DQs Sept 13

1.          John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” I could not help but think of Fred Krupp who took a strong environmental group, EDF, and twisted its purpose for financial gain. This is not the first agency or corporation where this has happened.  Can you think of others?

2.          Harvard University sociologist Theda Skocpol indicated that a major barrier to success in the fight against climate change is an “absence of a mass movement applying pressure from below.” That may be true but who or what triggers that mass movement? 

A tree is not just a tree

Don Enss

When President Reagan uttered “a tree is a tree,” he only demonstrated his ignorance of the roles that trees have play in humans lives since the beginning.  Sadly, he did not stop to think that there are trees in the United States that have been here much longer than he or us, in fact much longer than our country has existed.  His cavalier comments might have played well to those who see only trees as a source of firewood, building materials, paper products and so much more, but they display a lack of respect for the role trees have played in protecting our climate, of providing habitats for other creatures, and for human beings all over the world,

This morning on the way to class, I stopped at an old maple tree and wondered if it was here when MTSU first opened. How many students have walked passed it? How many professors? And until this morning I was probably like most. I had walked passed it countless times without stopping to take a look at it, to touch its bark, to gaze at its scars and wounds, most inflicted by man.  For a moment it provided a shady respite from the sun and I thought about it being stationed there through all of the storms, through all of the seasons with no place to seek shelter, no way to shield its roots from the mower blades and no one to complain to.

No Mr. Reagan, a tree is not just a tree and I am sorry that you did not realize that.

I think this video (posted below) has a lot of the same information that we want to use in our video. I like what he has to say but I think it would be more effective if it was shorter and maybe we could make the guy with the misconceptions more villainous or silly-- to make it more obvious that he or she is uninformed. Perhaps we could use the same data in a different format or find updated data about global warming/climate change. I think we should also put the misconceptions in text format on the video like he did.

I think we should limit our video to 5 Misconceptions About Global Warming—or 5 Things You Thought You Knew About Global Warming—so that we can give each idea enough attention.

Quiz Sep15

Ch7

1. What's Gaia Capitalism?

2. What should we remember about Noah's Ark?

3. What has Virgin Airways added to its fleet since Richard Branson's meeting with Al Gore?

4. How has air capture technology "morphed"?

5. What was Branson "onto," with his pledge, and what's the problem with it?

6. What's our most intoxicating narrative?

DQ

• Is the Gaia Hypothesis a constructive model of the planetary ecosystem?
• How can a green future be "a win-win for all concerned"? 233
• Is it bad rhetorical strategy to proclaim that capitalism threatens our existence?
• Do you draw any distinction between Branson, Gates, Buffett, Pickens, Bloomberg, et al? Are you more disappointed in one than the others?
• If you were a climate-conscious billionaire, what would YOU do?
• Is it immoral to try and profit from climate disruption? 234
• Have you heard of Tom Steyer before? Why do you think we've not heard more of him?
• Is there anything "cute" about solar panels? 237
• Are most "green billionaires" malevolent, cynical, or just habituated to the profit motive? Or all of the above?
• Would it be a good or bad thing to multiply proven oil reserves? 248
• Do you accept the more charitable interpretation of what's gone wrong with Branson's pledge and prize initiatives? Do you grant his good intentions? Why aren't good intentions enough? 251
• Do you consider it likely that Branson, Buffett, Gates et al will support legislated regulation, higher taxes, and steeper royalty rates? 254
• Should we be actively pressing our university to divest from fossil fuels, or making other symbolic or substantive green "gestures"?  (For instance, urging President McPhee to join with other university presidents in accepting a "climate challenge"? FYI-we tried that.)
  
  Post your DQs and your video project scripts, please
  
  ==
  
  Oceans Are Absorbing Almost All of the Globe’s Excess Heat
  
  This year is on track to be the third consecutive hottest year on record. Where does that heat go? The oceans, mostly... (continues)
  
  ==
  
  August ties for hottest month on record
  
  It just keeps getting hotter.
  
  August has tied July for the distinction of being the hottest month since record-keeping began in 1880, NASA said in a news release onMonday.
  
  And there’s a good chance 2016 will become the third year in a row of record heat.
  
  An increase in greenhouse gas emissions and El Niño, a weather pattern that warms parts of the Pacific Ocean, has contributed to temperature increases in 2016, scientists said earlier this year.
  
  “But we’ve had El Niños before, they haven’t given us the record-warm temperatures like this,” said Gavin Schmidt, the director for NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
  
  The records being set continue to stack up.
  
