Source: Green Roofs: A National Policy to Help Address Climate Change
Author Archives: patriciademarco
Green Roofs: A National Policy to Help Address Climate Change
Roof of Chicago City Hall
Since 2009 the City of Toronto has required commercial and industrial new buildings to have green roofs. France recently adopted a law requiring new commercial and industrial buildings to have at least partial green roofs and solar panels. This kind of policy direction helps to move the climate change response incrementally forward. As more and more buildings comply with these laws, the detailed refinements in response will begin to emerge.
In the US, many buildings are adopting green roofs as part of a sustainability strategy, but the response is scattered, and financing is an issue in many areas. The standards and initiatives vary tremendously among the 50 states.
Here is a summary of the benefits of green roofs compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists
Benefits of Green Roofs
There are so many benefits to green roofs. Here are just a few:
- Adding natural beauty and major aesthetic improvement to buildings, which in turn increases the investment opportunity.
- Helping contribute to landfill diversion by prolonging the life of waterproofing membranes, using recycled materials, and prolonging the service of heating, ventilation, and HVAC systems through decreased use.
- Green roofs assist with storm water management because water is stored by the substrate, then taken up by plants, and thus returned to the atmosphere through transpiration and evaporation. They also retain rainwater and moderate the temperature of the water and act as natural filters for the water that does run off. They delay the time at which runoff occurs, which results in decreased stress on sewer systems during peak periods.
- The plants on green roofs do a great job of capturing airborne pollutants and other atmospheric deposition. They can also filter noxious gasses.
- They open up new areas for community gardens, commercial and recreational space in busy cities where this space is generally quite limited.
Combining green roofs with solar installations on rooftops has been tested and shown to be mutually beneficial. See the installations at Scalo Solar, for example. Here the Sunscape rooftop in Crafton PA, acts as a “showroom” for various configurations of solar arrays and technologies, including several versions of green roof installations. The various arrangements are fully instrumented and monitored to compare efficiency and effectiveness. The data stream is available to university students in Pittsburgh for research.
Wildtending, Earth Healing, and Gathering and Sowing the Seeds
Dana presents a wonderful and inspiring perspective on our critical role in tending the land. Preserving and restoring the Living Earth strengthens the life support system of the planet. Plants taking inert materials plus free sunshine are the miracle that makes life possible on Earth. Become a true wildtender!
Calling all land regenerators, earth walkers, and friends of the weeds! You can help heal our lands, today, with the resources you have and the love you have to give. What if, instead of doing less harm or less baad, we could do good? We could work to heal? In this post, I’m going to talk about the process of gathering, scattering, and sowing seeds, nuts, and roots in regenerating our lands. This perspective is of the wildtender, the seed scatterer, the weed wise wo(man). This is four-part series on Wildtending that I’ll be presenting over the next month–the first giving the “how to” and philosophy (this post) spiraling from my earlier writings throughout this year. So, grab a handful of seeds, nuts, and roots and let’s get started.
The Man Who Planted Trees
I recently came across a story called “The Man who Planted Trees and…
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Resolve to Cut Plastic Bags from Your Life in 2016
Between Asia and North America is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is about twice the size of continental United States. Located inside the North Pacific Gyre, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is filled with at least 100,000,000 tons of micro plastics,marine debris, and fishing gear. A gyre is essentially a natural vortex in the ocean. Lots of the trash we do not throw away often ends up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by wind and ocean currents. The trash is severely harming the marine ecosystems of living things. Plastics leach Bisphenol A , an endocrine disrupting chemical.
garbage gyre in Pacific Ocean
Plastic bags have been around for about 30 years. The average American family takes home 1,500 plastic bags a year (Natural Resources Defense Council). Americans use and throw away 100 billion plastic bags every year, which requires 12 million barrels of oil per year to manufacture. (The Wall Street Journal). This is a huge environmental problem because the plastic is not biodegradable, a single plastic bag can take 500 years to degrade. The ocean ecosystem is especially hard hit by the vast accumulations of plastic debris.
Sea animals attempt to eat plastic debris, resulting in choking, or intestinal blockage and death. Sea animals can become caught in plastic debris, such as the webs that bind six-packs of soda or beer. Toxic pollutants absorbed, and transported in plastic waste, when consumed by marine animals become part of the human food chain. 80% of the marine garbage originates on land. It is time to stop using the ocean as a garbage bin.
