Gore Talks the Talk

On July 18, amid the crisis of increasing oil prices, Al Gore called upon the U.S. to eliminate the use of fossil fuels for electric energy production in the next ten years. He said that the U.S. should rely on renewable energy sources by 2018 otherwise there would be grave threats to the planet and national security.

Gore’s ambitious goal sets a challenging but achievable goal for the U.S. and is a call for serious and creative responses to eliminating the use of fossil fuels. Gore’s statements are a breath of fresh air amongst other politicians, both U.S. and international, who are only talking about partial reductions of CO2 by 2030 or even 2050. The timetable for responding to climate change and preventing the worst impacts is short. Therefore, a goal like Gore’s is essential to transitioning to a post-carbon and post-fossil fuel world.

Humans have the ingenuity and creativity to solve the problems we have created while natural systems provide the potential for renewable energy sources. Energy from the sun and wind is a huge reserve of energy that is largely untapped. Using current technology and developing better technology the U.S. could rely on non-fossil fuel energy sources.

Gore’s mention of a cap and trade plan, while possibly a positive step, is not a sufficient solution. This type of policy would allow the wealthy to continue their carbon dioxide emissions and depend on market forces to solve a problem created by the market. The regulation and reduction of other harmful chemicals, like CFCs, relied on restrictions rather than credit trading.

Abandoning fossil fuels requires immense policy initiatives and changes from the government and the economy. Solar and wind energy need to be able to compete with fossil fuels which will require government spending, subsidies and taxes. This transition will not just magically occur, particularly given the entrenched interests of companies and governments in the use of fossil fuels like oil and coal. The government will have to have economic policy to help direct this transition and support the renewable energy industry.

In the end politicians will not do this unless there is demand from the ground up. Grassroots movements can build to demand the end of fossil fuel use which will put pressure on politicians to enact serious legislation. People can also seek and experiment with alternatives at the local and community level. Communities can begin developing solar and wind power that often takes less capital than large coal electric plants. Direct experiences with fuel and energy will help people to start rethinking where energy comes from and how it is used.

Tax and subsidy plans alone will not end dependence on fossil fuels, must be combined with social and political change. Construction, transportation and agriculture are all huge sources of carbon emissions and will not become carbon neutral just with a cap and trade program. For example, the transportation system, which is linked with development patterns, needs to be seriously overhauled to become less fossil fuel intensive. This includes funding for better public transportation, building bike lanes and restricting sprawling development.

Gore’s message gives a positive direction but how this change is made will have large impacts on our society. Transitions to renewable energy can facilitate democracy and economic prosperity or could result in massive nuclear plants run by the same large companies. Let’s take Gore’s call and make it demand of the people for a better future in which the U.S. does not rely on fossil fuels which are destroying our planet and begin to make fundamental change to our energy system.

Washington Post Article- Gore Wants U.S. To Abandon Fossil Fuels by 2018

What do packaging peanuts, Esmin Green, and the melting Greenland ice shelf have in common?

I was deeply troubled to read about Esmin Green, an Afro-Jamaican immigrant that was mentally ill and seeking help in Kings County hospital. She fell while waiting for help in the emergency room and died after laying on the ground for 45 minutes while numerous individuals including patients, security personnel, and nurses passed by without giving aid. Esmin Green died right there in Kings County Hospital in-front of staff members that were trained, able, and obligated to observe harmful situations and deliver assistance. Several individuals passed by Esmin Green as if she were out on the corner asking for change, despite her seeking the correct establishment that was supposed to bring humane and swift aid in her time of need.

The establishments that are set up to balance and observe when an individual, a community, or a nation is in need can be paralleled to the disappointing reaction and lack of human compassion that was present in Esmin Green’s death. I do not want to seem trite in drawing these connections, but it is hard not to see the silk thread in these events. There are politicians that have been elected to serve as official checks and balances who have responded to environmental policy change and legislation as the Kings County Hospital to Esmin Green: Cumbersome, delayed, and in the shadiest manner possible. The events that are predicted to intensify weather conditions of droughts, floods, and hurricanes have been ignored while the same dangerous and painstakingly incorrect course of action is taken. The desensitization to the awareness of our surroundings and its calls of help from all over the globe has yet to spur changes that would be unprecedented and beneficial for all that inhabit the world.

The benefits are out there, and in more ways than a monetary report from the Dow Jones can express. Yet, until we are collectively willing to move forward and honor the networks of communities that we are inseparable from and utterly reliant upon we cannot receive these benefits. Instead, a disregard of natural cycles and growth has caused for some of the most dangerous and dense decisions to be made. How is it that Indonesia has moved up to be a competitor for the third largest carbon emitting country? Indonesia behind the US, China, and India has trailed closely with regard to carbon emissions due to the dredging of peat land to plant and grow Palm trees in order to produce oils which have been marketed as an “environmentally friendly” diesel alternative.

We continue to be disillusioned with the ways in which we fit into these natural systems and as a result bypass simple methods of creating change. Simple, albeit smaller solutions, such as the replacement of plastic with corn-based products (which there is hardly a shortage) for packaging has earned USPS the coveted “Cradle to Cradle” certificate from MBDC. Another wedge is taken from the pie to safely get that $300 iPod to your door.

These intricate relationships from one person to the next and also from each person to our extended environment is in need of deep therapeutic repair and solid evaluation if we are to begin this colossal battle that is being waged against our dependency on carbon.

Other links:

Peat land dredging

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071206235448.htm

http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=90243&keybold=rainforest%20oil%20palm

Greenland

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/science/earth/08gree.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612090919.htm

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn14251-greenland-ice-sheet-slams-the-brakes-on.html

Consumer Responsibilities

Hey Everyone,
A friend sent me this link, and it's a really great overview of the whole consumer system from mining and extraction of minerals and resources to manufacturing to consumption and then disposal. There's a twenty minute video and the links to a lot of other information.

http://www.storyofstuff.com

I like this website, because it is very empowering towards the responsibilities and impact that consumers can make. When thinking about current environmental crises it is easy to become overwhelmed by problems that are just too big for one person or one family to do anything about. Yet being an educated and conscientious consumer is vital to supporting progressive sustainable trends.

Anyway, I thought this might interest some of you.

Also, what about those gas prices, eh?

Crimson Roots

Crimson Roots is a collaborative labor of love between socially conscious, wide-eyed, granola loving students who have joined efforts to express their opinions and views on topics that run the gamut within topics of activism, sustainability, ecology, politics, architecture, economics, human rights, and more. We'd all like to thank you for visiting and hope that you enjoy the blog.