January 2009

News from the CU Environmental Center, 2009 January

Directors Update

In last October’s newsletter piece I committed to a superlative-free article.
That lasted a few sentences.
Now in the New Year, my New Year’s Resolution is to have no New Year Resolutions.
Of course, that one is self-defeating.
But January is a good time to ask what we should commit to changing. And in this unprecedented moment of history, that question comes up a lot.
Good news is, I don’t think the Environmental Center needs to change much. Indeed, I think we’re suited well to capitalize on the changes that we see coming.
This month we will swear in a new President with a new vision for our nation and the planet. That vision includes support for a “Green New Deal” that likely means new emphasis and support for the sorts of activities we do.
President Obama (I like writing that) has already articulated support for an energy conservation mission that plays to the Environmental Center’s emerging strengths. Our “Community Energy Connection” home energy auditors are already weatherizing hundreds of low-income homes in Longmont and Boulder. That program is likely to swell—perhaps a lot.
Likewise, the Green New Deal will likely include new emphasis on home grown renewable energy supplies, increased large-scale renewables, and similar steps towards a de-carbonized economy and energy infrastructure.
We are engaged in a long term planning process to transition the campus to carbon neutrality. Large and small scale renewable systems figure prominently in those plans. Together with energy conservation programs and technologies, renewables are a must if we’re going to make that happen.
We will roll out a draft Carbon Neutrality Plan for CU this semester. We will host the Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit this semester. We will listen to the campus and the community’s input and ideas about how to move the campus forward on sustainability and carbon action.
But we’re clearly in the right place at the right time. About the only change we are thinking about is a possible name change for the Environmental Center because students have begun to ask why we’re not the “Sustainability Center.” After nearly 40 years of branding as the Environmental Center, we’re not taking this suggestion lightly and are talking it through—and your comments are welcome.
But yes, the economy is tanking and good people are hurting. More good people will hurt before it’s over. That’s just plain bad.
And yes, the fact that sustainability has been absent from global economic systems is among the reasons the economy has failed.
And yes, the Obama Administration seems to know this and is so far at least offering plans that seek to robustly infuse sustainability in its economic recovery vision.
So our New Year’s Resolution is to keep doing what we’ve been doing—more of it. Change is coming to America.
Happy New Year!

CU Boulder Makes Enormous Strides in Recycling and Composting

Fans of the University of Colorado at Boulder's football team are used to seeing a lot of black and gold, but now they can take pride in another color: green.

The 2008 football season saw the CU-Boulder Buffaloes embark on a recycling and composting program, dubbed Ralphie's Green Stampede, the first zero-waste program ever launched at an NCAA Bowl Championship Series stadium. CU-Boulder Environmental Center Director Dave Newport calls the Green Stampede a "runaway success."

"In our first year, we shattered all previous recycling records, drastically cut our sports events environmental footprint, and set the stage for continuous improvement towards a completely sustainable process," said Newport. CU-Boulder Athletic Director Mike Bohn said CU and the entire Boulder community can be proud of the efforts being made on the field and in the stadium.

"We are extremely proud of the collaborative effort from the entire campus community in pulling this inaugural nationally recognized effort together," said Bohn. "We salute our guests to Folsom Field, including the students, fans and guests, for being so accepting and committed to insuring that the University of Colorado's commitment to sustainability remains on the national stage."

The numbers are impressive. CU-Boulder collected more than 40 tons of recyclables and compostables from football games, a 199-percent increase over the previous year. About 80 percent of all materials generated inside Folsom Stadium during most home games - an unprecedented amount for a major sports venue -- were diverted from landfills whether through reuse, recycling or composting. Some of the compost generated by the program will even be used on the CU-Boulder campus during landscaping operations.

2008 marked other firsts for the recycling program at Folsom Stadium. For the first time more than 300 gallons of fry oil from food preparation was re-refined into biodiesel fuel for CU-Boulder's bus fleet The program also replaced public-area trashcans throughout the stadium with recycling and composting containers, allowing the university to divert more than 14 tons of compostable food and biodegradable material away from landfills.

"The efforts of our staff, students, all the fans, and our vendor, Centerplate, was nothing less than miraculous," said Newport. "Everyone worked incredibly hard to solve the inevitable startup issues and change the way we do business. It was enormously inspiring." Newport said the 2009 season will build on this year's success, with new innovations coming to get CU even closer to its zero-waste goal.

