Sustainability Freshman Inquiry Feb. 3, 2011 Jeff Fletcher See also: Daily Log PageDaily Log Page

Logistics Extra Credit Opportunities –Solutions Generator 2011!Solutions Generator 2011 Read Collapse Prologue, Ch. 1 (p. ix-75) –For Tuesday (reading notes) –You are encouraged to meet in small discussion groups in your residence hall to review the readings. –Study guides to facilitate those discussions on the Daily Log: Prologue, Chapter 1 PrologueChapter 1 Bring (electronic is fine) HW2 to mentor session Mercy Corp Fieldtrip Thursday Feb. 17, 2-5pm (including transportation time), $2.50 each Mentor Lab: –Tues.: Models (NetLogo) related to Sustainability –Today: Sharing Good/Bad Apple experiences; paragraph rewriting 1 on 1 meetings –Freshman StressFreshman Stress

Welcome to Halfway! Halfway through winter term and course Feb 3 Length of Day (LOD) = 9:51 –(getting longer by 2:41 per day) Back on Jan 3 LOD = 8:49 –(getting longer by only 1:00 per day) Looking ahead March 3 = 11:15 –(getting longer by 3:10 per day) SPRING is coming! (despite climate change)

Stabilization of CO 2 Emissions

Stabilization Wedges

15 Stabilization Wedges See printed descriptions of these for Group Exercise, also available at pages Socolow says… “Pick any 7 of these”

The Bad News Implementing wedges will only reduce our C0 2 EMISSIONS by 2055; it does not reduce the total CO2 in the atmosphere. TOTAL C0 2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CONTINUE TO RISE FOR THE NEAR FUTURE NO MATTER WHAT WE DO NOW. Under the current conditions… “There is for the most part no direct cost to emitting CO2…none of Socolow’s wedges are apt to be implemented.”

Social Engineering How do we make a wedge happen? Social Engineering is: –Policy: Legislation, regulation, standards & guidance. –Economic or Financial Stimulus: Subsidies, creating markets, pricing, grants and loans. –Technology: Encouraging inventions, adoption of new technology, implementation on a wide scale.

Group Exercise Pick one stabilization wedge. Come up with ideas for how to make that wedge possible in the real world. A Policy designed to encourage the wedge. A Financial Stimulus to encourage the wedge. An invention or Technology that could enable the wedge. Help each other think about and refine your ideas.

Example – City Lights

Article in NY Times: ml ml Problem – Lots of excess light is generated in NY City. This wastes electricity, generates excess carbon, and causes light pollution. Policy – State Assembly and City Council are passing measures to reduce glare & waste. Finance –Rebates from state agencies and utilities for installing light- conserving devices. –Meeting stiffer standards is helping building owners rent to tenants. Technology – Devices such as motion sensors, dimmers, light shields, reflectors.

The Transportation Wedge Transport efficiency = more miles traveled for less energy consumed and lower emitted C0 2 How Portland encouraged bicycling as a means of transport: – m?a=38510&c=31608http:// m?a=38510&c=31608

Portland Bikeways – 263 Miles

Bike Commuting is Increasing

Bike Commuting in Portland

Most Trips are Still One-Person Cars

Bottom Line We need to do something now to reduce carbon emissions from human activity. The basic technology and know-how is available to us. There are things we can do as individuals and a society to reduce our impact on the Earth. Leadership is important  YOU.

The Day After Kyoto: Ch Rio Earth Summit (Bush I signed) UN Framework Convention on Climate Change –Common but Different Responsibilities –Kolbert’s Cake Analogy Greenhouse gas “intensity” Scientific consensus –900 scientific articles, 0 disputed anthropogenic warming ( ) –All G8 Countries Science Academies Joint Communication (2005) “threat of climate change is clear and increasing”

U.S. Obstructionism How much power should one person (president) have in setting the global warming agenda? –Frontline: Hot Politics: Censorship (6:21)Hot Politics: Censorship Small Groups –Have things changed with Obama presidency? If so, how? Does economic downturn impact this? –What should the role of government science be in a democracy? How separate from the administration that happens to be in power? –What is the responsibility of individuals? Individual behavior vs. supporting collective behavioral change mechanisms? Groups report

Catastrophe Chapter 9 Last 15 years China economy doubled Spring term will look at alternatives to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) How do we help developing countries skip ahead (like cell phones) By example? By assistance? Carbon capture and storage?

Colbert Report Cat Fight on Global Warming –(10:00 or last 5:00) – national/colbert-report-features-science- catfight-over-manmade-climate-changehttp:// national/colbert-report-features-science- catfight-over-manmade-climate-change Look for arguments (and techniques of arguing) that you hear on both sides