The following comments by Bill McKibben are from an Amercian Society of
Landscape Architects newsletter I receive. I've highlighted his observations
regarding the need to densify our communities as part of an overall strategy
for reducing our nation's carbon footprint by 80 percent.
George Frantz
Greenbuild: Bill McKibben on Climate ChangeNovember 24, 2008 1:51 PM
Bill McKibben, author and environmental activist, gave a speech at Greenbuild
on the moral implications of climate change.
McKibben explained that the US, with 4 percent of the world’s population, is
creating 25 percent of the world’s carbon output. If, as a result of climate
change, the shore line of Bangladesh were to rise four feet, Americans would be
accountable for one foot of that rise.
His new campaign, 350.org, focuses on creating a worldwide movement for
bringing carbon levels back down to 350 parts per million (ppm), the level
which climate scientists have pointed to as the edge of safe carbon levels in
the atmosphere. McKibben explained that current levels are around 387 ppm and
increase by about 1-2 ppm per year. He argues that this small increase over
safe levels has kick-started a natural process of climate change, which has
already had far-reaching consequences, including melting ice sheets in the
Arctic Ocean and upwards of 30 percent increases in hurricane power and
frequency along parts of the east coast of the U.S.
McKibben pointed to a statement from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), which argued that dramatic change needed to happen by 2012 if
the world is going to mount any serious effort to interrupt the “negative
feedback loop” that has been initiated. To achieve this, “coal would have to be
left in the ground.” By 2030, the world would have to stop burning coal, and
developed countries would need to stop sooner. A shift as large as the move
from an agricultural economy to the industrial economy is needed to stop the
negative effects of climate change.
McKibben outlined a few ways Americans can help mitigate the effects of climate
change:
- Americans needs to move closer together. Americans have been building larger
homes, farther apart from each other. Driving around running errands, and going
to work creates carbon emissions. The current housing crisis, houses in
high-density urban areas are losing their value less quickly than those in
suburbs farther away from cities. Markets are valuing high-density areas as
more valuable.
- The cost of fossil fuels needs to reflect the damage they do to the
environment. A global and U.S. national cap on carbon emissions and a national
cap and trade system are needed so that the market can begin to associate costs
with carbon emissions. McKibben argues for a rebate system for taxpayers, which
would take funds earned by the government by issuing carbon credits and return
them to taxpayers to help off-set any increase in energy prices. He noted that
the Obama transition team seems to be moving in this direction.
- Participate in www.350.org. This new campaign focuses on building worldwide
awareness of the need for returning carbon levels in the atmosphere to 350
parts per million. 350.org aims to hold a worldwide set of rallies a few weeks
before the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) final
negotiations for a new protocol to replace Kyoto. Negotiators meet in
Copenhagen in December 2009.
McKibben said the results of his 2007 "Step It Up" campaign were 1,400 rallies
in 50 states and revisions to the Obama and Clinton candidate platforms on
climate change, with a move towards the more difficult targets – 80
percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
_______________________________________________
For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please
visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for:
[email protected]
http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins
free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
