350 Teach-In

The climate change Teach-In last Thursday presented a spectacular array of panelists; Bard professors of different disciplines, local politicians and activists, and even a student. The Multipurpose Room was full of people happily munching on slices of Pizza and brownies that had “350” written on them in powdered sugar. Although each member of the panel could probably have talked for hours, each struggled with a three minute and fifty second time limit.

Ebon Goldstein kicked off with a discussion of the costs of climate change. “We only need 1-3% of the GDP to address this,” he said. “It’s far less than what we spend on the military.” And then he came up with the memorable phrase, “We can do this. This isn’t about economics or technology. It’s a question of whether we have the political will.” Then physics professor Gidon Eshel shared some science with us, including graphs that correlated temperatures in Antartica with CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

Environmental and Urban Studies professor Jennifer Berky had a few words to say about the impact of sprawl. “60% of vehicle miles traveled are generated by sprawl,” she said. The way we build our infrastructure and communities, has a huge impact on the way we live and the emissions were produce. However, planning a better infrastructure can be politically complex, because local, county, state, and federal governments all have influence.

Next, Tom Mansfield from the Duchess County Legislative Board stepped up to the plate. “Its much easier to attack Global Warming from the use side than the produce side,” he said. “We could save a billion dollars in Duchess County from energy efficiency alone!” In other words, we don’t have to sit around and wait for them to install the windmills. We can buy energy-efficient applicances, insulate our buildings, turn off our computers, eliminate waste, and make a direct personal contribution to global warming that way.

Mr. Mansfield then went on to mention the "Green Jobs, Green New York," bill that New York State Senate passed on September 11th, 2009. This bill would provide funds to homeowners to retrofit their homes for energy efficiency. No sooner is the program born though, than it is under attack. In November they might vote to slash away the budget for Green Jobs. Mr. Mansfield strongly urged the audience to write to their senators in support of the bill so it can keep its money.

The charming Felicia Keesing was next in line, come from Bard's biology department to answer the question, "What effect will climate change have on the spread of infectious diseases?" "The scientific method is very clear about how we can answer this question," Professor Keesing told the audience. "First we need a good sample size, like maybe six earths." Six earths, shining green-and-blue, appeared on the Multipurpose Room's massive screen. Professor Keesing grinned at the room, then said, "Three of the earths can be a control group. The other three earths get global warming." She pressed a button, and three of the six earth images lit up with a sinister red glow. "Now we collect very detailed data from all six and compare them." She stopped and sighed dramatically. "Unfortunately, this experiment was canceled due to budgetary considerations." A large red X appeared across the scene, vetoing the experiment. "So we have other methods to study the effect of global warming on infectious diseases."

These methods including building computerized models, synthesizing the results of disparate studies, and even studying the changes in disease as you travel up a mountain (so as to view the same organisms at different temperatures.) “These studies overwhelmingly show that climate change increases disease,” Felicia Keesing wrapped up. “However, some people still say the results are inconclusive, because we cannot do that experiment with the six earths.” Politicians, particularly those that oppose action on climate change, like to make a big deal of scientific “uncertainty.” I appreciated Professor Keesing’s humorous presentation because it demonstrated the true nature of scientific "uncertainty."

Barbara Lukas, our beloved psych faculty member, was the next to take the microphone. Speaking in her calm, cool voice, she said, “They asked me to talk about the psychology of global warming. But I didn’t want to come here and talk about how we are all bad people. So, I’ve really thought about it, and I’ve come up with three images I think will help us understand the problem. Please take these images home with you. The first image is a bottle of ibuprofen. The second is a gently sloping road. The third image is a rolled-up lawn, the kind they use in landscaping.”

She then continued, “Intestinal bleeding from overuse of ibuprofen is a more common problem in this country than HIV. Did you know that?” She looked over the audience with a gentle, knowing smile. “Now that you know that, are you any less likely to take an ibuprofen when you need it?” I knew for certain I wasn’t going to give up MY ibuprofen, and the rest of the audience seemed to agree. Professor Lukas continued, “Now the lesson we draw from that is, ‘Information is necessary but not sufficient.’ For people to take action, they need information, but they also need some kind of personal motivation.”

She continued, “In my hometown, we had these roads with sharp right angles. There were lots of accidents. The way they solved the problem, was not by telling people to be better drivers, but by rebuilding the roads so that they gently sloped into a turn, and you could see the other drivers coming. If you want to fix a problem, scolding people is not the answer. You need to build the world in a way which makes it easy for people to do the right thing." I saw where she was going with that right away. I’m sure many people would sell their cars and use public transportation, if the transportation was convenient and easy to use. But we’re embedded in an infrastructure that makes cars the only convenient option.

Then came the last image, of the rolled-up lawn. “We hear a lot of talk about grassroots change. But when the lawn is rolled up, the grass roots cannot reach the soil and grow. So I would say that we need someone to unroll the lawn. Grassroots change is important, but we also need top-down change.” I struggled a bit with the complexity of this metaphor. What I think she meant was we need both social movements AND governmental policy that enables them.

Melissa Everett, a local activist who runs a Green Talent Pipeline, spoke next. “In these days we get an overwhelming onslaught of information,” she said. “We hear the world is ending, and what are we supposed to do about it? Change to fluorescent light bulbs and wait for the next generation to solve the problem. This doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

She then went to talk on enthusiastically about the “tremendous range of exciting and creative work,” there is available to someone who really wants to make a difference. Innovative solutions she mentioned ranged from “smart irrigation” to “recycling-based industries.” She also put in a word for the Sustainable Hudson Valley organization. SHV is currently working on a“10% challenge,” trying to achieve a 10% emissions reduction by 2010. This way we will be on track for 80% emissions reduction by 2050. They want a minimum of 10% of the people in Hudson Valley to get involved in the climate change campaigns. That way, they will build a leadership base for the transition into a clean energy economy.

