We are the elephant

"IT TAKES A LOT TO GET AN ELEPHANT MOVING, BUT WHEN YOU DO, IT IS HARD TO STOP.... THE ELEPHANT IS MOVING" - quote from a leader at Copenhagen this past week

Our movement, the environmental movement, the lime revolution- WE ARE THE ELEPHANT AND LET'S GET MOVING!

Copenhagen and the Snopocolypse: An Omen

As the year comes to a close, and so does the COP15 Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, a dark omen moved its way up the east coast of the United States this weekend.

The biggest blizzard anyone can remember... in December. It started south- North Carolina, and moved up the coast. Washington DC received two feet in most areas. Everything shut down, people died, everyone was in shock. At the same time, Florida received massive floods.

And what were our leaders doing in Copenhagen? Well, they were supposed to be coming together to solve a crisis. Instead, they were stalling, using rhetoric to get around actually doing anything. Correction: that's what the big-shot countries were doing. Leaders of smaller countries like the Maldives and Gabon were really calling for action, summoning the players of the world to really get something done. There were a handful of truly inspiring individuals over in Copenhagen- not only presidents and prime ministers, but also the activists who held vigils, protested, and fasted during the week.

So why can't people like Obama get the message? Is he apathetic about the issue? Ignorant of its urgency? Or just a puppet of the corporations that really control America? It's hard to know. My e-mail inbox is full of messages from energetic environmental organizations that are trying so hard to put a positive spin on things, but the underlying message is grim, defeated.

It's about time people look out their windows, see the huge mountains of snow that simply shouldn't be there, and do something about this "little" problem that we have. The time is here, and there's never been a bigger reminder right before our eyes.

Three weeks away

Today, I was flipping through the Washington Post looking for an article or two of interest, when I found a whole section. Much to my delight, the Outlook section of the Washington Post printed a special issue on climate change today. The cover article, written by Bill Mckibben (a personal hero!), compared Obama's attitude toward climate change with that of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives.

The UN climate change conference in Copenhagen is merely three weeks away. Environmental leaders and organizations are going into overdrive, President Nasheed is going into overdrive, and Obama is.... stalling. Nonetheless, the section in the newspaper gave me hope that people are seeing the importance and urgency of Copenhagen, even if the US government is not.

There were some wonderful quotes in the issue that I'd like to share.

"Copenhagen will be about climate, of course, but in a fundamental sense, it must also be about whether we will have enough to eat"- Lester Brown, highlighting that we as humans will all be affected in a monumental way if nothing is done to curb climate change- sea level rise and increased temperatures will totally devastate the international food economy. If people could see climate change as something that personal, I bet we'd have a much stronger movement mobilizing in the coming weeks.

"doing more than George W. Bush on global warming is like doing more than George Wallace on racial healing. It gives you political cover, but the melting arctic is unimpressed"- Bill Mckibben.
I don't know about how the general public feels, but Obama is letting me down with his attitude toward climate change. Publicly stating that no binding treaty is going to come out of Copenhagen, Obama is steadily changing his image from one of hope and change, to one of pessimism and stagnancy. Too bad, when there was so much promise last January.
"A mediocre health-care bill is one thing; you can probably come back in a generation and make it stronger. People may suffer in the meantime, but the problem won't become logarithmically worse. The climate, on the other hand, is full of traps and tipping points... if there were ever a challenge that called for focus, this is it"- Bill Mckibben
FOCUS, AMERICA! FOCUS, WORLD! I am tired of the arguments with my dad- him saying that it's going to take time, we should take things step by step, me firing back that we have no time, citing potential catastrophic consequences. Where does this slow-moving attitude come from? Is it a failure to understand the urgency, or a refusal to understand the urgency? Is it pessimism, a belief that no matter how hard we try, nothing is going to happen fast? My generation, the one with the optimism and the energy, has to work hard to combat the lethargic attitude. After all, we're the ones with the most at stake.

The International Day of Climate Action

Today, October 24th, was the 350.org International Day of Climate Action. It was an amazing event, with over 5000 actions across the plant. Really, check out the website and look at the pictures because it really was incredible.

My environmental club took to the streets of DC today with 350 CFL light bulbs in laundry bags (think "green Santa Claus") to give out for free. We had done some fundraising to come up with the money to buy these, which ended up only costing less than a dollar per bulb! Pepco is doing an amazing deal where they are giving huge discounts off of CFLs, all the more reason to buy them!

Our route went like this: Adams Morgan - Dupont Circle - U Street - Columbia Heights
We tried to give the bulbs mostly to people who wouldn't buy them on their own- we even gave a bunch out to people in line at Martha's Table. The goal was for people to gain awareness about 350 and climate change, save energy and money, and possibly get more CFLs in the future. Most people seemed really grateful, and many took some convincing that the bulbs were free, no strings attached. Overall it was a successful event, and in six weeks comes the big one: the Copenhagen climate talks, which is going to be pivotal. Hopefully the actions all over the world today that spoke "350" will have a bit of influence on the leaders that have a ton of influence on where we go as a planet in the next fifty years.

