to life. • The Fossil Fuels: What they are – and why they’re so addictive. in 2009. (Guts and (And, no, they don’t come from dead dinosaurs.) gumption galore.) • The Crucial Climate Numbers: 280, 450 and 2ºC. • The Bottom Line.
26 THE SWEET SPOT: If you’ve ever played baseball, tennis or golf, you probably know the expression ‘the sweet spot’. If you hit the ball on that exact part of your bat, racquet or golf club, your shot will be dazzling compared to most of your others. There’s also a climate version, so named by American scientist and educator, Dr. Robert Corell (no doubt a sports’ fan too). He dubbed the last 10,000 years, since the end of the last Ice Age, as Humanity’s Sweet Spot. During this period, Earth’s temperature has – overall – been remarkably mild and stable, neither increasing nor decreasing It’s worth saying here by more than 0.5º Celsius. In other words, despite still allowing for some wild and woolly extremes, this narrow variation has and now that climate offered humans an ideal opportunity for our species to thrive and is NOT the same as multiply. And we have. weather. On a bitter It’s worth saying here and now that climate is NOT the same as cold winter day in weather. On a bitter cold winter day in Winnipeg, you can bet Winnipeg, you can someone – half that city’s population, more likely – will grumble bet someone – half that sarcastically, “So much for global warming!” But do cold days disprove climate change and global warming? Or are blistering city’s population, more hot days proof? Or is it just ‘weather’? likely – will grumble • Weather is a mix of elements that occur daily in a specific area sarcastically, “So much and can change rapidly – temperature, humidity, rainfall, clear skies, etc. for global warming!” • Climate, on the other hand, is the average weather pattern in a location over a period of many years and decades. But climate change can and does contribute to making weather events more extreme, even if there’s no steady increase in a specific region’s typical temperature range as the phrase global warming seems to imply. Take that rather hostile ‘polar vortex’ experienced in much of the US Northeast and parts of Canada during the winter of 2014, which seemed never ending. (Yes, we were among the legions who toughed it out! The winter of 2015 was also frigid.) Many people belittled the very idea of global warming during that harsh period, but climate experts pointed to the major increase in Arctic temperatures as the probable cause, forcing cold fronts farther south for much longer periods than usual. During that same period, Great Britain experienced the heaviest rainfalls and floods since record keeping began, most of western Europe and the North American west coast had an unusually mild winter, and Australia suffered intense heat waves. It’s clear our frigid winter here was a local effect caused by displaced air masses, but Earth’s average temperature was still abnormally warm. There has been weird weather practically everywhere in the world these past couple of decades, tweaked to be more extreme by climate change. Climate scientists predict even more instability as years go on.
27 THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT: Our agreeable post Ice-Age period of climate stability – that lovely sweet spot – was made possible by a phenomenon called ‘the greenhouse effect.’ Here’s how it works: The combination of gases that have made up Earth’s atmosphere for the past 10,000 to 20,000 years trap just enough of the sun’s radiant heat to make our climate moderate, with an average temperature of about 15º Celsius.
Mars and Mother Earth By comparison, our nearest solar system neighbors are either scorching, like Venus – average temperature 462ºC – over four times hotter than water’s boiling point, or frigid, like Mars which has some decent 20º+ days at high noon in summer, but averages -55ºC. Here on Earth we are fairly blessed by comparison. Lucky us for landing in the sweet spot.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key heat-trapping gas, and for the past 10,000 years, until the mid-1850s when the Industrial Revolution
got under way in earnest, the CO2 fraction of our atmosphere stayed remarkably steady.
In the language of global climate, this unvarying state was Our agreeable post measured at 280 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide, or Ice-Age period of less than 0.03 per cent of the volume of our atmosphere – the air climate stability – we breathe. Oxygen, by comparison, makes up 20 percent, and nitrogen about 78 per cent. Such a small fraction of CO2 sounds that lovely sweet spot – positively trivial, but that’s not the case, as we’ll soon learn. was made possible by a phenomenon called Just the right degree of greenhouse effect is a beautiful thing. But trapping too much of the sun’s heat in our atmosphere – aka the ‘the greenhouse effect.’ ‘human enhanced’ greenhouse effect (that phrase makes it sound somehow virtuous) – opens a Pandora’s Box of big trouble. More after this…
28 THE CARBON CYCLE: With a nod to all Grade 6 teachers, not just Miss Morgan, here is how this critical cycle works. Green plants of all kinds transform sunlight and carbon dioxide – through the quite miraculous process of photosynthesis – into another form of energy, carbon-based foods (carbs!) The plants release oxygen as a by-product, a nice bonus for species like ours whose survival depends on oxygen. (In case you wondered, it was 2.7 billion years ago on Earth that cyanobacteria first turned the phenomenal trick of photosynthesis to produce oxygen as a by-product.)
Animals, including humans, eat plants for energy, conveying carbon-based food into our bodies, where it’s broken down and delivered to the trillions of cells that sustain our various body systems. Even if we’re meat-eaters, the animals we customarily consume owe all their growth to plant- based foods. We also breathe in the oxygen that plants exhale – it’s as vital to us as CO2 is to the plants. In turn, we breathe out carbon dioxide in our elegant collaboration with vegetation.
When plants and animals die, their remains decay and decompose, and the embedded carbon often breaks down. Much of it escapes into the Earth’s atmosphere as – you guessed it – carbon dioxide or CO2. Round and round the carbon cycle goes… THE CARBON CYCLE
Carbon cycle: The carbon released by burning fossil fuels overloads the
CO2 portion of the previously balanced global carbon budget, symbolized by the larger arrow on the left in the illustration.
CARBON RESERVOIRS: SINKS & SOURCES A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon than it releases, and a carbon source releases more carbon than it absorbs. We mostly think of human-generated carbon pollution going up, up, up into the atmosphere, but forests, soils and oceans can and do act as sinks, storing carbon – or, if overloaded, they can become carbon sources. Too much human-driven
CO2 in our oceans, for example, makes them more acidic, a big problem for plankton, shellfish, and – ultimately – all life. (More about this in the excellent book, Seasick.) On the soil side of the equation, farming that features bare soil cultivation has resulted in the leaching of 50 to 70 percent of its original carbon stock into the atmosphere. Regenerative, ecological agriculture, on the other hand, holds much promise for turning back the carbon clock to create a carbon sink, thus helping to fight climate change.
29 THE FOSSIL FUELS:
Not all carbon ends up in the atmosphere as gaseous CO2. Much gets stored underground, in forests, bogs and oceans.
Way back in another era, 280 to 350 million years ago, our planet was a decidedly hotter, soggier place than it is now. This was a period when immense amounts of carbon got locked up, not released to the atmosphere as gas. On land, there were forests of ferns and early conifers in massive swamps and peat bogs. Contrary to popular The animals of the era ranged from microscopic marine organisms belief, it was mainly and bizarre fish to roving reptiles and giant flying insects. marine plants and Behold, when all those plants and animals died and decomposed, animals, not dinosaurs, most of the carbon in their carcasses got gradually buried under that begot oil. successive layers of the Earth’s crust. Given time and pressure, all this decaying, carbon-laden material eventually became what we now know as the fossil fuels. Some of it turned into the liquid we called petroleum, aka oil. (Jed Clampett Almost all the fuel we of the Beverly Hillbillies called it ‘black gold’, as did many others burn – including the who struck it rich with the stuff.) Some turned to vapour and was three main fossil fuels, captured in underground pockets and rock formations; hence, natural gas. And many of the peat bogs were transformed into coal, oil and natural seams or beds of solid black – sometimes brown – carbon, aka coal. gas – is energy stored from the sun. Most of the world’s coal was formed during the Carboniferous Era, while oil was created later, during Mesozoic times. Yes, dinosaurs did roam the Earth in this latter era, but – contrary to popular belief – it was mainly marine plants and animals, not dinos, that begot oil.
All of this deposited, prehistoric energy essentially lay fallow until we humans came along and learned how to extract and use it.
Almost all the fuel we burn – including the three main fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas – is energy stored from the sun. Wood is too, which makes it good for illustration purposes. Like other plants, trees grow and flourish thanks primarily to sunlight and photosynthesis. When a tree is chopped for firewood, then lit in your woodstove, think of the flames and heat radiating from the logs as stored sunlight that has come blazing back to life.
For much of human history – about 400,000 years – wood was the main source of energy for cooking and heating. Over time, it also became the prime construction material for houses, ships, factories, bridges, windmills, and the fuel for smelting copper and iron ores.
The first modern energy crisis occurred in the middle of the 18th century, when European communities faced a major wood shortage,
30 forcing them to turn increasingly to the use of coal. But it was the enormous demand for energy to power new inventions like steam locomotives that gave coal its big chance to leap into the spotlight and become a key driver of the Industrial Revolution. (Not really a revolution at all, but the gradual replacement of wind, water and wood energy by fossil power.)
Here’s where it all gets so thorny. Once the Industrial Revolution throttled up to high gear with fossil fuels – around the mid-19th century – the stage was set for human-driven global warming – the first time any species on Earth had ever had the power and The first modern energy sway to actually change Earth’s climate. Which brings us to… crisis occurred in the THE CRUCIAL CLIMATE NUMBERS: middle of the 18th All that ancient fossil energy, when burned, finally liberates its century, when European stored carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Think of communities faced a your car’s fuel tank: You fill it, drive 600K or so, and the needle slowly but surely slides back down to empty. Where did all that major wood shortage, liquid gasoline go? Once burned, it transformed into gaseous forcing them to turn CO , exited through your tailpipe and went up, up and away 2 increasingly to the use into the atmosphere. of coal. Before the Industrial Revolution, as noted, the level of carbon dioxide was steady at about 280 parts per million (ppm).
By April 2013, the Earth’s atmospheric CO2 level reached 400 parts per million for the first time in modern history, and – though it may ebb slightly at seasonal intervals – it’s on track to rise an average of two parts per million (2 ppm) every year. Again, this sounds almost negligible, but a chart is worth a thousand words.
31 The present concentration of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere is now the highest it has been in the past 800,000 years and possibly for the past 15 million years, mostly attributable to burning fossil fuels and deforestation.
But whether it’s 800,000 or 15 million years, climatologist Peter Gleick of the University of California Los Angeles states, “The more important point to remember is that never in the history of the planet have humans altered the atmosphere as radically as we are doing so now.” “The more important The climate drives the weather. People care about the weather – point to remember is what happens day to day – our weather can bring us joy or that never in the history misery. It is time to care about the climate as well, because our of the planet have decisions and actions today will reverberate in our weather for centuries to come. humans altered the Peter Gleick atmosphere as radically as we are doing so now.” This unexplored territory is something we humans – well, probably not Boomers, but definitely our kids and grandchildren (and Peter Gleick theirs) – will have to deal with for a very long time. Because, once emitted, carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for 100 to 1,000 years. Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, Even if we stopped the climate will continue to warm because of ‘climate inertia’, the emitting greenhouse approximate 40-year lag between burning fossil fuels – the cause – gases today, the climate and their eventual effect, an unprecedented rise in Earth’s average temperature since humans have been the dominant species. Hence, will continue to warm we’re only now fully experiencing the consequences of the CO2 because of ‘climate we discharged into atmosphere during the 1970s. inertia’, the approximate Many people believe that climate change is still some vague future 40 year lag between phenomenon, but it’s here right now, and some consequences are burning fossil fuels – already irreversible. Rising sea levels, just one example, are now the cause – and their driving the citizens of several small Pacific island nations such as Tuvalu to strategize the evacuation of their ancestral homes for eventual effect, a rise in higher ground before they are simply washed out. Here in North Earth’s temperature. America, it’s now pretty easy to count the number of droughts, floods, ice storms, torrential rainfalls and other extreme weather ‘events’ that were rarer in days gone by. Look at California, now in its fourth year of severe drought.
Just normal variations in weather? You might be able to fool yourself, but most young people know better, and science absolutely confirms these changes. So do insurance companies. And those sunny beaches we love to visit during the long cold winter months? Not many of them will survive a three-meter sea level rise, unavoidable if the giant West Antarctic ice sheet collapses. The earliest signs of that process, thinning ice, was reported by
32 American scientists in May 2014. Such a ‘collapse’ will take at least 200 years – and perhaps a few centuries longer since it is such a massive sheet – but what a heartbreaking prospect. It’s very difficult to imagine this beautiful planet without beaches – places of such joy and wonder to so many of us. (Besides that, of course, the colossal costs of fortifying – even relocationg – countless cities and towns situated along coastlines.)
The longer we procrastinate, the bigger the environmental and economic impacts of our failure to help stabilize the climate we are helping to unhinge. Former mayor and (still) billionaire The longer we businessman Michael Bloomberg, whose beloved New York City took a savage beating from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, puts it clearly: procrastinate, the bigger “Decisions we’re making today – to continue along a path that’s the environmental and almost entirely carbon {fossil fuel} dependent – are locking us in economic impacts for long-term consequences that we will not be able to change, of our failure to help but only adapt to, at enormous cost.” stabilize the climate we How are fossil fuel companies responding to the climate crisis are helping to unhinge. their products have triggered? They’ve engaged in ever more frenzied exploration for new oil and gas fields. Hydraulic fracturing – fracking – is the new darling of the industry, estimated at tens of thousands of wells in the United States alone, and spreading rapidly around the world.
JANUARY 2016 POST SCRIPT: Who would have guessed that the price of a barrel of oil would have plummeted by more than 60 percent since June 2014? This alone – even if temporarily – is putting the brakes on extracting ‘extreme’ oil, from the tar sands, from many fracking sites, and so on.
It gets clearer by the minute that the age of renewables has finally come. Even at much lower oil prices, renewables should remain competitive, although past history has shown that periods of low oil prices tend to be fleeting. But one key factor favours the replacement of fossil fuels with ‘green’ energy – the prices of renewables are getting ever more affordable. The cost of solar photovoltaics, for example, has dropped more than 70 per cent since 2008, and is still falling (while solar energy becomes more efficient).
Not a moment too soon.
33 5. The bottom line
Here are the key numbers, some repeated from the last chapter. They’re simple, even for math-challenged me.
• 280 – the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere before the Industrial Revolution.
• 350 – This is the number chosen by climate activist and author Bill McKibben and his young colleagues at Vermont’s Middlebury College when they founded the organization, 350.org, in 2008. Why 350? It was NASA climate scientist James Hansen who wrote: “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed, and to which life on Earth is adapted, evidence and ongoing climate
change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced…to at most 350 ppm {parts per million}.” Google 350.org for more info. As you can see in the egg-timer illustration, we have already‘ spent’ about two thirds
of the planet’s total CO2 ‘budget’ if we want to stay below 2ºC, (let alone the 1.5ºC pledged in Paris in late 2015).
• 400 – the parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere now, thanks to burning ga-jillions of gigatonnes of fossil fuels to make our lives easier, more convenient and more comfortable.
We need aggressive reductions to stay below 2ºC: a global emissions ‘peak’ by 2020, Canada to be ‘carbon negative’ by 2032, developing countries’ emissions to begin falling in 2030, and a global fossil-fuel free economy by 2050. By October 2015, voluntary emissions cuts promised by countries in the lead-up to the new UN climate agreement in December came nowhere even close to making these goals possible.
This illustration makes it very clear that we need to act fast.
34 HOW DID A CARTOON ABOUT HIP REPLACEMENTS GET IN HERE?
Well, first of all, because it’s funny – or at least it appeals to my sense of humour – and hopefully to all Boomers who have experienced a more predictable outcome to hip surgery. Imagine going into the operating theatre as a 65-year old Boomer and emerging as a newborn, thanks to surgical error. We all need a good laugh, especially in a book aimed at a generation in its closing decades who are about to become more frequent health care ‘consumers’ – and in any book about climate change.
But this particular cartoon also made me think: What if we were truly ‘born again’ as infants in this brave new world of 2016? With rough climate times ahead, would we feel as lucky and optimistic now as we did back in the 1950s and 60s? Maybe thinking about it this way will help us feel some empathy for what our children and grandkids are facing…
Highly recommended reading: For predictions how climate change will affect the life of an infant born in 2016, search the internet for the United Church Observer’s January 2016 feature story, This Baby’s Life. (www.ucobserver.org/society/2016/01/baby_life)
35 6. Climate change in a minute
Big thanks for this super – and super-brief – summary to freelance environmental journalist Stephen Leahy of Uxbridge Ontario. In addition to writing many excellent articles on climate change, Steve has recently published a terrific book calledYour Water Footprint. Excellent. Every school kid – and his/her grandparents! – should have one. ***
Climate change is actually easy to understand and can be summed Stephen Leahy up in less than 60 seconds:
For decades humanity has pumped hundreds of millions of tonnes
of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas.
Measurements show there is now 42 percent more CO2 in the atmosphere than 100 years ago. It is long-established science that
There is nothing CO2 acts as a blanket, keeping the planet warm by trapping some of the sun’s heat. Each year our emissions of CO are making that fundamentally new 2 blanket thicker, trapping more heat. in this 2014 IPCC document. All that’s That fossil-fuel CO2 blanket has raised global temperatures 0.85ºC really changed is the (as of late 2015, now 1ºC), It would be far hotter if not for the oceans absorbing 95 percent of the extra heat trapped by the urgency and desperation blanket. But the oceans won’t help us for much longer. 2014 will in the language climate be the warmest year on record. {Steve wrote this brief explanation scientists now use. before 2014 was indeed verified to be the warmest year yet – even if it wasn’t in your local area! Final results for 2015 turned out be even hotter, and 2016 is predicted to top every previous year since the mid-1880s, when record keeping began.}
It would be far hotter “Urgent action is needed to cut global greenhouse gas emissions,” if not for the oceans says Michel Jarraud, Secretary General of the World Meteorological absorbing 95 percent of Organization. “The longer we wait, the more expensive and the extra heat trapped difficult it will be to adapt – to the point where some impacts will be irreversible and impossible to cope with,” Jarraud commented by the CO2 blanket. But about the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the oceans won’t help Synthesis Report. us for much longer. There is nothing fundamentally new in this 2014 IPCC document. All that’s really changed is the urgency and desperation in the language climate scientists now use.
– Stephen Leahy
36 7. What are the greenhouse gases?
• Water vapour (H2O). This this is probably a surprise to most people – water vapour is actually the biggest contributor to the overall greenhouse effect. How is this possible? The warmer Earth gets “Back when horses and (as a result of humans burning fossil fuels), the more water evaporates, trapping more heat and triggering even higher buggies were the main temperatures – aka a ‘positive feedback loop” (see page 49). form of transport, there Water vapour feedback roughly doubles the amount of warming was no debate about caused by excess CO according to SkepticalScience.com. 2, the impact of those emissions: you smelled • Carbon dioxide (CO2) is present in Earth’s atmosphere as part of the carbon cycle – the natural circulation of carbon among them, stepped over them, the atmosphere, oceans, soil, plants, and animals. But we homo shoveled them. Today, sapiens have added enough CO2 over the past 250 years to upset the balance. Burning fossil fuels, producing cement, flaring of ‘waste’ you can see and smell from oil and gas operations, burning and clear-cutting forests, and fossil fuels burning… unsustainable farming emissions are key ‘modern’ sources of CO . 2 but the CO2 itself slips Globally, the world’s farms and pasturelands could store 4.6 into the atmosphere gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year with better soil management unnoticed, which makes and ecological practices – that’s significant! – and be a huge it easy to ignore.” contributor to climate stability. (One gigatonne = 1 billion tonnes.) Alan Robock, According to UCAR, a consortium of over 100 US colleges and Rutgers University universities focusing on atmospheric research, only about half the
CO2 we disperse into the atmosphere will be gone in 100 years; the rest will leave the atmosphere even more gradually, over hundreds and even thousands of years. This is big trouble, as we keep adding Globally, the more to the grand total every year (even if that year’s emissions are less than any previous year’s.) world’s farms and pasturelands could • Methane (CH ) is the second-most climate warming greenhouse 4 store 4.6 gigatonnes gas after carbon dioxide. Molecule for molecule, over 100 years, it traps 34 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Methane in the of CO2 per year with atmosphere has increased to over 1.8 parts per million (ppm); and better soil management while that figure may not mean much by itself, it’s 1.1 ppm higher and organic practices, than levels reached in pre-industrial times – nearly three times as and be a huge much. contributor to climate Methane’s sources include ‘fugitive’ releases from coal, oil and gas stability. What are we extraction wells, and especially from fracking, once claimed by the fossil fuel industry to be comparatively clean and green. Not any waiting for? more. Scientific American reports that fracked wells leak 40 to 60 percent more methane than conventional natural gas wells.
Methane is also emitted in the burps from billions of ruminants, the animals with four stomachs including cows, goats, sheep, and
37 so on. Other sources include manure slurry ponds, rice paddies, as well as sewage treatment plants and landfill sites.
There are also huge quantities of methane still frozen in Arctic permafrost, and as frozen methane hydrates under shallow ocean floors. Release of substantial amounts of methane from both these sources is deeply worrisome.
• Nitrous Oxide (N20): Synthetic fertilizers made from natural gas are a significant source of climate-warming nitrous oxide. So is farm animal waste. Over-fertilization and run-off of nitrogen fertilizers and sewage waste are chief causes of dead zones from eutrophication – algae blooms that kill off other plant and animal life. Over 100 years, a nitrous oxide molecule traps 298 times more heat than a carbon dioxide molecule, and is the third most potent man-made greenhouse gas.
• The F Gases are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the not-so-safe replacements for CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, mainly refrigerants) that were targeted for phase-out by the 1987 Montreal Protocol because of the serious damage the latter did to the ozone layer. But, global warming-wise, both CFCs and HFCs are potent greenhouse gases that can trap up to 15,000 times more heat than carbon dioxide. HFCs have now been slated for phaseout under the Montreal agreement.
• Ozone (O3) is not a problem high in the stratosphere where it deflects dangerous solar radiation from reaching Earth’s surface by scattering incoming ultraviolet rays from the sun. The ‘bad’ ozone that contributes to global warming, plus decreased crop yields and human health problems, originates down below in the troposphere, the level of our atmosphere closest to the ground. This ozone is a major ingredient of smog that stems from vehicle exhaust, fossil fuel power plants and fuel refineries – and it has more than doubled since 1900.
Credit: US EPA - Climate Change Indicators in the US.
38 8. Never heard of AFOLU?
What sectors of society are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)? Most of the United Nations’ chart below is easy to understand. But, since the category called AFOLU adds up to almost 25 percent of all emissions, it’s important to understand what this is.
AFOLU = Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses.
When you think about root causes of climate change, what comes first to your mind’s eye? Zillions of cars idling in ‘rush hour’, transport trucks roaring along super-highways 24/7, jet planes taking off and landing every minute or so at mega-airports? Well, how about emissions from farms and forests? It’s a real shock to learn that total greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and farming actually add up to more than all the climate-warming pollution spewed from the world’s entire transportation sector, plus fossil fuel energy to heat and cool all our buildings.
Deforestation is a huge cause of climate change, second only to burning fossil fuels. When forests are burned and converted to pastureland, for example, the carbon in their woody fibre gets released as CO2. How much every year? Nearly 3 billion tonnes, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, or equivalent to the tailpipe emissions from half a billion cars.