Hannah Mitchell, a Bard student from the Environmental Collective, was next to speak to the audience. She had worked for GreenPeace and the Youth Environmental Movement and felt strongly about climate change issues. In high school, she started a club called “Going Green,” that made the high school start recycling, and helped get a Green Building Code passed in her town. “Don’t believe that my generation is apathetic,” she told the audience. She went on to say, “Global warming should not be a polarizing issue. It affects the whole world. My hometown will go underwater if it continues.”

She then gave us the formula she had invented for defeating apathy. “First, people need a personal connection to the issue. Then, they need an outlet for action. Together, these two things will defeat indifference."

She concluded by saying, “We have to tell Congress what we need and value,” and encouraged us to attend a rally in Poughkeepsie. I was impressed by Hannah’s rhetorical style and elegance. Although the youngest panel member, she seemed to be the most gifted at public speaking.

Robert McKeon, from the Town Council of Red Hook, spoke next. “I’m going to talk about an issue which is very near and dear to my heart: farmland protection,” he said. Mr. McKeon began his involvement in politics because he hated watching farms being paved over. Since then, he’s striven to protect farms in various way. He spoke with pride about our 1.5 mile apples. “At Bard you can eat apples that come from only a mile and a half away, when most people eat products that have traveled an average of 1500 miles!” he told us. He talked about a Green Jobs and Clean Energy initiative, where municipalities will finance weatherization and solar installations on homes. “Real change happens locally, so get involved locally,” he concluded.

Then they opened up to the audience for questions. I said, “This is a question for any panel member who cares to answer. Mr. Goldstein said this was about lack of political will. What do you think is the core reason for this lack of political will?”

Tom Mansfield was the first to speak up. “The answer is very simple. Money! The political system is controlled by people who benefit from the status quo, and its very difficult to break that gridlock. This is a hugely emotional issue, not one that is being rationally debated. It all comes down to: people are making money from the current state of affairs, and they’re not going to give it up without a fight.”

Felicia Keesing chimed in with an answer of her own. “Those of you who’ve taken math or computer science courses probably remember the Prisoner’s Dilemma. This is a scenario from game theory, where the one person who defects can gain an awful lot. In global politics, the USA has been the defecting prisoner for a long time now. It has been gaining economic strength and political clout from its refusal to address climate change, from letting down its neighbours. We need to join the global support network. The coal and oil interests are putting lots of dollars into the fight against the bill, so the grassroots should make their voices louder.”

“Also, I would say, if you want to help: take a science class! That way you can learn to fix the problem with technology, and offer a concrete alternative to replace the system we have. There’s a man named J. Craig Venter, a molecular biologist who does genome sequencing, who is try to make artificial organisms that will convert CO2 into energy. They will take in CO2 and spit out octane! The technological solution is shockingly close.”

One audience member raised her hand and scolded the panel organizers for only allowing each person 3 minutes and fifty seconds to speak, overlooking of course the fact that you can hardly expect Bard students to listen to more during midterms. She then shared her opinion, “We need to scare people…. although without depressing them. We need to time our guilt effectively."

This sparked a thought from Barbara Lukas. She mentioned ads which feature cute polar bears dying, and said “These do work psychologically.” But then she continued, “When you scare people , you need to have a solution available immediately. Perhaps not donating money but…. maybe you could put the polar bear above the recycling bin. We need to make things convenient. It may be difficult for the young generation to understand, but adults like convenience. They like doing what they are used to doing. And people need images of what they can do tomorrow, rather than abstract ethical ideas.”

Then a student asked the panel, “I used to hear a lot of encouragement to join politics if we wanted to do something about this. Nowadays its more like ‘join an NGO’ and I hardly ever hear ‘become a politician.’ Why do you think that is?”

The politician McKeon naturally responded with a “Please get involved in politics!” Tom Mansfield chipped in with, “What we desperately need in politics, is smarter people. I hope that’s not being too frank. People often accuse me of being too frank to be a good politician. But seriously, having well-educated people around really helps. And politics is suffering from a real brain drain. Being a politician can be pretty demoralizing, what with the media hurling insults at you. And our current system is designed to further the gridlock. This can only be swept through with social movements. It happened with abolition, it happened with suffrage, and it will happen again. These issues are taking hold in people’s souls.”

Talks concluded, audience and panel members gathered for a GIANT GROUP PHOTO in front of the 350 banner. A professional photographer snapped several shots to send to Washington. Photos of 350 events are being taken all over the world, to send to political leaders and convince them there is a real need for action. The visuals which show how many people are involved in this movement should be very compelling. And it was fun to awkwardly squeeze into the front of the Multipurpose Room with a hundred other people.

Photos taken, people milled around chatting, and someone unfurled a giant roll of paper. We dipped our feet in green paint and walked all over the paper, "To show Washington what kind of footprint we want to have: a GREEN one!" I smiled in sarcastic amusement when I imagined a politician unrolling our big awkward painty art project on his desk. Some people were reluctant to take off their shoes and get their feet gross. But there was a bucket of water with a lady sitting behind it, and she enthusiastically offered to wash and massage the feet of anyone who got their feet painty. Of course I was very excited to leave the footprint and took off my shoes right away, but my boyfriend was sort of grossed out by the whole concept. Finally he said, "I'm only leaving the footprint if you give me a big kiss." You see how you sometimes have to be very persuasive to get people to join your cause. ;-)

Challenge: Write to Washington! Tell them to make our country's footprint green!