  • August and July are now the hottest months on record.
  
  • Every month since October 2015 has set a new monthly high-temperature record.
  
  • The first six months of this year beat 2015 for the hottest half-year ever recorded.
  
  • Both 2014 and 2015 set new heat records, and 2016 is on pace to continue the trend.
  
  Mr. Schmidt cautioned against putting too much significance on monthly rankings and emphasized that the long-term warming trend is more significant.
  
  “This year really does stand out in comparison with all the other years,” Mr. Schmidt said.
  
  The streak of record highs could end — for a while at least — if a weather pattern known as La Niña, in which sea surface temperatures fall below normal, takes hold soon, but Mr. Schmidt said it’s not clear that will materialize.
  
  And even if it does, it is not likely to prevent 2016 from becoming the hottest year on record. nyt

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/costa-rica-has-been-running-on-100-renewable-electricity-for-76-days-and-counting/

This article is highlighting Costa Ricas renewable energy program. We were talking about this the other day in class.

What is the Clean Power Plan?

What is the Clean Power Plan?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Power_Plan

Here’s just a little information from the above link.

The Clean Power Plan is a policy aimed at combating anthropogenic climate change(global warming) that was first proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency in June 2014, under the administration of US President Barack Obama.^[1] The final version of the plan was unveiled by President Obama on August 3, 2015.^[2]

The final version of the Clean Power Plan is the first to set a national limit on carbon pollution produced from power plants. The plan would lower the carbon emitted by power generators.^[3]

The Clean Power Plan is designed to strengthen the trend of clean energy by setting standards for power plants and goals for states to cut their carbon pollution.^[4]

Here’s a link to the efforts being made to fight this plan. (Open the documents and see who’s attending and how much money is going into this effort).

http://www.exposedbycmd.org/RAGA-Clean-Power-Plan

Chap 6 "Fruits, not Roots" questions

Don Enss

Chapter 6:

1.      Words do matter. How was the 2003 pledge by The Nature Conservancy worded to justify their continued extraction of hydrocarbons?

2.      What is a painful reality behind the environmental movement’s catastrophic failure to effectively battle the economic interests behind soaring emissions?

3.      Name four green movement groups that don’t take donations from polluters and are fighting against polluters’s wrong doings around the globe.

4.      Where does the financial ties between funders and public interest work become relevant?

5.      In all, twenty-three federal environmental acts became law over the course of the 1970s alone. List just five Acts.

6.      How did Fred Krupp change EDF’s goals?

7.      What is the most important preservation work that any environmental group can do?

8.      What was the mantra of the early ecologist?

Quiz Sep13

Ch6

1. Who partnered in Texas to save a prairie chicken?

2. What's virtually impossible to do without taking money of questionable origin?

3. What was the "environmentalism of the poor"?

4. Who said "we should have tried to change the system and root causes"?

5. What environmental group partnered with Walmart?

6. What do we now know about fracking that weakens its case, compared to the early '90s?

7. How are some manufacturers gaming the carbon trading system?

8. What does Klein say the leader of the Environmental Defense Fund wants environmentalists to do more?

DQ

• COMMENT: "Coal isn't the enemy. Carbon emissions are." 191
• What kind of political leadership would it take to bring back the heady days of environmental bipartisanship? 202 Are there any Stewart Udalls in the wings? Or can the grassroots movement force bipartisanship?
• What didn't Ronald Reagan understand about trees? 203
• Can we pick the low-hanging fruit AND dig up the roots? 223
• If you're unwilling to take on the oil companies, does that make you a non-environmentalist? 223

The Video Project

• Post some lines of dialogue for our would-be viral video. If enough of us choose to participate, we'll spend class-time on this. Our goal is to finish by Sep.21, before the first debate. Participants will be rewarded with some extra runs on the scorecard.

If you missed Don's email:

...we thought it might be better to just concentrate on the issue of climate change and take any partisanship out of the picture, so we won't include any political leaders. When you're drafting your scripts think of what it will mean to you and your children, if you have any now or in the future,  or other children and raise you concerns about what is going on. And some of you may want to include some positive suggestions for example economic benefits to rural Americans on having their own co-ops - that's a win-win for all of us. Terms like steward-ship, taking care of our home, leaving it better for the next generation may be something that you want to incorporate in your scripts. (Again, it's just a draft so it doesn't need to be perfect, but try to make it fit you and your personality and something you could comfortably say).

Here is my script and as I mentioned, I will be the bad guy in this video. If I do it well, I will be a very disliked person, but then if it helps the country, I can live with the abuse.

