Category Archives: Media

The Economics of Climate Change

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Paul Krugman Talk by TaekwonweirdoLooking past the exciting technical, legislative and community advancements made to address climate change over the last few years, lies the reality of whether we as a society will make the necessary changes in energy use, lifestyle choices and investment decisions in time to avoid the most catastrophic global warming scenarios.

In last weekend’s New York Times, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman examined the question that could fatally delay the steps necessary to reduce the impact of climate change. It’s the question that many of the people running our government and global corporations are now pondering, “Is it good for business?” Photograph by Yoshikazu Nema; Artwork by Yuken Teruya

Even when people accept the reality of climate change, there is some legitimate debate on how fast and how hard the truly negative effects of global warming will visit us. So Krugman quickly takes the argument past the philosophical diatribe conducted by climate deniers and examines first how business plans for any other crisis. He identifies the best and worse case economic effects on GDP if we make drastic cuts in CO2 emissions. As it turns out, the very worst that could happen is a 3% drop in GDP that would likely soon be made up through the manufacture and marketing of the technical solutions and products necessary to live in a low-carbon emissions world.

Krugman then makes an attempt to predict the impact on the world economy if the effects of global warming produce the disastrous changes in climate and weather patterns that scientists predict will come true by the middle of the century. Suffice to say, a 3% decline in GDP would be the least of our troubles.

Like me, it might take you a couple of days to get through the article and ponder the consequences of Krugman’s predictions. It’s well worth your time-both for how well it shines a light on the decision-making processes of our legislative and business leaders, and because the facts may come in handy for debating colleagues who believe ‘the business of America is business’.

CEA debuts Climate Change Art Project

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Climate Change New England

The Cambridge Energy Alliance is debuting a poster art exhibit to inform the public about climate change and its impacts, the carbon emissions of Cambridge, and how local citizens can make a difference. Over 80% of Cambridge’s Climate emissions come from residential and commercial buildings, so eliminating wasted energy in our homes and workplaces is a priority.

To view the full CEA art poster exhibit visit:

http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/posters.pdf

The Cambridge Energy Alliance art exhibit displays many ways people can conserve energy and get connected to efficiency programs and resources. The Exhibit will be on display from Wednesday, February 16th, 2010 through March 20th, 2010 at the Clear Conscience Café (C3) located inside Harvest Coop‘s Central Square location.

Following the 4-week showing at C3, the CEA art exhibit will be rotated to other locations throughout the city. You can preview the posters by clicking the thumbnail above.

Green Shelter Project Underway at Transition House

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Press Release:  Green Shelter Project Underway at Transition House

Cambridge, MA — Transition House, Cambridge’s nonprofit domestic violence prevention agency, is greening its Emergency Shelter. The 120-year-old building buzzed with activity on Sunday, January 10, as Transition House kicked its Green Shelter Project into high gear with a modern-day weatherization barn-raising in partnership with the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET), the Cambridge Energy Alliance and New Generation Energy.  “We were excited to have so many skilled and  enthusiastic volunteers join together to make the Shelter more energy efficient  and more comfortable for the 100 people who live there each year,” relayed Risa Mednick, chair of the Transition House Board. “We’re connecting the dots between environmental sustainability, energy conservation and sustaining vital programs in an era when domestic violence is on the rise and the needs of survivors far outstrips available resources.” “Every dollar we save on utility expenses will be redirected toward strengthening services our community depends on,” says Mednick.

Over 40 volunteers worked nonstop in groups led by HEET trainers sealing drafty basement leaks, caulking windows, installing low flow faucets and shower heads, replacing incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact florescents (CFLs) and weather stripping doorways. Former Mayor and City Councilor Denise Simmons, Councilor Sam Seidel and Councilor and State Representative Tim Toomey lent a hand. Transition House board members and the Middle East restaurant provided food for hungry workers. HEET donated all supplies and training and the Cambridge Energy Alliance donated CFL bulbs.

“In a few hours, we swapped out 50 light bulbs in 15 rooms, caulked all the windows and doors, fitted sinks with new aerators, and sealed over 140 feet of band joists that were a major source of heat loss,” reported Audrey Schulman, HEET’s president. Based on before and after measurements, HEET estimates a reduction of over $600 per year on heat and electricity bills.  “We look for ways an organization like Transition House or an individual in their own home can realize big savings with small changes, says Schulman. One example: simply replacing the old bulbs in exit signs that operate 24/7 with high efficiency LEDs will save Transition House over $100 per year.

