Category Archives: Politics & Policy

Global Climate Chicken

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Sign: Watch out for Chicken

Congress will have a lot on its plate when it returns to session in approximately two weeks: health care, war/torture, food safety and of course climate change. Indeed, it’s beginning to look like, once again, the hopes of significant international effort to redress global warming are—arguably with good reason—landing square on the shoulders of Uncle Sam. As reported in many places yesterday, the Indian government has all but asked to be shamed into participating, and for developed nations to “call it’s bluff.” In a similar vein, and also making the rounds on Wednesday, was a statement from the Swedish minister of environment suggesting that: If the U.S. leads, China will follow. Alas, the fate of Waxman-Markley is still unclear, but at least this time Congress seems to be working towards the goal before international negotiations begin rather than against it. Perhaps you’d like to give your elected officials an encouraging nudge?

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Youth take the lead on climate change and planet stewardship

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Youth.KoreaToday was a sad day for the environment, with reports released on the safety of our rivers and oceans being at stake.  It is hard to imagine that every river in the US has fish contaminated with mercury or that the plastic bags circulating in the Pacific Ocean in an area twice the size of Texas is now being found to be breaking down into a toxic soup of bisphenol-a.  More than ever, we need a movement to rise up and protect this fragile blue orb that supports life as we know it.

What gives me hope, is an article I came across today, that the seeding of such a movement is underway.  Over seven hundred youth from across the globe have gathered in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, to call on leaders to address Climate Change at Copenhagen in December and involve youth in environmental decisions.  Young people comprise of 3 billion of the global population and will be faced by the growing environmental challenges plaguing the planet.  They asked that environmental education be included in their curriculum and that global citizens take real steps to reduce their impacts on the planet like using public transportation and purchasing environmentally friendly products.

One of the most poignant statements from a youth delegate from the Netherlands, “We are the generation of tomorrow. The decisions that are made today will define our future and the world we have to live in. So we young people of the world urge governments to commit to a strong post-Kyoto climate regime. It is our lives we are talking about.”  Will the public and political leadership heed their call?

The Rights of Nature?

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Alaskan LakeArmy Corps of Engineers and the Supreme court has deemed Alaska’s Lower Slate Lake as a dump site for millions of tons of toxic tailings from gold mining.  While these types of practices are presumably illegal under the US Clean Water Act, the courts failed to keep this ecosystem from being destroyed.  A number of similar types of cases demonstrate that nature and the natural commons can be destroyed for private profit– especially in the name of providing jobs and fueling economic growth.

For example, mountain top removal which has buried thousands of miles of streams with coal seams is still legal under the Obama administration.  The Clean Water Act is supposed to prevent our water systems from being denigrated from these types of activities, yet the Water Standard Quality Index allows site specific pollution levels for contaminants.  Perhaps this is why according to the EPA, approximately half of the rivers, lakes, and bays under EPA oversight were not safe enough for fishing and swimming in 2007.

In the case of Alaska’s Slate Lake, Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK),  said this project will provide an “improved fish habitat.”  The permit which has been extended to Coer Alaska Inc., will allow the company to pollute the lake until 2014– effectively killing all aquatic life in the lake.  The lawyers for the company have argued that this could be a good thing since the lake can be restocked after the project.  This poses both a legal and moral question for humanity– Does nature have the right to exist on its own merits?

The planet’s ecosystems are in the mist of the sixth largest extinction event— this time caused by humans.  In addition, our species consumes 1/3 of all productive land on the planet leaving the rest for the other ten plus million species we inhabit the planet with.  Will economic growth and human consumption supersede the right for species and ecosystems to survive if its economically beneficial?

For the first time, the country of Ecuador has recognized the intrinsic rights oif nature.  In September of 2008, the Ecaudor Constitutional Assembly voted to recognize the inalienable rights belonging to ecosystems in their new constitution. This changes the status of  nature from being a function of property to a rights-bearing entity. Will this ground-breaking law have farther reaching impacts on international law?  Hopefully sooner rather than later as climate change, resource depletion, and pollution accelerates its impacts on the planet.