Agricultural emissions include GHGs resulting from ‘manure deposited on pasture, synthetic fertilizers, rice cultivation, manure management, crop residues, biomass burning, and manure applied to soils’, as well as enteric fermentation, the previously mentioned burps from ruminants – animals with four stomachs. More people eating less meat and dairy products, or becoming vegan, would make a major difference. Just switching to pork or chicken from beef is a much better option from a climate standpoint.
Who me?
39 9. Slavery, then and now
There’s no doubt about it. The ancient fossil fuels that we continue to burn with reckless abandon are incredibly concentrated and potent. Think about it this way: A single litre of oil produces roughly the equivalent of a week’s worth of human labour.
Fossil fuels have made life far less physically difficult for modern- day humans. Our cars, oil and natural gas furnaces, lawnmowers, Harnessing the potent jet planes, air conditioners, washers and dryers – you name our energy of fossil fuels is everyday conveniences – nearly all run on fossil energy, whether in some ways similar to directly, powered by oil and natural gas, or indirectly, from electricity generated by fossil fuels, including immense quantities exploiting slave labour. of coal. (It’s worth recognizing that the province of Ontario has recently weaned itself entirely off coal-fired electricity – the first major jurisdiction to do so in North America.) Nearly all Baby Boomers Harnessing the potent energy of fossil fuels is in some ways – and our kids and similar to exploiting slave labour. And this is the very analogy that Canadian author and energy activist Andrew Nikiforuk made grandkids - live better in a 2005 magazine article called You and Your Slaves. than almost any royalty anytime in human “Given that the average Canadian now consumes 24.7 barrels of oil a year with scarcely a blink of the eye, every citizen employs history prior to the about 204 virtual slaves,” Nikiforuk writes. “That’s a spectacular 20th century. amount of power for any mortal to wield and much more than any Roman or Egyptian household ever commanded. Or five times more than average 19th century U.S. plantation owners.”
No wonder we fell in love with fossil fuels. All the energy with none of the guilt, for about a century anyway.
The tables have now turned. We who burn fossil fuels to run (ruin?) our civilization now enjoy a level of unsurpassed convenience in the history of humankind. But – think about it – we have become slaves to the power of these non-renewable resources, which are driving our climate to new and precarious places.
It’s a very problematic dependence. Renowned Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman has called us ‘the aristocrats of time and space.’ Nearly all Baby Boomers – and our kids and grandkids – live better than almost any royal family anytime in human history prior to the 20th century. But there is a enormous price to pay for our fossil fuel emissions and dependence, as we’re continuing to discover.
40 10. How long have we known?
Among scientists, theories about Earth’s climate and atmosphere have been conceived, pondered, disputed, challenged, revised and refined for nearly 200 years. It wasn’t until the 1950s, however, that concerns about global warming escalated. Researchers got a big hand during those years from the early, hulking ‘mainframe’ computers that helped speed up the laborious task of doing reams of math calculations. The ‘news’ about global Back then, most of the scientific information about carbon and the ‘enhanced’ greenhouse effect was accumulating fairly quietly warming finally broke behind the scenes, off the radar screen of everyday citizens (who into the mainstream were busy getting seduced by a new screen called television). media and public Given Earth’s past and often frigid climate history, our planet consciousness in the was due for a new Ice Age, and some scientists of the 1960s and 1980s, but long after 70s actually predicted global cooling. But these researchers were it had been observed outnumbered by about six to one, and by 1980 forecasts about pending ice ages virtually came to an end, given overwhelming and acknowledged evidence to the contrary. by the majority of climate scientists. The ‘news’ about global warming finally broke into the mainstream media and public consciousness in the 1980s, but long after it had been observed and acknowledged by the majority of climate scientists.
News coverage of climate change finally exploded in late June In November 1988, thanks to two events. First, on June 23, NASA scientist 2013, Canada James Hansen told a televised US Senate committee that measurable won the ‘Lifetime global temperature increases were not being caused by natural climate variations, but by humans pumping unprecedented Underachievement quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. ‘’It is time to Fossil Award’ in stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong Warsaw, Poland, that the greenhouse effect is here and global warming has begun,” Hansen told The New York Times. for being ‘in a league of its own’ for total A week later, in Toronto, 300 international scientists and policymakers rang loud alarms at a landmark conference called lack of credibility on Our Changing Atmosphere: Implications for Global Security. The opening climate action. sentence of that conference’s summary statement is telling, and chilling: “Humanity is conducting an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment whose ultimate consequences could be second only to a global nuclear war.”
Blunt words finally paid off, with front-page headlines.
It didn’t hurt the credibility of either story that the early months of 1988 were also the hottest ever charted since official global record-keeping began 100 years earlier.
41 SAY AGAIN?
Before 1988’s headlines, there had been at least two excellent examples of mainstream media coverage of climate change early in the 1980s. The first was an episode of astronomer Carl Sagan’s renowned Cosmos series and – ironically – the second was a full report on CBC-Television’s The Journal in 1984. The CBC program was researched, compiled and presented by a then 41-year-old Canadian journalist, Peter Kent. The program “Humanity is conducting was called The Greenhouse Effect and Planet Earth, with Kent an unintended, concluding, “The greenhouse effect must be considered as the uncontrolled, globally world’s greatest environmental concern.” pervasive experiment Nearly three decades later, as Canada’s Minister of Environment, whose ultimate Mr. Kent was part of a Conservative government whose climate policies earned Canada the Colossal Fossil Award for consequences could be five consecutive years, chosen by an international panel of second only to a global exasperated environmental organizations. Then, in November nuclear war.” 2013, Canada won the ‘Lifetime Underachievement Fossil Award’ in Warsaw, Poland, for being ‘in a league of its own for Our Changing Atmosphere, total lack of credibility on climate action.’ Toronto, 1988.
Combined with a severe drought in much of Canada and the US, people were feeling the heat like never before. Back then, we couldn’t know this 1988 record would be driven off the Top 15 Warmest Years List by so many subsequently hotter ones. Of the top 15 hottest years since modern records have been kept, 14 of them were the first 14 years of this century, 2001 to 2014 (The only exception was 1998).
A few months later, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was launched jointly by two UN agencies, out of deep concern for humankind’s future.
But the global warming story actually had much earlier roots.
Here are three highlights:
• In 1824, French mathematician Joseph Fourier proposed this theory: Given Earth’s size and distance from the Sun, its average temperature should have been much colder. He thought that something in the atmosphere must be acting like an insulating blanket, holding in the Sun’s heat. Though Fourier didn’t know what this was, his speculation was humanity’s first inkling of the greenhouse effect.
• In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius conceived a new Joseph Fourier theory, suggesting that major changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide could either heat up or cool down Earth’s average
42 temperature. He and a Swedish science colleague, Arvid Hogbom, did the math to focus on the possibility of global cooling, and more ice ages, but they also considered the effect that doubling
CO2 levels would have on Earth’s average temperatures. Their answer? It would yield 5 to 6 degrees Celsius of warming. (Nearly 120 years later, that’s approximately the trajectory we’re on.)
The Swedes knew that a growing number of fossil fuel-driven industries were already causing a rise in CO2 levels, nearly equaling nature’s own ‘emissions’ through photosynthesis. They believed there was little reason for concern at the time, nothing much to worry about. But they couldn’t predict how hugely the burning of coal, oil and natural gas would mushroom in the decades ahead, driving Western industrial economies to astonishing heights – and pushing the
CO2 needle decisively toward rapid warming.
• In the late 1950s, California scientist Charles David Keeling set up a CO2 monitoring station in Mauna Loa, Hawaii. He wanted to end ongoing disputes over the Swedes’ theory of carbon dioxide and global warming, and to provide accurate year-to-year CO2 measurements. The results are plain to see on the chart below. THE MOST IMPORTANT CHART IN THIS BOOK! Monthly carbon dioxide concentrations at noaa’s mauna loa observatory
WHY TOTAL CO2 GOES UP, DESPITE SOME YEARLY REDUCTIONS
The following is a great explanation of why greenhouse gases like CO2 increase every year, and what those squiggly lines really mean. (Thanks to University Corporation for Atmospheric Research for permission to reproduce it.) Even if you don’t pay a speck of attention to the rest of this book, have a close look at this chart to understand why we have to stop burning fossil fuels.
This graph shows an annual seasonal cycle and a steady upward trend since CO2 measurements began atop Mauna Loa, Hawaii, in 1958.
The seasonal cycles (those squiggly lines) are due to the vast landmass of the Northern Hemisphere, which contains the majority of land-based vegetation. The result is a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide during northern spring and summer, when plants are absorbing CO2 as part of photosynthesis. The pattern reverses, with an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide during northern fall and winter. The yearly spikes during the cold months occur as annual vegetation dies and leaves fall and decompose, releasing their carbon back into the air.
Image courtesy Scripps CO2 Program.
43 This graphic portrayal of rising CO2 levels is known as the Keeling curve in honor of the aforementioned originator of these measurements, Charles David Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
This part is crucial to understanding why we urgently need to
reduce CO2. People don’t always produce more CO2 from one year to the next. When the global economy weakens, emissions from human activities can actually drop slightly for a year or two, as they did in 2009. When the economy rebounds, so can emissions. Yet in either case, the accumulation of CO in the atmosphere continues “We have proved the 2 to rise over time, as shown in the Mauna Loa graph. It’s a bit like commercial profit of a savings account: even if your contributions get smaller in a sun power in the tropics tight budget year, the total in your account still goes up. (Africa) and have more Vegetation also makes a difference, because growing plants absorb particularly proved that CO2. Large-scale atmospheric patterns such as El Niño and La Niña after our stores of oil bring varying amounts of flooding, drought, and fires to different and coal are exhausted regions at different times, which affects global plant growth. Thus, the amount of human-produced CO emissions absorbed the human race can 2 by plants varies from as little as 30% to as much as 80% from year receive unlimited power to year. Over the long term, just over half of the CO2 we add to from the rays of the sun.” the atmosphere remains there for up to 1000 years or more. Frank Shuman, New York Times, About 25 percent is absorbed by oceans, and the rest by plants. July 2, 1916 This ‘balance sheet’ is known as the global carbon budget. Photo courtesy PBS.
Over a century ago in 1912, the American inventor Frank Shuman, who also invented safety glass, designed a mirror to focus the sun’s rays on a tank filled with liquid, creating steam to drive a turbine to make electricity, resulting in concentrated solar power. He called it the ‘sun boiler’. Thirty-five years earlier, French mathematics teacher Augustin Mouchot designed and built the earliest solar-powered engine which he displayed and demonstrated at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878.
44 11. The good, the bad and the ugly…
THE GOOD: After seeing that Mauna Loa chart in the last chapter, you may well to ask what could possibly be The Good in the title of this chapter.
Well, the good news was that once scientists – a naturally restrained bunch who prefer to let peer-reviewed research and facts speak for themselves – started speaking out about the consequences of emitting huge quantities of CO2 into our atmosphere, then politicians began taking notice too, and going public.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a scientist by training and not nicknamed The Iron Lady for being a left-wing softie, had this to say to delegates at the 1990 World Climate Conference in Geneva: “The danger of global
“The danger of global warming is as yet unseen, but real enough warming is as yet for us to make changes and sacrifices, so that we do not live at unseen, but real enough the expense of future generations. Our ability to come together for us to make changes to stop or limit damage to the world’s environment will be perhaps and sacrifices, so that the greatest test of how far we can act as a world community. No one should under-estimate the imagination that will be we do not live at the required, nor the scientific effort, nor the unprecedented expense of future co-operation we shall have to show. We shall need statesmanship generations... It’s because of a rare order. It’s because we know that, we are here today. But we know that, we are the need for more research should not be an excuse for delaying much needed action now.” here today. But the need for more research should The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, unanimously not be an excuse for adopted Agenda 21, a global plan of action for sustainable development, and launched the UN Framework Convention delaying much needed on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was ultimately signed by action now.” 192 nations. Margaret Thatcher in 1990, before she changed her mind! The world seemed primed and ready to start seriously reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
THE BAD: Alas, the promise of significant climate action during the late 1980s and early 90s was ultimately bested by ‘jobs and the economy’. And climate has continued play second fiddle (or less) until now.
Why? US President Bill Clinton’s unofficial campaign slogan in 1992 sums it up: “It’s the economy, stupid.” He wasn’t alone: Before climate change burst into headlines in the late 1980s, Canadian and US leaders had their eyes fixed on a tantalizing prize called the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, which was signed January 2, 1988.
45 The agreement was delayed by the Canadian Senate, however, and then became the central focus of a fiery federal election in November 1988, with Liberal leader John Turner promising to ‘tear up the deal’, if elected, and Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney keenly endorsing it. Environmental protection and climate were never discussed.
Brian Mulroney won that 1988 Canadian election with a majority of seats, and the Canada-US free trade deal was duly executed. Six years later, on January 1, 1994, the North American Free Trade Although most critics Agreement (NAFTA) came into force, bringing Mexico into the fold. praise the economic Almost as an afterthought, two ‘toothless’ side agreements were successes of these and tacked on to NAFTA to address labor and environmental concerns, other international Naomi Klein explains in her exceptional 2014 book, This Changes Everything – Capitalism vs the Climate: trade agreements, rarely is anything said about “What is remarkable about these parallel processes – trade on their climate costs, the one hand, climate on the other – is the extent to which they functioned as two solitudes, each seeming to actively pretend the which have been other did not exist, ignoring the most glaring questions about enormous. how one would impact the other.”
Klein contends there was never any question about which deal would trump the other. “The commitments made in the climate negotiations all effectively functioned on the honor system, with a weak and unthreatening mechanism to penalize countries that failed to keep their promises. The commitments made under the trade agreements, however, were enforced by a dispute settlement process with real teeth, and failure to comply would land governments in trade court, often facing harsh penalties.”
Although most critics praise the economic successes of these and other international trade agreements, rarely is anything said about their climate costs, which have been enormous.
Until ‘free trade’ truly got traction, the growth of greenhouse gas emissions had been slowing to about one percent per year in the 1990s, but after the turn of the millennium, they shot up sharply. Think massive container ships plying the oceans to Canada and the US from just about everywhere, especially Asia, and the steady growth of airfreight, whisking products from around the world to our doorsteps. Canada’s NAFTA highway corridor, from Windsor Ontario through to Quebec – the stretch I am most familiar with – roars with diesel tractor-trailers virtually 24/7.
Our every consumer whim is satisfied while the world continues to heat up.
46 The health of world economies rely almost totally on thriving, sustainable environments, a dependence that should be plain as day. But we have fallen for the guff that says we can either have a prosperous economy with lots of jobs or a robust environment, but not both. Nonsense.
Over the past two decades when stock markets sagged and economic indicators slumped, climate and other eco-issues dropped – or were forced – well down on the list of priorities.
Loopholes and exceptions allowed gas-guzzling SUVs and light trucks to become the rage among those who could afford them during the 1990s – once called The Turnaround Decade – mocking concerns about our need to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Naomi Klein Apprehension about climate slid virtually out of public sight for years on end, except for infrequent stretches when it grabbed the spotlight for brief periods – the signing of the Kyoto Accord, publication of newly-released UN climate reports, the extended run of Al Gore’s Oscar-winning filmAn Inconvenient Truth in 2006, and the run-up to the critical Copenhagen climate talks in 2009, to name a few of these all-too-brief episodes. We have fallen for the guff that says we can But overall, ‘the economy’ and politics prevailed. Even Margaret either have a prosperous Thatcher, once the brave advocate of climate action, came to believe that it was all a socialist plot. “Global warming provides economy with lots a marvelous excuse for worldwide, supra-national socialism,” of jobs or a robust she wrote in her 2003 book, Statecraft. Very sad. environment, but not THE UGLY: both. Nonsense. Now for one more prophetic statement from the 1988 Toronto climate conference, Our Changing Atmosphere: Implications for Global Security: “If rapid climate action is not taken now by the countries of the world, these problems will become progressively more serious, more difficult to reverse, and more costly to address.”
Fast forward now, to 2016, and it’s difficult not to wonder what happened to our brains when reading statements like this one:
“More carbon dioxide was emitted into our atmosphere between 2012 and 2013 than in any other year since 1984, putting humans on the fast track toward irreversible global warming,” the United Nation’s weather agency said in a report released September 9, 2014. “Pleading ignorance can no longer be an excuse for not acting.
“Severe, pervasive and irreversible climate impacts will occur if the world doesn’t rein in its emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.”
47 So here is what Planet Earth will look like with a 4ºC average temperature increase if we don’t succeed in achieving a low carbon future. This description was not written by some befuddled Chicken Little type. It is word for word from a 2012 World Bank Group report called Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4ºC Warmer World Must be Avoided. The opening statement in the Foreword by Dr. Jim Yong Kim states, “It is my hope that this report shocks us into action…” “The 4ºC scenarios are devastating; the inundation of coastal cities; increasing risks for food production; many dry regions becoming dryer; wet regions wetter; unprecedented heat waves; substantially exacerbated water scarcity in many regions; increased frequency of high-intensity tropical cyclones; and irreversible loss of biodiversity, including coral reef systems.” More distressing still, the report continues with this statement: “And most importantly, a 4ºC world is so different from the current one that it comes with higher uncertainty and new risks that threaten our ability to anticipate and plan for future adaptation needs.” We won’t be around to The only misleading word in that blunt statement, I think, is ‘our’ lend a hand – or hold because it implies that ‘we’ who are now adults will be around to their hands – as they help cope with the devastation. Not the case. The reality is we’ll be passing the torch to younger generations to deal with all these confront this terrifying brutal challenges. We won’t be around to lend a hand – or hold new world that we their hands – as they confront this terrifying new world that we failed to put right when failed to put right when we had the chance. we had the chance. Unless, of course, we act boldly now.
Trade is still trumping environment
Quick now, what does this alphabet soup of acronyms represent? TPP, CETA, FIPA, NAFTA, CEPA, CJEPA. And what in tarnation is an ISDS? Take a bow if you identified that scramble of letters as part of a cluster of international trade deals negotiated secretly by Canadian governments over the past 25 years. Some are still in the works, including the mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), described as ‘the North American Free Trade Agreement on steroids.’ One major problem with these deals – other than their total lack of transparency and public debate – is they permit foreign investors to sue a host country trying to stop development of an oil pipeline carrying highly polluting bitumen, for example, thus harming the investor’s potential profits. These cases are heard through the trade deal’s Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) process, a private tribunal. (Google: TransCanada suing US government $15 billion for rejecting Keystone XL pipeline.) Needless to say, in a showdown between environmental protection and the economy, the environment often gets whupped, and corporations rewarded. If we’re to win on climate, any and all trade deals must put environment first.
48 12. Feedback loops, tipping points
Surely the most alarming part of all this comes under the subtitle ‘irreversible’ – concepts known as feedback loops and tipping points.
If the Earth heats up past a certain point – still unknown, but harrowing in its consequences – then the climate system itself takes over with some frightening surprises of its own called feedback loops and tipping points. I’ve changed the type A US group called the Land Trust Alliance explains these concepts of liquid in the tipping very well and is shamelessly quoted (not quite plagiarism, but close) in this next section. At least I’ve changed the type of liquid point example from milk in the tipping point example from milk to beer, as I think we all to beer, as I think we all need a few rounds at this stage. need a few rounds at • Feedback Loops: The best-known example of a feedback loop this stage. affecting climate change is the ice-albedo effect. Ice, which is white, has a higher albedo – or ability to reflect heat – than darker surfaces such as bare land or water. Hence, ice can radiate more of the sun’s heat back into the atmosphere, keeping Earth’s surface cooler.
However, because temperatures are rising, Arctic sea ice is melting more rapidly in the summer months. This creates more water, and allows the oceans to absorb and retain more heat. This, in turn, increases the likelihood that even more ice will melt during the following summer – hence a feedback loop.
Other feedback loops include: • Stronger and more frequent droughts in some areas may cause a die-off of local vegetation. Because plants help maintain a certain level of humidity, this die-off could lead to worsening drought conditions in the future. • As temperatures rise, sub-Arctic and Arctic permafrost begins to melt. This, in turn, releases additional methane. That additional methane then helps drive temperatures even higher.
• Tipping points: Imagine a glass of beer on a table. Tip the glass a little, and not much happens. Tip the glass a little further, and the beer just sloshes in the glass. But, tip it far enough, and we have a big, irreversible, wet mess. This moment of suddenly changing from one state (beer in glass, dry table) to another state (beer all over a sopping table) is called a tipping point.
Tipping points are generally preceded by gradual and low-impact changes, but they occur quickly and cannot be undone.
49 Three examples: • The complete disappearance of Arctic sea ice during the summer months could dramatically change ocean currents in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. • The melting of permafrost could lead to a massive release of methane gas, accelerating climate change. • A longer dry season, precipitated by a temperature increase of just 3-4 degrees Celsius, could cause a rapid die-off of the Amazon rainforest.
This moment of suddenly If all this only makes sense from an economic standpoint, let’s conclude with this: In 2006, Sir Nicholas Stern, then head of changing from one state the UK Government’s Economic Service, and a former Chief (beer in glass, dry table) Economist of the World Bank oversaw the writing of an to another state (beer all independent, rigorous and comprehensive analysis called over a sopping table) is The Economics of Climate Change. The report concluded, If action is not taken now to curb global carbon emissions, “climate change called a tipping point. could cost between five and 20percent of the world’s annual gross domestic product. In comparison, it would take 1 percent of GDP to lessen the most damaging effects of climate change.”
That was a decade ago, and not much has changed, except the cost gets higher, and the timeline for action shorter and more urgent. In 2013, Stern acknowledged he – like so many others – had underestimated the risks of climate change, and had he known, “I would have been a bit more blunt. Do we want to play Russian roulette with two bullets or one?”
Way better tipping points To avoid these terrible tipping points, we need some much better Boomer-driven ones on behalf of the ‘greater good.’ If you read Malcolm Gladwell’s 2000 bestseller, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, you’ll remember that the Hush Puppies’ shoe brand became wildly popular for a couple of decades, but nearly petered out and died in the mid-90s. Then who would ever guess? A few hip New Yorkers started wearing them to clubs, and coupled with a pair of fashion designers choosing them as accessories, suddenly a buying avalanche got tripped off, making Hush Puppies hugely popular again. So, I’m asking you: How do we start a Cooling-Our-Planet-For-The-Kids campaign that leads to such a grand tipping point? Surely if it can be done for shoes…
50 13. ...And the sad
Surely the most heartbreaking part of the climate change story is this: the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, who have done by far the least to cause the escalating mayhem of climate change, will suffer – are already suffering – the most.
And their fate rests in the hands of people like you and me in the ‘developed’ world, who have not yet fully convinced our politicians, corporations and other powers-that-be to create and The world’s poorest and take immediate and unprecedented action to dramatically reduce most vulnerable people, all greenhouse gases, and shift quickly to green energy alternatives. who have done by far “There’s no escaping the facts: global warming will bring hunger, the least to cause the floods and water shortages,” said Hans Verolme of the global escalating mayhem of conservation organization World Wildlife Fund. “Poor countries climate change, will that bear least responsibility will suffer most – and they have no money to respond – but people should also be aware that even suffer – are already the richer countries risk enormous damage. “Doing nothing is suffering – the most. not an option,” Verolme added. “On the contrary it will have disastrous consequences.”