Interviewer: Sir, do you have a moment for a question?

Me: Sure, but make it quick.

Interviewer: Are you worried about how our climate is changing?

Me: No!

Interviewer: So you don't believe the climate is changing?

Me: Of course it's changing, it's hot as hell right now so would you mind if we step into the shade. (move to the shade, pause). But worried about it no. Look if I'm lucky I've got ten years to live and I can find air conditioned places in that time, so it's not my problem.  When I was young I had to live under the threat of nuclear annihilation, let today's young people live under the threat of climate annihilation. It'll be good for them, build their character.

Interviewer: But aren't you worried about the sea level rising and parts of the United States going underwater.

Me: Hey, they should of thought of that when they bought waterfront property (sinister laugh). Look, I live in Tennessee and if the entire state of Florida and most of the east coast went under water, I wouldn't lose any sleep. In fact, my property value would rise. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to find some air-conditioning.

Interviewer: Thank you sir

Yours doesn't need to be that long, but hopefully, I can set the stage for some of you and Dr. Oliver in your scripts to challenge my cynicism and hypocrisy. 

Also, some of you might want to consider coming up as a pair. One says something and they other agrees and elaborates or questions.

The student interviewed after me might want to begin their comment with "Wow! What a jerk!" You'll be the heroine or hero to the viewers.

Let's have some fun with this. Who knows, maybe it'll make a difference beyond the intrinsic satisfaction of creativity in a good cause.

	Reality Drop (@RealityDrop)
9/8/16, 9:04 PM “There’s no conflict between a healthy economy and a healthy planet.” - @POTUS bit.ly/2bUnxBl #ClimateHope

Some good news on climate front

Some good news on climate front

http://www.npr.org/sections/environment/

California Gov. Jerry Brown Signs New Climate Change Laws

Brown signed two laws designed to be the most ambitious initiative on climate change in the country. The business community says the laws don't consider the economic impact on the state.

I called his office and thanked him.

Governor Jerry Brown

c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173

Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: (916) 445-2841

Fax: (916) 558-3160

And some good news on the site about Community activists in North Dakota.

Unfortunately, there’s still plenty of bad news as you will see as you scroll down the site.

I also heard a report about this case on NPR last night after I left. I couldn’t find the NPR segment, but here is an article about it.

https://www.tni.org/en/briefing/netherlands-indonesia-bit-rolls-back-implementation-new-indonesian-mining-law

In July 2014, Newmont Mining Corporation brought a case against Indonesia using the Indonesia-Netherlands BIT at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).1 In making the legal claim, the mining giant argued that the Indonesian Government's plans to implement a ban on unprocessed mineral exports would violate the investment agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands. The case at ICSID was presented four months after Indonesia announced it would not renew its Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with the Netherlands when it expires in July 2015. After one month, Newmont withdrew its case against Indonesia but only after it had reached an agreement with the Indonesian government, giving the mining company special exemptions from the new mining law.

"The Book of Dead Philosophers"

How Bacon and others met their end, according to Simon Critchley.

"An Animal's Place"

An excerpt from the Michael Pollan article noted in class yesterday, at Jill's prompting (and see his Omnivore's Dilemma).

...But before you swear off meat entirely, let me describe a very different sort of animal farm. It is typical of nothing, and yet its very existence puts the whole moral question of animal agriculture in a different light. Polyface Farm occupies 550 acres of rolling grassland and forest in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Here, Joel Salatin and his family raise six different food animals -- cattle, pigs, chickens, rabbits, turkeys and sheep -- in an intricate dance of symbiosis designed to allow each species, in Salatin's words, ''to fully express its physiological distinctiveness.''

What this means in practice is that Salatin's chickens live like chickens; his cows, like cows; pigs, pigs. As in nature, where birds tend to follow herbivores, once Salatin's cows have finished grazing a pasture, he moves them out and tows in his ''eggmobile,'' a portable chicken coop that houses several hundred laying hens -- roughly the natural size of a flock. The hens fan out over the pasture, eating the short grass and picking insect larvae out of the cowpats -- all the while spreading the cow manure and eliminating the farm's parasite problem. A diet of grubs and grass makes for exceptionally tasty eggs and contented chickens, and their nitrogenous manure feeds the pasture. A few weeks later, the chickens move out, and the sheep come in, dining on the lush new growth, as well as on the weed species (nettles, nightshade) that the cattle and chickens won't touch.

