In the Media

A collection of items in and for the local media.

A Clean Energy Future for Massachusetts? in the Amherst Bulletin February 18, 2010, by Kaia Zimmerman

Melting glaciers in the Arctic, increased forest fires in Mexico, rising sea levels in Bermuda, and extreme heat waves in Florida…. It’s becoming increasingly hard to argue against the evidence of global climate change, and yet, the problem seems so monumental that it can be difficult to know how to help.

Lucky for us here in Massachusetts, many concerned groups and citizens have already taken action. One of these is a student led coalition called The Leadership Campaign (LC), a group comprised of Students for a Just and Stable future, the Massachusetts Council of Churches, and the Massachusetts Climate Action Network. Together, they are working to get the state of Massachusetts powered by 100% clean energy by 2020. The LC recently got a bill introduced into the MA State Legislature, which, if passed, will require the state to set up an ‘emergency task force’ to aid in the re-powering process.

This transition to clean energy would of course require a major shift in the state’s current economic system, but the LC has a solid outline for how this new economy might look. Ultimately, the LC would like to see the following steps take place during the transition: 1) The implementation of a “green checks” system, in which the state government would provide monthly rebates to residents and businesses. This money would come from taxes placed on the production of fossil fuels in Massachusetts and from the transport of fossil fuels into the state. Eventually, it would even the playing field between the cost of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources. 2) In the words of the LC’s webpage, the state should  “provide state-backed green jobs bonds to retrofit every building in the state and finance renewable energy”. 3) Finally, the state should promote clean air, green cars and a smart grid funded by Antiquated System Upgrade Fees.

While the campaign spends a fair amount of time working on politics and logistics, they also understand that no matter how convincing their plan might be, if the people of the state aren’t completely invested in the movement, their goals will not be achieved. One tactic the campaign uses that gets attention from residents is the ‘Sleep out’.  The purpose of a sleep out for those working with the LC is to take responsibility for the dirty energy that powers their homes (and universities). By sleeping out, they hope to express their readiness for a clean energy future, and to show their solidarity with the “thousands of climate refugees that are involuntarily homeless, and the hundreds of millions more who will soon be joining them”. On February 20th, The LC will host one of these ‘sleep outs’ on the Amherst Town Common.  Any interested or concerned citizens are more than welcome participate in the festivities, which will include live music, letter writing, and speakers (as well as the actual sleeping out).  In the past, they’ve had prominent supporters such as Dr. James Hansen (leading NASA climate scientist) and Bill McKibben (climate activist and founder of 350.org) join them for the sleep outs. They are still waiting to hear who will be speaking on the 20th, but no matter, there will be plenty of activities between 3:00 PM and 9:00 AM the next morning.

The outcome of the climate conference in Copenhagen this December was a complete disappointment. We MA residents must continue to press our political leaders until they show us they can take real responsibility in helping to create a sustainable future. Let’s show our leaders we won’t accept anything less than 100% clean electricity!

To really save the planet, stop going green in the Gazette on December 9, reprinted from Washington Post, by Mike Tidwell

By Mike Tidwell
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Originally in the Washington Post, then in the Gazette

As President Obama heads to Copenhagen next week for global warming talks, there’s one simple step Americans back home can take to help out: Stop “going green.” Just stop it. No more compact fluorescent light bulbs. No more green wedding planning. No more organic toothpicks for holiday hors d’oeuvres.

December should be national Green-Free Month. Instead of continuing our faddish and counterproductive emphasis on small, voluntary actions, we should follow the example of Americans during past moral crises and work toward large-scale change. The country’s last real moral and social revolution was set in motion by the civil rights movement. And in the 1960s, civil rights activists didn’t ask bigoted Southern governors and sheriffs to consider “10 Ways to Go Integrated” at their convenience.

Green gestures we have in abundance in America. Green political action, not so much. And the gestures (”Look honey, another Vanity Fair Green Issue!”) lure us into believing that broad change is happening when the data shows that it isn’t. Despite all our talk about washing clothes in cold water, we aren’t making much of a difference.

For eight years, George W. Bush promoted voluntary action as the nation’s primary response to global warming — and for eight years, aggregate greenhouse gas emissions remained unchanged. Even today, only 10 percent of our household light bulbs are compact fluorescents. Hybrids account for only 2.5 percent of U.S. auto sales. One can almost imagine the big energy companies secretly applauding each time we distract ourselves from the big picture with a hectoring list of “5 Easy Ways to Green Your Office.”