It already is having disastrous consequences, with many more to come.
You probably saw images of the massive Typhoon Haiyan that viciously struck Philippines in November 2013, killing over 6,000 people. That year, for the first time ever, so many typhoons smashed into the country that officials ran out of letters in the alphabet to name them. It’s not just increasing incidence that is worrisome; super-storms are also predicted to become “more severe with greater wind speeds and more intense precipitation,” the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. Hard to imagine.
Shortly after, the Climate Vulnerable Forum – a group of 20 countries including Philippines – renewed its call to limit global warming to 1.5ºC “to prevent unmanageable suffering and devastation.” At the UN climate negotiations in Paris in December 2015, rich nations including Canada joined hands with developing countries pledging to limit the temperature increase to 1.5º C above pre-industrial levels, and to strive to contain warming to 2ºC by the end of the century. This will take, among other extraordinary actions, unprecedented citizen engagement, including yours and mine while we still have life and breath…
51 THE DARK FORCE
Image by Michael Leunig
I love this cartoon by Aussie Michael Leunig. It took me a bit too long in my own life to figure out that our Western economic system and crazy consumer lifestyles should not be the model for the rest of the world. We’re addicted to ‘stuff’ and perpetual economic growth, and we’re still burning through fossil fuels like there’s no tomorrow. As the noted green business leader Paul Hawken once said: “You can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet.”
52 14. O Canada, this is inexcusable
THE CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX 2014:
A COMPARISON OF THE 58 TOP CO2 EMITTING NATIONS
The Climate Change Performance Index is a tool designed to boost transparency with respect to international climate politics. I am not normally a huge fan of charts, but they can often tell an eye-opening story far faster than a plodding paragraph, and this one captures Canada’s pathetic track record on climate very well indeed.
“Its aim is to encourage political and social pressure on those countries that have, up to now, failed to take ambitious actions on climate protection, as well as to highlight countries with best-practice climate policies,” states Germanwatch, the report’s coordinator.
Using standardized criteria, this index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 58 countries that are, together, responsible for more than 90 percent of the world’s energy- related CO2 emissions. Eighty percent of the evaluation is based on objective indicators of emissions trends and emissions levels. The remaining 20 percent of the index results are built upon national and international climate policy assessments by more than 200 experts from the respective countries.
Notice that no country is named in any of the top three positions. The reason? “No country made it into the first three spots on the list due to a lack of ambition to reach the goal of keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius.” Denmark held fourth spot for a second year, mainly because of legislation passed in February 14, 2012 committing it to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.
O Canada, this is not just embarrassing, it’s inexcusable.
53 The 2014 report concludes: “Canada still shows no intention of moving forward with climate policy and therefore remains at 58th position for another year. Only Iran (59th), Kazakhstan (60th) and Saudi Arabia (61st) have worse ratings.”
Canada’s provinces and territories rose to fill this federal vacuum starting in 2012, agreeing to develop a national energy strategy that would also address climate change, but when push came to shove in July 2015, the final agreement was shorn of an earlier promise committing all provinces to adopt ‘absolute cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.’ Coupled with vague language and no specific targets to phase out fossil fuel,The Globe and Mail said this new provincial strategy instead confirmed the need for more oil pipelines, less red tape so they could be approved faster, and a promise to ramp up overseas oil experts. Appalling.
We Boomers can play a big role in moving Canada past our recent disgrace and back to being a world leader in climate policy and action.
How will this happen? Answer: In large part from ongoing political pressure, applied by growing numbers of organizations and individual citizens like you and me. Our new federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is definitely a step in the right direction, but Canadians cannot afford to leave the fate of children and grandkids in the hands of even the best-intentioned politicians. More than ever, they need to hear from us, and often. And they especially need to hear from fresh voices, not just the ‘usual suspects’ i.e., veteran advocates like me.
While the months and weeks before an election are prime times to extract promises from politicians at all levels, candidates rarely offer ironclad guarantees that what they’ve promised will be delivered after victory is declared. Given how nearly every word spoken by party leaders is now carefully scripted during election campaigns, creative new strategies are called for (see Chapters 29-38). It also means regular personal contact, post-election, to get politicians on the record about their plans for decisive climate action – then delivering on those plans.
It’s a tough slog, though, and here’s why: Most humans – especially politicians! – are programmed to think short term about immediate needs and challenges, so they (hence we) are more prone to focus on issues such as ‘the economy’, jobs, health care, the need to slash debt, even terrorism and national security. But if you look closely at any of these issues through the lens of a climate that’s warming – each and every one of them will be made much worse – and costlier – by weather gone wild. For example:
How many ‘100-year’ floods in Calgary and Toronto – anywhere in Canada – can we afford to bail out? Or extreme winter storms in the Maritimes and Newfoundland? How many more jobs could be created in a greening economy? (Answer: Lots.) How many terrorists have we created in wars over oil? What will be the health care fallout of more deadly heat waves, extreme storms, and the steady northern march of Lyme and other bug-borne diseases? Canada’s contribution ‘just’ 1.6 percent Many politicians – and citizens too – are quick to point out that Canada’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions account for ‘just’ 1.6 percent of the world’s annual total. But look at it this way: Our population accounts for less than .5 percent of the planet’s total, and we discharge 20.7 tonnes of greenhouse gases per person each year. If all 7.2 billion of Earth’s humans emitted 20.7 tonnes annually, the planet’s entire carbon budget would be consumed in about 11 years. We need to get serious about Canadian reductions ASAP!
54 15. Climate trumps everything
In spite of what you might read in The Wall Street Journal or National Post, that measuring stick so beloved by economists called Gross Domestic Product (GDP) isn’t God, world trade doesn’t really rule the roost, and dollar bills aren’t good to eat.
Climate changes everything. Nature bats last. We can’t eat the money. “When the last tree has
Just out of curiosity, after I named this chapter ‘Climate trumps been cut down, the last everything’ I Googled this phrase, and – presto – up popped a fish caught, the last statement by a woman named Phyllis Hasbrouck, the outgoing river poisoned, only then director of Fitchbrook Fields, an organic farm in Madison, will we realize that we Wisconsin. It was a farewell message from Phyllis to all her Fitchbrook Field friends and associates that appeared in the can’t eat money.” farm’s February, 2014 newsletter. Native American saying
“So why am I leaving now?” she asked. “The only thing that attracts me more than doing important work is doing work that’s even more important, and that work is fighting global climate “Without a livable change. To make an analogy, when your house is on fire, it’s time to stop planning nutritious meals and grab the fire hose!” climate, there can be no peace, justice, organic She went on to say: “Without a livable climate, there can be no agriculture, human peace, justice, organic agriculture, human rights, arts, sciences, or whatever your favorite cause is. All of us, no matter what our rights, arts, sciences, situation, politics, or beliefs, have been and will be affected by or whatever your weather gone wild, and it will only get worse unless we can harness favorite cause is.” the power of governments – and ourselves – to create change on Phyllis Hasbrouck a massive scale.” In other words, climate trumps everything.
Our incontestable challenge now is to keep global warming under 2ºC – preferably under 1.5ºC – despite those known fossil fuel reserves already on the books that – if burned – have Earth heading for hellish average temperature increases of 4 to 6º Celsius, predicted way back in 1896 by those far-sighted Swedes – and lately by nearly every credible climate scientist.
Getting back down to 350 ppm of CO2 in our atmosphere will not fling humanity back into the Dark Ages, or doom us to Fred Flintstone lifestyles, although that’s what many global warming deniers and fossil fuel companies would like us to believe.
Compared to plus 4ºC, however, the Dark Ages sound a lot like a Sunday picnic.
55 WHAT IF IT’S ALL A HOAX?
If a picture is worth a thousand words – and we’ve all seen at least a few amazing photos that qualify – how about this: A cartoon being worth a whole book.
What’s taking me scores of pages, and quite a few more gray hairs and wrinkles – mine not yours I hope – to try to explain, can be summed up in a handful of razor-sharp, witty words accompanied by a spare but punchy drawing.
See for yourself! (If you agree, it’s a great one to copy for your fridge, and your friends, although – for copyright reasons – don’t tell anyone I said so…)
56 16. More jobs, better health, safer planet! With our children’s Knowing how utterly dependent we are on coal, oil and gas and fate in the balance, all its derivatives, it’s tough to imagine life without fossil fuels and it’s absurd for political all the myriad products made from them. leaders to say things As one industry website puts it, nearly all products NOT fabricated like taxing fossil fuel from rocks, plants, other living things and metals are produced pollution will kill jobs. from petrochemicals. “These products include everything made of plastic, medicines and medical devices, cosmetics, furniture, Or destroy the economy. appliances, TVs and radios, computers, parts used in every mode Or ruin our standard of transportation, solar power panels and wind turbines.” We have of living. Wake up! our work cut out finding alternatives to the petrochemicals used in so many everyday products, but that’s one of the key aims of the new science called green chemistry – developing safe, ecologically benign substances to replace toxic, non-renewable ones.
Our dependence on fossil fuels is akin to a severe case of planetary substance abuse. Unlike other addictions – to alcohol, heroin, cocaine, etc. – which chiefly wreak havoc on individuals and families, burning fossil fuels has the colossal power to undo the climate equilibrium of our entire globe. This disruption is already well underway, and – at the moment – where it stops, nobody knows. What we do know is we are already at the leading edge of worse to come, experiencing more extreme storms, the hottest temperatures ever recorded, droughts, island nations threatened by rising seas, coastlines everywhere at serious risk.
With our children’s fate in the balance, it’s absurd for political leaders, like Canada’s former Prime Minister Harper and many “The precautionary current Republican candidates for US President, to say things like principle is the credo taxing fossil fuel pollution will kill jobs or destroy the economy that prompts us to or ruin our standard of living. buckle seat belts, get Wake up! Not putting the brakes on carbon pollution is already out of the pool when causing a lot more wreckage. Dragging ourselves out of the tar lightning flashes, sands and into the green future can and will be highly profitable, with far less sickness, suffering and unemployment. and throw away the mysterious leftovers What’s holding us back? As Boomers, we’ve been blessed as discovered in the back arguably the most privileged generation ever to inhabit Earth. We’ve had it all, with very little adversity along the way of the refrigerator.” compared to other generations. Yet here we are, on the cusp of Sandra Steingraber, a steadily worsening climate crisis – much of it of our making – author & activist with this question hanging heavily in the air: What are we prepared to sacrifice to maintain a livable future for our kids and grandchildren? It’s pretty odd question, because I suspect it has
57 never occurred to most of us Boomers. I remember only once ever hearing the word ‘sacrifice’ from the mouth of a politician during my adult life, and she didn’t last very long in her cabinet portfolio. But it’s past time to ask, and answer.
I have a hard time imagining our parents brushing off the terrible threat of Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, and sitting back. So many of them stepped up, shelved their hopes and dreams, and put their lives on the line so that we Boomers – a mere twinkle in the eye during those dark days of war – would have a future worth living. Twenty-five hundred Sacrifice, with a capital S. years ago, Hippocrates Some of the best brains in the world have assured us that the price said it pretty well: of shifting off fossil fuels on will be a fraction of the cost of trying ‘First, do no harm.’ to repair the enormous climate damage that is inevitable if we stick with ‘business as usual.’ It’s a lesson we desperately need One recent American study, by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (remi.com) found that putting an escalating fee on carbon to apply now on a pollution with all revenue returned equally to US households planetary scale. (a so-called revenue neutral carbon tax, or carbon fee and dividend), would not only not wreck The Almighty Economy, it would offer a host of positive benefits:
• reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 33% after 10 years and 52% after 20 years. • create 2.1 million jobs after 10 years, and 2.8 million after 20 years (jobs that wouldn’t exist without the carbon tax) • save 13,000 lives (deaths from asthma, smog, etc.) after 10 years, and 227,000 after 20 years.
The very foundation of health, safety, and wellbeing is prevention, based on application of what is known as the precautionary principle. Expressed simply, it’s ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ or ‘a stitch in time, saves nine.’ This is the wisdom our grandmothers practiced in daily life, and is really the foundation of all good governance.
Twenty-five hundred years ago, Hippocrates said it pretty well: ‘First, do no harm.” It’s a lesson we desperately need to apply now on a planetary scale.
Joe Heller ©Hellertoon.com
58 17. What’s stopping us?
Is there anyone who still believes that climate change is not happening – and not being driven by human activity?
If you’re skeptical about these claims, you’ve likely fallen prey to the biggest deceit that has ever been foisted on humanity, which – if successful – will have unbearable consequences.
But it’s also fair to ask who in their right mind wants to be right But it’s also fair to ask about an issue as distressing as climate change? who in their right mind Not me, or anyone I know. I for one would dearly love to believe wants to be right about it’s all a hoax. In fact, every day in southwestern Ontario that we an issue as distressing have ‘routine’ weather, or summer months that aren’t scorchers, as climate change? Not or normal rainfall – not deluges – my mind defaults to a pretty nice place: “Hey, maybe they’re wrong after all!” me, or anyone I know.
‘They’, of course, are the 97 percent of thousands of climate scientists around the world who agree that serious global warming is not only upon us, but that it’s driven by humans burning fossil So why aren’t we fuels and tearing down forests at a horrendous clip. And it’s not charging full speed going away, no matter how tempting our wishful thinking, or ahead on an urgent how many deliberate lies we’ve bought. mission to get off fossil If your doctor said there was a 97 percent chance you would die fuels, something that tomorrow if you didn’t have your ruptured appendix removed is inevitable anyway? right away, how long would you wait? Or if the odds of the Toronto Maple Leafs winning ice hockey’s Stanley Cup were just Fossil fuels will run out. three per cent – that may be a bit high – would you bet the farm They are not renewable. on them? Or would you drive across this bridge when 97 percent of the pros predict it will fail?
59 So why aren’t we charging full speed ahead on an urgent mission to get off fossil fuels, something that is inevitable anyway? Fossil fuels will run out. They are not renewable. They are seriously damaging to our health and the environment. And they are pushing us ever closer to a climate cliff filled with feedback loops and tipping points.
Why haven’t we rallied with grit and determination to take on the huge threat of global warming? Who or what is stopping us?
They take overwhelming I personally think it all comes down to this: the stunning success of a relatively small group of climate deniers who exploit our evidence that climate all-too-human inclination to prefer comforting fiction over change is real and difficult fact. muddle it with doubt They take the overwhelming evidence that climate change is real and uncertainty. and muddle it with doubt and uncertainty. They run campaigns They run campaigns to scorn and discredit legitimate climate scientists and their data, to scorn and discredit causing politicians and the public at large to waver and wobble legitimate climate and fail to take bold action. scientists and their These people are politely known as climate deniers, but that data... descriptor is far too gentle. In the face of a virtual scientific consensus – such a rarity! – that climate change is a real and present danger caused by humans burning fossil fuels, this fairly small bloc of spin-meisters cash in by ridiculing climate change In January 2015, the and climate science. Not to put too fine a point on it, they’re liars. ultra-rich American And, of course, they’re covertly funded by the most profitable brothers, Charles and corporations in the history of money – fossil fuel companies David Koch, whose operating behind front groups like the Heartland Institute. They companies profit also work through corporate funded groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) where they work behind closed enormously from fossil doors to rewrite state laws in ‘model bills’ that, for example, try to fuels, announced their nullify green energy legislation. political network will More and more evidence is coming to light about all this deceit. spend nearly $900 Exxon Mobil’s own scientific research from the late 1970s, for million (US) to influence example, concluded that burning fossil fuels was indeed connected the 2016 US election, to global warming – then proceeded to bury that evidence and fund a whole raft of deniers and politicians to freeze climate nearly as much as the action. Unforgivable. established political parties. The frequently quoted line, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” is usually attributed to Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister in Nazi Germany. It worked well on the German people back then, and many others have been its dupes since.
60 Tobacco corporations proved to be a good training ground for early deniers of any stripe, and ‘tobacco science’ is now the accepted synonym for pretty much all phony evidence about any issue.
It now seems absurd that people ever bought the tobacco industry’s claim there was no proof cigarettes caused harm. But there was a day. It’s all a question of who you trust. For example:
1) Who do you most trust about the link between tobacco smoking and various diseases such as lung cancer and emphysema?
A. Cigar Aficionado magazine Tobacco corporations B. Teenage smokers proved to be a good C. Tobacco company executives training ground for early D. Advertising agencies deniers of any stripe, E. Doctors and public health officials F. Groucho Marx (remember him?) and ‘tobacco science’ is now the accepted The right answer is perhaps a bit too obvious: It’s E – doctors and synonym for pretty public health officials, of course. much all phony evidence Foolish question? Maybe. But the right answer – so clear now about any issue. in the early 21st century – was only half true back in 1930s and 1940s, when the majority of doctors smoked. In those days, tobacco companies featured photos of certified physicians in their advertisements, not models. For six years, from 1946 to 1952, the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company ran a highly successful ad campaign under this headline: “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.”
For decades, even after science had established positive links between smoking and lung cancer, tobacco companies made it their mission not just to glamorize their products, but – more importantly – to create uncertainty about the health risks of smoking. Hence ‘tobacco science’, which the tongue-in-cheek Urban Dictionary defines as “‘Science’ done on behalf of an interest defending its cash cow from overwhelming, credible science that shows it is harmful or detrimental to public benefit in some way.”
It focuses almost exclusively on those ace-up-the-sleeve trump cards, uncertainty and doubt. Thus the famous 1969 memo penned by a tobacco company executive: “Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ [linking smoking with disease] that exists in the mind of the general public.”
I admit I have long been fascinated – alarmed too – by this well- honed formula for deceiving entire populations, but it all made much more sense after I read the 2010 bestseller, Merchants of Doubt,
61 now a documentary film. The subtitle of the book pretty much gives away its story line: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming.
Not only have we been deceived on many different issues, Merchants of Doubt revealed this corker: “The same individuals who claim the science of global warming is ‘not settled’ have also denied the truth about studies linking smoking to lung cancer, ‘Tobacco science’ focuses coal smoke to acid rain, and CFCs to the ozone hole.” almost exclusively on those ace-up-the-sleeve We’re human. Of course we’d rather not ‘believe’ in climate change. Even though it would be way more comfortable keeping trump cards, uncertainty our heads in the sand, our complacency is largely based on and doubt. Thus the distortions fed to us by a very few. famous 1969 memo Not all corporations are on the wrong side of history on climate penned by a tobacco change. Here is what Joe Romm, a PhD in physics and a hugely company executive: influential writer on climate change reported February 4, 2015 in “Doubt is our product.” his daily blog, Climate Progress: “Fourteen high-profile business leaders and CEOs are calling on international leaders to agree to a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 2050, arguing the ambitious goal would Top 10 Most Used lead to ‘new jobs, cleaner air, better health, lower poverty and Climate Myths greater energy security.’”
1. Climate’s changed before “Led by high-profile billionaire andVirgin founder Richard Branson, 2. It’s the sun the B Team – which includes Huffington Post Media Group President 3. It’s not bad Arianna Huffington,UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin, and Unilever 4. There is no consensus CEO Paul Polman – directed their message to the 196 nations 5. It’s cooling expected to meet at the Paris climate talks at the end of the year. 6. Models are unreliable The meeting is widely considered the last chance for a global agreement 7. Temp record is unreliable that could feasibly keep the rise in global average temperatures under 8. Animals and plants can 2°C.” (Italics mine.) Good for them! adapt 9. It hasn’t warmed since Yet there’s more to climate denial than fossil fuel corporations 1998 covertly sponsoring their favourite ‘merchants of doubt’. Another 10. Antarctica is gaining ice excellent book is George Marshall’s 2014 bestseller, Don’t Even Think About It: Why our brains are wired to ignore climate change. Check out SkepticalScience.com For example: We humans have evolved to respond extremely for what the science really says well to emergencies, but we’re poor at threats with long-term + to give the boots to these top consequences, such as smoking and cancer, and global warming. 10 denier lies! Here’s an interesting observation in Don’t Even Think About It regarding parents. Of course parents dearly love their children but they frequently relegate big issues like climate change to the back burner of family concerns. As Marshall writes, “They immerse themselves in the daily routine of tears, laughter and the hunt for the missing shoe, and put climate change into that
62 category of tricky challenging things they would prefer not to talk about.” George Marshall knows his stuff, not just about climate science, but about our human foibles too.
Times are changing, and thanks to the strategic and tireless work of many (unpaid or underpaid!) watchdog groups such as the Center for Media and Democracy, ColorOfChange.org and PR Watch, many corporate members of the previously mentioned American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – have dropped their ALEC memberships, because of its opposition to climate action, and renewable energy. Former members include such heavy hitters as “Parents immerse General Electric, Google, eBay, and Walmart, plus scores more. themselves in the daily So now that you know some ins and outs of how we can be tricked routine of tears, laughter into not acting on climate, here’s a final test. and the hunt for the Which headline do you believe? missing shoe, and put climate change into 1) Climate change PROVED to be ‘nothing but a lie’, claims top meteorologist that category of tricky challenging things they 2) ‘Severe, pervasive, irreversible’: IPCC’s devastating climate conclusions. would prefer not to talk about.” To circle back to the start of this chapter, who in their heart of hearts (or right mind) really wants to believe the second headline, George Marshall which leaves no question that climate change is both real and more menacing than anything we humans have yet faced on this planet?
But if our grandkids matter...well, you know the rest.
And, by the way, that ‘top meteorologist’ (John Coleman) quoted in headline #1? Two days later, another headline: Weather Channel Rebukes Its Co-Founder On Climate Change.
Mr. Coleman’s lie proved to be ‘nothing but a lie.’
But they don’t really sound evil
(Some of the world’s top climate change deniers – yes, the organizations below – hide behind the nicest names…)
• Americans for Prosperity • Heartland Institute • Competitive Enterprise Institute • The Heritage Foundation • Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow • Science & Environmental Policy Project • Cooler Heads Coalition • US Chamber of Commerce • Freedom Works • 60 Plus Association
63 18. Doubt is their product…
Here’s a quick example of how climate change deniers – those merchants of doubt – can throw a spanner into the climate science works.
The claim has been that since 1998, there has been a global warming ‘pause’ – that Earth’s climate has not warmed nearly as quickly as previous decades, even though humans continued to pump more CO2 into the atmosphere than ever. Some deniers say global warming has stopped. Others say climate scientists lack credibility and therefore shouldn’t be believed with any confidence.
To claim global warming stopped in 1998 overlooks one simple How Realists View Global Warming physical reality – the land and atmosphere reflect just a small fraction of the Earth’s climate (albeit the part we inhabit), according to the excellent and simple-to-understand web site SkepticalScience.com.