Read the NY Times article about it

Why Have Scientists Succumbed to Political Correctness

<h3>By Professor Al Bartlett</h3><br>Published in the Teachers Clearinghouse for Science and Society Education Newsletter, Vol. 27, No. 2, Spring 2008, Pg. 21.<br> <br>This article was awarded a prize by The Population Institute as the best magazine article of the year dealing with population. The prize was presented at the 29th Annual Global Media Awards for Excellence in Population Reporting in Mid-November 2008 in Los Angeles.<br><br>Throughout the world, scientists are prominently involved in seeking solutions to the major global problems such as global climate change and the growing inadequacy of energy supplies. They present their writings in publications ranging from newspapers to refereed scientific journals, but with a few rare exceptions, on one point they all replace objectivity with "political correctness."<br><br>In their writings the scientists identify the cause of the problems as being growing populations. But their recommendations for solving the problems caused by population growth almost never include the recommendation that we advocate stopping population growth. Political Correctness dictates that we do not address the current problem of overpopulation in the U.S. and the world.<br><br>We can demonstrate that the Earth is overpopulated by noting the following:<br><br>A SELF-EVIDENT TRUTH<br><br>If any fraction of the observed global warming<br>can be attributed to the actions of humans,<br>then this, by itself, constitutes<br>clear and compelling evidence<br>that the human population, living as we do,<br>has exceeded the Carrying Capacity of the Earth,<br>a situation that is clearly not sustainable.<br><br>As a consequence it is AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH<br>that all proposals or efforts<br>at the local, national or global levels<br>to solve the problems of global warming<br>are serious intellectual frauds<br>if they fail to advocate that we address<br>the fundamental cause of global warming<br>namely overpopulation.<br><br>We can demonstrate that the U.S. is overpopulated by noting that we now (2008) import something like 60% of the petroleum that we consume, around 15% of the natural gas that we consume and about 20% of the food we eat. Because the U.S. population increases by something over 3 million per year, all of these fractions are increasing. Natural gas production in North America has peaked in spite of the drilling of hundreds of new gas wells annually. In a nutshell, the U.S. in 2008 is unsustainable.<br><br>Let's look at two prominent examples of this political correctness. The book, "An Inconvenient Truth"1 was published to accompany Al Gore's wonderful film by the same name. On page 216 Gore writes; "The fundamental relationship between our civilization and the ecological system of the Earth has been utterly and radically transformed by the powerful convergence of three factors. The first is the population explosion..."<br><br>It's clear that Gore understands the role of overpopulation in the genesis of global climate change. The last chapter in the book has the title, "So here's what you personally can do to help solve the climate crisis." The list of 36 things starts with "Choose energy-efficient lighting" and runs through an inventory of all of the usual suspects without ever calling for us to address overpopulation!<br><br>As a second example, in the Clearinghouse Newsletter2 we read the statement, "Human Impacts on Climate" from the Council of the American Geophysical Union, The title recognizes the human component of climate change which we note is roughly proportional to the product of the number of people and their average per capita annual resource consumption. The last paragraph of the A.G.U. statement starts with the sentence, "With climate change, as with ozone depletion, the human footprint on Earth is apparent." The rest of the paragraph suggests what must be done, and it's all the standard boilerplate. "Solutions will necessarily involve all aspects of society. Mitigation strategies and adaptation responses will call for collaborations across science, technology, industry, and government." Etc., Etc., Etc… There is no mention of addressing the overpopulation which the statement recognizes is the cause of the problems.<br><br>A few years ago I wrote an article calling the attention of the physics community to this shortcoming.3 To my amazement, most of the letters to the editor responding to my article supported the politically correct unscientific point of view.4,5<br><br>Many journalists look to the scientists for advice. The scientists won't talk about overpopulation, so the journalists and the reading public can easily conclude that overpopulation is not a problem. As a result, we have things such as the cover story in TIME Magazine, April 9, 2007, "The Global Warming Survival Guide: 51 Things You Can Do to Make a Difference." The list contained such useful recommendations as "Build a Skyscraper," (No. 9, Pg. 74) but not one of the 51recommendations deals with the need to address overpopulation! What's one to do when scientists and political leaders demonstrate their understanding of the fact that overpopulation is the main cause of these gigantic global problems, yet the scientists' recommendations for dealing with the problems never call for addressing overpopulation?<br><br>(1) Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. Rodale Press, Emmaus , PA , 2006<br>(2) Teachers Clearinghouse for Science and Society Education Newsletter, Winter 2008, Pg. 19<br>(3) A.A. Bartlett, "Thoughts on Long-Term Energy Supplies: Scientists and the Silent Lie," Physics Today, July 2004, Pgs. 53-55<br>(4) Letters: Physics Today, November 2004, Pgs. 12-18<br>(5) Letters: Physics Today, April 2006, Pgs. 12-15

Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit 2009

February 11-13 University of Colorado Boulder

The 2009 Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit (RMSS) will provide a learning and networking forum for participants from campuses in the Rocky Mountain region to advance sustainability.

Institutions of higher education have a crucial role to play in creating a sustainable society and addressing the climate crisis. Successful initiatives - whether in research and education, operations, outreach, or administration and finance - can have enormous societal impacts by helping to shape the future actions of students, and by setting examples for the larger community.

RMSS will feature keynotes by leading experts, campus administrators and government officials. Speakers include renowned science writer Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone, and The Wild Trees, whose new book is Panic in Level 4, and Jerome Ringo, Environmental Justice Champion and President of the Apollo Alliance. Called the "most interesting environmental leader in the United States" by the San Francisco Chronicle, Ringo is a world-wide leader in environmental justice and community organization. Both keynote events are open to the public.