For 2016 resolve to stop using plastic bags. Here are five ways to do that immediately:
- Carry your own re-usable bags. For groceries, it is simple to carry reusable bags, some even adapted for cold and thermal insulated goods. Keep a small collapsable nylon bag for miscellaneous purchases. Chico makes a wide variety of them, and many places sell them in styles from whimsical to sturdy. Even the French string bag takes little space in a purse or pocket. Get in the habit of carrying bags to transport purchases.
- Use glass containers or jars for storage. These can be used repeatedly, and are recyclable when you finally need to discard them. They do last a very long time. I have a row of glass topped wire bale canning jars from the 1920’s to store bulk purchased items like beans and cereals. Use reusable storage containers for things like bread and baked goods.
- Recycle. When you must use plastic containers, choose ones that can be recycled, and diligently recycle. If your community does not have a municipal recycling program, petition to have one started. In America, only 0.5% to 3% of plastic bags are recycled.
- Take Responsibility. Set a specific goal to use less plastic packaging. Make a conscious effort to purchase goods that are not over packaged. For example, buy bulk foods in re-usable containers. Decline to take a bag for items that can be easily transported without a bag.
- Hold Producers Accountable. Customers can contact producers to ask for less packaging and more recyclable materials in packaging. Ultimately, there will need to be a change in the culture of hyper-packaging everything.
It is important to begin thinking through the fate of what we buy. Do we really need all this stuff? Know that we do really need a healthy living ocean ecosystem! The only way to keep garbage from ending up there is to control what we throw out. Join me in taking a pledge to Cut Plastic Waste in 2016!
The Voice of the Earth Rising
As 2015 comes to a close, we mark a rare congruence of awareness and a call to action on climate change. In advance of the COP-21 talks in Paris, the leaders of all of the world’s major religions have called for true stewardship of the Earth. The Encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato Si
the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change http://islamicclimatedeclaration.org/islamic-declaration-on-global-climate-change/
and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth from the People’s Climate Conference in Cochabamba, https://pwccc.wordpress.com/programa/
calls to action resound with increased urgency. The COP-21 Accord, though non-binding, united the voices of 195 nations to strive for a 2 degree ceiling, with many advocating a goal of a 1.5 degree limit, in temperature rise by mid-century.
It is my hope for the new year that we can recognize the critical importance of the living Earth. We hear the voice of the Earth not in words but in the songs of birds and of whales; in the intricate ballet between flowers and pollinators; in the exhalation of forests and phytoplankton; and the sweep of landscapes. Earth speaks also in pain as forests are felled; oceans become acidic; mountaintops are scraped off; and the carbon dioxide of human energy production and agriculture pollute the air and water.
As we celebrate our Holidays and make plans for the New Year, may we remember that we are more alike in our humanity than different in cultures, religions or customs. May we reach out to work together to preserve and restore the life support systems of the living Earth- fresh water, clean air, fertile ground and the biodiversity of species that constitute the global web of life. May we work together for justice and equity as we face the necessary transitions from despoiling to preserving the resources of the Earth.
To my Colleagues who have helped me in so many ways this year as my manuscript has come together, I offer thanks for gifts beyond measure. Thank you for all you are doing to build a Pathway to Our Sustainable Future. May we all hear and embody the great power of the voice of the Earth. The children of the 21st century deserve our fullest effort to preserve our beautiful living Earth. To my grandchildren, and the nieces and nephews of my family, I solemnly promise my whole life to protecting your future.
Buon Natale!
The Critical Agenda for COP-21 in Paris
In addressing the opening session of the COP-21 session in Paris, President Obama has called for “A world that is worthy of our children. A world that is marked not by conflict, but by cooperation; and not by human suffering, but by human progress. A world that’s safer, and more prosperous, and more secure, and more free than the one that we inherited.”
Lofty aspirations designed to engender a spirit of cooperation make excellent rhetoric. The reality is quite different. America retains an “All of the above” energy strategy, as reported in the 2015 Energy Outlook by the EIA: “While the overall energy history of the United States is one of significant change as new forms of energy were developed, the three major fossil fuels—petroleum, natural gas, and coal, which together provided 87% of total U.S. primary energy over the past decade—have dominated the U.S. fuel mix for well over 100 years. Recent increases in the domestic production of petroleum liquids and natural gas have prompted shifts between the uses of fossil fuels (largely from coal-fired to natural gas-fired power generation), but the predominance of these three energy sources is likely to continue into the future.” The effects of the Clean Power Plan noted by President Obama in his remarks in Paris are not included in the 2015 Energy Outlook, and in fact the CPP was rejected by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Our country is a house divided, conflicted and distracted in its focus. Climate change remains a partisan, divisive issue, with no consensus on action in sight.