As America joins the rest of the world in finally fighting global warming, we need to bring our battle plan up to scale. If you believe that astronauts have been to the moon and that the world is not flat, then you probably believe the satellite photos showing the Greenland ice sheet in full-on meltdown. Much of Manhattan and the Eastern Shore of Maryland may join the Atlantic Ocean in our lifetimes. Entire Pacific island nations will disappear. Hurricanes will bring untold destruction. Rising sea levels and crippling droughts will decimate crops and cause widespread famine. People will go hungry, and people will die.

Morally, this is sort of a big deal. It would be wrong to let all this happen when we have the power to prevent the worst of it by adopting clean-energy policies.

But how do we do that? Again, look to the history of the civil rights struggle. After many decades of public denial and inaction, the civil rights movement helped Americans to see Southern apartheid in moral terms. From there, the movement succeeded by working toward legal change. Segregation was phased out rapidly only because it was phased out through the law. These statutes didn’t erase racial prejudice from every American heart overnight. But through them, our country made staggering progress. Just consider who occupies the White House today.

All who appreciate the enormity of the climate crisis still have a responsibility to make every change possible in their personal lives. I have, from the solar panels on my roof to the Prius in my driveway to my low-carbon-footprint vegetarian diet. But surveys show that very few people are willing to make significant voluntary changes, and those of us who do create the false impression of mass progress as the media hypes our actions.

Instead, most people want carbon reductions to be mandated by laws that will allow us to share both the responsibilities and the benefits of change. Ours is a nation of laws; if we want to alter our practices in a deep and lasting way, this is where we must start. After years of delay and denial and green half-measures, we must legislate a stop to the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.

Of course, all this will require congressional action, and therein lies the source of Obama’s Copenhagen headache. To have been in the strongest position to negotiate a binding emissions treaty with other world leaders this month, the president needed a strong carbon-cap bill out of Congress. But the House of Representatives passed only a weak bill riddled with loopholes in June, and the Senate has failed to get even that far.

So what’s the problem? There’s lots of blame to go around, but the distraction of the “go green” movement has played a significant role. Taking their cues from the popular media and cautious politicians, many Americans have come to believe that they are personally to blame for global warming and that they must fix it, one by one, at home. And so they either do as they’re told — a little of this, a little of that — or they feel overwhelmed and do nothing.

We all got into this mess together. And now, with treaty talks underway internationally and Congress stalled at home, we need to act accordingly. Don’t spend an hour changing your light bulbs. Don’t take a day to caulk your windows. Instead, pick up a phone, open a laptop, or travel to a U.S. Senate office near you and turn the tables: “What are the 10 green statutes you’re working on to save the planet, Senator?”

Demand a carbon-cap bill that mandates the number 350. That’s the level of carbon pollution scientists say we must limit ourselves to: 350 parts per million of CO2 in the air. If we can stabilize the atmosphere at that number in coming decades, we should be able to avoid the worst-case scenario and preserve a planet similar to the one human civilization developed on. To get there, America will need to make deep but achievable pollution cuts well before 2020. And to protect against energy price shocks during this transition, Congress must include a system of direct rebates to consumers, paid for by auctioning permit fees to the dirty-energy companies that continue to pollute our sky.

Obama, too, needs to step up his efforts; it’s not just Congress and the voters who have been misguided. Those close to the president say he understands the seriousness of global warming. But despite the issue’s moral gravity, he’s been paralyzed by political caution. He leads from the rear on climate change, not from the front.

Forty-five years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson faced tremendous opposition on civil rights from a Congress dominated by Southern leaders, yet he spent the political capital necessary to answer a great moral calling. Whenever key bills on housing, voting and employment stalled, he gave individual members of congress the famous “Johnson treatment.” He charmed. He pleaded. He threatened. He led, in other words. In person, and from the front.

Does anyone doubt that our charismatic current president has the capacity to turn up the heat? Imagine the back-room power of a full-on “Obama treatment” to defend America’s flooding coastlines and burning Western forests. Imagine a two-pronged attack on the fickle, slow-moving Senate: Obama on one side and a tide of tweets and letters from voters like you.

So join me: Put off the attic insulation job till January. Stop searching online for recycled gift wrapping paper and sustainably farmed Christmas trees. Go beyond green fads for a month, and instead help make green history.