The entire planet is accumulating heat due to an energy imbalance. The atmosphere is warming. Oceans are accumulating energy. Land absorbs energy and ice absorbs heat to melt. To get the full picture on global warming, you need to view the Earth’s entire heat content, which shows that for the decade between 1993 How Deniers View Global Warming and 2003, for example, that the oceans accumulated more than 90 percent of global warming heat compared to all land, ice and atmosphere!
Anyway, have a look at these two charts from SkepticalScience.com, which show how easy it is for deniers to pick out sections of scientific charts to show how warming has hit ‘pauses’ over short periods compared to the several decades’ trend in the top chart.
64 19. What’s stopping our governments?
“We haven’t even begun to acknowledge that environmental collapse will make economic collapse a foregone conclusion.” Rob Stewart, filmmaker and author, Save the Humans!
Getting nearly 200 nations to accept a plan to radically cut greenhouse gas emissions is no small feat. But with so much at stake – nothing short of a livable planet – what on Earth has been stopping our governments?
It’s complicated, they say. Poor and developing countries argue that the United States, Europe and other rich nations are responsible for the lion’s share of carbon pollution now in the atmosphere, hence they should take on most of the burden of resolving the problem. Richer countries, for their part, maintain that you must address future emissions when assigning blame – so fast-growing countries like China and India need to do more.
For many, these endless rounds of UN ‘negotiations’ seem like a suicidal game of chicken.
As Toronto-born filmmaker Rob Stewart Sharkwater,( Revolution) said after attending the UN’s Cancun, Mexico negotiations in 2010: “…It seems these conferences are over before the delegates even walk in the door.
“Those looking at the process from the outside see the environment as the most important issue – the very reason for the conference’s existence – but to the world leaders and other delegates involved
65 in the actual negotiations, the environment is just one item in a long list of priorities… by and large, they’re issues pertaining to economic growth. We haven’t even reached the stage at which we can argue whether environmental collapse is a scarier prospect that economic collapse. We haven’t even begun to acknowledge that environmental collapse will make economic collapse a foregone conclusion.”
Perhaps the new UN climate agreement reached in Paris will finally signal the start of drastic reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions, but there’s another related obstacle that must be addressed: our mania for perpetual economic growth in a financial system that fuels climate instability.
A closer look at the history of finance and banking reveals that nearly all the money in our economy “is created by banks through loans, representing future value that does not yet exist,” as Andrew Welch explains in his 2014 book, The Value Crisis. “It exists as Rob Stewart, filmmaker and author, Save the Humans! nothing more than a promise to pay back money that never existed in the first place.” Debt, in other words.
So, if you really wonder why we humans are fishing Earth’s oceans Now what to do? to extinction, rapaciously extracting fossil fuels virtually everywhere, Is there any way out of and racing to gobble up resources at a profoundly unsustainable this Earth-threatening rate, the answer is simple. It is to generate money to pay back our enormous debts, which help to manufacture even more debt. dilemma? There can’t be infinite growth on “It {this money} can only come from growth in the real economy, a finite planet, and which means from perpetual consumption of the world’s supply of energy and resources,” Welch explains. “More and more raw especially not on a materials have to be processed, sold, discarded, and replaced, rapidly warming planet without end, just to keep the system from collapsing.” still mostly fueled by Now what to do? Is there any way out of this Earth-threatening dirty fossil fuels. dilemma? There can’t be infinite growth on a finite planet, and especially not on a rapidly warming planet still mostly fueled by dirty fossil fuels.
There are groups working on alternatives to this infinite growth madness, and – given that the clock is ticking on finding solutions – our political leaders and conventional economists would be wise to pay attention. For example, the group US-based group Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy has developed positive approaches and remedies to the titanic economic and ecological jam we’re in. “A ‘steady state’ economy,” the organization says, “provides a hopeful way to achieve sustainability and equity in an increasingly constrained world.”
How could this change the perpetual growth models and banking
66 systems that are playing a significant role in our environmental crisis?
We humans can put the brakes on the infinite growth insanity and achieve a steady-state economy, if we have the will. So say Rob Dietz and Dan O’Neill, authors of Enough is Enough, Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources (2012).
Here’s the recipe for steady-state success:
• Limit the use of materials and energy to sustainable levels. • Stabilize population through compassionate and non-coercive means. • Achieve a fair distribution of income and wealth. • Reform monetary and financial systems for stability. • Change the way we measure progress. “Whether we or our • Secure meaningful jobs and full employment. • Reconfigure the way businesses create value. politicians know it or not, Nature is party Do we have the will, and the wisdom? to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.” Wendell Berry, farmer, poet, philosopher
“Climate change isn’t an ‘issue’ to add to the list of things to worry about, next to “Our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life. What the climate needs to avoid collapse is a contraction healthcare and taxes. in humanity’s use of resources; what our economic model demands to It is a civilizational avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of rules wake-up call.” can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature...Climate change isn’t Naomi Klein an ‘issue’ to add to the list of things to worry about, next to healthcare and taxes. It is a civilizational wake-up call. A powerful message – spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions – telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet. Telling us that we need to evolve.” Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate
67 20. What about China?
That day – November 12, 2014 – Fox News had its collective shirt in a knot. Why? Because the network had just lost one of its favorite reasons for the US not to take action on climate change: “China is never going to do anything, so why should the USA?” Don’t blame China – Then along came President Barack Obama and the historic deal or any other developing between the US and China to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, country – for the fact and Fox, one of the world’s foremost ‘climate-change-is-a-hoax’ that nearly everything media outlets, didn’t quite know how to react. we now buy here is On hearing the news, its morning show hosts recovered fairly manufactured over quickly, and – like 5-year-olds – decided to switch reasons why China was a scumbag nation. Such as: the recent cyber attacks on there. Our corporations the US; bootlegged software and handbags; even the suffocating couldn’t race overseas pollution so common in Chinese cities. (That last one was truly fast enough to boost nutty because cutting carbon emissions is surely key to solving their bottom lines. that terrible problem.) When it comes to China’s wretched smog levels, we North Americans should look ourselves squarely in the mirror. Our corporations Speaking of Fox News, happily exported so much of our dirty manufacturing across the many radio & television Pacific to save labour costs and exploit feeble environmental standards. We lose employment and get a zillion cheaper products; networks, newspapers, they get low-paying jobs plus all the dirty air and water associated and other media are with manufacturing stuff for us. owned by corporations Don’t blame China – or any other developing country – for the whose best interests – fact that nearly everything we now buy here is manufactured read bottom lines – over there. Our corporations couldn’t race overseas fast enough are not served by to boost their bottom lines. acknowledging the In 2014, China became the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse severity or even the gases, passing the United States. Together, they account for nearly existence of climate 40 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Not surprisingly, China also zoomed by the US with a Gross Domestic Product of more change. We live in an than $18 trillion, based on ‘purchasing power parity’. age of ‘infotainment’ But over the past 250 years of fossil fuel emissions, we ‘Western’ where ridicule often industrial nations are still way, way ahead of China and India in succeeds in trumping emitting climate greenhouse gases. This, I hope, helps readers scientific fact. Follow to understand why emerging nations don’t like to be told by the money! industrial economies to immediately and drastically cut the fuels that made us rich! Think about it: Without both the US and China on board pledging to cut carbon emissions, there probably would have been far less chance of progress at the critical UN climate negotiations in Paris.
68 So bravo, China, and bravo, Barack Obama (although in January 2016 his administration released rules to allow fracking on federal lands, and is moving ahead with a plan to offer up huge new areas of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil drilling. Can’t have it both ways, Mr. President.)
Canada’s moving climate target
In mid-May 2015, the Canadian government submitted its 2030 plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations. The target? A 30 percent reduction below our 2005 emission levels by the year 2030. Sounds pretty good, but don’t be fooled. The immediate verdict from the watchdog group Climate Action Tracker and others: The target was ‘inadequate’ with Canada is very likely to miss both its weak 2020 target and this new – even weaker – 2030 goal. “It’s clear Canada is not serious about climate action,” Bill Hare of Climate Action Tracker concluded at the time. As for tar sands emissions, the then Stephen Harper government hadn’t even included them in our emissions plan, with a hint we might opt to buy offsets from other countries so we can keep right on polluting.
What a difference an election makes, with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals taking majority power in late 2015, with promises for much more action on reducing Canada’s green- house gases. Now the previous 2030 goal has been declared the new ‘floor’ – Canada will aim higher when it submits its new targets to the United Nations by sometime in the first half of 2016. (Stay tuned).
What happens with Alberta’s tar sands is still not clear under Mr. Trudeau. Before the election, 100 leading Canadian and American scientists and economists sent an open letter to our federal government, urgently calling for a moratorium on any new tar sands projects in an attempt to jolt us awake to this stark truth: Any oil sands expansion is ‘incompatible with global efforts to cut greenhouse emissions and stave off the worst effects of climate change.’
Now it’s our job to push politicians at all levels to achieve a 100% clean, renewable energy economy by 2050, or preferably sooner – not the leisurely (and frankly lunatic) 85 years adopted by the G7, including Canada under Stephen Harper, in May 2015. And we need to do it ASAP. Some experts say we can accomplish this by 2040 or even 2030, and I’m all for that – it will give this old Boomer a much better chance of actually seeing it come true.
69 21. Media matters
Where do you get your daily dose of news? During the Baby Boom heyday of the 50s and early 60s there were about a dozen news outlets that ‘counted’ in the Toronto area – newspapers, magazines, TV and radio – and they all seemed generally civil and reasonably fair (at least to a then 10-year old).
Fast forward to this new age of internet, smart phones and electronic everything. Many print newspapers are in serious free fall (or already defunct), overtaken by hundreds of millions of web sites, soon to top one billion. There are 1.44 billion Facebook users, 15,000 TV channels (plus the likes of Netflix), and roughly 44,000 radio stations worldwide, many of them accessible on line. Etcetera.
It’s no wonder the subject of climate change so often gets lost, given all the media ‘noise’ and useless 10-second sound bites with little context. And even if you are interested in climate issues, what sources can you trust for the best information? “Real change can only follow from citizens Rarely the mainstream, in my experience. For example, The New York Times would sound like a good choice for climate information, informing themselves as it is considered by many to be the American ‘newspaper of and applying pressure.” record’ (as The Globe and Mail is here in Canada). But in early 2013, Alan Rusbridger, UK Guardian with greenhouse gases rising faster than ever, The Times completely eliminated its climate ‘desk’, seven reporters and two editors, then two months later canceled its Green Blog (two editors, a dozen contributors). The paper claimed it would continue to maintain the same level of professional reporting, but coverage soon plummeted. Perhaps nudged by the half million citizens who clogged downtown New York streets in the September 2014 People’s Climate March, The Times did an about face and hired a new climate team.
It’s not just The NY Times. It’s a fact that few mainstream media sustain adequate levels climate reporting over time, given its overriding significance. TheMedia and Climate Change Observatory at the University of Colorado monitors 50 sources in 25 countries around the world, and it’s worth looking at the jagged peaks and valleys of coverage it tracks to see that even as climate change worsens, reporting is very erratic, often scanty.
Another issue: In the name of ‘balanced reporting’, news coverage still sometimes includes an ‘expert’ denier doubting the near consensus of climate scientists. And in various right-wing media, such as Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, there continues to be a lot of nasty, dismissive reporting. Here in Canada The National Post and the Sun newspapers are apt not to report climate news at all, or totally disparage experts and other commentators.
70 One major newspaper is trying its best to remedy the raggedness of mainstream reporting. With long-time editor Alan Rusbridger retiring in summer 2015, the UK Guardian decided earlier in the year to do what no news outlet in the world had done since the ‘global warming’ story broke the mainstream media in the late 1980s: to gather its best investigative journalists and a bevy of climate and other specialists to ‘find a new way to tell the story, and a new way to make the world care.’
Rusbridger realized his paper had not done justice to “this huge, overshadowing, overwhelming issue of how climate change would probably, within the lifetime of our children, cause untold stress to our species.” So he challenged his beefed-up team with two questions: “What can you do that lifts this beyond something that people are bored about? What can you do that will force them to sit up?”
Not only has The Guardian made a pledge to keep climate change front and centre going forward, the paper has injected a wide range of interesting elements into its crusade: Guardian web pages are now alive with podcasts, film clips, petitions to keep fossil Joe Romm fuels in the ground, and thought-provoking climate news from around the world. (See for yourself at theguardian.com/environment/ climate-change).
The goal is simple: to motivate The Guardian’s current and growing Good sources for cutting audience to get up to speed on climate issues, and to get active. through media clutter “Real change can only follow from citizens informing themselves on climate: and applying pressure,” Rusbridger says. • DeSmog.ca In order to get the real goods on climate, it’s good to zero in fairly • Media Matters regularly on a few of those millions of web sites and blogs. Several for America: are noted in the Resources section, pages 130-131. MediaMatters.org • PRWatch.org How To Tell If The Article About Climate You Are Reading Is BS (In Two Easy Steps)
Some good advice from Climate Progress blogger Joe Romm, especially #1. (Actually, Romm offered four easy steps, but space doesn’t permit. If you’d like to read the whole blog post, just Google the title.)
• Skip climate articles by people who think the problem is hopeless or intractable – because it most certainly is not.
• Skip articles by George Will (Washington Post) and his ilk {or here in Canada, by PostMedia writers Terence Corcoran and Rex Murphy.}
71 22. What happens (sooner or later) if you don’t act now...
OR MAYBE EVEN WORSE…
We all know of special places on Earth that are – plain and simple – heavenly. In my mind’s eye I can picture so many of them, and I’ll bet you can too. The whole idea of this book is to help keep them that way for countless generations to come! The truth is, however, as one recent letter to our local newspaper said: “Already our kids and grandkids will inherit a far less lustrous jewel than was handed us.”
Our real task is to help stop the sliding of this heavenly Earth, despite all its present troubles, into a far less habitable and more hellish future. So enough of the winged angels, heaven & hell stuff, although Mike Baldwin’s cartoons can provide some much needed levity in the middle of a handbook on how to rescue ourselves from our climate sins.
We’ve now arrived at the GREAT BIG fork in the road! If you’d rather spend all your time watching Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey or Homeland, well then – Adios Amigos! Maybe we can catch up on the other side – and you can tell me all the grisly details then.
But if you’re keen on leaving good old Planet Earth livable for your cherished chips off the old block, let’s get on with some bold, audacious Boomer action!
72 Part B: BOOMERS TAKING ACTION ON CLIMATE …ONE BITE AT A TIME
“Yes, I am terrified. We should all be. But helpless doesn’t have to mean hopeless. My question for many years has been a simple one: How can I take action? What can I, and all the other mothers do to keep this planet a livable place for our children? And all the Dads too.” Leslie Salisbury, Mom, Stewarttown, Ontario
This part’s for you Leslie.
73 23. Nothing can stop us! but us
If you have read this far, you know down deep that we ‘older adults’ can’t afford to fail our kids and grandkids on climate change. If we do, it means forsaking the ones we love most, literally casting their fate to an impossibly bleak future.
What now? You might well ask how is it possible to grab hold of such an enormous and often overwhelming issue – and do things that will make a positive difference?
Good question! My first response is the answer to a silly riddle we used to tell when we were kids: Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time!
Acting on climate change is just that: One small, regular ‘bite’ at a time, preferably with at least one friend, or a group of like-minded people, repeated often, starting right now.
To flourish as aBoomer Climate Hero – welcome aboard - you first need to make a commitment that you won’t be put off, hindered “A lot of people go or terminally distracted by some all-too-human weaknesses. from denial to despair Often my good intentions to act aren’t enough. Sound familiar? without pausing in For me, it really helps to identify the things blocking my way, and the middle and doing snuff them out with bigger, better reasons to carry on. something about it.” Some of my main ‘stoppers’ include: Al Gore • procrastinating, aka putting off until tomorrow. This is a lethal killer of all sorts of my great ambitions! But, as Old Blue Eyes (Frank Sinatra to you young fellas) used to sing, ‘Domani never comes.’ You first need to make • giving in to silence, which never solves problems. Although a commitment that zipping our lips seems way easier than confronting difficult you won’t be put off, (and inconvenient) truths, it doesn’t work. Finding our voices hindered or terminally is critical. • thinking the experts – or somebody else – will fix the problem, distracted by some all- because of course they know way more than I do. But not so too-human weaknesses, fast: We wouldn’t be in this climate mess if ‘somebody else’ had like some of mine... already fixed it. Plus all we really need to know and say – at least at first – is that our kids and grandchildren are at great risk, and we need action now. • fear of making a fool of myself. I’m not an authority, or a scientist. (Aha, but I am a great aunt AND a voter, and together – that can count for a whole lot.) • fear of rejection by people I love, including my friends and
74 colleagues, who may think I’ve gone crazy. (A world being overheated to the point of climate chaos when there are clear solutions? Now that is a pretty good definition of crazy.) • fear of public speaking (see glossophobia, page 95). • feeling guilty about driving a big car (any gas-powered car), flying off to Florida every winter (see page 81,Give Up The Guilt.) • believing I don’t have enough time – just too busy. (If this one strikes home with you, check out the quote at the very end of this chapter…) I don’t have enough time So, yes, I have more than enough excuses why not to act. What are yours? Scribble them here: – just too busy. If this one strikes home with you, check out the quote Things that stop me ______from acting on climate issues at the very end of this 1. chapter…
2. Now here’s a quick way to get over whatever 3. threatens to stall or stop you without spending 4. years on costly therapy sessions. 5.
Now here’s a quick way to get over whatever threatens to stall or stop you – whatever you scribbled in the box – without spending years on costly therapy sessions.
No doubt you’ve heard of the superhuman strength that a parent can muster to protect her endangered child – lifting up a car, or fighting off a raging grizzly bear. It’s called ‘hysterical strength’ – totally beyond human understanding, but a magnificent example of what love can do.
So, if your grandkids were at great risk? Well, if you’ve read even a little of this book, you know they are. But happily, at our age, we don’t need hysterical strength to take effective action – and we probably couldn’t summon it up anyway. But the good news is that we don’t have to lift anything heavier than a telephone receiver or a pen.
Yes, we have to get over the fear of speaking up, but everything is do-able if we just focus our energies on…
75 ...THIS!
Cute photo of your kids/grandkids. Paste ‘em here, keep them close. Courage is not living without fear. Courage is being scared to death and doing the right thing anyway. Chae Richardson
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You I remember the day I decided to get off the sidelines and ‘do something’ for all the kids to come, and our distressed planet. have exactly the same I had been listening to a David Suzuki radio series called ‘It’s a number of hours per day Matter of Survival’ which deeply moved me – and just decided that were given to Helen then and there to stop standing idly by for one more minute. Keller, Louis Pasteur, More than a few times my decision to take action has triggered Michelangelo, Mother anxiety and fear for all sorts of reasons (‘Maybe I’m not smart Teresa, Leonardo da enough’, or ‘I don’t have the right skills’ or ‘Who am I to take Vinci, Thomas Jefferson this on?’ or ‘I’m not a scientist’) – but sticking with it was a far better choice than pretending the climate change elephant-in- and Albert Einstein.” the-room didn’t exist. And the bonus? Since then I have met a H. Jackson Brown, Jr. lot of extraordinary people in the climate movement.
So, ready for a challenge? First, know you’re not alone, then grab your persistence and let’s get going!
What follows are a dozen or so ways to take on climate ‘one bite at a time.’ And a pep talk about what you can do in a mere 10 minute per day.
And about that not-enough-time-thing? “Don’t say you don’t have enough time,” says H. Jackson Brown, Jr. “You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.”
76 OUR PLEDGE TO KIDS & GRANDKIDS AND ALL CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE.
Here is a pledge you can put in writing:
I ______, promise you,
______, my amazing son/daughter/grandchild, that I will do my best to help solve the climate crisis, which – unless we act courageously and boldly now – puts your future at risk. We never intended to hurt you, or to wreak havoc on your hopes and dreams, but climate change is threatening them. I will do my best because I love you more than anything on this remarkably beautiful planet Earth, our only home.
Signature & Date: ______
PS. You don’t have to share this with your special loved ones, but please sign + tape it onto your hall or bathroom mirror, so you will see it every day.
AS FOR PERSISTENCE, TAKE A PAGE FROM THE KIDS’ BOOK (or eBook, or iPad)
77 24. Ten minutes-a-day to a cooler planet
In 1990, not long after a much younger Dr. David Suzuki – yes, that one, and a big hero in my life – had jolted lots of Canadians awake to a whole cluster of environmental problems in his radio series, ‘It’s A Matter of Survival’, Toronto writer Marjorie Lamb struck a chord with a terrific little book called2 Minutes a Day for A Greener Planet.
Back then, we were new to things like the 3Rs, Blue Boxes, conserving water (“Turn off that tap while you brush your teeth!”), trading up to more efficient light bulbs and trying our hand at backyard composting, to name just a few.
Marjorie’s two-minute tips were a big help, and they were widely David Suzuki, circa 1979 shared on radio, TV and in other media spots. Every one of those eco-actions took some repetition to turn into a habit, but lots of us made the effort – and it all added up to a make a hefty difference.
Every one of those Doing many of the ‘little things’ that Marjorie Lamb taught us eco-actions took some didn’t just become daily habits, not doing them became, well… repetition to turn into weird. Tossing pop cans into the garbage, for example, or leaving a habit, but lots of us lights on after we’ve left a room, or hosing dead leaves off the driveway became just ‘wrong’. (Glad to say I never did the drive- made the effort – and it way hosing thing, but now they have those wretched leaf blowers. all added up to make a Get a rake!) hefty difference. Twenty-five years later, however, we’re now behind an even bigger climate 8-ball, and our kids’ lives are at risk of more severe consequences than in those olden days of the early 90s. So, let’s Ten minutes a day can up the stakes a bit – from two to 10 minutes a day. make a real difference, Ten minutes a day can make a real difference, especially for people especially for people who spend exactly zero minutes right now. who spend exactly zero minutes right now. If you’re new to this, all the better since most politicians are weary of seeing people like me – one of ‘the usual suspects.’ Your 10 minutes a day, multiplied by even a few weeks, can add up to a hefty contribution. And yes of course you can clump the minutes together to yield over an hour a week, or close to five hours a month – and maybe even more once you get the hang of it…
78 WHAT CAN YOU DO IN 10 MINUTES A DAY? LET’S COUNT SOME WAYS
• Find a ‘climate buddy’ (see page 83) – probably the most important step you can take.
• Write a postage-free postcard to your Member of Parliament saying you’re worried about your family’s future – tell him/her about your kids and their hopes and dreams. Attach a photo. (See page 131) Keep a pile of postcards to give out at your next party.
• Tell a few good friends – 10 minutes each – about an inspiring book on climate action you’ve recently read. Propose it to your book club. If you should choose this one, and you’re not too far from Erin Ontario (between Guelph and Orangeville), the author will be happy to come along too.
• Clip articles about climate from newspapers or magazines, or cut and paste from the internet and talk about them at dinner. Leave them on the coffee table or tape them to your fridge.
• Make a phone call to your elected politician’s office expressing your concern about your kids and the scarcity of climate action. Each level of government counts – local, provincial, federal. If calling during the day makes you nervous, wait until after hours for voicemail, then read from a script if you’re too scared to do it without notes. Leave your phone number and email address, and ask for a response.