Changing the frame of reference of the discussion may be helpful. While the political forces vie over the pace of continued exploitation of fossil resources for fuels, the systems of the living planet earth show signs of breaking down. If the Milankovich cycle estimates are accurate, our planet is in the period of its orbital cycle most closely spherical, a period between ice ages when life flourishes. But, this period of stability has been compromised by the combustion of fossil reserves for fuel, and the simultaneous destruction of oxygen producing forests and phytoplankton. The components of the planet that provide the life support system of oxygen-rich air, fresh water, fertile ground and the complex biodiversity that connects all living things are being compromised by human actions. The negotiations at COP-21 in Paris focus on sharing rights and responsibilities among nations, and seeking compensation and balance for development in differing economies. There is no discussion about the rights of the living earth on which all of humanity depends.
The People’s Movement for the Rights of Mother Earth are bringing the following Universal Declaration to the negotiations at COP-21 with a tribunal on December 7th. Here is the preamble to that declaration:
We, the peoples and nations of Earth:
Considering that we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny;
Gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning and provides everything we need to live well;
Recognizing that the capitalist system and all forms of depredation, exploitation, abuse and contamination have caused great destruction, degradation and disruption of Mother Earth, putting life as we know it today at risk through phenomena such as climate change;
Convinced that in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth;
Affirming that to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and defend the rights of Mother Earth and all beings in her and that there are existing cultures, practices and laws that do so;
Conscious of the urgency of taking decisive, collective action to transform structures and systems that cause climate change and other threats to Mother Earth;
Proclaim this Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, and call on the General Assembly of the United Nation to adopt it, as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations of the world, and to the end that every individual and institution takes responsibility for promoting through teaching, education, and consciousness raising, respect for the rights recognized in this Declaration and ensure through prompt and progressive measures and mechanisms, national and international, their universal and effective recognition and observance among all peoples and States in the world. ( See full text here of the Articles of the Universal Declaration for the Rights of Mother Earth)
This declaration was created at the People’s Climate Conference in Cochabamba, Bolivia in April 2010, signed by 288 organizations from around the world, and carried to the COP-21 talks with even greater support of nations, individuals and more organizations.
We must recognize that only by preserving and protecting the ability of the living earth to serve the vital ecosystem functions will we survive and thrive on this planet. The services that generate oxygen-rich air, filter and purify water, create food and fiber from photosynthesis, and many others, come from the interconnected operations of the living systems of the planet. Humans are one part of that interconnected web of life. Extracting resources without any thought to replacement, restitution of disruptions, or protection to vital components has brought our civilization to the bring of extinction. From billions to none can happen within a generation, as is evident from the loss of creatures such as the passenger pigeon. We are witnessing the extinction of nearly 25,000 species this year alone.
Recognize this challenge to control the excesses of consumption and waste. Seek to unleash the imagination and aspirations of the most wise among us in the ways of living within the constraints of the resources of the living earth, without continuing to exploit non-renewable components of the earth’s crust. Apply technology with the goal of regenerating and renewing the life support systems of the living earth, not subduing and suppressing them. If we in America can apply our ingenuity and expertise to solve the issue of controlling greenhouse gas emissions, stability and prosperity will follow. Greed is the enemy. It is time for a just transition to a renewable and sustainable way of living.
Support for the Federal Clean Power Plan
The following testimony was filed in the EPA Hearings in Pittsburgh on the Final Rule for the Federal Clean Power Plan. There is a move in progress in the U.S. Senate to block this initiative. If anything, this effort must be strengthened and accelerated, not stopped. Call you Senator TODAY!
RE: Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0199
Federal Plan Requirements for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Electric Utility Generating Units Constructed on or before January 8, 2014; Model Trading Rules; Amendments to Framework Regulations.
My name is Patricia M. DeMarco.[i] I reside at 616 Woodside Road in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I am speaking in trust for my grandchildren, and all the unborn children of the 21st century whose fate is set by the actions we take to address climate change.
