Dear Aseem, Here's an example, in the email below, of what I was referring to. There's something about this topic -- trying to limit academic flying -- that brings out the worst in some environmental scholars. It makes them angry (or appear to be). It's like talking to committed climate deniers: they are deeply offended when their views are critiqued in any way, and they conjure up justifications for maintaining the status quo. Alas, the status quo is exactly what is creating a global environmental catastrophe. What we need is both a drastic reduction in nonessential flying and lots of (real) carbon offsets. Right now, despite all that we know about the dangers of climate change, airline travel is exploding and greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing globally.
The scholar who wrote the message below believes that I'm "full of crap" when I suggest that we ought to stop encouraging air travel to academic conferences. That might be true, but if so it might also be true that the universities and student groups you told us about are similarly "full of crap," not to mention the hundreds of geographers you mention and all the unmentioned individuals and groups who realize that unnecessary flying ought to be curtailed. But I don't think that the initiatives you point to are "crap" at all. They are instead very positive signs. It's especially gratifying that many young people are committing themselves not to fly. Not for the first time, the young have something to teach their elders. I think that we need to get some perspective. It's not as if good scholarly collaboration began with the jet age. Throughout history, great collaboration occurred by way of slow communications from afar. Nowadays it is possible for scholars to collaborate with many times the intensity of only a few decades ago, all without leaving their campuses. We can instantly collaborate with hundreds or thousands of scholars via the internet. To be sure, video conferencing is not the same as chatting intimately with other scholars at a conference hotel bar, but compared to collaboration not long ago it's astonishingly interactive. What should we as individual scholars be doing, right now? I think we ought to be asking ourselves, in very honest and probing ways, whether our travel (the sorts that burn fossil fuels) is truly worth the costs for the environment and future persons. I wish that all of us could at least admit to ourselves that we may be doing something bad when we fly. (This is one sad consequence of all the great climate science that has been done over the last few decades: we can no longer live in denial that our lifestyles have far-reaching consequences.) Let's not forget that our climate-changing pollution is contributing to future suffering and death. Each flight contributes "only" a little bit to that suffering and death, but a little bit of suffering and death is arguably worth avoiding -- unless, perhaps, it is truly necessary to achieve a larger good. Alas, everyone who flies believes that what they are doing is justified. Surely, if environmental scholars won't curb their air travel, neither will most other people. The climate deniers love to see us flying around to talk about climate change. Their fantasies are invigorated by just this sort of hypocrisy. All the best, Paul PAUL G. HARRIS Chair Professor Global and Environmental Studies EdUHK<https://www.eduhk.hk/ssc/pharris> www.paulgharris.net<http://www.paulgharris.net> ________________________________ From: Wil Burns <w...@feronia.org> Sent: Tuesday, July 9, 2019 10:52 AM To: HARRIS, Paul [SSC] Subject: RE: [gep-ed] fyi I still think you’re full of crap on this, Paul. Collaboration is superior via camera? Please send me the empirical studies in that context. I shall wait. Those of us who purchase offsets certified by GHGMI can fly with confidence that we actually are offsetting our emissions and engendering collaboration that can help make things better. So if you want to feel exonerated, hope it makes you feel good. wil [Institute for Carbon Removal Law & Policy] Wil Burns, Co-Director & Professor of Research Institute for Carbon Removal Law & Policy | American University Phone: 650.281.9126 Web: www.american.edu/sis/centers/carbon-removal<https://www.american.edu/sis/centers/carbon-removal/> Email: wbu...@american.edu<mailto:wbu...@american.edu> Skype: wil.burns Address: 2650 Haste Street, Towle Hall #G07, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA Follow us: [https://img.mysignature.io/s/v3/7/c/f/7cf1bbde-db4e-51b2-ac59-ab19344bad51.png]<https://www.facebook.com/Institute-for-Carbon-Removal-Law-and-Policy-336916007065063/> [https://img.mysignature.io/s/v3/c/8/9/c897a27d-c2c0-5e72-b299-b784e320fe4d.png]<https://twitter.com/CarbonRemovalAU> From: gep-ed@googlegroups.com <gep-ed@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of HARRIS, Paul [SSC] Sent: Monday, July 8, 2019 7:23 PM To: gep-ed@googlegroups.com; as...