• Talk to your service club, school council and/or faith leader about showing a movie about climate change, followed by a discussion of how your community can take action. There’s no shortage of excellent films with positive messages. See page 107 for some ideas.
• Post climate information and actions on your Facebook page.
• When someone asks, “What are you up to?” give them a 10-minute spiel on the importance of taking climate action. Invite them to join you.
• Ask your MP in a short letter how you can help ensure effective climate action is on every political party and politician’s agenda.
• Sign up for regular climate news on EcoWatch (ecowatch.com) or Inside Climate News (insideclimatenews.org) which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize.
• Brainstorm 10 more ways to spend 10 minutes a day on climate action.
As we move through this section of the book, there are so many ways that Boomers – or anyone, any age – can do the small things that add up to help us succeed in our must-do mission: shifting the world from the terrible climate trajectory we’re now on back to climate sanity and stability.
Finally, take seriously old Edmund Burke’s advice from 1776: Nobody made a greater mistake than (s)he who did nothing because (s)he could do only a little.
Edmund Burke
79 HERE-WE-GO-AGAIN-DEPARTMENT: Not enough time? Make more THIS way! A BRAND NEW KIND OF BUCKET LIST, ESPECIALLY FOR BOOMERS!
Now that you’re approaching retirement – maybe you’ve already arrived at that promised land – here’s an innovative way to create your Bucket List: Like Bert, identify all the things you don’t have to do anymore. Nice. And with all the time you’ll save, you can easily add our new activity: 10 Minutes A Day for a Cooler Planet! My Starter List of Things I Never Want To Do Again
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
80 25. Give up your guilt
Bite #1
Hint: You don’t have to be a 100-percent-perfect, carbon-free goody-two- shoes in order to take action on climate change.
Really, none of these Well, let’s face it. When it comes to climate change, most citizens things – least of all would rather be found ‘not guilty’ of contributing to the plight guilt – should stop us we’re in. But no matter how hard we try, it’s nearly impossible at from taking action on this point in human history to live totally fossil fuel-free. We’re climate issues. The only ‘not exactly innocent’. legitimate reason for We want to do the right thing, but it can seem overwhelming, and feeling guilty is if we’re that in turn can lead to paralyzing guilt. We’ve all heard people not taking action… say things like: “I’m part of the problem so who am I to point fingers at anyone else? I drive a car. Sometimes I buy raspberries from New Zealand in the winter. I’ve taken flights to sunny beaches in February.”
Hint: We don’t have to be 100-percent-perfect, carbon-free angels to ‘do something’ for the climate. Don’t let guilt get in the way of using your voice, and your clout.
I have friends who are way better than I am when it comes to having a smaller, lighter carbon footprint. One is a 78-year-old grandmother who rides her bike all over downtown Toronto, even most days in winter. Her example is definitely inspiring.
I’m pretty sure if I lived in a city with good public transit – not on a country rural route – I would say goodbye forever to owning
81 a car, and maybe even resuscitate my bike. And I’d have a small freezer for saving raspberries from my home-grown garden or local Of course I’m part of market – and just maybe I would forego all future long distance the problem, Dear air travel. (Well, maybe not totally. Long before I croak, they just might have jets running on hydrogen fuel cells – small planes are Leader. So are you and already pioneering this technology.) that private jet that got you to this convention Really, none of these things – least of all guilt – should stop us from taking action on climate issues. The only legitimate reason centre for your speech for feeling guilty is if we’re not taking action… and the Q & A in the first place… Just because fossil fuels are part of daily living – petroleum products are woven into the entire fabric of everyday life in industrial countries – that doesn’t mean we’re not eager to get off them.
“I’m a climate scientist At a recent political rally, I asked a prominent Canadian party who doesn’t fly. I try leader about taxing fossil fuels. “Wouldn’t a carbon tax be a good to avoid burning fossil idea?” I queried. He answered my question with one of his own: fuels, because it’s clear “Do you drive a car?” – implying that if I did, I was part of the that doing so causes real problem and didn’t really have the right to ask. harm to humans and to Of course I’m part of the problem, Dear Leader. So are you and nonhumans, today and that private jet that got you to this convention centre for your far into the future… speech and the Q & A in the first place! I suspect that most people simply don’t COOL YOUR JETS! know the huge impact Speaking of jet travel, frequent flying accounts for a huge of their flying – but I portion of most people’s ‘carbon footprint’ (see also page 88). A return flight from Toronto to Athens, for example, burns also suspect that many nearly two metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per person, of us are addicted to it.” according to Air Canada. So, two things to consider: Peter Kalmus, YES magazine • fly less, enjoy more close-to-home vacations
• buy ‘carbon offsets’. The David Suzuki Foundation website (davidsuzuki.org) offers a good explanation of how offsets work. And good news, you can purchase reasonably priced offsets for all your greenhouse gas emissions, not just jet flights, by going to this UN-certified web site: ClimateNeutralNow.org.
There are some very exciting renewable energy, wastewater and reforestation projects you can support if you do jet off into
the wild blue (CO2-burdened) yonder. To be blunt about it: If you can afford the flight, you can afford the offset (especially if you’re using points.)
82 26. Find a climate buddy
When we were kids learning to swim, there was always one unbreakable rule: Never swim alone. Use the ‘buddy system’ even when there’s a lifeguard on duty, and always, always watch out for each other, even in the shallowest water.
This is a pretty good rule for life in general – and especially when you’re taking on something as big as climate change, which can Bite #2 overwhelm just about anyone, no matter how fearless.
Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand. Emily Kimbrough
“I have, despite all disillusionment, never, ever, allowed myself to feel like giving up. This is my message today: it is not worthy of a human being to give up.” Alva Myrdal, Research is now showing that climate change won’t just cause 1982 Nobel Peace Prize winner more physical disasters, injuries and deaths from extreme storms, droughts and floods, it will take a huge toll on mental health too. Young people are particularly vulnerable, which makes sense, because they will be facing much more climate uncertainty than their aging parents and grandparents – and more frequent calamities.
We need each other as we go through this difficult transition to zero carbon emissions because the world is in for a rough climate ride before it settles down to a new ‘normal’ in a few centuries’ time, but only acting now will make a livable future possible. So just like having a swimming buddy, having a ‘climate buddy’ can help boost our courage and give us gumption as we take our first steps.
83 How to Find a Good Climate Buddy: • Google ‘climate action groups’ and see what is already happening in your area. You’re bound to find like minds at such meetings and – hopefully – somebody with whom you can really connect! • Buy Tom Rand’s beautiful, informative, positive book, Kicking The Fossil Fuel Habit, put it on your coffee table or any place in the house where people gather. This book starts conversations all by itself. • Show the postcard in the back of this book to someone you think Show the postcard in may be concerned too. (If they have kids, that’s a good start.) the back of this book to • Share with friends, neighbours or colleagues that you are worried about climate issues, that not nearly enough is yet being done. someone you think may Tell them you will be sending the postcard to your Member of be concerned too. If they Parliament or Congress, and talk about what you’ll write. Would have kids, that’s a good they send one too? start. • Photocopy the card, and keep a few with you. You’ll find potential climate buddies in the most unexpected places. That’s because so many people really are worried about their grandkids, but they don’t know how to express it – or to whom. • Be polite, concerned and open to possibilities in any conversation, but don’t be afraid to speak up (see the Dedication page for that special photo of kids you love, and the jolt of courage they give you.) • Don’t be overly alarming. You will make more of an impact by being positive about the clean, green future ahead than getting stuck in despair and taking others down with you (see Chapter 3).
84 27. Break the silence,then keep talking!
Bite #3
We can’t solve a problem we don’t talk about. Or as the late, great American poet Audrey Lorde said: “Your silence will not serve you.” (And definitely not your grandkids). How is your Latin? Try this: Qui tacet consentire videtur. Translation: He who is silent appears to consent.
Have you ever just stayed quiet about something really disturbing, like a friend’s troubles with alcohol, physical abuse happening next door, or a vicious rumour that you know is a lie?
Not addressing problems head on makes them worse. And when we stand by as the trouble escalates, there’s a price for us to pay too, especially knowing we could have made a difference, but we waited too long – usually after something tragic happens that’s beyond fixing.
This applies to climate change too. If you haven’t talked much about it, you’re definitely not alone. Because it’s such a huge issue with potentially irreversible consequences – some have already happened – many people do their best to avoid it when they can. Or they brush it off, or attempt – sometimes just a bit too nervously – to make a joke about it.
85 We can’t solve a problem we don’t talk about. Or as the late, great American poet Audrey Lorde said: “Your silence will not serve you.” (And definitely not your grandkids).
Until very recently, the dead silence hovering over climate issues was deafening, even at the highest political levels. One example: Although for 30 years ‘global warming’ had been part of every American Presidential debate, there was near total silence during the 2012 US election campaign. That is, until ‘Super Storm’ Sandy slammed into the East coast and central USA on October 29, 2012, Words alone won’t just a week before election day. save us, but silence It took a major hurricane and massive damage to break the silence. seals our fate. The next day Bloomberg Business News ran this headline: Anonymous “It’s Global Warming, Stupid!” – far too late for political debate or discussion about possible solutions.
When politicians and the media duck from a subject, it’s also Climate has to be part of easier for us to stay silent too. So, how do we press our ‘unmute’ everyday conversations, buttons? Lots of ways. complete with all the Words alone won’t save us, but silence seals our fate. positive solutions just bursting to claim centre YES, KEEP TALKING: stage and bump OUR SILENCE WON’T PROTECT THEM (OR US) off fossil fuels! We have – individually and collectively – been way too feeble in our response to the subject of climate change – colossal though it is – when we should be out on the streets raisin’ hell. (Want this on your tombstone? Too damn nice to save the grandkids. No RIPing here.)
…And one more thing, while on this particular rant: If you’ve already had the gumption to talk about climate and our species’ abysmal role in disrupting it, congratulations! Now the challenge is to keep talking about it. It’s all too easy to fall back into silence once we’ve meekly tiptoed into this scary territory a couple of times.
Our voices can and do make a difference, so be bold. Climate has to be part of everyday conversations, complete with all the positive solutions just bursting to claim centre stage and bump off the fossil fuels!
86 The silence on climate change is deafening. It’s time for us to get loud.
By Rebecca Solnit, The Guardian, September 17, 2014
In Dr. Seuss’s parable, Horton Hears a Who, it takes all of Whoville to make enough noise to save their planet. How much will it take to save ours?
If Horton could hear a Who, there’s no reason the rest of us can’t hear the warnings about climate change.
All of Dr Seuss’s children’s books – or, at least, the best ones – are sly, radical humanitarian and environmental parables. That’s why, for example, The Lorax was banned in some Pacific Northwest districts {of the USA} where logging was the chief economy.
And in Horton Hears a Who: if you weren’t a child (or reading to a child) recently, it’s about an elephant with acute hearing who hears a cry from a dust speck. He comes to realize the dust speck is a planet in need of protection, and does his best for it.
Rebecca Solnit, September 17, 2014, ahead of the Peoples’ Climate March in New York City, where over 400,000 citizens made an incredible amount of noise.
Will you be Citizen #400,001?
87 28. Reduce your ‘Carbon Footprint’
Although estimates vary, we Canucks each emit about five tonnes
of personal CO2 pollution every year. And we’re not just big fossil fuel consumers; it’s everything else too. In fact, if everyone gobbled up as many resources as Canadians do, we’d need three more Earths just to satisfy the demand for ‘stuff.’ Bite #4 Five tonnes? Seriously? Here’s how...
How is it possible we each deliver five tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year? Sounds impossible, We can significantly but think just in terms of all the gasoline you burn in lower our own – and your car. Each 10 kilos of gas (a combo of carbon and our family’s – hefty hydrogen), when burned, produces almost 32 kilos of carbon dioxide. ‘carbon footprint’, essentially the amount Here’s how, according to NASA’s web site Climate for Kids which is about the max level of science I can of fossil fuels we burn comprehend at this stage: as we go about our “Most of the weight of carbon dioxide (CO ) comes daily lives. And we can 2 from the two oxygen atoms (the O2). Gasoline be as happy – maybe molecules are made of carbon and hydrogen atoms even happier – than we all bound together. When gasoline burns, the carbon are now, with much less and the hydrogen in the gas molecules separate. Two stuff. hydrogen atoms combine with one oxygen atom to form H2O, or water. {That’s what you see dripping out of your tailpipe.} Each carbon atom in the gasoline combines with two oxygen atoms already in the air.
This forms CO2.” Here’s an even simpler way to grasp it: Think of the weight of all the logs you burn in your fireplace, and how little ash is left after the fire goes out. All the rest of that mass goes skyward, and it weighs even more than the original wood because – once again, each molecule of carbon from the wood grabs two heavier oxygen atoms from the surrounding air, and together they go up, up into the wild blue yonder, where they can persist for 100 to 1,000 years or more.
A hefty fraction of your five tonnes Clear as mud? probably comes from here. We can significantly lower our own – and our family’s – ‘carbon footprint’, essentially the amount of fossil fuels we burn as we go about our daily lives. And we can be as happy – maybe even happier – than we are now, with much less stuff.
88 CALCULATE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT: There are lots of carbon footprint calculators on the internet, which will help you measure how much CO2 you’re emitting by burning fossil fuels. Here are two good ones: • CarbonNeutralNow.org (UN certified). Under ‘How’ click on ‘Calculate Footprint’ and choose ‘detailed calculation’, then away you go. • CarbonZero.ca. If you have never calculated your carbon footprint before, this is an eye-opening exercise, and a great starting point for reducing your five tonnes. Plus, you will be amazed at how much you can save – in both carbon pollution and cash – by doing some fairly simple things.
For example: • Reduce or eliminate the number of airline trips you and your family take. Jet travel is often the largest fraction of our total carbon footprint by far. (See page 82, Cool Your Jets.) Jimmy Carter, US President, ‘77-’81 in his famous cardigan. • Add more insulation to your home; caulk all those drafty air leaks, turn down the thermostat (and put on your sweater, just like Jimmy Carter did during the first ‘oil crisis’ back in the late 1970s.) Put on your sweater, just like Jimmy Carter • If you live in a province where most electricity is not produced did during the first ‘oil by fossil fuels (Quebec, Ontario, BC and Newfoundland) buy an all-electric vehicle after your current car has taken its last gulp of crisis’ back in the late gasoline. In Alberta or Saskatchewan, on the other hand, go for 1970s. a hybrid or turbo-diesel (at least until fossil fuels no longer provide the majority of electricity.)
• Eat less meat, buy local food, and grow some of your own “In today’s world, we’re veggies on your balcony or in the backyard. You will probably be astonished at how much the food we eat adds to our carbon still socially rewarded footprint. Find out here: eatlowcarbon.org. for burning fossil fuels. We equate frequent flying with success; we rack up our ‘miles.’ This is backward…” Peter Kalmus, climate scientist
Eating less meat will make Earth and You healthier.
89 • On short trips, walk or ride a bike – a great way to keep fit. Commute by bus or train to your workplace, and take advantage of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes when carpooling.
• Make a tree planting an annual event in your famiy and/or community. Trees not only provide cooling shade and a whole host of other environmental benefits, they act as ‘carbon sinks’
to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. Fruit or nut trees can also be a So, in addition to delicious local food source! reducing our personal carbon footprints, we • Involve your kids and grandkids in the mission to reduce your whole family’s carbon footprint. also have to use our collective clout to make Add more ideas of your own here: our Boomer numbers Ideas for shrinking My Great Big Carbon Footprint count… 1.
2. “Long ago, fire made us human, and then fossil 3. fuels made us modern. But now we need a new 4. fire that makes us safe, secure, healthy and 5. durable, and that turns For all the emissions you simply can’t eliminate, you can purchase out to be feasible, and in ‘carbon offsets’ to fund green projects that reduce greenhouse gas fact, to be cheaper than emissions in many countries around the world, including Canada. what we are doing.” (Have a look at CarbonNeutralNow.org’s site to see what’s available.)
Amory Lovins, But – and this is a big but – even Rocky Mountain Institute if you were to spend the rest (rmi.org) of your days in an off-the-grid old folks’ home, it still won’t be enough. Because – no great surprise – not everyone on this globe is ready to take the same carbon-free plunge as you are.
So, in addition to reducing our personal carbon footprints, we also have to use our collective political clout to make our Boomer numbers count…
90 29. Use our political clout as boomers
Despite the recent federal election that swept a young Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to power, many Canadians continue to be skeptical about politics and politicians. You see and hear it nearly everywhere – the jokes (“The problem with political jokes is they get elected.”), the nasty jabs (“They’re all crooks, liars, Bite #5 idiots…”), the less-than-flattering comparisons. In a recent survey, national politicians in Canada barely scored higher than telemarketers and car salesmen – third lowest on the totem pole – in a 2014 ranking of Way too few of us take ‘least trusted professions’. our ‘jobs’ as citizens But, in order to ‘turn the heat down’ on climate seriously. change, we need politicians at all levels to act on our behalf – and they most certainly need us! We’re all in this together; none of us BOOMER WARNING: This chapter has homework. Just do it, as you always did back in those good old days…remember? can quit until we’ve succeeded in slashing We’re truly not powerless, but when it comes to taking political Canada’s colossal per action, we Canadians are often a pretty feeble bunch. Way too few of us take our ‘jobs’ as citizens seriously. capita carbon footprint to net zero. Sure, most of us still dutifully cast ballots on Election Day(s) – in fact, way more Boomers than younger Gen Xers and Millennials. But between votes, we do our fair share of griping about politicians and governments. Forget hockey and the weather, we also spend tons of time complaining about overpaid, inept, tax-crazy governments…
Give politicians a break. We elected them, so even if we have to hold our noses, let’s make the best of it. They have plenty of power to help lift us out of the climate mess we’re in. And we’re all in this together; none of us can quit until we’ve succeeded in slashing Canada’s colossal per capita carbon footprint to zero.
Fact: Every year, Canada emits more CO2 per capita than practically any other nation, except the Aussies and Americans. How much? About 14 metric tonnes annually (2010-2014) as tallied by the World Bank. (Per capita is different than personal emissions. Per capita includes emissions from all sources, such as industry and infrastructure, divided by the total population, while personal emissions are yours alone.) By comparison to Canada, Sweden produces 5.5 tonnes and China 6.7 tonnes per capita.
91 Governments have extraordinary power to do good. In Canada, mainly in our Boomer lifetimes, laws have been passed to deliver universal health care, build safety nets for our most fragile citizens, provide free public and high school education for all kids. These are achievements we Canadians can be proud of, even though recent governments have chipped – and sometimes seriously slashed – away at these universal benefits.
On the climate front, however, Canada was – until the 2015 Liberal victory – a pariah. At the annual UN climate talks, we won the Fossil of the Year Award several years running. But our politicians, thanks to several changes of provincial and federal governments, are finally, finally getting serious after way too many years of dawdling:
• New cars and light trucks must now deliver better gas mileage because of tougher federal government regulations (mainly thanks to California’s bold lead; we’re simply following that trailblazing American state on this one, but we are following.)
• Ontario has shut down all its dirty coal-fired electricity plants. Other jurisdictions are moving in the same direction…
But, collectively, one of our best bets to wrestle greenhouse gases to the ground is through ‘carbon pricing’, either an emissions cap-and-trade system, or a carbon tax.
The very phrase carbon tax (I am whispering it here) has the power to make many politicians tremble in their boots and run howling from convention rooms. Tax has become a dirty, loathsome word, often twinned with the word ‘grab’.
Again, time to get over it. A well-designed carbon tax will not only reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, it can help Canadian households financially afford the transition to our green energy future. But design is everything. (See page 97).
YOUR HOMEWORK! If you want to make a difference in helping Canada become a respected leader – instead of a pariah – in climate action, one big step is to get to know your elected representatives – federal, provincial, and municipal. Start by collecting some basic information, finding out where they or their party (if affiliated with one) stands on tackling climate change, and what their plans are to do about it. Plus, dig up some personal information about them (no, not that kind). Most politicians have kids and grandkids they love just as much as you love yours. It’s a good idea to gather information on your elected representatives before you and your climate buddy contact your MP or MPP/MLA or your local Mayor/Council Member to make a face-to-face appointment.
And, given the huge climate stakes, one meeting is not enough. Best advice: Repeat often, taking new climate buddies along each time.
Ready, Set, Go!
92 MY FEDERAL MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (MP)
Name
Party: Riding name
Phone # (local office) Ottawa #
Email address: Website
Surface mail can be sent postage free to Parliament: Your MP’s name, c/o House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Constituency office address:
NOTES: • Family information (Spouse’s name, # of children + ages, other family info)
• Past history (Jobs, education, etc. prior to election)
• Reason for running for public office
• Special interests
• Personal beliefs about climate
• Party’s climate policy
93 MY PROVINCIAL MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (MPP) OR MEMBER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (MLA)
Name
Party: Riding name
Phone # (local office) Ottawa #
Email address: Website
Surface mail sent to your MPP/MLA is not postage free.
Constituency office address:
NOTES: • Family information (Spouse’s name, # of children + ages, other family info)
• Past history (Jobs, education, etc. prior to election)
• Reason for running for public office
• Special interests
• Personal beliefs about climate
• Party’s climate policy
94 URBAN CENTRES GETTING IT DONE!
When did you last sit through a meeting at your City Hall, or Town or Village Council? Most people tend to think their local governments are relatively powerless. They often pay a lot more attention to their federal and provincial (or state) governments because that’s where the bigger budgets are, and the higher profile With 70 to 75 percent politicians. of global CO2 emissions But where climate action is concerned, it’s worth taking a closer coming from urban look. While higher levels of government can get bogged down centres, ‘going 100% in nasty standoffs and budget battles, smaller councils and city authorities are often more nimble, and able to get some green’ will take a huge extraordinary things done. chunk out of humanity’s carbon footprint. For example, more than 50 large cities around the world have said that within the next 5, 10 or 20 years they will be running on 100 percent renewable energy. In 2015, Vancouver declared its intention to use only green energy sources for electricity, as well as heating, cooling and transportation, before 2050. It aims to reach 100 percent for electricity within a few years, all heating and cooling by 2030 or 2035, with transport to follow, between 2040 and 2050.
Smaller places have a big role to play too. In 2013, Greensburg, Kansas – a town of less than 800 people – became the first village in the United States to go 100 percent renewable, powering their homes, businesses, and municipal buildings via wind power. (This Vancouver is aiming for 100% achievement came just six years after a 2007 tornado destroyed renewables, including transport, 95 percent of the Greensburg’s structures.) Then came Burlington, before 2050. Vermont in 2014, and a year later, Aspen, Colorado. This trickle will soon become a flood of urban centres everywhere – surely the best kind of flood in this era of rapid climate change.
Since urban areas are responsible for 70 to 75 percent of global
CO2 emissions, cities, towns and villages ‘going green’ will take a huge chunk out of humanity’s carbon footprint.
Aside from switching to renewables, municipalities large and small must shore up infrastructure to withstand 100-year storms and floods (now becoming more frequent), step up source water protection and plant biodiversity (including both native and new tree species, for example), strengthen alert systems, emergency Greensburg Kentucky – 100% by preparedness and disaster management plans, and so on. 2013!