The Federal Clean Power Plan presented in this regulation sets out a framework in which to begin curtailing emissions from existing power plants. I recognize the difficult political environment surrounding this effort. It is important to begin the process of curtailing fossil fuel combustion, but the cautious approach offered in the Federal Clean Power Plan will not meet the urgent need we face. There are three areas where more attention must focus going forward to control greenhouse gas emissions from existing electric generating units:
- The final target for acceptable emissions by 2030 is too low.
- Environmental and social justice issues are not adequately addressed.
- The plan does not encourage creative approaches that set the elimination of fossil fuel combustion as a firm goal.
- Target is too low.
If the Federal Clean Power Plan for Existing Electric Utility Generation is fully successful, by 2030 emissions from the electricity- generating sector will only be reduced by 32% below the levels in 2005. That will maintain 1.2 billion metric tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil electricity production.[ii] The World Meteorological Organization reports levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, climbing steadily towards the 400-parts-per-million (ppm) level, having hit a new record every year since reliable records began in 1984. Carbon dioxide levels averaged 397.7 ppm in 2014 but briefly breached the 400-ppm threshold in the northern hemisphere in early 2014, and again globally in early 2015.[iii] As carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases continue to accumulate, the production of water vapor in the air accelerates due to warmer conditions, which magnifies the warming effect even more. Warmer temperatures are melting the permafrost releasing tons of trapped methane from the tundra in the Arctic.[iv] The goal of limiting atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million no longer appears achievable. The actions contemplated in this regulation are insufficient to the urgency of the situation our children will face.
As a practical matter, the EPA is attempting to retain a minimum disruption of business as usual for the electric utility industry. The final rule states: “Fossil fuels will continue to be a critical component of America’s energy future.”[v] This rule alone will not meet the need to maintain viable climate conditions for the future. A more comprehensive climate policy is required.
- Environmental and Social Justice Issues
There are three levels of environmental and social justice issues inherent in the Federal Clean Power Plan. First, the Community Impact Assessment in the Plan shows the burden of pollution continues to fall disproportionately on disadvantaged people within three miles of the target power plants. In Pennsylvania, fifty-one existing electric generation units are targeted in the Clean Power Plan. Within a three mile radius of these plants, 1,853,694 people are exposed to particulates, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hazardous air pollutants, and heavy metals like mercury, cadmium and lead emitted from coal combustion. One single plant in Pennsylvania affects 447,057 people of whom 61% are minorities, 49% are low income, 18% are below high school education, 6% are children and 12% are elderly. This plant emits pollution levels in the 89th percentile – it has pollutants above the recommended safe levels. The ethical and appropriate decision for this kind of plant is to take it off line, and seek replacements for this power from renewable and non-combustion power sources.
The second social justice issue pertains to the workers in the fossil fuels industries. 80,000 coal miners, 147,000 oil and gas field workers face declining employment opportunities as part of the transition to a non-fossil future. It is essential to proactively protect the future of these workers.[vi] The corporate behavior towards workers has not been encouraging to date, as companies such as Peabody Coal have off-loaded retirees and laid off workers with their pension and health benefit obligations, to shell corporations like Patriot Coal, which soon declares bankruptcy, leaving the workers to an uncertain fate.[vii] This behavior may be legal within the laws of corporate finance, but it is wrong. Federal subsidies of $18 to $35 billion per year flow to large multinational corporations for oil, gas and coal exploration, development and production.[viii] These funds could be used to address the social justice needs of displaced fossil fuel workers.
The third environmental justice issue is the unattended remediation and restoration of the land. When the continued production of fossil fuels is no longer a priority, companies will have even less incentive to restore land, watersheds or ecosystem services disrupted by extraction and production activities. As they have done for years, they will walk away taking their profits and investing in the next big thing, leaving the remains of their resource extraction to be addressed as public obligations. In Pennsylvania alone over 3,000 miles of streams have been permanently degraded from mining.[ix] More watersheds and lands are becoming affected by Marcellus and Utica shale drilling and production activities. The profits come in short term bursts to private companies, but the environmental impact may lag by years, even decades, and the cost of remediation falls to the public. Withdrawing from fossil fuel extraction must include remediation and restoration to the extent possible. Mountain tops removed for coal extraction remain as scars on the land, looking more like moonscapes than forested, rolling hills formerly sheltering homes and towns. We must build a future that respects and restores the land. On April 22, 2010, the world’s Peoples Conference on Climate Change adopted a Universal Declaration for the Rights of Mother Earth. It declares in part: “Article 3. respect, protect, conserve and where necessary, restore the integrity, of the vital ecological cycles, processes and balances of Mother Earth”[x] The United States should join the 126 nation signatories to this declaration. The time of brute resource extraction without restoration and protection of the living systems of the earth is overdue to end.