Mike Tidwell is the executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

To the Gazette (pending)

According to climate scientists, 350 parts per million of CO2 dissolved in the atmosphere is the safe upper limit for humanity. However, the current level of CO2 in the earths atmosphere is 390 parts per million. Despite these harrowing numbers, our political leaders refuse to face the facts. Just two weeks ago, world wide political leaders announced that they would be postponing the main goals of the Copenhagen Climate Conference. In response to this, concerned climate activists from around the globe are hosting candlelight vigils from Friday December 11th to Sunday December 13th.  On Friday, December 11th, there will be a vigil in Amherst, from 4:30-5:30 on the Town Common. The purpose of this vigil is to express our disappointment in the lack of action taken by our leaders, as well as to show solidarity with the nations that will first be affected by the climate crisis. Direct legislative action cannot be delayed any longer. Stewardship for the environment must trump politics. Please come light a candle to add your voice to the call for change. Time is running out.

Thanks,
Kaia Zimmerman
Emily Norman
Amherst350 Members

Letter to the Gazette, published November 14, 2009
Global warming is everybody’s job

Global warming is looking us all in the eye, and it’s not just affecting you. It’s also affecting people, animals and plants that don’t have the power to speak up. I think most people will agree, global warming has been a massive issue for years, and continues to worry both scientists and regular people like you and me.

So we can continue living out our lives in a polluted, overheated earth, or we can get educated about the issue, make a difference and change our lives as well as those of millions of others.

Some people believe that global warming is not caused by humans. Others simply say that earth has gone through these kinds of “hot and cold” periods before. How can people say this when we are dumping about 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide per second into the atmosphere? Even if there is a possibility that it is not human-caused, isn’t it worth doing our best to try to stop it?

The world’s average temperature could rise by 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. So whose fault is that? Who’s at fault for the rising sea levels? Who’s at fault for millions of people suffering from droughts, and the ice caps melting?

The United States is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gases, but cannot stop global warming alone. Nations all over the world must help and the everyday individual must get involved. All you have to do is use less heat and air conditioning or change a light bulb with a fluorescent one, or plant a tree in your front yard, or even just switch off a light when you leave a room.

Reduce, reuse and recycle. Why wouldn’t you get involved in stopping global warming?

Bryar Loftfield
Pelham
Amherst Regional Middle School student

Hearing United Nation’s call on ‘monumental’ climate issue (Gazette’s title)
Refusing to Cool Our Heels (Amherst Bulletin title)

By Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas

In another of his salvos on behalf of climate skeptics [Gazette, October 1], columnist George Will recently argued in The Washington Post that “evidence” of climate change is “elusive,” and derided “climate alarmists” for their “apocalyptic warnings.”  In fact, scientists continue to present strong evidence that the dramatic recent warming of the planet is largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and gas).  The September 2009 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report that Will cites as an example of “stridency” provides solid data that undercuts his persistent claim that global warming is nothing to worry about.  The U.N. report found that the Earth is committed to a warming of at least 1.6 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.  The report also highlighted some of the effects of global warming that scientists are already observing, such as accelerated shrinking of mountain glaciers, sea ice, and ice shelves in different parts of the world, along with higher temperatures in the ocean, acidification, and coral bleaching.   As U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in the report’s foreword, “We need the world to realize, once and for all, that the time to act is now and we must work together to address this monumental challenge. This is the moral challenge of our generation.”

Contrary to George Will’s fond hope that climate change is only a myth or hoax, humanity is facing a decisive choice.  Will the world’s political leaders make swift, dramatic cuts in emissions and help vulnerable countries to adapt?  Or will future generations look back at the first decade of the 21st century as the period when policymakers decided to do nothing to limit climate change?  When collectively the human race simply shrugged and decided that the battle to save the earth was over before it had begun?

In December, representatives of about 190 nations will come together in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol.  The outcome of this meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is crucial.   The accelerating pace and scale of worldwide climate change require a global response.

The bad news is that so far top-level political negotiations seem to be stalled.

The good news is that the growing, grassroots worldwide climate movement is pressing for an international treaty that is strong, fair, and takes into account the deepening climate crisis.   A series of efforts to mobilize the international community begins on October 24th, when millions of people around the world will participate in rallies to call for stabilizing the level of carbon dioxide at a safe upper limit of 350 parts per million. Led by Bill McKibben and 350.org (www.350.org), the day promises, as climate activist Ted Glick has written, “to give a major push to the efforts for a treaty that is commensurate with the seriousness of the climate crisis.”

With the kind of dramatic flourish that people in the Pioneer Valley know so well how to pull off, here on the Amherst town common we will hold a big noon-time rally on October 24 that includes drummers drumming, church bells ringing, animal and maple leaf props flying high, and “climate theater” that features a 350 “maple tree die-in.”  Images from our event and similar events around the world will be broadcast in Times Square.  More information is available at 350amherst.org.