So, if you want to make a big difference, climate-wise, turn the page and get to know your local politicians better!
95 A PROFILE OF MY LOCAL COUNCIL Photocopy this page and write a profile of each of your local reps
Mayor/Councillor:
Phone number:
Represents (town, ward, etc.)
Email address:
Address of council office:
Web site of city/town/village:
NOTES:
• Family information (Spouse’s name, # of children + ages, other family info)
• Election history
• Education
• Past & present jobs
• Reason(s) for running for public office
• Special interests
• Personal beliefs about climate
• Environmental & climate interests related to town
• Other
96 WHAT IS ‘CARBON PRICING’?
Taking effective action on climate change will need bold policy moves by governments, and this more than ever comes down to just two words: carbon pricing. Higher fossil fuel The idea of any carbon pricing policy is to raise the cost of fossil prices make polluting fuels in order to reduce their consumption, thus putting the choices more expensive brakes on climate-warming greenhouse gases. and clean choices more So how will carbon pricing help? “Just as we pay a fee to throw affordable. our garbage into the landfill,” David Suzuki explains, “connecting a cost to polluting the atmosphere {with greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide} creates an incentive to avoid polluting, and it If BC had to do it spurs innovation in cleaner technology.” all over again, its There are several ways to put a price on carbon pollution: policymakers probably • Regulate each economic sector: For example, require that wouldn’t call it a the transportation sector – cars, trucks – achieve compulsory carbon tax, since who improvements in gas mileage. likes a tax? They would • Apply a carbon tax: That is, governments assign a price for each probably call it a levy. ton of carbon dioxide emitted, for example $30 – $100 per tonne, and increase the price every year. If the carbon tax is ‘revenue neutral’, what goes into government coffers comes out in an equal How does a Carbon amount. For example, when British Columbia applied its revenue neutral carbon tax in 2008, the government lowered personal Fee + Dividend approach and corporate income taxes by the same amount, plus helped low get us off fossil fuels income and rural BC residents with extra payments to help meet when all the money their higher costs for heating and transportation fossil fuels. It has goes back to taxpayers? worked very effectively, at least over the short term. Here’s how: As the Another very similar carbon tax policy, one endorsed by a rapidly price of fossil fuels is growing climate action group called the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (see page 110) is called Carbon Fee and Dividend. Much like BC’s raised every year by carbon tax this approach calls for an annually rising fee to be added government, consumers to the cost of fossil fuels at their source. will choose to bypass Even better than BC’s reduction in income taxes (which reduced costlier, climate-wrecking corporate income taxes as well as personal income taxes), all fuels in favour of green revenue collected in the CCL carbon fee model is pooled, then energy alternatives. returned in an equal ‘dividend’ to all households. An actual cheque is delivered monthly or quarterly to taxpayers’ mailboxes, or directly deposited into their bank accounts. It’s a clever way to remind citizens/voters that transitioning to a green economy doesn’t have to be financially painful. Creators of this approach calculate that about two thirds of all households – especially lower and middle-income earners, and everyone with a small carbon footprint, rich or poor – will come
97 out ahead. They’ll get more in their dividend than they pay out in higher fossil fuel costs. Imagine getting paid to deliver a healthier, more climate stable future… “The clear price signal provided by the carbon fee will push investment toward clean-energy technology and energy efficiency,” explains Cathy Orlando, manager of Citizens’ Climate Lobby of Canada. “Such a policy will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will also foster the creation of the 21st century jobs Canadians need and want.” About two thirds of all • Put in place a ‘Cap and Trade’ system: Very briefly, as explained households – especially by the Sightlines Institute, cap and trade works as follows: lower and middle- The ‘cap’ is a legal limit on the quantity of greenhouse gases that a region can emit each year, and ‘trade’ means that companies income earners, and may swap among themselves the permission – or permits – to emit everyone with a small greenhouse gases. carbon footprint, rich Cap and trade commits participating regions to meet responsible or poor – will come limits on global warming emissions, and gradually steps down those out ahead. limits over time. Setting common-sense rules, cap and trade sparks the competitiveness and ingenuity of the marketplace to reduce emissions as smoothly, efficiently, and cost-effectively as possible. In theory, all carbon pricing mechanisms can reduce greenhouse Special bonus: the gases, but there are fierce disagreements about which is the better carbon fee and dividend and most effective, and why all the others are inferior. policy creates many When Ontario declared in early April 2015 that it was adopting more jobs than the a cap and trade system, in partnership with Quebec and California, old dirty energy many proponents of carbon taxing howled that the decision would nothing more than a ‘tax grab’, a license to make lots of industries, and it lawyers and brokers rich, and the beginning of a big, stodgy, supports a healthier, costly bureaucracy. more robust economy. But, as the David Suzuki Foundation, among others, comments: “Both approaches – carbon taxes and cap + trade – if well-designed, are among the most powerful incentives governments have to encourage companies and households to pollute less and invest in cleaner choices. Although both these tools make polluting activities more expensive, they make green technologies more affordable.” One key to ensuring Canada gets the most effective carbon pricing policy (policies) – is for citizens and the media to demand answers from political leaders about core issues: • Will your policy: achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions quickly? Be simple to administer? Assist lower income Canadians? • Will your carbon pricing approach be totally transparent, so we can readily gauge progress and costs?
98 30. The power of public speaking
Do you have glossophobia? Although there is ongoing debate about whether the fear of public speaking – yes, glossophobia – actually surpasses the fear of death, it’s a pretty close contest in many surveys of our biggest anxieties. Bite #6
Although, if glossophobia is indeed your biggest fear, you might want to look at it from comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s perspective: “You mean you’d rather be lying in the coffin than giving the eulogy?”
And despite famous feminist Gloria Steinem’s reassurance that ‘you don’t die’ when standing up to speak in front of an audience – or even your family! – a lot of people simply aren’t willing to take the risk. (Although if glossophobia is indeed your biggest fear, you might want to look at it from comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s perspective: “You mean you’d rather be lying in the coffin than giving the eulogy?”)
You may never have to (or choose to) speak in front of a large audience, but be prepared just in case. Many of the same tips about public speaking in front of a general audience also apply to large gatherings such as all-candidates meetings during Gloria Steinem on elections. And though you won’t be one of the key speakers at public speaking: an all-candidates meeting or political rally (hmmm, perhaps “You don’t die.” one day you will!) you may have a chance to get up in front of a microphone to ask ONE question – and you want to make the most of it.
99 There are tons of good books and internet sites about the art of public speaking, going all the way back to Dale Carnegie’s 1936 classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Five tips (with thanks to Toastmasters International):
1. Know your subject, and be prepared (even if you are just asking one question during the Q+A) 2. Know your audience (Who are they? Age range. Interests. Maybe they know nothing about the climate crisis. Be prepared.) As Charlie Brown 3. Practice what you are going say (or ask) enough times that you explained one day to feel comfortable. Lucy, “I have three 4. Imagine yourself being calm, confident and making a great hints for becoming a speech/statement/asking a truly brilliant question. 5. Try to focus on your message/question, not on yourself. good public speaker: Be natural – and that can include passionate, sincere, and You must know when inspiring – whatever is the real you. to stand up, when to If you haven’t had any experience public speaking, Toastmasters speak up, and when is a good group to join. Yes, you can read all about being a great to shut up.” public speaker, but there’s nothing quite like putting yourself ‘out there’ – actually getting up in front of people and just doing it. Short of that, however, practicing in front of a mirror, or with your climate buddy – even your kids – will do wonders for your confidence when the time finally comes to stand up to the microphone.
Best suggestion: If someone you know will videotape you doing a practice run through your speech (or asking questions at public meetings), you may be mortified by the replay at first – I sure was – but if you’re open to constructive criticism (including your own), you will improve. Keep breathing, and keep practicing!
…ABOUT SPEAKING WITH POLITICIANS
It is still a good idea to sit down with your elected political representatives in face-to-face meetings. Remember, these people have the power to deliver climate policy that will ensure the world is a livable place 100 years from now.
The key always is to do your homework ahead of time, to learn as much as possible about this person who makes major decisions on your behalf, when you actually sit down to talk.
• Ask how much time you have for the meeting. • Be positive even if you are nervous. Thank your representative for their public service – although they may possibly faint because compliments could be a rarity.
100 • Express why you are there: your deep concerns about climate issues, and the lack of sufficient action to protect your children/grandkids. • Ask what he or she is doing about climate. What is the party’s official policy, and what specific plans are there to transition off fossil fuels by 2050? By what deadline will the party implement national energy strategy, and fulfill it? • Ask for suggestions on how you can help your representative take further action. (For example: “Who else in your party should we contact to discuss next steps?” such as the Minister of Environment, or presenting your petition, and so on). • Suggest another meeting, to follow up on any promised action. • Wrap up on time, and ask for a photo with your MP, or MPP. • Say thank you. (Do I sound like your mother? )
Most important: You shouldn’t consider it ‘one and done’ after your first meeting, although once is way better than not at all. The intention is to build a good working relationship with your MP and MPP/MLA, pushing gently but firmly toward effective climate policy solutions – the sooner the better – the returning in a few weeks or months to gauge your representative’s progress. Remember, this person is a public servant, elected to serve citizens like you and me.
Remind your elected politician: “There is nothing more important than our kids’ future. Failure is not an option.”
101 31. If you can’t speak up, get busy writing! What to do if you indeed are severely phobic – frightened almost to death – about public speaking? Answer: Pick up your pen – it’s way more powerful than you can imagine – and let’s get started!
Writing letters to politicians and the editor of your local newspaper Bite #7 may sound so…20th century, but – as proud Boomers – know that some of those ancient practices really do have a great deal of impact. And in fact they count way WAY more than mouse-clicks on an internet petition. TIPS FOR WRITING GREAT LETTERS TO POLITICIANS With all the quick, SHAMELESSLY LIFTED FROM GLOBAL ZERO’s SITE easy ways to globalzero.org communicate these Hand-written letters may seem incredibly old-fashioned, but they days, a handwritten remain one of the single most effective tools in getting your message letter can make a huge across about an issue you care about – and in influencing elected difference in breaking leaders and officials. Elected officials at all levels of government count every single hand-written letter they receive. With all the through ‘the noise’ and quick, easy ways to communicate these days, a personalized letter making a memorable can make a huge difference in breaking through ‘the noise’ and impression. making a memorable impression. The following are tips to help you put pen to paper effectively on the need for immediate and effective climate action.
• Be respectful. Begin by briefly thanking your elected rep for their service (or for something else that helps get your letter off to a positive start). A sincere, polite letter will make more of an impact than an angry, accusing one.
• Address your elected representative by his or her official title, and use formal greetings and closings. (Googling ‘How to Address Government Officials in Canada’ will get you to a good protocol web site with the answers you need.)
• Be clear and concise. Respect the time of the person reading your letter by laying out your argument as clearly and simply as possible. In the case of climate, you really want your elected rep – first and foremost – to understand your deep concern about climate change, and what kind of world your kids and grandchildren will inherit without significant action.
102 Remind them there’s every reason to act immediately and tirelessly, because we already have all the answers to solve the climate crisis.
• When possible, include a personal connection. Political leaders need to frame issues before tackling them. Giving them a personal story can help them recognize how the issue at hand matters to the people they represent. Perhaps include a photo of your family, and mention theirs too. You can usually find out details about their children and grandchildren (if they have them) on their government web site.
• Always ask for a response. If you do ask, there is a much better Always ask for a chance you will get one than if you don’t make the request. response. If you do ask, A letter is a great way to get your elected official ‘on the record.’ there is a much better – See more by Googling ‘Global Zero letter writing’. chance you will get one than if you don’t make MULTIPLY YOUR LETTER-WRITING EFFORTS #1. Copy your letter to more than one recipient, and use free the request. A letter is mail services to Members of Parliament. For example, you a great way to get your can copy your letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister of elected official ‘on the Environment, as well as your own MP, and Opposition critics. record.’ TIPS FOR WRITING EFFECTIVE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ALSO BRAZENLY STOLEN, this time from a short Power Point presentation by Cheryl McNamara, a media specialist who founded the Citizens’ Climate Lobby chapter in Toronto. (See page 110 for more on CCL.)
Three key things to know: 1. The Letters to the Editor page is one of the most popular – and most read – sections of any newspaper. 2. Politicians and their staff tend to read the letters to gauge their constituents’ opinions on the news of the day. 3. Writing a Letter to the Editor is a relatively easy way to get your views published.
The Hierarchy of Letters to Editor Opportunities
1. Editorials. This is the official stand the newspaper takes on any given issue, in this case, climate change. Letters responding to the Cheryl McNamara paper’s editorials will usually be given top priority. (More proof of Cheryl’s creativity at EarthToo.org) 2. Front page stories. These are the big stories of the day. If the newspaper decides it’s important enough to put on their front page, chances are they’ll consider letters about those stories important enough to run on their editorial pages.
103 3. Staff-written columns These are columns that are written by the newspaper’s editorial staff writers. They provide the ‘branding’ for the newspaper’s readership.
Letters responding to these staff columnists’ views help to promote the paper’s brand and its readership.
4. Locally-written op-eds These are opinion (hence ‘op’) pieces written by people in the community (‘ed’, short for editorial). These pieces usually start a Letters to the editor public conversation about an issue of importance to the community. are typically 150-200 A Letter to The Editor continues that conversation. words, meaning you are 5. Other Letters to The Editor limited to 3 or 4 short You can also respond to someone else’s letter. You’re starting to paragraphs. They are scrape the barrel at this point, Cheryl says, but if it’s an outrageous the haiku of advocacy – letter that cries out for a response, it might be considered. short and sweet. Cheryl’s Advice: Letters that get published: • Reference the article you’re responding about. Letters that do not reference an article in the paper stand little chance of being published.
• Reference the news. With a big news story – a massive extreme weather event, for instance – you might not need to cite the specific article, but you do need to reference the news.
• Be creative. Climate change may not be mentioned in a story; for example, about the discovery of the Franklin Expedition ship in the Arctic in September 2014, and how this was related to climate change – the rapidly melting Arctic ice. In your Letter to the Editor, you can remind the newspaper’s readers that climate change is definitely part of this story.
How to get published and influence people: Letters to the editor are typically 150-200 words, meaning you are limited to 3 or 4 short paragraphs. They are the haiku of advocacy – short and sweet. Start the writing process by asking yourself the question: What is my message and how does that relate to the article that was in the paper?
Opening: In your very first sentence, cite the article to which you are responding. For example, “Your editorial Saturday questioning the existence of climate change left me quite puzzled, given that the world’s glaciers are receding at record rates.” (Note: It’s okay to challenge a view, but never be disrespectful or snide.)
Transition fast to message: You don’t have much space, so transition quickly to your message.
104 Start by stating the problem. “If we ignore what scientists are telling us, global temperatures will rise throughout the century with dire consequences – coastal flooding, droughts, famine, extinction of species.”
Propose a solution: This is the meat of your message. “We must reduce the level of carbon-dioxide – the primary greenhouse gas – to a level that will avert these disastrous effects. Scientists tell us that level is 350 parts per million in the atmosphere. The most efficient and effective means to do this is to place a fee on carbon and return the revenue equally to all residents.” In addition to your full Closing the letter: Finish up strong either by referring back to name, the newspaper the beginning of the letter (closing the circle) or with something will want your address clever. and phone number “Policymakers can argue all they want, but Mother Nature doesn’t (not for publication) argue – and she doesn’t negotiate.” to verify your letter. Finally, email your Don’t try to say everything in one letter. There’s no room for ‘everything’ and it muddies the message. letter to the paper; surface mail is just In addition to your full name, the newspaper will want your too slow. address and phone number (not for publication) to verify your letter. Finally, email your letter to the paper; surface mail is just too slow.
MULTIPLY YOUR EFFORTS #2. Share your Letter to The Editor with friends, the rest of your family and others. Ask them to write one of their own. Have regular ‘Writing Bees’ with people you know are concerned about climate change and their kids. Copy published letters to your elected representatives.
Still not sure how to write a Letter to The Editor? Turn the page for six examples written by members of the group, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, and published in major Canadian newspapers.
Good Letters to the Editor this way!
105 All we lack now for a clean energy future is political will. It is obvious from this editorial that Thunder Bay is also showing us the way. Re: Putting focus on green energy. Cathy Orlando, Sudbury, July 27, 2013 Kudos to the Star for highlighting the important developments in green technology businesses. If our government would cut subsidies to the competing oil and gas sector, maybe Canada’s green businesses would have a better chance to Re Ontario Plans Cap-and-Trade on Emissions (Apr 3) survive and thrive at home and away. Companies buying credits will have to raise prices. Furthermore, a carbon fee and dividend would Won’t this increase the already uncompetitive cost increase the demand for clean, green solutions. of doing business in Ontario? Bravo to clean tech pioneer Céline Bak for her encouragement of this industry sector. Wouldn’t a carbon tax be fairer, simpler and have greater net benefits to Ontario? At least then Cathy Lacroix, Toronto, April 2014 the money would stay in Ontario and might be available for green projects there. What am I missing?
Jack Peltier, Calgary, April 6, 2015 *** Re: Beyond trains and pipelines. California North. Re Like A Carbon Tax, But Much What lies ahead is obvious. A 2009 report in Worse (April 7, 2015): Scientific American (Jacobson and Delucci), showed that we can meet the entire world’s energy needs Margaret Wente is right about a carbon tax being with renewables in 20 years and that we can do better than cap-and-trade. But her caricature of it for the same money that we’d be spending on California’s problems is laughable: She suggests fossil fuel power. Californians are outraged by our Governor’s using money from pricing carbon (a public bad) to A February 2014 study by the International Energy fund infrastructure projects and poverty-reduction Agency found that any country can reach high programs (economists would call this good policy), shares of wind and solar power cost effectively. and that we are feeling the pinch of inflated gas Our next step, Canada, is an effective climate prices (I just filled up my Prius for $18). and energy plan, as we are the only G20 country without one. What we’re really concerned about here is water. Our drought is now the worst in 1,200 years, British Columbia is showing us the way. A March thanks in large part to – you guessed it – climate 2014 report by Analytica Advisors found that change. California is taking climate change between 2008, when B.C. legislated a revenue- seriously and our emissions have been falling for neutral carbon tax, and 2010, the province’s the better part of a decade. Ontario becoming clean technology sector grew by 48 per cent, California-North? Sounds good to me. their greenhouse gas emissions dropped and their gross domestic product grew above the Matt Burgess, Santa Barbara, CA national average.
106 The big polluters pay the carbon tax and we reap the rewards.
Wee Prince George has certainly captured the media’s Politicians want to hear from us. They want to hear attention. What did not make the front page the what we want them to do. So tell them. It only takes day that George was born were the photos that a moment. show the North Pole is currently ice-free. Maureen Milledge, PEI According to climate scientists, the entire Arctic will likely be ice-free in summer by 2015 – something that could trigger a disastrous release of methane gas.
If we do not take drastic action to reduce our global We can do something to stop climate change. carbon emissions immediately, George, and all There is great news in the latest United Nations other babies born this summer, will grow up in a climate change report. It turns out that leaving world catastrophically altered by climate change. our kids and grandkids a livable planet doesn’t Surely, George’s generation will demand to know have to cost the Earth economically. how we could be more concerned with the birth But there’s a caveat: The UN climate panel says of one baby than with the possible collapse of the we need to start now with a significant rollout planet’s entire climate system. of green energy solutions, replacing the polluting Sonia Furstenau, Mill Bay fossil fuels that drive global warming. The sooner we act, the less costly negative climate consequences will be. And the bonus is priceless – while renewables will allow Earth’s climate to stabilize, we will avoid the worst of climate disruptions predicted to come our way by stubbornly sticking to fossil fuel-based It is with relief that I finally read positive news business as usual. about climate change. The {latest UN} report warns that decisions and changes need to be What role will Canada play in the transformation made now. What’s our part in all of this? to a low carbon economy? Will we keep our heads in the sand and continue to deny climate change I suggest our part is to take a moment and contact reality? Or will we show the world we truly care our federal politicians. Tell them we want an end to about a healthy, stable future for this great planet fossil fuel subsidies. We want our tax dollars back. (and all life on it) by rapidly shifting to green energy alternatives? And we want the big polluters to pay for dumping carbon into our air, for free. After all, we would If you’re not sure how to answer, ask your kids! charge them for polluting our drinking water or our back yard. Liz Armstrong, Erin
And we want the money the big carbon-polluting companies pay to be given back fairly to all of us in an annual payment, or through lower taxes or more clean energy. It’s called a carbon tax.
107 32. Start a kitchen table group
This is easier than you think, and as simple as suggesting to some friends that you’d like to start a small, regular group – something like a book club – that gets together once or twice a month in someone’s living room (or the proverbial kitchen!) Or put a notice in the local paper about an event that will draw out the core of Bite #8 your new small group. We created just such an event in our small town in 2007, featuring a local speaker from Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. Of all the keen participants who attended, about a dozen of us started what we ended up calling the Climate Change Action Group of Erin.
Over the past eight years, we’ve spearheaded a variety of initiatives: • lobbied to pass a municipal anti-idling by-law, with kids from local schools doing posters for storefronts.
• created a school curriculum for Grades 5-6 entitled Taking A Healthy Bite Out of Climate Change, which focused on the many advantages of buying and eating local organic food; as well as The Case of the Colossal Carbon Footprint, also for Grades 5-6.
• participated in 350.org’s annual climate awareness events.
• organized an organic garden tour.
• polled local election candidates about their positions on climate issues.
• wrote and submitted a weekly item to our local newspaper called Climate Change Corner.
But the anchor of our annual activities has been an annual movie series called the Fast Forward Eco-Film Festival – Our Environmental Future is NOW! – monthly movies from January through May featuring documentaries that focus on various aspects of climate issues – water, fossil fuels, electric vehicles, melting glaciers, activism, and so on.
Along with the films, we offer snacks during intermission that feature local organic food prepared by our local ‘foodshed’ group. (Local is a big theme ) And we have information tables featuring organic farms with Community Supported Agriculture (CAS) programs, Credit Valley Conservation’s wide range of services (CVC is our founding sponsor), solar energy companies, the nearby eco-village, and many others who come and go. Plus petitions to sign, cards to mail, and other actions people can do in a few minutes or less. It has been quite successful.
108 Here are just a few films we have shown, all excellent: • Chasing Ice • Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai • Last Call at the Oasis • Dirt! The Movie • Revolution • Food Inc. • Bidder 70 • Symphony of the Soil • Revenge of the Electric Car • Queen of the Sun • The Wisdom to Survive • Oil + Water • This Changes Everything • Merchants of Doubt • Plant This Movie!