The Debate of Ecoterrorism

Today I'm going to talk about a topic many people have never heard of: ecoterrorism. Ecoterrorism is the practice of using violent acts against humans or property for the protection of the environment or wildlife. Examples of this include destroying power plants, destroying cars (hummers....), The Sea Shepherd ships attacking whalers and shark fisherman, and more. 

While many would argue that some of todays environmental and ecological challenges require drastic measures, I don't think violence is the kind of drastic we need. Yes, these actions call a lot of attention to the issues, but not a good kind of attention. We don't need to give people more reasons to think that environmentalists are crazy and irrational people. We want people to think that we are an inclusive and open group of people with a common passion / goal. 

I took a course in nonviolence last year and learned a lot about what are effect techniques for change. Historically, violence breeds more violence and nonviolence breeds peace. As environmentalists, we want a sustainable planet for all its inhabitants - including humans! This means a peaceful and and livable planet. And the only way to get there is through nonviolence.

What are examples of nonviolent action? Rallies, protests, strikes, lobbying, political action, just look to great leaders like Gandhi, MLK, Cesar Chavez, etc. We need nonviolence to get this movement started, and we don't need ecoterrorists giving us a bad rap. 

Maret's Students for Environmental Action (SEA)

Tuesday was my first day of senior year, and I've got a lot of projects I'm really excited about for the environmental club that I am co-leader of. 

First of all, we are organizing an action for Bill Mckibben's (one of my personal heroes) 350.org campaign. On October 24th, groups all over the world will participate in some kind of creative action to spread the word that we need to take bold steps to bring the atmosp

here's carbon dioxide level back down to 350 parts per million (ppm). The date is a few months before the international meeting in Copenhagen, where countries will come together to discuss strategies to combat climate change, and make commitments. It is our goal to get the U.S. in a place where it can be a leader at the meeting, instead of becoming a roadblock as it was for the Kyoto Protocol. On October 24th, we are going to show that we want the U.S. to step forward, pass legislation HERE IN AMERICA, and to speak out in December. Check out 350.org for more information, and to find an action/event near you (if there isn't one, you can start one!)

The Maret SEA club will be hopefully joining up with other schools in the area to fundraise and purchase 350 CFL light bulbs, and on Octob

er 24th we will go out into Washington, DC to spread the word and distribute the light bulbs. I am super excited for this to happen- if you would like to help out, please let me know!

Another project we started last year is our garden. Last year we planted a garden as a project with the lower school, to teach about nature, wildlife, and gardening. Because I think that wildlife conservation is one of the most important environmental issues out there, I think it's important to teach these ethics at a young age, and it's a fun project for us high schoolers as well. I am hoping to get it certified as a "Schoolyard Habitat" by the National Wildlife Federation... possibly making it a butterfly sanctuary and definitely planting native plants. Go to nwf.org to find out about the National Wildlife Federation's programs.

Other than that, I hope to find some great speakers to come to school, we will participate in some trash cleanups, we will continue to find ways to reduce our waste, and will keep thinking of ideas as the year goes on! Oh, and of course we will be heading back to Powershift (whenever that is) and will compete in the Green Cup Challenge. Whoo, that's a lot of stuff to do... but I'm excited! 

Anyone with ideas, comments, suggestions, or you want to help, please let me know! And keep spreading that lime revolution!

Wilderness and Conservation

Hey guys!

So I just got back from an amazing five weeks in a beautiful part of Oregon- Mount Hood. I was part of the Northwest Youth Corps, camping in the backcountry on the mountain and doing hours and hours of trail maintenence work every day. The program helped to remind me why I have become an environmentalist, and why we need to save our planet. Living in the wilderness for five weeks, seeing amazing sunsets and more stars than I have ever seen in DC, getting to see a rainbow of wildflowers across pristine meadows every single day, and tasting fresh, pure air are experiences that fewer and fewer people get these days. We talked a lot about conservation ethics, the wilderness, and leave no trace. Sometimes I think I get too caught up in the politics of the environmental movement and this experience brought it home for me.

I had an interesting conversation with my dad on the way home about the differences in the conservation movement and the environmental movement. It seems that there are a lot of conservative people who care about wilderness preservation but are wary of the super-liberal green environmental movement. To me, the two movements are totally intertwined, but there does seem to be a gap for many people. If we could bridge that gap, demonstrating that without the wilderness there is no need for the green movement, and without the green movement there will be no wilderness (climate change will not just "skip over" protected areas), we could get a whole lot more people on board to save the planet.We have to remember Teddy Roosevelt's message and legacy... the beauty of America's wilderness is what makes our country special. So get a group of people together, and head out camping somewhere beautiful, and remind yourself why we're doing this.