I, for one, refuse to believe that human beings will simply cool our heels and resign ourselves to living in a world of violent weather as we placidly bid our glaciers, coral reefs, and alpine forests goodbye.  I refuse to believe that we will not stand up to climate skeptics and do everything in our power to pass along to our children and our children’s children a world whose living diversity and stable climate resembles the world into which we were born.  This is indeed the moral challenge of our generation, and it is a privilege to take part in this great work.

Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, priest associate at Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, is a writer, retreat leader, and climate activist.

Media Advisory
October 10, 2009
Contact: Jeff Napolitano, jnapolitano@afsc.org, (413) 584-8975 [Office], (413) 320-6099 [Cell], AFSC, 140 Pine Street, Florence MA 01062; Anne Perkins, APerkins350@comcast.net; 413-231-2133

October 24 International Day of Climate Action on the Amherst Town Common

Our mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.

Event: Maple tree theatre and rally; drummers and singers; a giant 350 on the lawn; posters about climate change; photos to go on the 350.org website and simultaneously be shown in Times Square; maple syrup for sale!
Purposes: To participate in the International Day of Climate Action, to raise awareness about climate change, and send a message to our government. Place: Amherst Town Common
Date: October 24, 2009
Time: 12 noon
Website for local action: www.amherst350.org
Website for global actions: www.350.org

On October 24 Amherst is participating with people in 144 countries around the world in an International Day of Climate Action. We have been inspired by author Bill McKibben and his leadership to seek to influence the 15th UN Conference on Climate Change to be held in Copenhagen in December. The number 350 reflects the maximum parts per million that our earth can tolerate if it is to stay in some semblance of the earth we have come to know.

We seek an ambitious, fair, and binding global climate deal in Copenhagen. McKibbon states: “I call on world leaders to pass climate policies grounded in the latest science and strong enough to get us back to 350 (parts per million).”

If the climate continues to warm, the beloved maple trees here in the Amherst area will die out. Thus the Amherst 350 committee has chosen maple trees as our symbol for this rally. Props are being made and a theater piece written by local actor Lucy Robinson will highlight the event.

In Amherst, the group working on our action includes a wide range of ages, from high school students to octogenarians. We include Unitarian-Universalists, Quakers, Episcopalians and others who have no religious affiliation. The area colleges, Smith, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire and UMass, will each have events on campus during the week before the 24th and will be directing their students to participate in the Amherst event on the 24th. High school and college students are already helping with these events. There is intergenerational synergy being generated by this campaign.

For details and more information, see our web site: http://www.amherst350.org/

For more information about the international events, visit http://www.350.org

From: Louise Grosslein, Anne Perkins, Roger Conant, Betsy Loughran, Ron Grosslein, and Pete Merzbacher, members of the Amherst 350 Outreach/Media committee.

Letter to the Amherst Bulletin, published October 22
Join the Movement

Oct. 24 is International Day of Climate Action, and a group called Amherst350 has organized an event that will take place that day on the Amherst Town Common from 12 to 2p.m.   The number 350 refers to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a level that scientists believe is the maximum safe level.  Exceeding this level may change our planet as we know it.  This message must get through to world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen in December to agree on a new climate treaty, and to that end, there will be thousands of actions in countries all over the world on Oct. 24.

One such action is described in a message from Al Gore: On the shores of the fast-drying Dead Sea, Israeli activists will form a giant human “3″ on their beach, Palestinians a “5″ on theirs, and Jordanians a “0.”  That people who are so divided on so many issues can work together on this one testifies to its importance.

The League of Women Voters has long supported environmental protection and over the years has taken action to preserve the integrity of the ecosystem.  The Amherst and Northampton Leagues will share a table on the common to distribute literature and lend our support.  Join us.  Let us show our concern for the future of our world by filling the Amherst Town Common on Oct. 24.

Eva Cashdan, League of Women Voters of Amherst, president

Letter to the Gazette, published October 20
and reprinted October 22 in the Belchertown, Granby and Amherst Sentinel

International Day of Climate Action

The most dangerous condition facing our planet is that our atmosphere is approaching 390 parts per million of carbon dioxide – substantially above the 350ppm that is the maximum level that will allow us to preserve the world’s climate as we know it.

Too often our reaction to a major threat is to throw up our hands and say, “How can my little contribution make a difference?”