Some cons about local groups: While there are many pluses about small, enthusiastic groups rooted in the local community, it can be difficult trying to raise funds to run programs, develop good resources to share, and to keep recruiting members to ensure “We must connect the a long, happy life (yours and the group’s!) If you decide to apply for grant money from charitable organizations or government dots between climate agencies like Trillium, that’s not a bad idea, but be prepared: this change, water scarcity, can require lots of time writing applications and trying to make energy shortages, global your project a good ‘fit’ for the funder’s mandate. health, food security and If you are lucky enough to land a grant – much harder than it used women’s empowerment. to be – you will also have to spend a fair amount of time keeping Solutions to one problem track of your activities in a regular series of reports. All of this can must be solutions for all.” suck the energy out of doing the ‘real’ work of your group, in this case, fighting climate change. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
But don’t be discouraged by these comments if creating and building a local group is your dream and passion. It’s amazing what can happen when two or three are gathered…
GO WATER ROCKERS! Our kitchen table group, the Climate Change Action Group of Erin, supports local student education programs with cash we collect at our movie nights, including the Erin Public School Water Rockers, a very inspiring group of Grade 6 kids and their teacher Cathy Dykstra.
109 33. Join the citizens’ climate lobby!
Not feeling quite up to organizing your own kitchen table group? Would you rather tap into an existing organization with lots of great resources, a razor-sharp strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions, helpful staff members and volunteers to lend their support, and energetic monthly meetings you can attend very Bite #9 close to home via a free long distance conference call? It does sound almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not a dream – rub your eyes and learn some more about the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL).
I first heard about CCL’s Canadian chapter in 2013, and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to attend its first annual conference in Ottawa late November that year. Best decision ever. We now have a local chapter here in our small town of Erin, which fits in nicely with other eco-groups in the area, such as Transition Erin, the local Trails group, and even our annual film fest.
CCL is about both educating people to take political action, and – smart move – it religiously focuses on a single goal: to lobby politicians of all parties to support the specific carbon pricing policy, called ‘Carbon Fee and Dividend’. (See pages 58 and 97.)
The key is disarmingly simple: CCL helps ordinary citizens convert their feelings of hopelessness about climate change into powerful action. How? By training and encouraging them have to write letters and meet face-to-face with elected representatives – people with the power to put the Carbon Fee and Dividend into action as Marshall Saunders, founder of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, and his a national or local policy. The other goal is to educate the general grandson Lincoln. public by having CCLers write letters to the editor, asking editorial boards to adopt Carbon Fee and Dividend as preferred policy, and so on.
The key is disarmingly The best part is that CCL provides great resources: guidelines on simple: CCL helps how to start a local chapter, how to set up and conduct meetings ordinary citizens with politicians, offers ‘laser talks’ – short fact sheets about various aspects of the climate issue – for volunteers to practice convert their feelings before seeing their elected rep, and much more. And it’s basically of hopelessness about free. There’s even a toll-free 800 number provided to join the live climate change into CCL conference call every month. And – unlike many conference powerful action. calls in my over-conferenced call past – this one is energetic, educational and fun, with action items shared at the end to map out activities for the coming month.
110 If you’d like to know more and find out if CCL is a good fit for you, there is a live one-hour, introductory call every week – again toll-free. For more information, check out the Canadian CCL web site: citizensclimatelobby.ca, or the US site: citzensclimatelobby.org.
As those shoe people say, Just Do It!
Purposes of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby:
1) to create the political will for a stable climate; 2) to empower individuals to have breakthroughs in This one’s for you! exercising their personal and political power.
The Two Main CCL Strategies:
1) To have governments put a fee on carbon pollution and give 100% of the money collected back to households in the form of a dividend payment (Carbon Fee and Dividend); 2) To end all subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
Cathy Orlando, National Manager, CCL Canada
A little wet weather never dampens the enthusiasm and commitment that members of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby bring to their Ottawa MP and Senator lobby days. Around the world, CCL is growing exponentially, as citizens learn to embrace their fear of climate change and speak up for a revenue neutral carbon tax, aka ‘carbon fee and dividend’ that will help shift our economies to clean energy alternatives, while helping lower and middle-income wage earners afford higher fossil fuel costs.
111 34. ‘Talk the talk’ like this doc!
It’s hard to be a good steward of the planet if you don’t accept the hard science behind what’s harming it, and it can be just as hard to take action to protect our world if you don’t love it as the rare gift it is. Actor Don Cheadle about Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
Bite #10 Katharine Hayhoe is originally from Toronto and is now working as a climate scientist at Texas Tech University. She is one of those very smart people who ‘defies stereotype’, Don Cheadle says – a climatologist who is also an evangelical Christian. Interesting combination!
Dr. Hayhoe is energetic and delightfully positive, despite the challenging and difficult nature of her work. Now this is intriguing: She was married to Andrew Farley, lead pastor of the Ecclesia Church in Lubbock, Texas for six months before she realized he didn’t ‘believe’ in global warming. (They obviously worked it out because they have since collaborated on a book called A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions.)
Katharine is a much sought-after speaker who offers a great deal of insight and wise advice about how to talk with people about climate change – and especially people who may be very different than we are.
Here, in précis form, are some of Katharine’s words of advice on Katharine Hayhoe helping people ‘get’ climate change, and how to move forward positively.
#1: The first thing we need is to have answers to common It’s really smart for questions at our fingertips. I don’t think more information us to have simple, about climate change is going to solve the problem. In fact, if I straightforward had to choose between writing another assessment report, and talking to people in Washington or Ottawa, I would choose answers at our talking to people for sure. Writing one more report is not going fingertips – all of to be much more helpful. But, at the same time, we have to those answers are recognize that people have a lot of misinformation that we have to address before we can move ahead. So, I think it’s really smart at the web site for us to have simple, straightforward answers at our fingertips, SkepticalScience.com answers to questions like this:
• “It’s freezing outside. Where is global warming now?” • “How do we know it’s people, and not natural cycles?” • “Hasn’t global warming stopped or at least paused?” • “Won’t this ruin the economy?”
112 All of those answers are at the web site Skeptical Science (skeptical- science.com) climate information by climate scientists and they’re there in short, 30-second sound bites. So, I would really encourage, as a first step, you have a few of those answers at your fingertips, so you don’t stumble over the first step immediately.
#2: Make the impacts of climate change real and relevant. We are at the point now where we can actually identify things happening where we live because of climate change – increased floods, stronger hurricanes, sea level rise, longer droughts, more frequent heat waves, risks to water supplies, and so on. To find People are far less likely out more, look at the US National Assessments, and Environment to agree with what we Canada’s on-line resources. (Even better, check out Natural Resources Canada’s reports, Canada in a Changing Climate). say about climate unless Memorize some details of things that matter where we live. we offer solutions, such as the Citizens’ Climate #3: We have to offer viable solutions. Social science has shown that we explain the science of climate change and its impacts very Lobby ‘Carbon Fee and well, but most people stop short of offering viable solutions to this Dividend’. crisis. People are far less likely to agree with what we say about climate unless we offer solutions, such as the Citizens’ Climate Lobby ‘Carbon Fee and Dividend’. Long term, fear is not Let’s also share good news stories. There are now so many of a successful motivator. them from some of the most conservative parts of North America. We need to motivate In Texas, one of my favorite stories is that we generated almost with hope for a better 40% of our electricity from wind power in March (2014). We smashed the previous record. These stories are happening future. all over the continent. So, find some good news stories and share those along with your solutions. Find some good news #4: Last, it’s so tempting to respond from the head, to argue stories and share the facts, to get angry, to get irritated – and just to scare people: “Don’t you know how bad it’s going to be!?” Long term, fear is those along with your not a successful motivator. We need to motivate with hope for a solutions. better future. We need to motivate with love for others rather than a self-focus of fear.
In terms of communicating successfully, make sure we understand where the people are coming from who we’re talking to, have ready answers to the questions we know they will have, make the impacts real and relevant to where we live, and offer viable solutions and good news stories – and get excited about these!
Finally, motivate with hope and love, not fear and anger.
113 35. Divest fossil fuels, go green!
This is what one trillion dollars looks like in numerals = $1,000,000,000,000. It’s one thousand billion dollars, if that helps.
To get some idea of how much $1 trillion really is, imagine going on a monster shopping spree trying to spend it all. At $20 per Bite #11 second, 24 hours per day, seven days a week, it would take you 1,585 years to drain your trillion-dollar bank account. Does bring new meaning to the expression ‘shop till you drop.’ It would take you about 20 lifetimes to spend the last dollar.
You get the gist. One trillion is a lot, but many trillions are what large countries shuffle around in their bank accounts every year. You get the gist. Earth’s two biggest economies – the United States and China – are One trillion is a lot, currently ‘worth’ about $17 and $10.5 trillion (USD) respectively. but many trillions are When the bottom fell out of the US economy in 2008 (or – let’s what large countries be honest – was pushed over the cliff by Wall Street recklessness shuffle around in and porous financial regulations) the bailout cost American tax- their bank accounts payers an immediate $600 billion – somewhat short of a trillion, but significant. But the full cost of rescuing the US economy from every year. that 2008 nose-dive and resulting recession has been tallied at $12.8 trillion, according to Bloomberg, a leading financial news and analytics firm. It was nearly equal to the value of everything The cost of inaction produced in the US that dismal year. is staggering, and the So, what would it cost to stabilize the climate? stabilizing remedies are small change by In order to ensure a ‘safe, livable climate future’, a 2012 analysis comparison. As one by the International Energy Agency concluded that the world must invest a total of $36 trillion in clean energy by 2050 – an average keen observer said: of $1 trillion per year, in order to keep the global temperature “We can afford to increase under 2ºC. But since the world dithered and made no address climate headway in greenhouse gas reductions for the next two years – in fact, emissions kept rising ever more rapidly – the IEA upped change, and we its original estimate in 2014 by $8 trillion, yielding a new total can’t afford not to.” of $44 trillion to maintain that livable climate future. This is known in the investment business as The Clean Trillion – and the name stuck even after IEA upped the ante that extra $8 trillion...
No matter what the investment goal, it’s simple math after all. The cost of inaction is staggering, and the stabilizing remedies are small change by comparison, and they’re more than offset by hefty fuel savings of $115 trillion. As one keen observer said: “We can afford to address climate change, and we can’t afford not to.”
114 In order to limit global warming to 2º C and avoid the worst effects of climate change, the 2012 IEA plotted this financial way forward: “Investments in low-carbon energy technologies will need to at least double, reaching $500 billion annually by 2020, and then double again to $1 trillion by 2030.”.
How to get to this promised land? Institutional investors manage a whopping $75 trillion globally, and pension funds represent nearly one third of that immense pool of capital. More than any other investors, says Deb Abbey, CEO of the Responsible Investment Association, pension funds “are uniquely positioned to close this A quick look found clean energy investment gap.” But in order to get to that annual trillion + prescribed by the IEA, a bunch of barriers need to be Exxon Mobil, one swept away, including the ‘unsupportive environmental policies’ of most profitable of governments, such as fossil fuel subsidies, Abbey says. companies in the So, where is your money invested? For many years, I believed history of money – that my fairly modest retirement savings were safely tucked away and one of the most in ‘ethical’ mutual funds – doing the world good, and earning polluting. some interest even as I now make my compulsory monthly withdrawal from my registered savings plan.
But don’t be fooled by the word ‘ethical’ without looking closely at what these funds invest in. Although most have screens to keep out the worst corporate offenders, they may contain some unexpected surprises that really don’t suit your personal ethics, and may prompt you to divest, that is, switch to something more fitting – and more inspiring to you. This pension, while super When I finally asked for specifics about my mutual fund investments, wealthy, is not managed I was deeply disappointed. I found way too many oil and gas equities, and even the giant beverage company Coca-Cola. Not by teachers, although my idea of ethical at all, though the fund managers argue that they might be wise to dig investing in these companies allows them to exert pressure for and discover how their positive change through shareholder advocacy. But this is a boondoggle, since their #1 priority – and legal responsibility – is to hard earned pension make the most profit for their investors. money is being invested. Exxon Mobil, really? Then there are the big pension funds. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with its truly fitting golden apple logo, announced record assets of $154.5 billion in its 2014 annual report. Until last year, OTPP publicly listed all its investments over $100 million, but that policy changed in 2014, and the reporting threshold is now $150 million. So investments like Exxon Mobil, which appeared on OTPP’s 2013 list, have now disappeared. Was it divested? Your guess is as good as mine. The bigger question though: Why is a teachers’ pension plan investing in fossil fuels?
115 Once upon a time I taught elementary school in Toronto and was eligible for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, but I left it all behind to pursue the far more profitable life of a freelance writer (yes, definitely joking). Teaching is a profession that’s all about preparing kids to the best of their abilities to pursue positive, fulfilling lives. Had I stayed the course I would have retired long ago – and pretty well off! But I assure you I would have been profoundly disturbed by a pension plan containing investments like Exxon Mobil that are laying waste to our kids’ futures.
I assure you I would And the Canada Pension Plan, which has signed on to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, also makes have been profoundly me scratch my head and wonder how CPP can own significant disturbed by a pension blocks of shares in dozens of fossil fuel corporations? How is this plan containing responsible, unless there is a full court press to compel these companies to shift to low carbon energy alternatives and/or investments like Exxon effective ‘carbon capture’ technologies? Mobil that are laying waste to our kids’ The reality is that truly ethical funds represent a tiny fraction of the massive investment market, and presently have little clout in futures. the overall financial world. There is a choice: fighting for change from within by sticking with these funds (stockholder ‘engagement’ by fund managers), or bailing out to pursue other options that makes it somewhat easier to sleep at night. “Green bonds are are emerging as a Green bonds are one of those options, and Deb Abbey of the promising way to Responsible Investment Association says they “are emerging as a promising way to provide large pools of capital to support investment provide large pools in green initiatives.” When Export Development Canada issued its of capital to support first green bond – for US $300 million – in January 2014, it sold investment in green out in 15 minutes, and was oversubscribed by $200 million. Watch for more from EDC and the province of Ontario, to name initiatives.” just two, Abbey says. And learn more from the nonprofit group Deb Abbey, Climate Bonds Initiative at climatebonds.net. Responsible Investment Association According to a December 2014 story by Tyler Hamilton of Corporate Knights, “Green bonds are still a tiny portion of the $80 trillion global bond market, but this sector more than tripled in 2014 and could triple again in 2015, a psychological milestone that gives green bonds some much-needed credibility beyond ‘niche’ circles. Expect more governments – federal, subnational and municipal – to embrace green bonds as a way to fund low carbon, climate- resilient infrastructure, and a double-downed commitment from international lending agencies such as the World Bank.”
Whether or not you decide to clear your personal investments of fossil fuel companies, you can add your voice to growing divestment campaigns by faith groups, colleges and universities, hospitals, municipalities, pension funds, and other institutions.
116 The climate group 350.org helped launch a major fossil fuel divestment campaign the day after the 2012 American election. By late 2014, the movement had spread around the world, with more than 140 institutions representing over $50 billion committed to divestment, and counting. If you are a graduate of any university or college with a divestment campaign, connect to add your name (and perhaps a donation). Faith groups and pension funds can also use Boomer support to move forward. Find out more at gofossilfree.org.
Many argue that this $50 billion divestment amount, while growing If you’re keen on playing steadily, is trivial compared to the total value of the fossil fuel industry, estimated by Bloomberg New Energy Finance at $4.65 the stock market, trillion. But, in combination with well-designed carbon taxes, why not start a green divesting can be effective, especially as the moral suasion part investment club? of the equation.
What is a ‘carbon bubble’? Financial markets currently have unrestricted capacity to treat fossil fuel reserves as assets. But as governments around the world are moving to control and reduce carbon emissions, this is creating risks for investors – especially the threat of fossil fuel assets becoming ‘stranded’ as the shift to our green, low-carbon economy accelerates. ‘Stranded assets’ may well be one of the keys to a quicker shift away from fossil fuels. In stock market language, stranded means that assets that have suffered from unanticipated or premature write-downs, devaluations or conversion to liabilities – in other words, they’re no longer able to earn a reasonable economic return because of changes in the market and to government regulations during the transition to a low-carbon economy. That is, they become losers you don’t want in your portfolio! For more on the carbon bubble and stranded assets, read Jeff Rubin’s 2015 book, The Carbon Bubble: What Happens When It Bursts.
117 36. Faith, hope + climate action
Most modern religions declare that protecting God’s creation here on Earth is fundamental to their sacred mission. That’s a very good thing too, as it’s hard to sustain a healthy flock on a sick and suffering planet. But between the earnest pledges and the sacrifices needed to live Bite #12 up to such a vow, it will also take a man-made miracle or two, since a great deal of what we inherited on this planet has already been lost or threatened as a result of human actions. And bonus miracles will also be required to prevent far more harm, since nearly all modern religions are part and parcel of industrial economies hooked on these two Earth-threatening addictions: 1) Perpetual economic growth rooted in the escalating debt that keeps capitalism afloat. 2) Cheap fossil fuels that in turn drive economic growth farther and faster past limits that are unsustainable (with deadly results for too many humans and other ill-fated species). This destructive combination presents a huge challenge to modern religions, since many depend financially on fossil fuel and other A persuasive and inspiring extraction industry investments to keep their organizations viable. example for climate action is Here’s another irony: With Earth’s systems increasingly distressed Pope Francis. by climate change, including drought, crop failures, floods and destructive super-storms, what are the chances the other ‘good “We have to realize works’ that religions embrace – feeding the hungry, conquering that a true ecological poverty, pursuing peace, helping refugees, and ensuring social approach always justice – can succeed? becomes a social One more question: Do prophecies about End Times mean that approach; it must only a chosen few will survive the predicted apocalypse? Are these the same believers with the heavy carbon footprints and stocks integrate questions of in fossil fuels who are causing Earth’s climate crisis? Will these justice in debates on be the chosen? the environment, so as Divestment from fossil fuels is an opportunity for faith groups to to hear both the cry of stand together in solidarity to protect what is still vital on Earth, the earth and the cry of and restore at least some of what has been lost (except of course the poor.” those species already driven to extinction). Divestment is not the be-all-and-end-all, but it offers a powerful sign to the world that Excerpt from Pope Francis’s there can be no compromises, that we can’t continue to extract encyclical on climate, June 2015 and burn petroleum and profit from it too. (Google ‘Laudato Si English’ for full text) A persuasive and inspiring example of religious leadership is Pope Francis, an exceptional advocate for action on climate issues.
118 His brilliant papal encyclical was released in June challenging world leaders – and particularly climate-change denying Christian politicians – to live up to their moral obligation to reach a bold, binding agreement at the Paris climate negotiations in December 2015. But what of the Roman Catholic Church itself, one of the wealthiest institutions on Earth? Despite calls by many of the Catholic faithful, there has been no public promise of action on divestment, since the church’s investments and spending are kept secret. Yet there is momentum gathering around the world, with well over 70 religious institutions making divestment commitments. (See GoFossilFree.org/commitments for updates.) The miracle will occur when this momentum reaches a tipping point and becomes an avalanche. American climate activist Tim DeChristopher was jailed for two years in 2011 for bidding $18 million on oil and gas leases with money he didn’t have in an attempt to save Utah wilderness Tim DeChristopher, from exploitation. Released in 2013, he is now attending Harvard Harvard Divinity student Divinity School, and constantly urges a more activist role for religions in the fight against climate change. “Thus far, religious communities have primarily engaged with Questions To Ask climate activism by getting behind the climate movement,” DeChristopher says. “But waiting to be told what to do is not Federal Politicians: moral leadership. We don’t need religious communities merely 1. How will your party to join the climate movement. We need religious communities to lead, challenge, and deepen the climate movement.” halt expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, Divestment from fossil fuels is just one of the myriad acts that particularly tar sands religious institutions can and are now taking to tackle climate change. Others include greening of sacred buildings, planting development + pipelines? organic, edible gardens outside churches, synagogues, mosques 2. How will your party (etc.), making every day Earth Day, and having faith groups join together to put pressure on political leaders for the rapid action act to keep the rise in our planet desperately needs. global temperatures below 2º Celsius? 3. How + when will your party develop a renewable energy plan for Canada? United Church of Canada’s 2015 Election Kit. Even though the election is over, they’re still great questions.
What’s next? How about ALL fossil fuels?
119 37. Rescusitate democracy
“I’ve long been dismayed by the practice of politics in this country {Canada}. It has always seemed that logic and reason are shunted to the sidelines to make way for polls and media coverage as the drivers of policy…I believe Canadians want their government to make the tough decisions we confront based on the best interests of the nation Bite #13 as a whole. Not on what is right for one party, for one region, for one riding, or for the short horizon of one election campaign.” Angus McLintock, MP, Cumberland-Prescott
Who wouldn’t vote Canada’s new Prime for a politician who Minister Justin Trudeau talks like this, and has already acted on walks his talk? I would gladly give some of the suggestions my eye-teeth to live in this chapter. Let’s in MP McLintock’s make sure he goes for riding. many more! Alas, as you may know, Angus McLintock is a What a difference our refreshing but democracy would be fictitious character from the pages of if we had responsible a pair of very funny books by Terry Fallis about political life in adults interacting Parliament and behind closed doors. Both The Best Laid Plans, and responsibly during The High Road are worth a read if you covet some comic relief from Question Period, not what passes for real-world politics in Ottawa. silly, disruptive, Democracy in Canada indeed needs a shot of CPR and big doses impolite, immature inspiring leadership from fearless politicians who aren’t afraid to louts interrupting each make the tough decisions that will stand Canadians in good stead 50 or 100 years from now. other (I would say kids, but most kids “We get the government we deserve.” Recognize that famous know better.) line? It’s most often attributed to the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville, who wrote the two-volume bestseller, Democracy in America, way back in the 1830s.