Climate and the Weather

So I've been wondering... how come when we hear our daily weather forecast, climate change is never, ever mentioned? It would seem that weather and the global climate are pretty intertwined. And yet, are the words "climate change," "global warming," "greenhouse effect," etc. ever spoken during the prime-time weather broadcasts? What about on the radio? I haven't heard any of that. Please let me know if you have, I'd love to know which stations do.

http://www.azcentral.com/weather/wsi_images/CONT_USA1_Heat_Index.SGI.gif
When will this picture start meaning something more than just random numbers?

Now, I did some wondering and some thinking, and I think I know why you don't hear any of that during the weather broadcasts. I have come up with two reasons:

1) We humans like to think of the weather as some force that is out of our control, something totally detached from our human problems. We don't really want to hear that the storms, droughts, and heat waves are our fault. That would mean that we have some sort of responsibility, and who wants that?

2) Global warming has become a political issue. It shouldn't be one, but it is. There are still those people who think that the concept of global warming is a liberal hoax created to scare us all into paying more taxes. Because clearly our top scientists are in on the scheme.... right..... Anyway, no one wants the weather to become a political thing. Not the viewers/listeners/readers, nor the Weather Channel, nor the television stations.

So the solution has been to just ignore climate change. Reporters tell us about hurricanes, about record high temperatures, about unusually low snowfall, and they leave it at that. Think about how many more people would care about curbing climate change if they could connect it to their daily lives, not just pairing it with faraway polar bears? When the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, people came together with compassion and remarkable strength to help the victims. It would be even more remarkable if people could make the connection between weather and climate, and come together with that powerful strength to save our planet and ourselves.

So, just a thought- meteorologists, TV reporters, radio hosts, writers, etc. : stop worrying about politics and make the connection between the daily weather forecast and the climate crisis!

The Great Debate

It seems like with every environmental event, speaker, conference, article, etc., there is always a conflict between small, individual action and big, national/international changes. Thomas Friedman in his book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded often spoke of his belief that things like "200 Easy ways to go green" are hurting the movement. He wrote that right now we are having a "green party" when we need an all-out revolution that requires legislation and big political action. I have heard Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action network speak twice now, and both times he has mentioned that there is a general mindset going that small individual actions are going to solve our crisis, and it's clear that he believes they will not. I will add, however, that Mike Tidwell is an inspiration in his personal efforts to live a carbon neutral lifestyle.

So what happened to "Be the change you wish to see in the world"? Everywhere you go now you see eco-friendly products and energy saving tips and pledges you should be making.... sometimes it makes my head spin! Do these individual steps hurt the movement by making it seem like solving our environmental problems will be easy and pain free? Maybe. But can we have a green revolution without individual steps? No, we can't.



My opinion is that we environmentalists cannot demand the government to change, we cannot demand the world to change, until we change ourselves (like Gandhi said!) So first, yes, we need to buy sustainably made products and we need to make our homes energy efficient and we need to compost and recycle and all that jazz. But here's the catch: it really cannot stop there. This is NOT going to be an easy revolution. Unfortunately, it was easy to get ourselves into this mess but not go get out... kind of like quicksand. And there's a catch because not everyone is like us. If the only people who use CFLs are education, environmentally conscious people like ourselves, we will not solve he problem in a substantial way. That's why we need our government on board, the UN on board, world leaders across the globe on board. To start this revolution, some of the difficult changes will have to be FORCED, not chosen. I know, it's a bit non-democratic.

So I encourage everyone to keep doing what they're doing in terms of personal lifestlye choices- these are absolutely essential. But do not stop there---- we will get nowhere if you do! I am asking you to lobby congress, call up your senator, vote for environmentally conscious politicians, rally, march, and GET THIS LIME REVOLUTION GOING!

The Polar Bear's Ego

I am about to make a bunch of people angry. And that is because I do not care about the polar bear. I mean, I think it is an amazing, majestic species. And yes, those pictures of the polar bear cubs running out of space on the ice sure are depressing. But really, the polar bear is not in the least way the only thing being affected by climate change. I think that the media and even well-intentioned organizations put WAY too much emphasis on the polar bear, making people believe that climate change is something that is affecting just those animals all the way over there, not here. And, most people I know, while they would be quite upset if the polar bear became extinct, would still be able to live their lives without those bears.

