On climate change: A handful of resources and reflections

I've been relatively quiet about climate change activism for the past two years because there are so many moving parts involved with the issue, and it took time for me to get my head around what was going on.  Most everyone involved has good intentions, there are many perspectives, and understanding many of the solutions--not to mention knowing which ones are being considered or included can be a daunting task.  Furthermore, there are many groups working toward a similar goal, but I couldn't understand why they didn't work together.  I've finally seen, heard, and learned enough to offer some organizations seeking to coordinate efforts that you can take action with, and handful of quality resources for you to investigate as a supplement to the previous letter.

There are four sections below:

1. Courses+some comments on political efficacy
2. Cap and Trade in climate legislation and how it could improve
3. My take on Repower America
4. Climate change as an issue of sustainability

These draw from my experiences as a student, an attendee at many a conference, and various other ventures in the arena of climate change.  Clearly, it's my perspective, but I hope it serves to be a useful starting guide to you if you're about to dive in.

Courses:

First, I recommend the following classes which have proven to be accurate and ahead of the public discussion, as well as an explanation of the cap and trade system currently in the legislation which would benefit from revision.

• Concepts of Environmentalism (taught by Dr. Gelderloos)

The content has been taught for 40 years and it's still cutting edge stuff to the public eye.  It also provides a strong grounding in the literature for the why of environmentalism (from ecophilosophy to our current paradigms in society).  It also inspires a sense of wonder for those who survive the intensive binder keeping and reading/reflection regimine.

Various worldviews on environment, Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic, principles of interconnectivity, and sustainable development (collaboration rather than competition with the environment) are but a few of the things any individual would find beneficial.

• Ecological Economics (taught by Dr. Bergeron)

Almost two years after taking this class, the concepts and devices introduced are beginning to catch the public's attention at gatherings like the recent US Social Forum.  Ethics in economics, ecological/feminist economics, and the sensibilities of the precautionary principle are outlined below in this article by Julie Nelson (applicable to policy as well):
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/37280/2/07-03EconValClimate.pdf
This article is a required reading in Dr. Bergeron's ecological economics course, it's also a very good article.

• Environmental Politics (taught by Dr. Olive)

The course was on top of the cap and trade policies and histories before most of us realized it wasn't clear to the public.  It also covered other timely issues about how our history, policies, and worldviews shape where we are and where we're going today.

• The political science internship seminar (taught by Dr. Kursman and various guests)

Dr. Kursman invited several state representative in and we got to ask them whatever questions we wished.  One question I asked was this: what's the best way for us to get our thoughts through to you?  Answer: Phone calls are effective, and when there have been five calls on the same or similar issue, it invariably becomes an agenda item.  They also love letters, because they can present them on the floor and cite their own constituents' requests.

While we're on the topic of political efficacy, this remark was mirrored in several activist circles I've been through, except they recommended 10 communications for an issue to become a priority.

The story of stuff; Cap and Trade in climate legislation and how it could improve:

Annie Leonard created "The Story of Stuff Project", which does an excellent job in wrapping up most everything discussed in the environmental courses I listed above into video presentations.  Of particular interest right now is the story of cap and trade:
http://storyofstuff.com/capandtrade/  (for those interested, transcript with citations): http://storyofstuff.com/capandtrade/_images/pdfs/annie_leonard_footnoted_script.pdf

In this particular video, she discusses the history and weaknesses of cap in trade as it is in the draft legislation, presents some of the solutions, says how you can make a difference, and backs her discussion with credible transdisciplinary research (many of the findings are familiar to students in the UM-Dearborn environmental programs).  The concepts and contentions are communicated very well in a video, and you can find her citations in the pdf transcript.  That sums up everything I appreciate in good activism: inform, educate, empower, to engage the world by doing good sustainable things right. The world needs more activists like Annie Leonard, except at least one of them should have your name.  You can do it!

Solutions and the Legislation (Continued)

I'm not aware of any requirements for education in the senate legislation at this time, but education, leadership, and prevention are currently undervalued tools that must contribute to the solvency of the issue.  I've yet to find any educational standards that discuss leadership, and this too becomes an issue for a different day.  I also happen to believe that sites on sustainability should be the overarching focus of the piece (discussed a bit further below), but that too would be for a different day or live discussion.

Organization(s)

Repower America

Here's my take (and a few contentions, but I'll discuss this at another time) on Repower America based on two years of observation, several discussions with their organizers, and from reading lots of e-mails from the organization.  Contentions aside, it's a well intentioned group that organizes on local, state, and national levels.  I just think their platform is a bit looser than it could be.

Repower essentially promotes climate change awareness, urges citizens to get involved and take action, and has a broad stance on climate change legislation.  The group would like climate legislation passed within reason so long as it meets the following goals:  Cut carbon emissions, reduce our dependence on "dirty energy" (fossil fuels), create green jobs (wind industry, etc.).

Again, some of the finer points of climate change legislation are left to other groups, but it seems like Repower has the broadest reach.  As you saw above, there are errors in the cap and trade system in its current form, and there is no one solution to all of climate change.  The reach is important though--coordinated action on a large scale is how most big things get done in this country.  I happen to take a stance that well-informed and educated action coordinated is what we need, and that requires a little extra effort from people (like me and hopefully you) to step up.

There are more organizations out there, but I've spent a lot of time checking out Repower America (thus am most familiar with seeing what they do as an observer).  I have met respected peers who work for them too.

Climate Change is an issue of sustainability, not of carbon emissions or even greenhouse gases.

Clean energy, and green have many meanings and assumptions behind each definition.  Some are abysmally shallow, and ignorant to the contexts to which they are being used in.  We must also not forget the other aspects to climate change which have taken up so much of the public's attention.  These are probably just as important as the big-picture issue of climate change.

National/Global economy, interpersonal/political relations, the public's understanding and trust in science, the scientific community's transparency and accessibility, the livelihood and survival of people in areas most threatened by climate change, measuring and modeling atmospheric composition and its effects, vehement to violent protests, issues of intergenerational equity and biodiversity--the list goes on

In some ways, they're even more important and make climate change a subset of the bigger-picture: sustainability.  The point of this list is that climate change is an issue involving people in a societal capacity, as well as economic, and regard for the biotic environmental issues, while rightfully and possibly prominent, often stay at the bench when it comes to the reporting (Copenhagen was mostly about people and countries trying to seal a deal right?).  Why are we counting carbon dioxide molecules?  To model projections of what the earth will look like in the future, and show what it looked like in the past.  Why are most of the people making these models doing this?  Supposedly so that economic and policy decisions can accurately be made.  It's an issue of sustainability in the triple bottom line: we're (mostly) looking to meet the social, economic, and environmental needs of current and future generations.

We must realize that our fundamental intentions for being involved with climate change as individuals and as a society is not about carbon, but rather issue about sustainability in all the dimensions of our existence: as people, on a planet, trying to take prudent action for the good of whatever we can appreciate for current and future generations.