Dear old Alexis was obviously alive and writing well before: • the vice-grip of party politics clamped down on any expression of differing opinions our reps might hold on important issues – say climate change; • negative campaigns, attack ads and government-by-opinion -polls became the order of the day;
120 • OEPGO became entrenched because of endless B&FEPs (Our Eyes Permanently Glazed Over; Broken & Forgotten Election Promises). How deeply disappointing politics became under the federal “I am at liberty to vote Conservatives, when practically every move a candidate or MP as my conscience and made was scripted, and every word pre-approved and sanitized so judgment dictates to be that no one went ‘off message’, no matter how meek and meaningless right, without the yoke that message was. of any party on me... And negative communications and attack ads, so common in US Look at my arms, you politics? They’re all about candidates creating FUD: fear, uncertainty, and doubt about their opposition – so claims one American expert will find no party on doing whatever it takes to win elections, and to hell with hand-cuff on them.” principles and progressive policies. David Crockett (Better known to us as Davy, he was a FUD sounds straight out of the Tobacco Institute’s playbook from Tennessee rep in the US Congress for six the 1960s, doesn’t it? And the Heartland Institute’s endless climate years, ending 1835.) change denial campaign that marches on to this day. How much better election campaigns would be: • without attack ads or negative campaigning. • with no public opinion polling at least month ahead of the vote. • with televised leaders’ debates featuring no interruptions or shouting over top of other candidates’ responses (at the risk of being ejected from the debate.) • if we had mandatory voting, so that from a young age, we would get into the habit of understanding we live in a country that needs our participation, even at such a basic level. • If we knew that every vote counted for something, even if the candidate we supported didn’t get the most votes to ‘win’. • if we actually felt enthusiastic about voting for the best candidate, rather than the drag of voting against a candidate to try to block his or her victory. How much better our democracy would be if we had: • proportional representation of some sort, since ‘first past the post’ systems like Canada’s can result in very skewed election results, Thankfully, PM Justin such as majority governments with less than 40% of the vote. Trudeau has now taken • more ‘free votes’ in Parliament, so that MPs wouldn’t be punished the muzzle off public or tossed out of their caucuses if they didn’t vote the ‘party line.’ scientists which kept • responsible adults interacting during Question Period, not silly, them silent for nearly disruptive, impolite, immature louts interrupting each other (I would say kids, but most kids know better.) 10 years. • more transparency in government, so that crucial decisions about massive international trade agreements, for example,
121 aren’t negotiated and signed behind closed doors, especially if they supersede or undermine climate action. • a government that supported and respected ‘the public good’ in the realms of science, the environment, health, social justice and other key areas that touch all citizens. • no omnibus bills, period – especially if they dismantle environmental protection. “My parents were born and raised in Canada, yet they couldn’t vote The United States is till after World War II because they were of Japanese extraction, so commonly claimed to I value the right to vote. I have voted in every federal election since I reached adulthood and have never voted for the party that formed be the world’s oldest government. We desperately need proportional representation so that democracy, but a diversity of values and perspectives may be elected.” historical evidence David Suzuki reveals that The Great There have been several good books and initiatives that try to get Law of the Six Nation at the root of our democratic disorder, and encourage positive Iroquois Confederacy changes. Here are two good books on the topic: • Tragedy in the Commons, by Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan; profoundly affected • Losing Confidence: Power, Politics and the Crisis in Canadian the early development Democracy, by Elizabeth May, now the Leader of the Green Party of American-style of Canada, and MP for the BC riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands. participatory In Tragedy in the Commons, Loat and MacMillan have exit interviews with democracy. dozens of former MPs gauging their experiences as parliamentarians. When fresh from their election victories, these MPs describe the high ideals and expectations they first brought to Ottawa:
The Great Law includes “Most MPs entered public life with the belief they could make an the Seventh Generation impact, and that their ideas mattered. The majority of MPs who Principle ensuring that participated in our project said they came to Ottawa determined decisions about energy, to create a different politics from that which was on offer – one where their communities were better represented, and where the water and other natural political culture encouraged more citizens to pay attention to their resources are sustainable country’s politics. They described entering Parliament with a sense for seven generations of awe for its majesty and history, reflecting their understanding into the future. What a of the importance of the institution and the work that lay ahead.” different place Canada Most backbenchers soon realized how little they mattered in the (and the USA) would be scheme of federal Canadian politics, and even high profile cabinet ministers often left office disappointed and demoralized. Two root if these principles had problems of our now sickly democracy? Party politics, and too been applied under our much power in the hands of leaders, especially in the Prime model of governance. Minister’s office. My own MP, Conservative Michael Chong, despite the iron fist that ruled his party until late 2015, had the gumption to stand up in
122 Parliament last November (2014) and declared that Canada has a moral responsibility to take action on climate change, despite his party’s apparent indifference to meeting its carbon emission reduction targets for 2020, and its 2030 target too. Chong also introduced a private member’s bill in 2014 called The Reform Act, which calls for several changes to reduce the control of leaders on their parties, and points the way to more free votes, and so on. At the tail end of the Senate session in June 2015, Chong’s bill finally passed, a rare recent victory for Canadian democracy.
MY MESSAGE TO PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU Two root problems of our now sickly democracy? Mr. Trudeau, you have the potential and the presence on the world stage to be one of the visionary climate leaders humanity Party politics, and too so badly needs. But building more pipelines and providing much power in the great access to world markets for Alberta oil is not climate hands of leaders, leadership. It sends the wrong message. especially in the Prime Exporting emissions does not equal climate action. It is not Minister’s office. transformational leadership. Being the empathizer-in-chief will not ensure the economic and environmental security that your children and my grandchildren deserve. “It is not Parliament Rolly Montpellier that should rule; it is the people who Rolly is founder and managing editor of BoomerWarrior.org. He’s a Climate Reality should rule through leader, a blogger and a terrific climate Parliament.” activist. Among other affiliations, he’s Winston Churchill also a member of Climate Reality Canada, November 11, 1947 Citizens’ Climate Lobby (Ottawa) and 350.org (Ottawa). We urgently need Above all, we need courageous, honest leadership. It is far too political leaders who rare in this age of 10-second sound bites that politicians are will make stabilizing willing to articulate a vision for the long-term health and vitality of our environment, the foundation on which all life depends. our climate the top We urgently need political leaders who will make stabilizing our priority, along with climate the top priority, along with the other essentials of health the other essentials of and well-being – clean air, pure water, healthy soil. Prime Minister Trudeau, time is distressingly short. We’re counting on you. health and well-being – clean air, pure water, As citizens, we need to ensure that climate is the top issue all healthy soil. the time, not just during elections. How? By making certain our voices are heard – personal meetings with party leaders and MPs, in Letters to The Editor, and in conversations with others we can persuade to speak up!
123 38. Extra bites + out-of-box options
Yes, we can and should change our light bulbs, ride our bikes (trikes if your balance is shaky; wouldn’t want to lose you before we win on this!) drive all-electric vehicles, fly less, walk more, put an insulating blanket on our hot water heater, hang clothes outside to dry (where legal ). But even if most of us did all these Extra Bites! things, and many more, it still wouldn’t be enough. And, yes, we can and should visit our politicians often, and write letters regularly to our MPs and to the editor of our local newspapers, plus enlist our friends to do the same. All good.
But let’s not cramp anyone’s style. So if there’s something more you’d like to do, I say go for it! I’m a keen believer that every single person, bar none, has something to contribute to shifting our world off fossil fuels, and into to a clean, green, low-carbon future.
Many of you have special gifts and talents that you’ve honed over your lifetime – playing a musical instrument, painting, drawing, taking beautiful photographs, growing a great garden, walking a tightrope (can come in handy when engaging politicians), performing birdcalls (useful as an exit strategy from boring meetings) or stand-up comedy.
You can make anything and everything count, either as a fund- raiser or just for fun, to draw attention to a critical issue that badly needs us to act now.
OTHER OUT-OF-BOX OPTIONS: Sing, dance, run, sit, sit-in (politely, with your knitting) at your MP’s office. Bake him a cake with the message: No, it’s not menopause, it’s global warming! Price Carbon NOW! Want to start your Tear up your front lawn to plant veggies and native plants; show own Raging Grannies engaging climate films in your neighborhood or town hall How( (or Grampas) group? to Boil A Frog is one of my all-time favorites); join the Raging It’s as close as this link Grannies and write/sing climate change songs. on your computer: And speaking of Grannies, how about the one over there in the raginggrannies.org/ left column? One of the best protest signs yet. starter-kit. One creative member of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby in Northern Ontario worked up a great publicity approach she calls The Lipstick Case for Carbon Fee + Dividend. And this has gained Valerie Blab of Red Lake lots of attention, which she has used as a platform for some terrific, positive discussions about carbon pricing, and access to Conservative politicians who otherwise might never have paid any attention.
124 Humour is a wonderful way to deliver messages, and to get attention for them – think of Rick Mercer’s rants, for example. So is its opposite number, gravity; for example, demonstrating profound concern about climate change by breaking the law in a non-violent way, also known as civil disobedience.
Henry David Thoreau, American philosopher, naturalist and author of many treatises and books, including his most famous, Walden. He was also the father of modern civil disobedience. Thoreau was always outspoken about doing what he believed was morally right: “If the government requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.”
Thoreau was arrested just once, for not paying a poll tax as a way of protesting against slavery and the Mexican War that was being waged by America at the time. His actions were a model for Gandhi’s resistance movement a century later.
Civil disobedience is just what it says: civil, not aggressive or mean- spirited or destructive. But it makes a powerful point publicly, and definitely has a place in efforts to speed up the green shift we want for our kids and grandkids. Many First Nations and Canadians opposing oil and gas pipelines have put themselves on the line to be arrested, proclaiming by their action, “This is where I stand.”
There are lots of climate action options ranging from rib-tickling to solemn. Create something that appeals to you, but is a stretch that could well propel you – and some Boomer collaborators – well out of your comfort zone. Val Blab, the Climate Stability Fairy. See you there!
125 39. Heroes who inspire me
Who doesn’t have heroes? My father always adored sports, so back in the 1950s I became a fan of hockey and baseball, and Yogi Berra, Teeder Kennedy and Willie Mays were among my early heroes, mainly because they were his.
Oh, and one of my very own – Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Well, actually, the actor Fess Parker who played the role of Davy (and Daniel Boone) in movies and on TV. He was the handsomest man on the planet, bar none – and my earliest crush.
My firstreal hero, though, was Rachel Carson, who almost single- handedly fought the reckless post-World War II use of pesticides such as DDT. That potent chemical had won the Nobel prize for its inventor Paul Müller in 1948, and by the late 1950s it was being sprayed virtually everywhere to kill mosquitoes and other ‘pests’ – on forests, farms, and in city parks and ravines. I had witnessed its destructive power in our semi-wild Toronto garden during the late Fess Parker as Davy Crockett. 1950s, and seen first-hand the loss of birds, squirrels and other wildlife, even all the ‘pet’ goldfish in my father’s backyard pond. I felt furious, and helpless.
A few years later, in 1962, the world and I were introduced to the amazing woman who took on DDT and the chemical industry through her meticulously researched book, Silent Spring. About the unlikely subject of pesticides, Carson’s book became an immediate bestseller, thanks in part to its serialization in The New Yorker magazine prior to the official book launch in September 1962. Carson became such a household name that Peanuts cartoonist Charles Shultz featured her in at least two of his early 60’s strips as Lucy’s hero.
What you may not know – and I didn’t at the time – is that Carson was enduring all the agonies of serious breast cancer and its primitive treatments as she was completing Silent Spring, and during the months after its publication. (She died from complications of the disease in April 1964 at age 56.)
Carson also bore the brunt of countless verbal and written assaults from those threatened by the impact of Silent Spring, who didn’t take Carson’s allegations lying down. As the New York Times
126 magazine reported in 2012 – the 50th anniversary of publication of Silent Spring – “the personal attacks against Carson were stunning. She was accused of being a communist sympathizer and dismissed as a spinster with an affinity for cats.” Through it all she was calm, levelheaded and intelligent, which stood in stark contrast to her attackers’ belligerent bullying.
Hmmm, being a supposed Commie supporter, a single woman and lover of cats were serious slurs back in those Cold War days before women’s lib relieved females of the need to be married before they really ‘counted’ as people. Rachel Carson was already my hero, Here is the test to find and over the decades I came to admire her even more as the full details of her life story emerged through biographers such as Linda whether your mission Lear, Paul Souder and William Brooks. on Earth is finished: If you’re alive, it isn’t. This extraordinary woman is often credited with inspiring the Richard Bach birth of the modern environmental movement – I would certainly cast my own vote for her. Now there are uncountable legions of amazing humans fighting to protect the integrity of this planet. They motivate me every day. Many are Boomers who have gone on to make a profound difference by using the power of their spoken word, by writing exceptional books, and by leading through courageous action. Here are just a few: Van Jones, Jintana KaewKao, Al Gore, Winona LaDuke, Bill McKibben, Elizabeth May, Sandra Steingraber, Amory Lovins and Guy Dauncey.
And, hey look, there’s a spot reserved for you.
Just believe that it’s not too late, climate-wise, to make a difference on this remarkable planet of ours – but there’s not a moment to lose.
Van Jones Winona LaDuke Elizabeth May Al Gore
YOU
Sandra Steingraber Guy Dauncey Jintana KaweKao Amory Lovins
127 40. Found the key – here you go!
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Rachel Carson wrote three best-selling books about the oceans long before I came to know her as the author of Silent Spring. She had also written an essay in July 1956 for Woman’s Home Companion, called ‘Help Your Child to Wonder’, urging adults to inspire in children a deep love of nature by introducing them early and often to the joys of being in the woods, near lakes and oceans, under star-studded skies and even amongst the many If you have read anything small miracles of life found our own backyards. about ‘nature deficit disorder’ you know our In 1965, the year after her death Rachel Carson’s 1956 essay, ‘Help Your Chuld to Wonder’, was published as a full-length book, kids and grandkids need accompanied by striking nature photographs, called The Sense to get away from all of Wonder. It is still in print and a key to unlocking the deep screens/gadgets/gizmos emotions we can draw on to act for those we love. and be outdoors to Revering the natural world around us that supports all life – witness the wonders of including our lives – is fundamental to helping our kids and the world around them. grandkids to develop the sense of wonder that will stand them in good stead for the challenging years of climate change ahead. We Boomers have a big role to play in this: Don’t Another key is sharing some inspiring glimpses of the future. send them out, take them One very powerful example is Solar Impulse 2, the remarkable Swiss aircraft that broke the record for the longest sun-powered out often into Nature! flight – five days – just as I was writing these final words.
This pioneering, around-the-world solar adventure awakens us to the spirit and possibility of a planet free from fossil fuels. At the same time, the Solar Impulse team invites each of us to join the mission to convince global leaders to commit to our clean future by acting boldly to achieve – better still, surpass – the targets of the new UN climate treaty signed in Paris in December 2015. (See solarimpulse.com and futureisclean.org).
We can’t stop climate changes already ‘in the works’ – too late for that given the lag between cause & effect. But in the time left in our own lives, we can step up, shake things up, and stand powerfully for whatever it takes to ensure a livable future for all we love on this extraordinary Earth. Solar Impulse 2 For their sake, let’s give it our all. Whatever it takes...
128 Appendices
Seven steps to success
Good advice can come from practically anywhere, and if it is good, the source doesn’t really matter. This seven-step guide showed up one day in my email inbox – from well-known Calgary fitness trainer Shawna Kaminski (aka theToughest Calgarian Alive). Thank you Shawna – and yes, I’ll start your fitness program right after I sign off on this book . These seven steps will work very well for Beginning Boomer Climate Activists (or Intermediates; even old pro Usual Suspects like me).
1. Surround yourself with positive people – limit your exposure to negative people.
2. Always take action – nothing happens till you just START.
3. Lean into the sides of your comfort zone – do things that are a little scary.
4. See an opportunity – take it!
5. Get off the bleachers and get into the game – don’t be a spectator in life.
6. Take imperfect action – don’t wait until ‘everything’ is perfect, just ‘course correct’ as you go.
7. There is NO antidote to hard work – get up every day with a plan and work your plan.
Shawna Kaminski (shawnakaminski.com)
129 Resources (There are thousands on climate, but here’s a good start!)
Books
• Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains are Wired to Ignore Climate Change, George Marshall (2014) • Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, Bill McKibben (2011) • Hot: Living Through the Next 50 Years on Earth, Mark Hertsgaard (2012) • Kick The Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World, Tom Rand (2010) • Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes & Eric Conway (2011) • The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming, Guy Dauncey (2009) • This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, Naomi Klein (2014) • Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out About Canada’s Failing Democracy, Alison Loat & Michael MacMillan (2014) • Waking the Frog: Solutions for Our Climate Change Paralysis, Tom Rand (2014)
Websites
• 350.org (co-founded by Bill McKibben, climate writer & activist) • BoomerWarrior.org (an inspiring site by Rolly Montpellier of Plevna Ontario) • CarbonTracker.org (about the ‘carbon bubble’) • CitizensClimateLobby.org (USA) • CitizensClimateLobby.ca (Canada) • ClimateReality.ca (Canada) • ClimateRealityProject.org (USA) • DailyClimate.org • DeSmog.ca (Canada) • DeSmog.com (USA) • EcoWatch.com (Environmental News, Green Living and Sustainable Business) • EnvironmentalDefence.ca (Canadian news about climate, tar sands) • ForOurGrandchildren.ca (aka 4RG) • InsideClimateNews.org (good general coverage of climate issues) • IPCC.ch – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change • SkepticalScience.com (no guff science) • Thinkprogress.org/climate/issue (Joe Romm)
130 Documentary Films (page 109 for more)
• The Wisdom to Survive bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/wts.html • Revolution therevolutionmovie.com • Last Call at the Oasis View on YouTube • Merchants of Doubt merchantsofdoubt.org
TV Series
• Years of Living Dangerously (Showtime) • Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, National Geographic TV (Episode 12, The World Set Free)
Special Reports
• Turn Down the Heat – World Bank • Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2015 – International Energy Agency • Putting a Price on Carbon Forum, Toronto 2015 – View on YouTube • An Earthling’s Guide to Pricing Carbon – carbontax.org
References for this handbook are available at ClimateActionForBoomers.ca
Acknowledgments
There are always many to thank for help with a project like this, but here are the much appreciated stalwarts: Linda and Jem Rosier, Jude Waples, Jillson Rolland, Guy Dauncey, Leslie Salisbury, Nadine Lucki, Renee Hodgkinson, Heidi Matthews, Sue Guttenstein, Sue Braiden, Geordie Farrell, Trever Miller, Cynthia Patterson, Cathy Hansen, Pat Dobec, Sarah Dobec, Ann Hagedorn, Karim Karmali (Sherwood Copy), Michael Leunig, Anna Taneburgo, the CCL crew (especially Cathy Orlando, Valerie Blab, Christine Penner Polle, Cheryl MacNamara, Cathy Lacroix, Yannick Trottier, Gerry Walsh, Kathleen Smith, Ron Moore and Gord Cumming), CCAGE folks (Joanne Kay, Don Chambers, Donna and Jim Roszell) and Transition Erin...
Any errors and omissions in the text and captions are, of course, mine.
131 QUICK START ON CLIMATE ACTION!
There’s no time like right now to get started – let’s strike while we Boomers are still hot (or at least warm ).
1. FILL IN & MAIL THE ENCLOSED POSTCARD, postage-free, to your Member of Parliament, or the Prime Minister – or even better, both of them. Say to your MP & the PM you want Canada to regain our status as a world leader on climate as soon as possible. Urge them to do whatever it takes so your kids/grandchildren will have a safe climate future. Ask for a response. If you don’t already know your MP’s name, you can easily find it by Googling Canadian MPs by postal code. When you get to the Parliament of Canada web page, type your postal code in the box, and presto, his or her name will appear. (However, since 30 new ridings were added in time for the 2015 federal election, you may need to do an ‘advanced search’.)
2. SHARE THE SECOND POSTCARD with a neighbour or friend, and talk about why it’s important to act on climate issues ASAP. (If you need more cards, there is a PDF you can download from our website, ClimateActionForBoomers.ca).
3. TALK TO YOUR INVESTMENT ADVISOR about switching to fossil-fuel free mutual funds or green bonds. (See page 114). Gather a few friends and start a green investment group.
4. WATCH A GREAT ECO-FILM OR TWO. If you have Netflix or a local library that can order DVDs, see Mission Blue (about the outstanding marine biologist Sylvia Earle) and Episode 12 (The World Set Free) of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with Neil Degrasse Tyson. (Many more film suggestions, page 109).
5. START A PETITIONS & POTLUCK GROUP: Did you know that it only takes 25 Canadian signatures to have a petition presented to Parliament by your local MP? It’s a great, enticing way to get friends talking and acting on climate issues, especially if you do the potluck part too. But there are rules, so Google Petitions Practical Guide for all you need to know.
My Top 10 list of people to talk to now & join me in taking climate action!
1. 6.
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3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.
132 SEND THE ENCLOSED POSTCARD TO PARLIAMENT TODAY!
Write your personal message here.
There is nothing more important than their future. NOTHING!
No Postage Required
c/o House of Commons Parliament Buildings Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Name Climate change is real! Address
We need car bon pricing to Please enact a revenue neutral Carbon Fee + Dividend policy for ALL of Canada. all reven cut fossil fuel p ues equally t ollution, cre Ci o Canadians in a ate green jobs, tizens’ Clima regular ‘Clim strengthen our econom te Lobby’s Ca ate Bonus’ reb y, and rbon Fee + D ate cheque. T return ividend. Will yo hat’s why I supp u? www.CitizensClima ort the teLobby.ca
No postage required! NOTHING!
There is nothing more important than their future. To make it more personal, tape your own family’s photo on top of the printed one.
Photocopy the blank card and send messages to ALL party leaders, including the Prime Minister, and your own MP. Climate change is real!
Please enact a revenue neutral Carbon Fee + Dividend policy for ALL of Canada. Dear Prime Minister The photo on this card is my daughter Anne, her husband Bill and their 3 young children in Kingston, Ontario - my wonderful • Appreciate your MP for his/her grandkids! I am writing to say I'm worried about the future public service. Attacking won’t of ALL our kids - including yours - because of climate No Postage change. If Canada doesn't act boldly NOW, their futures will Required win the day. be at great risk. • Learn something about your Please put a price on carbon pollution! The Citizens' Climate MP’s family – connect through Lobby says a revenue neutral 'carbon fee and dividend' would help us shift off fossil fuels, strengthen the Canadian economy your common interest in kids, and help citizens like me afford higher energy costs Prime Minister of Canada WHILE WE DO THE RIGHT THING FOR OUR KIDS! c/o House of Commons your concern about climate + Parliament Buildings Thank you. Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 their future at stake. Sincerely
• Write at least once a month. BettyName Davidson • Ask for a response. RR#2Address Erindale ON N3B 2R6
We need car bon pricing to • Say thanks! all reven cut fossil fuel p ues equally to ollution, creat Ci Canadians in a e green jobs, st tizens’ Clima regular ‘Clim rengthen our econom te Lobby’s Ca ate Bonus’ reb y, and (Your mother again ) rbon Fee + D ate cheque. T return ividend. Will yo hat’s why I supp u? www.CitizensClima ort the teLobby.ca
133 Your inspiring climate action notes go here...
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank (1929-1945)
134 A Handbook on Climate Action for Baby Boomers How History’s Most Privileged Generation Can – With Guts & Gumption – Still Leave Our Kids a Livable Planet
It takes only a sentence or two to sum up the whole gist of this book: Scientific evidence overwhelmingly confirms that climate change is happening, that we humans mainly in industrial countries are causing it, and that we’re putting everything we love – including kids and grandkids and virtually all life on this beautiful planet – at grave risk by continuing to burn climate-warming fossil fuels. We also have the know- how to create a whole new green economy, already offering a promising glimpse of our future. But – the biggest question of all – do we have the guts and gumption to make sure it happens?
“In a certain way {climate change} is all a sort of test of whether our big brain turned out to be a good idea or not. It definitely can get us in a lot of trouble. The question is whether it’s attached to a big enough heart to get us out of that trouble. And that’s what we will find out over the next few years. And the way we’ll find out is – what percentage of us are really willing to take a stand and go to work?” Bill McKibben, from a speech at McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario, September 2014
With this handbook, writer Liz Armstrong of Erin, Ontario is betting on her generation – the Baby Boomers – to play a major role in a huge mission – to help get this incredible planet back onto a stable climate path. “A lot of people have written Baby Boomers off, so it’s time for us – even at this late hour on the climate-change clock – to step up and act for the best possible outcome to the greatest challenge that has ever faced humanity.” Liz is also co-author of two previous books, Whitewash (HarperCollins, 1991) and Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society, 2007).