Presentation by Sue Dudley at the
LWVVC General Meeting on Climate Change
February 9, 2008
(reprinted with her permission)
"Science Debate Ends, Solution
Debate Begins."
David
Biello
These words are
from Nathaniel Reed at the Global Warming 2000 Conference in St
Petersburg. You may have seen them in a
Voter article, but let me say them again here:
“One of the most astonishing things of living in a
state that has two coast lines that are barely above sea level--- where the
vast majority of our population lives in two linear cities, each 120 miles long
by 30 miles wide---is that these people aren’t here today. No other state in
the union has as much to lose as the state of Florida if we gamble wrong. The
risk of inundation seems to me to be such a colossal risk that at a minimum one
would want to be sufficiently educated that in their personal and public lives
they might strive to make a difference.”
“…sufficiently educated that in their personal and
public lives they might strive to make a difference.”
This is what the LWV is about, and why I
am here today. I will take you, briefly, through the layers of 2007 information
important to understanding where we are, and what we are doing about climate
change, starting with the UN, then the United States, moving to the State of
Florida, to the LWVF, then closing with some interesting examples full of
excitement laced with hope.
My Friends:
For the Year, 2007:
·
It
was the hottest January, August, and September ever measured. (58.5 F avg)
·
The
Northern Hemisphere easily had the hottest year ever measured. (59.1 F avg)
·
It was the warmest on record for
Earth's land areas.
·
In
the Arctic Ocean the sea-ice melted to the point that the fabled Northwest Passage
opened up for the first time in recorded history
·
The
melt extent on the Greenland ice sheet broke the 2005 summer melt record by 10
percent, making it the largest ever recorded there since satellite measurements
began in 1979.
·
The
Antarctic Peninsula is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, and its
glaciers are in massive retreat.
As the headline of an article by David Biello in the Feb 07
Scientific American says: “Climate Change Verdict: Science Debate Ends,
Solution Debate Begins.”
Lets start with my version of a 2007 Reality Show:
In
2007: The latest UN Climate Change
Conference was held in Bali, Indonesia. This conference starts a two-year
process of negotiations to set new emissions targets to replace the Kyoto
Protocol.
·
The
nations acknowledge that evidence for global
warming is unequivocal, and that humans must reduce emissions to
reduce the risks of "severe climate change impacts".
·
They
pledge "policy approaches and positive incentives" to protect
forests.
·
In
co-operation, they will "support urgent implementation" of measures
to protect poorer countries against climate change impacts.
·
The
nations will consider how to facilitate the transfer of clean technologies from
industrialized nations to the developing countries.
The US rejected at first.
Then in a moment labeled ‘high drama,’ the delegate from Papua, New Guinea
said: "We seek your leadership. But
if for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us.
Please, get out of the way."
At that
point, the US “accepted the compromise.”
Now the nations of the world, using the Bali Roadmap, are on their way to a
major summit, Copenhagen, 2009.”
In 2007, US
Government finally passed an energy bill. (In Dec.)
The Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007.
In it:
·
Automakers are
required to boost fleetwide gas mileage to 35 m.p.g. by 2020.
·
The total amount
of biofuels
added to gasoline is required to increase to 36 billion gallons by 2022, from
4.7 billion gallons in 2007.
·
The sale of most incandescent light bulbs will be banned by 2014.
·
Federal research
on carbon sequestration technologies will be
expanded.
·
New and renovated
federal buildings must reduce fossil fuel use by 55% (from 2003 levels) by
2010, and 80% by 2020.
·
All new federal
buildings must be "carbon-neutral" by 2030.
And, the
three Executive Orders that he signed soon after that. They have doable, practical actions with
implications that will expand the impacts through out the state.
1) The first one created An Action Team
on Energy and Climate Change. It will
develop a plan in two phases to achieve targets for statewide greenhouse gas
reductions, including policy recommendations and changes to existing laws.
(Executive Order 07-128). www.dep.state.fl.us/climatechange/team
2) The second, titled: Leadership by
Example: Immediate Actions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Florida
State Government, says that State governments will: Measure GHG emissions and
develop a Government Carbon Scorecard.
·
We
are to Reduce emissions
10% by 2012
25% by 2017
40% by
2025.
·
Future
state buildings will be energy efficient & include solar panels where
possible.
·
State
vehicles should be fuel-efficient and use ethanol and biodiesel fuels.
These last 2 are examples of practical ways the impacts can
be expanded…
·
Office
space leased must be in energy-efficient buildings,
·
State
government will seek to partner with an energy-efficient
rental car
company for the 2009 contract.
3) The third, Immediate Actions to
Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions within Florida directs the adoption of maximum
emissions levels of GHG for Electric utilities.
The standard will require a reduction of emissions:
to 2000 levels by 2017,
to 1990 levels by 2025, and
by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050.
·
Fl
will require energy-efficient consumer appliances to increase efficiency by 15%
of current standards,
·
The
Public Service Commissions is to adopt a 20% Renewable Portfolio Standard in 7
years with a strong focus on solar and wind energy.
·
And,
Florida will also adopt the California motor vehicle emission standards,
pending approval of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency waiver. The
standard is a 22-percent reduction in vehicle emissions by 2012 and a 30-percent reduction by 2016.
(California is suing with 16 other states and 5 Environmental Organizations. (The Calif. cumulative reductions from 2009
to 2016 would be 58 million tons—triple the reductions the federal standards
would provide.)