A Green Products Expo will share the latest sustainable products and services available for institutions, providing a valuable link between universities and businesses, and fostering the use and innovation of sustainable and socially responsible products.

The Summit will include numerous sessions, workshops and facilitated discussions on topics including:

* Greening Curriculum
* Environmental Justice Leadership Training
* Sustainable Dining
* The Youth Climate Movement-Including a Plenary Panel
* Green Jobs
* Transportation
* Zero Waste Campuses

RMSS 2009 will help students, faculty, staff, administrators, community members and state leaders learn from each other, replicate successful initiatives and innovate effective programs to make the region's higher education institutions national leaders in campus sustainability and climate action.

You must register by Feb 5 to attend.

For more information, event listings, and registration visit:

Climate Literacy-The Importance of Understanding

Caring about the environment doesn’t always mean that you know how to help protect it. There is a serious gap between concern about climate change, and knowledge of what causes it, and what can prevent it. A study done at CU in 2007 found that 76% of students polled thought that climate change would affect them in their life time, and that 75% were concerned, or very concerned about, but only 11% knew that energy production was a major contributor to climate change. The dots aren’t being connected, and even people who are worried about climate change don’t necessarily have the knowledge they need to take action.

Even highly educated people like scientists and engineers don’t always have a complete understanding of the implications of climate change. A study of graduate students at MIT found that 84% of them hugely underestimated how much the government would need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to stop the increase of carbon concentration in the atmosphere. 84% of grad students at MIT don’t fully grasp the immensity of climate change. They’re supposed to be smart.

Mark McCaffrey, a scientist at CIRES believes that we need to target the education system, and teach climate and energy. In a recent editorial he said that we need, “A high-profile, federal Climate and Energy Literacy Initiative (CELI) that couples energy efficiency with climate and energy education programs will help address climate and energy illiteracy, transforming at a fundamental level our climate consciousness and energy intelligence.” Because climate science is rarely taught, and isn’t part of standard curriculum, very few people understand climate change, and are therefore not as concerned about it as they should be.

The 2008 American Climate Values Survey found that only 18% of people believe that “global warming is real, that it is caused by humans and that it is harmful.” Although Americans were concerned about the environment it was difficult for them to make the complex connection between climate change and human impact. Very few people surveyed believed that we “must do” something right now, and many people were apathetic, or didn’t believe that they could make any difference.

Fighting climate change needs to be a worldwide effort, and if people do not understand what causes global warming they are unlikely to participate. We need to foster climate literacy, to explain the causes and effects of climate change. Education is a crucial piece of this, because understanding is integral to action.

Professor Al Bartlett

Al Bartlett, CU Professor Emeritus of Physics, and author of Why Have Scientists Succumbed to Political Correctness? is a legend according to Dave Newport, Director of the Environmental Center.

Bartlett, who first started teaching at CU in 1950, is widely respected for his work in physics education, as well as his research in overpopulation, peak oil use, sustainability and particularly his famous lecture "Arithmetic, Population and Energy," which addresses the issue of population growth, resource use and sustainability.

He has also worked to preserve and protect open space around Boulder. In the late 1950's Bartlett helped start a citizens initiative that became the City of Boulder's Open Space Program. He is also a founding member of PLAN- Boulder County.

His recent article, published above, which was awarded the best magazine article of the year prize by the Population Institute, speaks to the need for scientists and journalists to address overpopulation as a barrier to sustainability, and draws attention to the serious problems that population growth creates.

Bartlett's work gives physics "real world" context, and shows the hard science of sustainability

Headlines

What is going on in the world?

Upcoming Events

Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit 2009
Feb 11-13
The 2009 Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit (RMSS) will provide a learning and networking forum for participants from campuses in the Rocky Mountain region (CO, NM, UT, WY, MT, ID, AZ) to advance sustainability.
RMSS 2009 will help students, faculty, staff, administrators, community members and state leaders learn from each other, replicate successful initiatives and innovate effective programs to make the region's higher education institutions national leaders in campus sustainability and climate action.

Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change Free Lecture with Urban Planning Expert Peter Newman
Jan 16 3:30 p.m. Atlas 100
Peter Newman, professor of sustainability at Curtin University in Australia, and author of the new book Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change, will be speaking about the looming peak oil crisis, strategies for building more sustainable cities, and solutions for climate change.

National Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions
Feb 5
The National Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions. A day of discussions about global warming and the solutions we need to focus on now. The National Teach-In is occurring at more than 1,000 institutions in all 50 states.

Spring Volunteer Orientation
Jan 28th, 4-5pm, UMC 245 or Feb 3rd 4-5pm, UMC 384.
Want to help out at the Environmental Center? Come find out what volunteering at the E Center is all about , and what kinds of cool programs, like Green Teams, the Environmental Justice Comittee, or Earth Education you can get involved in.


E Center Events Calendar
http://ecenter.colorado.edu/events/all

New Year's Resolution

The start of a new year, and a new semester is an excellent time to make some green changes in your routine. Eliminate one non sustainable product from your life. Make your electrical appliances easier to unplug when you're not using them. Turn your thermostat down when you leave for school.

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