Chuck Lewin, founder of New Generation Energy ducked below basement pipes and beams as he sealed up air leaks remarking, “Every small thing each of us did here will have a lasting impact for Transition House. The environmental benefit can multiply if everyone applies what they’ve learned to their own homes and apartments.” HEET trainer Lilah Glick, of the Cambridge Energy Alliance led the team replacing thermostats with instruction in Spanish and English and shared that “programmable thermostats are an inexpensive way to reduce energy consumption, typically saving the average home over $150 dollars a year.”

Introducing low income homeless women  to new skills that might spark their interest in green  jobs and  training opportunities is another important goal of the Green Shelter Project; engaging them in energy saving strategies as a part of budgeting and money management is also key.

Next steps for the organization include: continuing work with HEET to train staff and clients on changing work and lifestyle behaviors to increase energy conservation and savings; collaborating with New Generation Energy and the Cambridge Energy Alliance to monitor utility consumption patterns and assess the efficacy of renewable energy systems for the Emergency Shelter; and a green kitchen renovation.

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About Transition House: Transition House, a nonprofit organization in Cambridge, MA, works to break the cycle of domestic violence. Transition House offers a continuum of safe, supportive housing options for individuals and families escaping abuse as well as prevention education in school and community settings. Since 1975, Transition House has been a lifeline to thousands of families as they rebuild their lives and has educated tens of thousands of youth in Cambridge and Greater Boston. www.transitionhouse.org

Partners in this green initiative include: the Home Energy Efficiency Team (www.heetma.org), Cambridge Energy Alliance (www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org) and New Generation Energy (www.newgenerationenergy.org) respected organizations with a shared interest in engaging public awareness and increasing participation in conservation and energy efficiency initiatives.

The final countdown

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New Year's Eve Ball by 'aloha orangeneko' Mother nature network has an end-of the year list of the Top 9 non-climate environmental stories of 2009, with links to coverage of each:

  1. The danger lurking inside your baby’s bottle
  2. Carping about Asian carp
  3. Awash in coal ash
  4. Fix my plumbing
  5. The global water shortage
    (Extras: Climate affects Bolivia and Australia? Culture thwarts conservation in Yemen and California. Americans are using less water.)
  6. The mysterious deaths of bats
  7. The mysterious disappearance of bees
  8. The garbage vortex
  9. Food, the way nature intended

Another Alaskan Oil Spill

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Oily ruddy duck by Jack Wolf A huge Alaskan oil spill, is one of the worst on record, according to Alaskan environmental officials (Greenwire). Yet it seems to have received fairly little coverage outside of some wire stories and local press.

The leak occurred on a North Slope pipeline operated by BP, which has had other problems in recent years including the 2006 spill in Prudhoe Bay. Whatever happened to “Beyond Petroleum?”

Candlelight Vigil at Senator Kerry’s Office

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350 Candelight VigilMassachusetts’ citizens will be gathering together tonight in solidarity with the citizens of those nations that will be first to face the impacts of climate change.  The candlelight vigil is part of 350.0rg’s call for a science-based international climate treaty and effective U.S. legislation to get us back below 350 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere.

The program includes compelling speakers invoking the moral imperative for world leaders to act, a group photo documenting the event, and development of photo messages to President Obama calling for action. People will be meeting at Cardinal Cushing Park in Boston, located at the intersection of Cambridge Street and New Chardon Street (across the street from Senator Kerry’s office at One Bowdoin Square).  The vigil is being held from 6:00 – 7:30pm with a post-vigil gathering at the Beantown Pub.

This strategic location is aimed to reach Senator Kerry, who will be America’s principal negotiator at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held this month in Copenhagen. It is not clear what will come out of the negotiations, as there is the potential for developing countries to walk out due to resistance from developed nations providing retribution for past carbon pollution.   The US has backed away from taking any action until spring, though the US has established the U.S. Center at the Copenhagen Conference.  350.org has called for vigil’s across the globe, urging for a climate treaty that is line with the latest sciuence and protects the most vulnerable countries to safeguard their very survival.