Meanwhile, the pigs are in the barn turning the compost. All winter long, while the cattle were indoors, Salatin layered their manure with straw, wood chips -- and corn. By March, this steaming compost layer cake stands three feet high, and the pigs, whose powerful snouts can sniff out and retrieve the fermented corn at the bottom, get to spend a few happy weeks rooting through the pile, aerating it as they work. All you can see of these pigs, intently nosing out the tasty alcoholic morsels, are their upturned pink hams and corkscrew tails churning the air. The finished compost will go to feed the grass; the grass, the cattle; the cattle, the chickens; and eventually all of these animals will feed us.

I thought a lot about vegetarianism and animal rights during the day I spent on Joel Salatin's extraordinary farm. So much of what I'd read, so much of what I'd accepted, looked very different from here. To many animal rightists, even Polyface Farm is a death camp. But to look at these animals is to see this for the sentimental conceit it is. In the same way that we can probably recognize animal suffering when we see it, animal happiness is unmistakable, too, and here I was seeing it in abundance.

For any animal, happiness seems to consist in the opportunity to express its creaturely character -- its essential pigness or wolfness or chickenness. Aristotle speaks of each creature's ''characteristic form of life.'' For domesticated species, the good life, if we can call it that, cannot be achieved apart from humans -- apart from our farms and, therefore, our meat eating. This, it seems to me, is where animal rightists betray a profound ignorance about the workings of nature. To think of domestication as a form of enslavement or even exploitation is to misconstrue the whole relationship, to project a human idea of power onto what is, in fact, an instance of mutualism between species. Domestication is an evolutionary, rather than a political, development. It is certainly not a regime humans imposed on animals some 10,000 years ago.
Rather, domestication happened when a small handful of especially opportunistic species discovered through Darwinian trial and error that they were more likely to survive and prosper in an alliance with humans than on their own. Humans provided the animals with food and protection, in exchange for which the animals provided the humans their milk and eggs and -- yes -- their flesh. Both parties were transformed by the relationship: animals grew tame and lost their ability to fend for themselves (evolution tends to edit out unneeded traits), and the humans gave up their hunter-gatherer ways for the settled life of agriculturists. (Humans changed biologically, too, evolving such new traits as a tolerance for lactose as adults.)

From the animals' point of view, the bargain with humanity has been a great success, at least until our own time. Cows, pigs, dogs, cats and chickens have thrived, while their wild ancestors have languished. (There are 10,000 wolves in North America, 50,000,000 dogs.) Nor does their loss of autonomy seem to trouble these creatures. It is wrong, the rightists say, to treat animals as ''means'' rather than ''ends,'' yet the happiness of a working animal like the dog consists precisely in serving as a ''means.'' Liberation is the last thing such a creature wants. To say of one of Joel Salatin's caged chickens that ''the life of freedom is to be preferred'' betrays an ignorance about chicken preferences -- which on this farm are heavily focused on not getting their heads bitten off by weasels... (continues)

I have a recommendation for another book we could read as a class! It's called "Folks, this ain't normal" by Joel Salatin. The book is based mostly on his own personal experiences as a sustainable farmer and he discusses how far removed we are from the simple joys of life. Mr. Salatin seems like a vision of the past when it comes to farming, but upon closer look it is clear how modern and practical his methods of sustainable farming are. This book, like many environmentally based books, is a call to action that is practical and ingenious. Beyond all of that, he writes in a familiar tone and, from what I read, could easily be a farmer in the middle Tennessee area! (It might just be me, though, as I'm from small town full of farmers and agrarians.) This is the kind of environmentally and experimentally based book that any reader could really absorb, it feels almost as if you're having a conversation with the author! (Again, my opinion)
-Jilli


Below is the Goodreads review of "Folks, this ain't normal"

From farmer Joel Salatin's point of view, life in the 21st century just ain't normal. In FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact.

Salatin, hailed by the New York Times as "Virginia's most multifaceted agrarian since Thomas Jefferson [and] the high priest of the pasture" and profiled in the Academy Award nominated documentary Food, Inc. and the bestselling bookThe Omnivore's Dilemma, understands what food should be: Wholesome, seasonal, raised naturally, procured locally, prepared lovingly, and eaten with a profound reverence for the circle of life. And his message doesn't stop there. From child-rearing, to creating quality family time, to respecting the environment, Salatin writes with a wicked sense of humor and true storyteller's knack for the revealing anecdote. 

Salatin's crucial message and distinctive voice--practical, provocative, scientific, and down-home philosophical in equal measure--make FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL a must-read book.