@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: [gep-ed] fyi Dear Aseem, About a decade ago I tried hard to convince scholars, including many on this list, that we needed to stop encouraging air travel to conferences. Even then technologies existed to allow collaboration online that was vastly more connective than face-to-face collaboration at conferences. I suffered a severe backlash, including ad hominem attacks (a few from members of the ISA's ESS section). The business model of many academic associations, not least ISA, demands big centralized conferences. Things are slowly starting to change, as you highlight in your message, but my guess is that most older scholars (over, say, about 40?) will continue to dig in their heels and defend their air travel (everyone who flies seems to think that their doing so is worth the environmental cost). History won't judge this behavior kindly. The future is in the younger scholars who are accustomed to collaborating online -- after all, nowadays many people collaborate using their smart phones even when those people are on the same campus, even in the same building, and sometimes even in the same room. All best, Paul PAUL G. HARRIS Chair Professor Global and Environmental Studies EdUHK<https://www.eduhk.hk/ssc/pharris> www.paulgharris.net<http://www.paulgharris.net> LATEST BOOKS +Climate Change and Ocean Governance (Cambridge University Press), here<https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/climate-change-and-ocean-governance/DEFCBADE5A6BEE13EED457B8C54F108D>. +Global Ethics and Climate Change, 2nd. ed. (Edinburgh University Press), here<https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-global-ethics-and-climate-change.html>. +Ethics, Environmental Justice and Climate Change (Edward Elgar), here<https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/ethics-environmental-justice-and-climate-change>. +Routledge Handbook of Global Environmental Politics (updated paperback edition), here<https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Global-Environmental-Politics/Harris/p/book/9780415694209>. +More books here<https://paulgharris.net/books/>. LATEST JOURNAL ARTICLES +“Emerging Responses to Global Climate Change: Ecosystem-based Adaptation,” Global Change, Peace and Security, here<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14781158.2018.1475349>. +“Cascading Biases Against Poorer Countries,” Nature Climate Change, here<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0152-7>. +“Compliance with Climate Change Agreements: The Constraints of Consumption,” International Environmental Agreements, here<https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10784-017-9365-x?author_access_token=6s3vYy6-vHVydK0LnmiTyfe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY5EiV3cL-LE2uukQzOc9UKK5mMJDGn4cRkEvWCuqlh4hd41bv-hCLmFDLp4byVTsOHIIQBRsO2A5JWP4lCMn_rJtYB1TdKWiDdbmR2TP9EYtQ%3D%3D>. +“Political Science and Severe Climate Change: A Case for Transformational Research into Adaptation,” St. Antony's International Review, here<https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/stair/stair/2017/00000013/00000001/art00008>. +More articles here<https://paulgharris.net/articles/>. ©2019 This e-mail, its contents and attachments are confidential and subject to copyright protections. All rights reserved. ________________________________ From: gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com> <gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com>> on behalf of Aseem Prakash <as...@uw.edu<mailto:as...@uw.edu>> Sent: Tuesday, July 9, 2019 1:18 AM To: gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com>; stacy.vandev...@umb.edu<mailto:stacy.vandev...@umb.edu> Subject: Re: [gep-ed] fyi Hi Stacey: Agree; we need to speak up. Universities must be leaders in climate policy and as scholars who study climate change, we should become role models. I think GEP should take the lead in greening the ISA ('i'll be happy to share my correspondence with various organizations on this count). Some of us may have heard of the FlyLess initiative (there is a[etition to universities on change.org -- pls consider signing it). I received an email from them with the following information (https://click.e.change.org/f/a/m6MI0hVmC7eo6yzuiw1pzQ~~/AANj1QA~/RgRfA48uP0ROaHR0cHM6Ly9hY2FkZW1pY2ZseWluZ2Jsb2cud29yZHByZXNzLmNvbS8yMDE5LzA2LzE4L3VwZGF0ZXMtb24tdmFyaW91cy1mcm9udHMvVwNzcGNCCgAeLgohXYF0JzFSF3ByYWthc2guYXNlZW1AZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAC): Exciting Initiatives in Academia and Beyond [Image removed by sender.]<https://academicflyingblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/unine.jpg>The Université de Neuchâtel in Switzerland is encouraging its academic personnel to decrease its flying<http://www.unine.ch/durable/deplacements-avion> and has devised a chart<http://www.unine.ch/files/live/sites/durable/files/CO2/UNINE_Arbre_decision.pdf> to help them do so. In response to the efforts of the three PhD students at the French-speaking university, the institution is asking researchers, faculty, and graduate students to commit themselves to reduced flying<http://www.unine.ch/files/live/sites/durable/files/CO2/Engagements%2003%20juin%2007h00.pdf>—renouncing, for example, all flights within Switzerland and taking ground transportation to all destinations within 450 kilometers of Neuchâtel—by publicly signing a document<https://neuchatel.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_efUvxoF0glSUHS5>. As of May 29, 166 individuals had signed. [Image removed by sender.]<https://academicflyingblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/european-citizens-initiative.png>Students in Europe have launched a European Citizens’ Initiative<https://www.endingaviationfueltaxexemption.eu/> to get the European Union to end the privileged status of air travel by imposing a tax on aviation kerosene or fuel. The hope is that, by making flying more expensive, the tax will lead to a reduction in air travel and spur greater investment in sustainable modes of transportation. The initiators of the petition ask that FlyingLess supporters from EU member-states consider signing. You can do so here<https://eci.ec.europa.eu/008/public/#/initiative>. [Image removed by sender.]