- The lost opportunity to challenge innovation.
The Federal Clean Power Plan appears to displace fossil fuels as slowly as possible, rather than as rapidly as possible. There is no aspirational goal of eliminating fossil fuel combustion by 2030 or even by 2050. There is no commitment to enable the maximum possible contributions from renewable resources and energy demand reduction by efficiency improvements. In fact, major impediments to using non-combustion technologies remain embedded in the energy system. For example, constructing a passive solar, zero net energy house in Pittsburgh requires 22 variances from existing zoning regulations.[xi] Subsidies to fossil fuel development and exploitation remain, while investment mechanisms for either renewable resource development or abatement of fossil fuel environmental effects are variable, and relatively limited. In 2014, US taxpayers were subsidizing fossil fuel exploration and production alone by $18.5 billion a year, an increase of 45% from 2009.[xii] An “All of the above” energy policy will not achieve the goal of eliminating fossil fuel combustion by 2050 to control life-threatening changes in the climate.
Using existing commercial technologies, it is possible for the United States to reach an electricity generation carbon dioxide emissions target of 750 million metric tons per year by 2050 at a cost of less than 1% of the annual Gross Domestic Product. According to a study completed in November 2014 for two national laboratories, deep de-carbonization requires three fundamental changes in the U.S. energy system: (1) highly efficient end use of energy in buildings, transportation, and industry; (2) de-carbonization of electricity and other fuels; and (3) fuel switching of end uses to electricity and other low-carbon supplies.[xiii] “All of these changes are needed, across all sectors of the economy, to meet the target of an 80% GHG reduction below 1990 levels by 2050. Energy system changes on the scale described in this analysis imply significant opportunities for technology innovation and investment in all areas of the U.S. energy economy. Establishing regulatory and market institutions that can support this innovation and investment is critical. Both areas— technology innovation and institutional development—are U.S. strengths, and place the U.S. in a strong leadership and competitive position in a low carbon world.”[xiv]
Investing in clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the United States would add more than one million jobs by 2030 and nearly two million by 2050. By reducing emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, the United States would also increase GDP by up to $290 billion and raise household incomes.[xv] Gains in construction, manufacturing, and other sectors outweigh losses in fossil-fuel industries resulting in a net-gain of employment across the nation.[xvi] A strong commitment to eliminating fossil fuel combustion, with a just transition for workers, rather than slowly ramping down by “market forces” will be more likely to reach a meaningful goal for controlling climate change and will enhance economic viability during the transition.
Americans have demonstrated time and time again the ability to rise to meet a challenge. What is totally lacking in this Federal Clean Power Plan is the inspiration to reach for a new solution. This plan tinkers and tweaks the existing flawed and inefficient electricity generation system, retaining as much of the historic infrastructure and equipment as possible, with no intention to eliminate fossil fuel combustion as the end point. Our children deserve better! Think of the conditions we are imposing on the next generation, conditions we cannot even imagine because the earth has not experienced them for millions of years, if ever. Preventing the worst of the effects of climate change is our obligation to the children of the 21st century. We should set a challenge goal of zero fossil fuel combustion by 2050, and align all systems, the creativity of the American people, and the full might and weight of government resources to achieve that goal.
When President Kennedy challenged us to set foot on the moon, the goal seemed impossible. But the challenge inspired a generation. The technologies spun from that effort yielded results that transformed the world. Our survival as a species is no less of a challenge. There is no supply line to planet Earth but the stream of energy from our sun. It falls on us in a super-abundance to our daily needs. We have only to meet the challenge of organizing our energy systems to use it. Call on the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of our nation rather than stall, suppress and regiment innovation to preserve the systems of the past.