A Discussion Question

• Is it appropriate to vilify James Watt for inventing the steam engine? Can we blame him somewhat for the environmental problems of today?

Quiz Questions

1. Who was Glenn Albrecht?

2. What was "the Pacific Solution"?

3. Definition of extractivism?

4. What does Klein say is one of the main reasons climate change is so frighting?

5. Jean-Paul Sarte called fossil fuels what?

DQ; Henry David Thoreau's beliefs about the earth. pg. 184

DQs Sept 8

1.          How did you feel when you read about the conditions of the refugees that are being detained at Nauru. What can you do?  And what will you do? 

        http://www.australia.gov.au/

World Bank and Climate Change

In the Introduction, Naomi Klein mention on page 12, "In a 2012 report, the World Bank laid out the gamble implied by that target." She was referring to the 2-degrees Celcius one.

Here is a good link to the World Bank where you can get lots of updated information.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange

Costa Rica Powered by 100% Renewable Energy for 76 Days

http://www.sciencealert.com/costa-rica-has-been-running-on-100-renewable-energy-for-2-months-straight

I noticed this article while browsing Reddit, and its an interesting read. Of course the article mentions that Costa Rica is a vastly different scenario than the United States, but it's still inspiring.

Rapid changes in climate and politics

Don Enss

Being a writer in today’s fast moving world is a real challenge. Some of what you write today may be out of date by tomorrow, which makes blogs like Dr. Oliver’s and social media more relevant than books when we’re discussing critical issues.

For example, since Naomi Klein’s book was published in 2014, there have been some rapid changes in both the climate and in politics. On page 179, she spoke of Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff reducing its extreme poverty rate by 65 percent. She has since been impeached and removed from office last month, August 2016. She mentioned Hugo Chavez and Venezuela slashing the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty by more than half. He died in 2013, and according to a June 22, 2016 article in the Guardian, it “is suffering the worst economic crisis in its history. Ordinary people in the oil-rich country are regularly going without food. Three-quarter empty supermarkets are being ransacked by angry, hungry mobs. The government has declared a state of emergency, food is now being transported under armed guard, and basic necessities are being rationed. People have to queue for hours and sometimes overnight on their assigned days to receive staples like rice and cooking oil.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/22/venezuela-economic-crisis-guardian-briefing

On the plus side, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador was elected to an unprecedented third term in 2013, which already violates their Constitution but he has above 50% approval rating, so I guess they were willing to overlook that. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2017 when they have their next presidential election.

The scary side of this is, what has happened to our environment since she published her book?

Quiz Sep8

Ch5

1. What's the dominant conceptual model used by today's decision makers?

2. How does our culture rationalize drawing down finite resources without worrying about tomorrow?

3. Who's the patron saint of extractivism, and what's the ironic legend of his death?

4. Who calls coal a "natural sponge"?

5. What's the antithesis of extractivism?

6. Who advocated a "land ethic"?

DQ

• What's the moral of the Nauru story? Is our "disposable" culture of "disavowal" on the same track?
• Do you ever suffer local or global "solastalgia"? 165
• Is it entirely delusional to hope we'll "invent our way of " the climate crisis? 166
• What's good about Francis Bacon's worldview? 170f.  Is there an ecologically-defensible way to "dominate" nature, without damaging our relation to it?
• If "Mother Nature bats last," can we at least hope for extra innings? 174 
• What would you say to Thoreau and Bacon, if you could? 184
• Was "Ding" Darling right about Leopold's land ethic? 185
• Was Rachel Carson right about the arrogance of "control"?
• Was the Club of Rome right about the limits to growth?
• Your DQs please

Obama’s View of His Legacy? Fighting Climate Change

In an interview with The Times, President Obama said his efforts to slow global warming would be more important than anything he’s done about health care, race or the economy... (continues)
==
Obama the Conservationist
Despite Congress’s opposition, he has put more acreage under protection than any other President.

By Elizabeth Kolbert

In the spring of 1903, while visiting Yosemite, President Theodore Roosevelt slipped his Secret Service detail to go camping with John Muir. The first night, the President, the naturalist, and two park rangers camped out by a grove of sequoia; the second, in a hollow at Glacier Point. Roosevelt emerged from the woods to learn that an elaborate banquet had been planned for him, complete with fireworks. He stayed long enough for a glass of champagne, then announced that he was skipping the rest of the festivities. He and Muir spent a third night camping in the shadow of El Capitan.