To rsvp for the climate vigil go to:  www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=186121428405&ref=
For more info: email 350Boston@gmail.com

Roadblocks to Bridging the Energy Efficiency “Apathy Gap”, Part 2

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In a previous post on this blog, I introduced the energy efficiency “Apathy Gap”. This follow-up describes the major roadblocks that stand in the way of bridging this gap.

Roadblocks on the Bridge

We need to bridge the Apathy Gap and we should start by clearing the major roadblocks: the reality that energy efficiency is not a social norm and the perception of energy efficiency as a “Big Brother” utility-backed priority. There are others, but these are particularly bad because they are fundamental obstacles to consumer recognition and internalization of energy efficiency priorities and because they can be broken down with the cost-effective digital media and social marketing strategies.

Energy efficiency is NOT a social norm

Consumers make decisions that align with social norms while home energy consumption largely exists in a vacuum. We don’t behave as if home energy is a scarce resource today because it has been delivered “cheap, reliable and plentiful” to us for generations. Obviously this needs to change if we are going to become a more energy efficient society.

Interestingly, academic research shows, and social marketing experience validates, that the most effective way to get consumers to change their behavior is to demonstrate that others like them already have. There are many ways to do this (see the “Big Brother” point below), but the most effective enable consumers to tell their own stories of becoming energy efficient on a real-time ongoing basis, ideally to a target audience that closely identifies with them, such as friends or self-selected peers, and already emulates them in other ways.

OPower (formerly Positive Energy) has taken another approach by analyzing utility company data and adding messaging to utility bills that compares customers to efficient neighbors. The company also gently prods customers to make no- and low-cost behavioral modifications to conform. The approach essentially transforms the utility bill into a teacher’s report card and well-meaning nudge, but I wonder how effectively it motivates consumers to deepen their commitment to energy efficiency, like by investing thousands of dollars in home performance renovations.

Perception of energy efficiency as a “Big Brother” utility-backed priority

In human communications, who is saying something is usually far more important than what is being said. Unfortunately, utility company brands are typically faceless, boring, and irrelevant. Decades of television advertising and direct mail campaigns in some states have trained those consumers to associate energy efficiency with utility companies. Consequently, consumers process conventional energy efficiency outreach as “the boring old utility company bugging me again.”

Instead of focusing on transforming their brands at this time of unprecedented concern over privacy and the environment, utility companies are taking on major reputation risks by treating their customers’ energy consumption data like it is proprietary, by pressuring their customers to conform to proprietary standards and by considering default control of in-home appliances and HVAC systems via smart grid technology.

All these strategies expose the already lackluster brands of most utility companies to significant reputational risk, principally in the form of customer backlash. Look no further than PG&E’s PR fiasco with its Bakersfield smart meter rollout. Utility companies need to learn to navigate today’s hyper-connected community networks if they aim to convince consumers to embrace smart meters and energy efficiency.

Alex Patriquin is a marketer, entrepreneur and energy efficiency advocate. Prior to founding his latest company, he worked for Compete.com, a digital marketing intelligence platform, as a market researcher for leading search and online media companies. His work at Compete was widely cited in media publications like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Wired.

Alex lives in Cambridge. He also blogs at DigitalVerdure, and can be found on Twitter.

Making the Case

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enviro-goreThe New York times had an interesting op-ed last Monday by Paul Krugman, Cassandras of Climate Change. It contains a few quotable bits, but they’re large and the piece is short, so I’ll leave it to you dear reader to follow the link.

Krugman mentions Mr. Gore, and his film The Inconvenient Truth, which never quite seemed to live up to the hype… but I do have high hopes for The Age of Stupid, if it ever makes it into general distribution that is. To be honest though, what’s really been driving home a sense of urgency for me recently is PBS, specifically five year old re-runs of Scientific American Frontiers!

A recently aired segment in “Forever Wild?“, which I previously mentioned in passing, makes an excellent case for not mucking with the atmosphere. “Hot Times in Alaska” examines a number of disturbing changes well-underway that even those familiar with the global warming might not be aware of. And a third episode, “Hot Planet – Cold Comfort,” looks at the merits of another movie, The Day After Tomorrow.

All three episodes can be viewed for free online, and are worth reviewing in your spare time, or passing on to others who still don’t quite understand what all the fuss is about. “Hot Times” also happens to be showing Friday night at 9 on GBH Kids.