Sources and Citations
[i] Patricia M. DeMarco, Ph. D. full Curriculum Vitae is at www.patriciademarco.com
[ii] Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Industry in 2005 Report #:DOE/EIA-0573 (2009)Release Date: February, 2011 http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/pdf/tbl6.pdf
(5,996.4 million metric tons in 2005 reduced by 32% = 1,918.8 million metric tons)
[iii] World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations. Bulletin November 6, 2015. “Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Hit Yet Another Record.” https://www.wmo.int/media/content/greenhouse-gas-concentrations-hit-yet-another-record Accessed November 9, 2015.
[iv] Kevin Schaefer. Methane and Frozen Ground. National Snow and Ice Data Center. https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/frozenground/methane.html Accessed November 10, 2015.
[v] Federal Clean Power Plan Fact Sheet. http://www2.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/fact-sheet-overview-clean-power-plan
[vi] Jeremy Brecher. “How to Promote a Just Transition and Break Out of the Jobs vs. Environment Trap.” Dollars & Sense. November/December 2015. Pages 20-24.
[vii] Matt Jarmesky and Peg Brickley. “Patriot Coal Again Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.” Wall Street Journal. May 12, 2015. http://www.wsj.com/articles/patriot-coal-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcyagain-1431435830 Accessed November 10, 2015.
[viii] ICF International. Economic Analysis of U.S. Decarbonization Pathways. November 5, 2015. http://nextgenamerica.org/news-reports/new-report-transition-to-clean-energy-will-create-millions-of-jobs-increase-gdp-and-raise-household-incomes/ Accessed November 10, 2015.
[ix] U.S. Geological Survey. Pennsylvania Water Science Center. “Restoration of Stream Water Degraded by Acid Mine Drainage.” http://pa.water.usgs.gov/projects/energy/amd/restoration.php Accessed November 10 2015.
[x] World People’s Conference on Climate Change. “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth” Cochabamba, Bolivia. April 22, 2010. http://therightsofnature.org/universal-declaration/ Accessed November 10, 2015.
[xi] Lucyerna DeBabaro personal communication. Cite Solarize Allegheny
[xii] Oil Change International. July 2014. “Cashing In on an All –of –the Above: U. S. Fossil Fuel Production Subsidies under Obama 2009 to 2014. Page 7. http://priceofoil.org/2014/07/09/cashing-in-on-all-of-the-above-u-s-fossil-fuel-production-subsidies-under-obama/
[xiii] Energy and Environmental Economics, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. U.S. 2050 Report: Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States. November 2014. Page xv. http://deepdecarbonization.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/US_DDPP_Report_Final.pdf Accessed November 10, 2015.
[xiv] Energy and Environmental Economics, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. U.S. 2050 Report: Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States. November 2014. http://deepdecarbonization.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/US_DDPP_Report_Final.pdf Accessed November 10, 2015.
[xv] ICF International. Economic Analysis of U.S. Decarbonization Pathways. November 5, 2015. http://nextgenamerica.org/news-reports/new-report-transition-to-clean-energy-will-create-millions-of-jobs-increase-gdp-and-raise-household-incomes/ Accessed November 10, 2015.
[xvi] ICF International. Economic Analysis of U.S. Decarbonization Pathways. November 5, 2015. http://nextgenamerica.org/news-reports/new-report-transition-to-clean-energy-will-create-millions-of-jobs-increase-gdp-and-raise-household-incomes/ Accessed November 10, 2015.
Looking Beyond Green Jobs
I recently attended the Canadian and United States Societies of Ecological Economics meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. Hearing economists debate how to include ecological and biophysical values into the metrics for assessing progress raised my sense of exasperation, and kindled a small flame of hope. David Suzuki provided the overall thematic direction for the gathering in his plea for balance and the importance of preserving natural systems. I share his basic ethic, quite congruent with Rachel Carson’s, that we are all interconnected, interdependent and inextricably bound to the complex living systems of the planet. The laws of Nature are not negotiable – we must recognize the limits and live within them.
The entire economic development of our modern civilization follows the narrative of human domination over the Earth. Extracting resources to create wealth through commerce has dominated our trajectory for over 200 years. Now, the resources of the planet reflect the consequences of such unrestrained plunder: acidifying oceans, collapse of ecosystems; expanding deserts; and increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We have been using resources without a thought to replenishing them or preserving the living systems that support life, but are not captured in the metrics that we use to measure wealth- notably the Gross Domestic Product. A society dependent on indefinite growth in consumption, without replacing or reconstituting resources, is doomed.