The only record of what passed between Roosevelt and Muir during their trip comes from one of the rangers, Charles Leidig. According to Leidig, among the topics the two discussed were: lion hunting; Muir’s theory—controversial at the time—that Yosemite had been shaped by glaciers; the importance of forest conservation; and the need for more national parks. Roosevelt and Muir had some difficulty communicating, Leidig observed, “because both men wanted to do the talking.” Nevertheless, their journey has been described as the most consequential camping trip in American history. Roosevelt went on to create eighteen national monuments, five national parks, and a hundred and fifty national forests. All told, he conserved some two hundred and thirty million acres—an area larger than Texas.

This past spring, President Obama visited Yosemite. Instead of camping, he stayed at the park’s fanciest hotel, and, instead of ditching his Secret Service detail, he was accompanied on his hike by snipers posted strategically on the rocks. Still, he, too, seems to have been moved by the spirit of John Muir... (continues)

Sept 8 Ch 5 ?s – This Changes Everything.

Don Enss

Chapter 5:

1.      How did Australian philosopher, Glenn Albrecht, describe the term “solastalgia?”

2.      What makes carbon pollution such a stubborn problem?

3.      What is the difference between extractivism and stewardship?

4.      What two factors tipped the balance in favor of the steam engine over water wheels?

5.      What do authoritarian socialism and capitalism share?

6.      How did Rachel Carson describe the “control of nature?”

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/our-oceans-have-saved-the-world-from-warming-an-insane-36c-in-the-past-century/

This is an article explaining just how important the oceans are.

SolutionsProjectforTennessee

Michael's post is very insightful. He hadn't published it yet, but I was able to access the site and click on Tennessee and this is quite revealing.

http://thesolutionsproject.org/infographic/#tn

Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power.

I found this article about Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials, by Mark Z. Jacobson a,n , Mark A. Delucchi. This article shows how Climate change, pollution, and energy insecurity are among the greatest problems of our time. Addressing them requires major changes in our energy infrastructure. Also they discuss and analyze the feasibility of providing worldwide energy for all purposes (electric power, transportation, heating/cooling, etc.) from wind, water, and sunlight (WWS). Also they estimate that 3,800,000 5 MW wind turbines, 49,000 300 MW concentrated solar plants, 40,000 300 MW solar PV power plants, 1.7 billion 3 kW rooftop PV systems, 5350 100 MW geothermal power plants, 270 new 1300 MW hydroelectric power plants, 720,000 0.75 MW wave devices, and 490,000 1 MW tidal turbines can power a 2030 WWS world that uses electricity and electrolytic hydrogen for all purposes. Such a WWS infrastructure reduces world power demand by 30% and requires only 0.41% and 0.59% more of the world’s land for footprint and spacing, respectively.

https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/JDEnPolicyPt1.pdf 

THE WORLD CAN TRANSITION TO 100% CLEAN, RENEWABLE ENERGY

:Here's a link to check out the solutions project. It maps out how to get t %100 renewable, stat by state. 

http://thesolutionsproject.org/

It shows how the world can transition to %100 clean and renewable energy.

Chapter 4 QQ's Deonte J.

1. What are the three huge economic engines? Pg 121

2. The group of workers took over their "shuttered auto parts plant and turned it into a thriving" what? Pg 123

3. The car industry lost nearly ______ manufactoring jobs between 2008 and 2014? Pg. 124

4. What country has one of the fastest transitions in the world to renewable energy? Pg. 131

5. What is a "less understood" practice in the field of agriculture and climate change? Pg 134

6. About ___% of the worlds power is supplied by nuclear energy. Pg 137

What is happening in Nauru?

Klein discuss at length the rise and fall of Nauru.  In case you were curious about what is happening there now and this is especially troubling coming about the behavior of a U.S. ally and a democracy.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/06/mp-andrew-wilkie-says-nauru-visa-denial-proves-australia-has-much-to-hide

Soaring Ocean Temperature

Here's a link to an article in the Guardian about Soaring Ocean Temperature. It ties in with Klein's concerns.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/05/soaring-ocean-temperature-is-greatest-hidden-challenge-of-our-generation?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+morning+briefing+2016&utm_term=189200&subid=19211158&CMP=ema_a-morning-briefing_b-morning-briefing_c-US_d-1

Some quiz questions:

1) When was the peak of the world crisis?
2) Roughly half of Germany's renewable energy are in the hands of who, and how many jobs have been created?
3)What is agroecolgy?
4)The largest act of civil disobedience in the history of North America was titled what?