<https://academicflyingblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/aag.png>In April, the Council of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) received a petition signed by 234 AAG members<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vJk8ICBwB4HO2wz1b_wk1YEXQnv5kZBVeTuS37Nr9Zo/edit>. The document called upon the AAG Council to take far-reaching action to reduce CO2 emissions related to the Annual Meeting—one which sees about 9,000 attendees from the United States and abroad, the vast majority of them flying to and from the host city and producing thousands of tons of CO2 emissions<https://www.academia.edu/8422269/_Academic_Jet-setting_in_a_Time_of_Climate_Destabilization_Ecological_Privilege_and_Professional_Geographic_Travel_The_Professional_Geographer_Vol._66_No._2_2014_298-310> in the process. Responding favorably to the petition, the Council is now in the process of setting up a task force charged with redesigning the AAG meetings and reducing their associated emissions at a depth and scale suggested by climate science and bodies such as the International Panel on Climate Change. Given the size and influence of the AAG, this development could have impacts well beyond the organization. [Image removed by sender.]<https://academicflyingblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/concordialogo.gif>On May 31, 2019, the Department of Geography, Planning & Environment<https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/geography-planning-environment.html> at Concordia University in Montreal adopted a “Flying Less Policy<https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/artsci/geography-planning-environment/docs/Flying_Less_Policy_GPE_June1_2019.pdf>” that grew out of the work of its Climate Emergency Committee<https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/geography-planning-environment/climate-emergency.html>. The policy requires, among other things, that all faculty members in the department disclose their annual flying activity (the results of which have already been made public, collectively and anonymously, for 2018-2019<https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/geography-planning-environment/climate-emergency.html>). The policy also commits faculty to prioritizing travel-free meetings and video conferencing over physical travel and, when travel is needed, collective forms of ground transportation for destinations within 12 hours of Montreal. Moreover, it commits the Department to promoting a Flying Less policy at the University as a whole, and within Quebec and Canada as well (by encouraging external funders, for example, to work to decrease flying). In addition, the new policy requires that the Department encourage students to participate in activities that do not involve flying and provide financial support to make such participation possible. [Image removed by sender.]<https://academicflyingblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/stay-grounded-1.png>Concrete initiatives and strategies to reduce air travel will be the focus of a flight-free conference in Barcelona from July 12-14. Organized by the Stay Grounded<https://stay-grounded.org/> network—in conjunction with various civil society groups and the Institute for Ecological Sciences and Technology (ICTA) in Barcelona—the “Degrowth in Aviation<https://stay-grounded.org/conference/>” conference will bring together social movements, non-governmental organizations, and scientists. To register, go here<https://annek517312.typeform.com/to/A5jlKC>. In the Media Efforts to reduce flying within the academy and far beyond are receiving heightened attention in the media. A May 22 article in The Guardian (“Could you give up flying? Meet the no-plane pioneers<https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/may/22/could-you-give-up-flying-meet-the-no-plane-pioneers?CMP=share_btn_tw>”), for instance, mentioned FlyingLess and linked to our website, leading to a huge spike in visits. Meanwhile, TRT World, an international news channel, recently broadcast a roundtable discussion addressing the question, “Can we stop flying?”<https://academicflyingblog.wordpress.com/www.trtworld.com/video/roundtable/no-flight-movement-can-we-stop-flying/5cfe6a82b9fa6764a9a53ccf> Among the four participants was Milena Büchs<https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/see/staff/1183/dr-milena-buchs>, as Associate Professor in Sustainability, Economics and Low-Carbon Transitions at the University of Southampton (and a Flyingless petition signatory<https://docs.google.com/document/d/14NZh0bZW2jB0qXjt-pl5A2_JfHtErQhxq06ZFd61sN8/edit> ). The coverage manifests the growing movement in Europe critical of flying and its impact. As POLITICO Europe reports<https://www.politico.eu/article/the-popular-revolt-against-flying-climate-european-airlines-carbon-emissions/>, “If it were a country, aviation would be the sixth-largest carbon polluter in the world, eclipsing Germany.” The same article, whose title refers to a “popular revolt against flying,” asserts that “campaigns to reduce air travel emissions are gaining traction” in Europe. This is especially evident in Sweden (see “#stayontheground: Swedes turn to trains amid climate ‘flight shame’<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/04/stayontheground-swedes-turn-to-trains-amid-climate-flight-shame?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other>”), where the number of domestic air passengers has dropped eight percent (8%) in recent months, after a three percent (3%) decrease the previous year, while train travel has increased by similar figures. In response, the Swedish government has stated that it would like to reintroduce overnight trains<https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/06/sweden-has-invented-a-word-to-encourage-people-not-to-fly-and-it-s-working/> to cities throughout Europe. (Elsewhere on the continent, there are other favorable signs of the resurrection of night trains<https://academicflyingblog.