BIG!
This is really BIG!
“Find your
place on the planet, dig in, and take responsibility from there.”
The League
of Women Voters of Florida Board of Directors made Climate Change one of its
legislative priorities for the 2008 Legislative Session. We are focused on 4 items at this time:
1) Getting our Mayors to sign the
Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.
2) Monitoring the Governor’s Action
Team on Energy and Climate Change
3)
Encouraging
LLs to partner, and link up with other organizations in educational
opportunities, such as forums. And,
4)
Our
normal educating, lobbying, and speaking with one voice to our Legislative
Delegations.
The Mayor’s Climate Protection
Agreement has important community effects, as well as the reduction of
CO2. Participating cities will:
·
“strive
to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through
actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration
projects to public information campaigns.”
·
They
are to urge state and federal governments to “enact policies and programs to
meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission target set for the US – 7% reduction
from 1990 levels by 2012; (Ex Order: 1990 levels by 2025)
·
and
urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction
legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system.”
The Mayor of Seattle launched this
initiative in 2005 with 141 mayors signing.
In May of 2007, 500 Mayors had signed on. Today, 780 have, and 70 of
those are in Fl. <http://www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/list.asp>
“The Serious Problems That We Have,” said
Albert Einstein, “Can Not Be Solved At The Same Level Of Thinking We Were At
When We Created Them.”
And, thank
heavens! That new level of thinking is
beginning to explode! Listen to these:
The
City of London is on a roll. I’m fascinated! They expect to cut the capital's
production of CO2 to 60% of 1990 levels by 2025.
They
are going to move homes off the centralized power grid by putting in mini-power
plants, the term is micro-generation – on-site renewable energy sources, such
as solar, energy form waste, and combined cooling, heat and power systems.
·
They found they are losing 2/3 of their
energy from leakage in the distribution system of the centralized grid.
·
The move to local low-carbon sources will
bring that loss down to 15%.
That city has a ”green homes service that organizes a green
homes one-stop shop, including a ‘concierge’ service of advisers who carry out
home energy audits and offer advice on energy efficiency, finance, grants, suppliers
and installation.”
And, London is going to retrofit their public
buildings. Actually, this is a
worldwide effort of the Clinton Foundation titled C40. Big banks have put up the money; engineering
firms have said they will do it. The
cities are to pay the bank loans back to the fund of money from their energy
saving. So the huge cities of the world
are going to use this to deliberately kick-start a new energy business. (Cities
consume some 75 per cent of the world’s energy and are responsible for 80 per
cent of greenhouse gas emissions.)
WOW!
And, in San Francisco, a newspaper shouts: “The sun is
starting to grow jobs!”
Calif. has poured “billions
of dollars in investment and mountains of enthusiasm” “into making solar power
more efficient and less costly than natural gas and coal.”
·
100
megawatts of solar generating capacity have been installed in California, about
a 50 percent increase over 2006.
·
A
177-megawatt solar thermal plant is planned by Pacific Gas and Electric for San
Luis Obispo. It will generate power for
more than 120,000 homes beginning in 2010. And
·
The
state has earmarked $3.2 billion to subsidize solar installation, with the goal
of putting solar cells on one million rooftops
As a previous county
commissioner, and former president of Florida House Institute for Sustainable
Development in Sarasota, my favorite is the thinking processes advocated by the
book, Post Carbon Cities, Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty. Alachua County’s City of Gainesville has
signed the Mayor’s Agreement, and that’s why The Energy & Climate
Strategies Commission was established several months ago; they have been doing
some interesting work.
Post Carbon Cities is valuable, I think, and simply good risk
management, for it asks you to just look at what your community would do if you
were hit with something like a Katrina -- cut off, forced to survive as best
you can with what you have. These
questions are focused on any change in oil or gas input. But, we should know these answers – what ever
they are.
·
"Think:
What comes in to our community by truck?”
·
“What
do we need for energy on a day-to-day basis to run critical services?"
·
“Is
your water gravity fed, or does your system require electricity for pumps?”
·
“Where
is our local food?”
·
"How
does our community’s motor fuel get here?"
·
“Does
anything come in from pipelines? What
happens if they shut down?”
·
“How
much electricity do we have locally?”
These questions make you
recognize the level of your community’s dependence. And, they make you think about and value your
community -- understanding that the more we meet our economic and social needs
from the people and firms we share our community with, the more we all benefit
economically and socially in the end.
Well, that is enough. The conversation is just heating up. At the Legislative Seminar in March, I will
be giving a workshop, and some Leagues will report on what their community’s
are doing. I would like Volusia County to be one of those.
Climate Change planning is
coming from the States, cities, and the people, like you, at the local
level. It has seemed to me, that our
Federal government has gotten its self in the position of our delegate to
Rio. The rest of us are saying, lead or
get out of the way…
Perhaps that is good, I’m
not sure. But, it isn’t boring. My advise to you is Go For It! And Have
Fun!
Let me end with
another quote from Nathaniel Reed at that Global Warming 2000 Conference. These words could have come right out of
heart the LWVs:
“Never fear an
informed public that understands the issues and has a clear definition of what
we have to lose.”
RESOURCES:
6.
Florida and Climate Change, The Costs of Inaction, Elizabeth Stanton
& Frank Ackerman. Tufts U, Nov 2007.