Dear Future Generations

This video imagines what an apology to future generations would look like if we don't become more environmentally conscious. The video is pretty dramatic and a little artsy-fartsy, but I think it evokes an emotional connection to the environmental damage we're doing as a society. 

-Jilli

"I'm sorry our footprint became a sinkhole"

When I read Klein's remark about the governments of Ontario and India planning for jobs, ("These governments are saying to industry: we will support you, but only if you support the communities from which you profit, by providing well-paying local jobs, and sourcing your products locally), I couldn't help but see something that I had not previously considered about why some companies so vehemently defend capitalism / the free market. It seems to me that they always "trust in the infinite wisdom of the free market" because it gives them a scapegoat for their greed. When presented with countless problems such as climate change, poverty, hunger, etc. they can simply throw their hands up and say "Hey it's not my fault; this is just how the free market works!" Instead of facing the truth, which is that they are taking advantage of people who are less fortunate and much more vulnerable, they can feel better about their predatory business practices by just chalking it up to the free market.

I believe that Klein is right: businesses should have an obligation to take care of the communities that allow them to exist in the first place, whether that community is a small village, a city, or an entire country or planet!

Failure of political leaders??

Don Enss

Whenever I read about the failure of any leaders in doing what any individual or group expects, I’m reminded that it is always easier to be a Monday morning quarterback. It’s a lot harder when you’re looking at two three-hundred pound defensive ends bearing down on you and you have to decide whether to stay in the pocket or scramble for your life.

In an ideal world,  political leaders would operate in a vacuum and they could decide what is the best course for the nation to follow and then it would be implemented, not that this would be good for the citizenry, but we don’t live in that world. In most elections only a little more than one-half of the registered voters vote for the candidate who becomes the winner; in 1992, it was less than one-half. Whether you agree or disagree with our system, that’s the way it works and it’s not likely that that part will ever change.

In my opinion, where we can have the best chance to influence the political process is by working to reduce the influence of money in politics. When Klein writes about “the oil and gas industry spent just under $400,000 a day lobbying Congress and government officials,” that’s obscene. So what can we do?

Here are two links:

https://apps.tn.gov/tncamp-app/public/search.htm/   I’ll show you how to search for elected officials and candidates in Tennessee and then you need to share this knowledge with your friends and neighbors and you need to write letters to your local papers asking who is influencing your elected officials and site specific information to support your question. I’ll connect what you learn on this with the site below and you may recognize some of the names.

            http://www.opensecrets.org/

DQs Sept 6

Don Enss

1.         How would you feel if a neighbor erected a windmill in her or his backyard and it had an annoying hum all night and day?

2.         Would you be willing to travel to Washington DC in the summer time to bring a greater awareness to climate change? Would that include being willing to be arrested? Pros and Cons?

3.         What are tailing ponds and why are they important? I had never heard of them until reading about them in Klein’s book. Here’s the link to help you become familiar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands_tailings_ponds  How can we get this posted on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever?

4.         How can you get legislators to vote against their own financial and re-election interest?

Sept 6 Ch 4 ?s – This Changes Everything.

Don Enss

Chapter 4:

1.      How much of Germany’s renewable energy facilities are in the hands of farmers, citizen groups, and almost nine hundred energy cooperatives?

2.      What is NIMBY-ism and what can prevent it?

3.      What is the point that comedian Bill Maher is trying to make when he says, “You know what happens when windmills collapse into the sea? A splash.”?

4.      Based on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane is how many times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide?

5.      How much will oil production change between 2012 and 2035?

6.      In 2013, in the United States alone, the oil and gas industry spent just under how much a day lobbying Congress and government officials and how much did they contribute to the federal, state, and local campaigns in the 2012 election cycle?