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1088&action=edit>.) In France, the national government is considering a proposed ban on flights within the country<https://atwonline.com/eco-aviation/french-politicians-want-ban-internal-flights-cut-emissions> on routes traveled by train in less than five hours. Regardless of what the government decides, it will push for an aviation fuel tax at the next meeting of the European Commission, according to France’s Environment Minister Francois Rugy<https://pointmetotheplane.boardingarea.com/environment-flying-impact/>. Such developments have not gone unnoticed within the aviation industry. At the meeting in Seoul, South Korea of the International Air Transport Association in early June, airline executives expressed worry that anti-flying sentiment will “grow and spread” if they don’t win what one executive termed the “communications battle.” (See “‘Flight shame’: How climate guilt is the newest threat to airlines<https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/flight-shame-how-climate-guilt-is-the-newest-threat-to-airlines-20190606-p51v3w.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1559960946>.”) Recent academic articles An article by researchers in the Department of Geography the University of British Columbia, one based on a sample of 705 academics at their home institution, found no relationship between the amount of professional air travel and academic productivity. They also found, using a smaller sample size, no significant difference in total air travel emissions between researchers they characterized as “Green” (those who study topics related to environmental sustainability) and “Not-green.” (See Seth Wynes, Simon D. Donner, Steuart Tannason, Noni Nabors, “Academic air travel has a limited influence on professional success,” Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 226, No. 20, 2019: 959-967<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652619311862#!>.) Another just-published article by a team of researchers at the University of Adelaide studied academic air travel—also among academics at their home institution. The authors were particularly interested between institutional pressures for academics to fly and their university’s formal commitment to sustainability. Drawing on a one-year qualitative study, they found that, while many academics are worried about climate change, only a small number are willing to fly less for fear of damaging their careers. The authors conclude that institutional and political shifts are needed to bring about individual changes in behavior on a large scale. (See Melissa Nursey-Bray, Robert Palmer, Bride Meyer-Mclean, Thomas Wanner, & Cris Birzer, “The Fear of Not Flying: Achieving Sustainable Academic Plane Travel in Higher Education Based on Insights from South Australia,” Sustainability, Vol. 11, No. 9, 2019: 2694<https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/9/2694>.) ________________________________________________ Aseem Prakash Professor, Department of Political Science Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences Founding Director, UW Center for Environmental Politics University of Washington, Seattle https://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/ ________________________________ From: gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com> <gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com>> on behalf of Stacy VanDeveer <stacy.vandev...@umb.edu<mailto:stacy.vandev...@umb.edu>> Sent: Monday, July 8, 2019 10:09 AM To: Aseem Prakash; gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: [gep-ed] fyi It looks like AAUP and NEA – large unions to which some of us belong – remain silent about the GND idea. Might be time to do some speaking up. -sv -- Stacy D. VanDeveer Professor & Graduate Program Director Global Governance and Human Security McCormack Graduate School of Policy & Global Studies www.global.umb.edu<http://www.global.umb.edu> From: Gep-Ed <gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com>> on behalf of Aseem Prakash <as...@uw.edu<mailto:as...@uw.edu>> Reply-To: Aseem Prakash <as...@u.washington.edu<mailto:as...@u.washington.edu>> Date: Monday, July 8, 2019 at 12:56 PM To: Gep-Ed <gep-ed@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed@googlegroups.com>> Subject: [gep-ed] fyi This commentary might interest some GEP members: Labor Unions And the Green New Deal: Love, Hate, Or Indifference?<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fprakashdolsak%2F2019%2F07%2F06%2Flabor-unions-and-the-green-new-deal-love-hate-or-indifference%2F%23357a86c26b83&data=02%7C01%7Cstacy.vandeveer%40umb.edu%7C2599190248c34f555ef108d703c54390%7Cb97188711ee94425953c1ace1373eb38%7C0%7C0%7C636982018098582292&sdata=Dj3uukmygNWei8AqjT8RQHxHGEuHkyHvJYXrNTNcfeY%3D&reserved=0> thanks, Aseem ________________________________________________ Aseem Prakash Professor, Department of Political Science Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences Founding Director, UW Center for Environmental Politics University of Washington, Seattle https://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Faseem%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cstacy.vandeveer%40umb.edu%7C2599190248c34f555ef108d703c54390%7Cb97188711ee94425953c1ace1373eb38%7C0%7C0%7C636982018098592288&sdata=hSfGIuBHPUtz7yi%2Fu1dAJvx%2BingyEftG8WvsyHlmiMs%3D&reserved=0> [EdUHK_logo] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. 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