Economists are severely limited in their ability to imagine prosperity without growth. Growth has been so indelibly considered in the context of consumption of material goods, and the energy and mineral resources needed to produce them. But as Gifford Pinchot pointed out with his wry wit, we can have indefinite growth in the arts, for example, without consuming the resources of the earth. An opera singer or a violinist uses little in the way of resources. The height of absurdity hit me when I was listening to an esteemed economist presenting a formula for pricing the priceless- monetizing the monarch butterfly! If you consider a butterfly to be a cultural value, since it has no true commercial use, its value would be determined by the tourism dollars spent in visiting Mexico to see the annual migration….. determined to be about $117 million! I had a fit over this construct. Economic value has no way to capture a species about to become extinct, or a landscape, or a garden, or a forest at dawn.
Our need to see everything in terms of economic value has diminished our spirit, our culture and our ability to think beyond instant gratification. I was especially disturbed at the discussions of labor and the role of work in a “no growth economy.” The economy does not need to stop just because we must stop burning fossil deposits for fuel! Harnessing renewable resources and capturing the efficiencies of a circular economy that recaptures and reuses resources will provide employment. Sustaining people’s needs without fossil fuels will require adjustments and some resources. Including the dignity of work as well as the critical need to preserve ecosystems and the priceless services they offer may not be possible in the economic models of the past. We will not be able to move forward if we are shackled to a world view that deifies exploitation of natural resources. I think of the wisdom expressed by Chief Tecumse who said ” The earth was given to all for the use of each.” A shared common good cannot be monetized and owned. The priceless life of the Earth must be a constant standard- protected, preserved and honored as we fit our human enterprises within Nature’s laws with love and respect.
(Images are totems of the Coastal Salish Nation in Vancouver BC)
Perspectives on Water
Source: Perspectives on Water
Perspectives on Water
Water defines our planet. As seen from space the blue globe is 70% water at the surface, including the ice packs at the north and south poles and the swirling clouds of vapor that course over the surface. The cycle of water from liquid to gaseous to solid states circulates and connects all parts of the globe and interconnects all of the living things on earth. Our ancient origins in the primordial sea reflect in the salty composition of the blood and intersticial fluids of living organisms from bacteria and single celled organisms to complex plants and animals. We depend on water for life.
Human populations have centered in places where surface waters can provide transportation as well as water for growing food and sustaining living conditions. Technology advances have allowed the spread of human habitation into areas that have been normally dry or desert conditions by pumping from deep aquifers or bringing irrigation from long distances by pipes and channels to divert rivers or capture snow melt. The advance of long periods of drought have disrupted cultures and settlements frequently over the recorded history of humanity. New theories about the fall of the Mayan culture are based on a prolonged drought- 200 years or so in duration- based on findings of fossil pollen residues found from that period. Will we see in our time massive realignments of cultural settlement patterns in response to drought and climate changes?
I attended the AESS meetings in San Diego California in the last week of June. They have been experiencing a drought for four years, with this May a cooler wetter month than usual. I walked in the Torey Pines City Park, outside the bounds of the watered 
central campus of University of California San Diego to see what the landscape looks like. In place of the deciduous woods of Pennsylvania that I am familiar with, I found the ancient layered sandstone canyon covered with succulent vegetation- all looking parched and dusty to my eye. The early morning mist that rose from the pounding surf settled among the growing plants, providing moisture from the air. The brush was busy with the lively birds flitting in and out. I saw small lizards sitting on rocky ledges, and footprints of animals in the sand – perhaps raccoons, or mice. I have not studied the flora and fauna of this area, but notice that the ecosystem here is quite different, shaped by water as a very scarce part of the habitat.
As i sat on the steps, out of breath, I watched the ocean crashing against the cliffs sending a fine spray into the air. I began to notice that the plants here are designed to absorb moisture from the air, and store it in swollen leaf structures for times when it is lacking. Even in such moisture constrained places, the fragile flowers attract bees and other pollinators. I know there is a complex ecosystem thriving here, separate from the human engineered grass and rose bush adorned plantings that survive only from nightly irrigation.
We can take lessons from examining the adaptations to different habitat conditions. How can we prepare for greater resilience in the face of the inevitable changes in our climate?
Patricia DeMarco Ph.D. 