Quiz Sep6

Ch4

1. What has cut off the past and orphaned critical opinion in the present?

2. What stopped the President from seizing the moment of financial crisis to create a transitional climate opportunity?

3. How can natural gas serve as an effective short-term transition fuel?

4. How are the Canadian tar sands not like science fiction?

5. What do intelligent investors know about the results and commitments of U.N. climate summits?

6. What language has become foreign to a great many of us?

DQ

• What happened to Barack Obama's "new energy economy"? 
• Would it have been as easy as Klein suggests to create a "robust coalition of trade unions, immigrants, students, environmentalists and everyone else" in 2009? 121
• Would you park (or sell) your car if you could commute to school and work via high-speed rail?
• Is there anything "wrong with telling large corporations how to run their businesses"? 125
• Is it consistent or correct to blame the right for "making climate about economics" and then emulate them? 125
• "Trade unions can be counted on to fiercely protect jobs, however dirty, if these are the only jobs on offer." 126 Should we hold unions and industry to the same standard of public interest?
• Do you agree that we need to fix existing transportation infrastructure but don't need more highways?
• If the market will not create climate jobs supporting renewables on the scale required, what's your reply to "the market has spoken and that's that"?
• Can Germany's and Denmark's "commons" model of public utility work here? 130-1  
• How do we get from NIMBY to POOL (and get over WIIFM)? 132 
• Is "agroecology" the solution? 134
• Was the Green Revolution not all it's been cracked up to be? 135
• Will we learn from Germany's experience with coal, and impose strict rules against its extraction and burning? 136, 138
• Is James Hansen an alarmist, or would it really be "game over" if we tapped the tar sands?  140
• Do you support nuclear energy as a transition source, or should we drop it entirely as too risky and too slow to bring online? 137
• Is a philosophy of "no" enough, to inspire and sustain a new way of living lightly on the planet? 141
• Is the market more likely to innovate new ways to get hard-to-reach fossil fuels than with green alternatives? 142
• Is Bill McKibben an alarmist? 148
• Yours please

Obama interview on climate change... Coastal flooding has already begun (nyt)...

	Bill Nye (@BillNye)
9/5/16, 6:19 PM If you're not concerned about climate change yet, try this: #MadhouseEffect by @MichaelEMann & @TomTolesToons:amazon.com/Madhouse-Effec…

	Cass Sunstein (@CassSunstein)
9/2/16, 5:04 PM Good news, bad news, and climate change. nytimes.com/2016/09/04/opi…

Weather vs. climate

Dogs make everything easier to understand.

Presidential Candidates position on Climate Change

Don Enss

I'm attaching four links that you can click on to get the complete article.  I'm sure that there are many more articles and some that are more objective, but this is just to give you an idea and not influence your thinking on a particular candidate. There may be something within these and others that can serve as a guide for anyone who wants to create a dialogue to be used on our video.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/08/02/donald-trump-climate-change-hillary-clinton/87628818/

 http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/trump-climate-change-new-york-times-letter-ad/486335/

http://reason.com/archives/2016/06/10/gary-johnson-on-science-policy

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/20/jill-stein-green-party-climate-state-of-emergency

Sept 1 Chap. 3 questions – This Changes Everything

Don Enss

Chapter 3:

1.      What was the one key factor that made the world’s most rapid shift to wind and solar power?

2.      What was the first U.S. city to take steps to reverse privatization of their power systems?

3.      “During good times, it’s easy to deride “big government” and talk about the inevitability of cutbacks. But during disasters, most everyone loses what?

4.      The perception of  _________ – that one set of rules applies to players big and small – has been entirely missing from our collective responses to climate change so far.

5

Quiz Sep1

Ch3

1. What is Energiewende?

2. Within what time-frame did Jacobson and Delucchi conclude we could shift to renewables?

3. What percentage of profits did the Big Five oil companies devote to renewables in 2008?

4. What was missing from President Carter's famous "malaise" speech, according to Christopher Lasch?

DQ:

• "...a robust social movement will need to demand (and create) political leadership that is not only committed to making polluters pay for a climate-ready public sphere, but willing to revive two lost arts: long-term public planning, and saying no to powerful corporations." 119 Has the movement begun?
• We went to the moon in less than a decade. What will it take to generate similar enthusiasm for a climate moonshot? 102
• Is the absence of universal health care an environmental issue? 105
• What should replace the "brutal logic of austerity"? 106 How do we break the austerity "vicious cycle"? 108
• If public transit were free for three days, would you use it? 109
• Do you think most Americans consider rationing and sharing un-American? 114
• Is consumption patriotic? Is frugality un-American? 116
• Post your DQs please 

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/scientists-vote-we-have-entered-the-anthropocene-epoch-earths-newest-geological-chapter/

This is an article about the anthropocene becoming the new geological time period.

Degrowth, the core conversation

"You're having the core conversation of our time."

That was the message delivered on Tuesday by author Naomi Klein to participants of a conference whose focus is on "concrete steps towards a society beyond the imperative of growth."

Klein's opening address to the Fourth International Conference on Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity, which kicked off Tuesday in the German city of Leipzig, made perfect sense, as the themes of her new book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs. The Climate, overlap those of the conference — that addressing the climate crisis is incompatible with the current growth-focused economy... (continues)