On Saturday, October 24th, your action will join millions of others around the globe.  Come to the Amherst Town Common at noon and be part of one of the thousands of actions to be held internationally on that day.  We are aiming to influence the global summit in Copenhagen in December to forge a new UN climate treaty.  We also aim to persuade our own Congress to provide the leadership necessary to reduce the US’s heavy contribution to the problem.

It will be a fun afternoon with bells tolling, music playing, activities for children, some climate theater, and a picture that will be posted on the 350.org website with all the others taken on that day.

Do your part to promote the return to a healthier global climate.  Join us.

Betsy Loughran
413-253-5805
263 Gulf Rd.
Belchertown, MA 01007

Letter to the Gazette, published October 12

Better safe on our climate than sorry when it’s too late

Perhaps George Will, ( Gazette Oct.1), who writes so disparagingly of warnings about global warming, doesn’t believe in bike helmets or seat belts, either.

How many times have we uttered: “better safe than sorry” about many of life’s situations?  I think it is often big business which holds us back from wise changes because they will lose some money in the short run.  They have forgotten that other adage: “you can’t take it with you!”

I spent this past weekend with my grandsons at Mystic Seaport, a museum about a time when a big part of our economy was based on whales and whale oil.  There were many side industries dependent on whales: coopers, blacksmiths, rope-makers, but all those people twisting big ropes for ships learned other trades over time.  Perhaps the owners of cordage factories held out for whale oil, but they had to change.

Our present day businesses can learn to adapt to green trades, too.  To keep this planet viable some industries and the owners who make the big money will have to promote new ways and their employees will learn new skills.  No lamps today burn with whale oil.

The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is currently at a level believed to be unsafe for life on this planet to continue as it has been.  The level needed is back from 390 to 350 parts per million and we need to persuade or government to go to Copenhagen this December prepared to lead the world in taking these warnings seriously!  On October 24, a multi-generational and multi-denominational rally is being held at noon on the Amherst Commons, one of thousands around the world.  I hope many people will come to add their voices to a movement for being safe and not sorry!

Peggy Anderson ( Margaret B. Anderson)
Granby, MA 01033

Letter to the Gazette, published September 7
Want to do something about global warming? We are members of a group which is planning to be part of an international effort led by Bill McKibben to reverse climate change. McKibben’s 350 campaign (www.350.org) is a global movement to reduce the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million, the “safe” level, according to Dr. James Hanson, a leading climate change scientist. Plenty of folks might argue about the perfect target concentration, but it is clear that the current trend of higher concentrations will result in a warmer climate, and more and more extreme weather conditions.

Our group has reserved the Amherst Town Common for October 24th, the International Day of Climate Action. We plan to dramatize one local effect of climate change: the threat to our sugar maple trees and the possibility that Massachusetts will lose its maple sugar industry and our spectacular fall colors, which attract visitors in October. Our rally will be one of more than 1,300 events that will take place that day in more than 90 countries around the world.

Join us (www.amherst350.org), or host an action of your own. Bill McKibben spoke at Mt. Holyoke College last spring, knowing full well that he was largely “preaching to the choir”. He said we do not need to convince every skeptic that there is a problem. We just need to get the choir to sing! If you are concerned about climate change, please get involved. Be part of a global effort to get governments to spend money on the survival of our planet. Let us all “sing” on October 24 and convince our government leaders that they have the support they need to make big changes in how we produce and use energy.

Louise and Ron Grosslein
Amherst, MA 01002

Letter to the Gazette, published  July 31

What is in the number 350? Why has it become an important number for us to recognize? Because Dr. James Hansen, the NASA researcher who first raised the alarm about global warming, has determined that 350 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the earth’s atmosphere is a critical number. In order for the earth as we know it to survive, CO2 must come back down to 350 ppm. The current number is 385 ppm.

To quote Dr. Hansen: “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm.” (www.350.org)

In December of this year a United Nations Conference on Climate Change will meet in Copenhagen to craft a new global treaty on cutting emissions for nations to follow (such as was done in Kyoto in 2000). It is imperative that the world of nations, including the United States, support strong measures that will begin to slow down the climb in CO2 emissions and head them back to 350 ppm.

This October 24 demonstrations of support for strong new emissions protocols will be held around the world in an International Day of Climate Action. Locally such demonstrations will be held in Amherst and in Greenfield, and likely in other towns as well. In Amherst our stated purpose is to send a clear message to President Obama and Senator Kerry as they go to Copenhagen that “the solutions to climate change must be equitable, grounded in science, and meet the scale of the crisis.”

Anne Perkins
Member
Amherst 350 Committee