4×10<8×5?

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Spring Forward A little over a year ago Utah adopted a 4-day work week for state employees, to combat rising energy costs. While energy costs have come down, the policy has remained in effect, resulting in a 13% reduction in energy use. This puts them well on the way to their goal of a 20% reduction by 2015. Should other locations follow suit? It’s an intriguing proposition, but dependent upon season and locale. One of the major contributions to savings in Utah has been the shifting of work hours from blistering mid-day heat on Fridays, to cooler mornings and evenings of other days; it’s a desert and cools down relatively rapidly once the sun is down. A similar program in Massachusetts should see some reduction in summer energy use, but could increase heating demand in the winter. It is interesting to note that these shifts, and the incumbent savings, are not unlike the complicated story of Daylight Saving Time

The meat and climate debate

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Sunrise on the farm

In a recent Washington Post article, the climate change debate was brought to a new level: what about meat?  Politicians and environmental activists alike argue over cap-and-trade, mitigation, adaptation, and hybrid cars, but what about the energy used and green house gases (GHG) emitted from intensive livestock practices (factory farms) across the nation, and around the world? The Post article cited a 2006 United Nations report stating 18 percent of global GHG emissions comes from livestock. Never mind the hundreds of thousands of acres of land stripped and cleared for cattle-grazing in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest and the American West, to name just two major regions. The Amazon rainforest in particular acts as a major carbon sink on our planet, storing large volumes of CO2 from the atmosphere. Diminishing this capacity increases the precariousness of our situation.

So, is switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet all that impactful?  Interestingly, a study out of the University of Chicago noted switching to a vegan diet is more environmentally friendly than owning a Prius. Still, not everyone is comfortable giving up meat in their diet. At the very least however, cutting back a little, or buying locally raised meat can cut emissions significantly, and promote local farm production and sustainability. So next time, take a second look at that hamburger you ate for lunch and think global climate change; they’re more directly related than you may think.

The real estate industry vs climate change?

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Brian Brady

Mortgage Broker and Climate Change Guru?

Following on from an article published on Warm Home Cool Planet a couple of weeks ago on mandatory Energy Audits in Austin, TX, we have noticed a growing movement amongst the real estate industry targeting the ‘Cap and Trade’ bill and any local ordinances that might obligate homeowners into performing an energy audit on their home or making energy improvements in their home before they sell.

Here’s one from Brian Brady ‘America’s No. 1 mortgage broker’:  “Sadly, the theory of carbon dioxide emissions’ effect on climate change is accepted as fact by our politicians without rigorous examination of its merits. It’s easy to turn a blind eye on faulty legislation when it attacks “big business”.  Cap and Trade, however, is much more restrictive than its supporters would have you believe.  Your neighbor’s penchant for bay windows and your desire for key-lime green bathroom walls might just be at stake. ”

As in all cases where people attempt to sow doubt on the accepted fact of climate change, it’s important to consider the source of these opinions.  It’s also worth mentioning that the scientific community, not politicians, are responsible for deciding what is scientific fact.

Mortgage brokers make their money from arranging mortgages for people who aren’t considered good risks by banks. (Which describes at least 50% of Americans at the moment.) The mortgage broker assumes the risk of the loan for a premium on the prevailing interest rates (usually in the form of ‘points’). Mortgage companies then package up these loans and sell them to banks so they can be traded as financial instruments like CDO’s (Collateralized Dept Obligations) which in large part were responsible for the near collapse of our financial system last fall.

Mr. Brady’s business suffers if anything gets in the way of him writing another mortgage and stuffing more dodgy paper into our already teetering financial system. To prevent that from happening,  Mr. Brady has hauled the “man’s home is his castle’ trope out of the cupboard and dusted it off. According to Mr. Brady soon ‘the socialists will be invading your home and telling you how many light switches you can have’.