And yet, climate change is real, it is here, and it is going to affect you up close and personal. If not today, then at some point in your lifetime (especially if you're young like me!). Let's talk about some other effects besides the dying of the polar bears that are linked to this crisis:

1) Total ecosystem disruption:
Yes, I did just denounce the polar bear. But the truth is, I am a full-fledged animal lover who cares more about wildlife than about people. And much more wildlife is going to suffer (and is already suffering) than just the polar bear. What about coral acidification? I have been to the Great Barrier Reef and it is already losing its color! Those reefs are dying.... and coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. What about birds and their migration patterns? What about the fact that scientists say we are in the sixth major species extinction....EVER. This is a big deal, and may even start to affect species that are close to your home.

2) War
War? What is this crazy kid talking about? Well, as climate change comes in with full force, so will draught, famine, and competition for resources and survival. While this might not be true in America, in other countries this will become a reality. Judging by America's history in foreign policy, these overseas conflicts will become national security conflicts.

3) Storms/Hurricanes
This is even closer to home. As shown by Hurrican Katrina, storms will get and are getting more intense and catastrophic. This will affect you! Are you scared yet?

4) Less snow
Can we talk about the fact that this year in Washington DC we are getting less snow. While it is debatable right now whether this lack of snow is linked to global warming, in the coming years there will be no doubts. I don't know about you all, but I like my snow and I like my snow days.

So I hope at least one of these issues hit home for you. I am trying to show you that climate change is a PERSONAL problem, which is why EVERYONE should be on board in the environmental movement. While these issues sound pretty bad, the point of this blog is to explain the issues but also provide solutions: big and small. So if I captured your interest, keep coming back for more on the issues and the solutions. Bye for now.

Clean Currents

Greetings

So the other day I presented in powerpoint form (thanks Lime Nine for the technological inspiration!) to my parents about Clean Currents energy. Clean Currents is an energy company that sells energy created through wind power using a system called Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). Basically, you pay Clean Currents, and they pay wind farms across the country to generate electricity, which is distributed in the grid where it is created. So you still end up directly getting energy from nearby coal power plants, but it is offsetted by the fact that more wind energy has been added to the energy grid thanks to your money. This energy switch is not only great for the planet, but it also is incredibly easy- no risk of having power outages or anything like that, and in my area is actually CHEAPER than buying energy from the normal utility. More people should know about this cool system because it is going to help America make the shift from dirty to clean, renewable energy- a shift we need in order to move forward as a country. To make a long story short, my presentation convinced my parents, and they gave me permission to get started with the application tomorrow. For anyone who wants to do the same (I'm not sure what the territory limits are for the company), go to CleanCurrents.com to learn more and sign up! If you can't get it in your area, you can probably find a different company who does the same thing. I'm so excited- hopefully pretty soon the electricity that comes to my house will be carbon neutral!

I am encouraging all of you to try the same thing!

Videos!

Hey everyone

So my cohort at the conference, "Lime Nine," created two really powerful videos about our environmental issues, solutions, and dreams.

Please check them out!

"Change" 

"I Have a Dream"

Reality Check

Yesterday when I arrived home I went straight to the Rock Creek Park Horse Center where I own a horse and teach lessons. I was talking to a friend about the SC3 conference, and said jokingly "You'll thank me in 50 years when global warming ends!" All of a sudden, from the other side of the barn, I hear a voice saying "Global warming doesn't exist!" I laughed, at first thinking this was a joke. But when I looked over to see a woman and her boyfriend visiting the barn with totally straight faces, I realized it was not, in fact, a joke. I ignored her, not wanting to get in a fight with a visitor to the barn that I work at, but it really made me think. I think all of us returning from the conference in West Virginia are in for a wake-up call: we are all going to encounter so many doubtful, uneducated, or just stubborn people. THEY ARE OUR PRIME AUDIENCE! While it's great to surround yourself with people who are passionate about the environment and think like you, it's the non-believers that we must direct our energy to. The more people we change, the more followers we have. A quote from one of the videos my group created this week, "We will change lightbulbs, we will change minds, we will change the world"

The First Post

Hello everyone! This is very exciting because it is my first blog post ever. About anything. So I thought I would start by talking about where my inspiration came from to start this blog. Today I returned from a four day Student Climate and Conservation Congress, run by the Green Schools Alliance. The event brought together 89 teenagers from across the country (and Korea!) to learn about the issues that plague our environment and to share our individual visions, goals, and ideas for how our generation can solve these problems. We gathered at the beautiful National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia and I personally had an incredible four days. I met so many passionate and creative people my age, heard so many empowering speakers (including Robert Kennedy, Jr.!), and put so many hours into discussing this so-called green revolution. Even more hours went into making three short videos with a group of eight other kids about the problems and the solutions that we discussed. We all returned home today with personal action plans to implement in our schools and in our daily lives, plans to become the leaders of our green (I mean lime) generation. Of course, after I came home, I went into withdrawal, missing all the passion and excitement that filled the air at the NCTC. I had to do something, so I started this blog. We'll see where it goes!