As a recent home seller (and potential home buyer) I can assure readers that the marketplace is already factoring energy efficiency into the price of homes. Anyone seriously considering buying our Central Square home asked our broker for recent energy bills so they could figure out what their total house expenses would be each month. A gas boiler tune-up performed the previous winter, and an Energy Star-rated air conditioning system resulted in our home energy bills comparing favorably to other homes with a similar square footage. As a result our home was sold.

Given his connection to the real-estate industry, Mr. Brady should know that potential home buyers are already performing something close to an energy ‘audit’ on every home they are considering for purchase. Local municipalities are simply reacting to current market trends and ensuring that everyone gets the information needed before they make a home buying decision.

City Council Health & Environment Committee Hearing on the Stretch Code: July 28th

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E-scale, a version of HERS (Home Energy Rating System)
The state is upgrading the state energy code as part of the Green Communities Act. On May 12, the Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) approved the stretch code as an optional amendment to the 7th edition Massachusetts Building Code 780 CMR. Municipalities in Massachusetts do not have the legal authority to adopt their own code, but the recent passage of the state stretch code allows municipalities to adopt the tougher standard at their discretion.

This optional “stretch code” was developed in response to the call for improved local building energy efficiency in the commonwealth. The stretch code is about 30% more efficient than baseline code in Massachusetts. Some builders and developers worry the adoption of the stretch code will hinder a housing market revival and add additional red tape to the permitting process. Advocates contend that the stretch code will allow municipalities to improve the efficiency of buildings in their communities, helping to reduce greenhouse gasses and reduce fossil fuel consumption. See “Everything’s ACES” for additional context.

The stretch code would require a  third-party certification for a HERS index rating of 60 or less on new buildings. The current base energy code in Massachusetts requires a maximum HERS rating of 99. For major renovations under the stretch code, a HERS index of 70 or less is required.

The City Council will need to adopt the stretch code by January 1 in order for it to go into effect by July 1, 2010. The City Council Health & Environment Committee is holding a hearing on the stretch code on July 28. The Climate Protection Action Committee and the Green Building/Zoning Task Force have recommended adoption.

Everything’s ACES

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Aces Still wondering just what ACES a.k.a Waxman-Markley, or “The Climate Bill,” is all about? Perhaps this brief interview with the president of the Alliance to Save Energy will help. Of course, then there’s the question of whether it’s too little too late, too much too soon, or just right? Bill Moyers’ guests this week say it’s not enough. I tend to agree, though I’m not entirely convinced it’s the false start they’d have us believe. Regardless, the summary of Waxman-Markley’s measures seems fairly moderate. Indeed, the building code changes it calls for are only slightly higher than future federal regulations!

P.S. GovTrack has some interesting tools to let you monitor the progress of bills like ACES.

Measuring progress in the fight against climate change

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At a recent meeting hosted by Robert Costanza and the Seventh Generation Corporation, we tried to figure out how to measure progress in combating climate change over the next five years. I’m of the school that says “If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it.”  So, five years from now, what do we have to measure and how do we have to measure it…  Read more»

Think Global, Act Local

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Think global A report by the British Carbon Disclosure Project suggests that there is merit to this progressive witticism maxim. The study reviewed the efforts of 18 American cities which are members of ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability, and found that in recent years cities have begun to undertake planning and mitigation efforts in earnest with positive effects.

A summary is available, as well as a PDF of the full report. The takeaway message is reminiscent of a recent paper by David Satterthwaite, in which he proposes that cities are the solution, not the problem. More evidence that the efforts of ICLEI’s ~1,100 members (from Albuquerque to Zagreb), and the ~1,000 signatories1 to the U.S. Conference of Mayors climate protection agreement (from Anchorage to Yonkers are well placed.

1. Interestingly, nearly half of ICLEI members are in the United States, and two thirds of those are also members of the conference, meaning there are 700 municipalities which are only members of the latter.