Carbon Footprint

Those of you who know me know I've been pretty busy over the past year. One of the things we ( my family and I) did was reduce our Carbon Footprint from about 25 tons of CO2 per year (per person) to about 10 tons of CO2 per year. What is a Carbon Footprint, why is it important and how did I reduce it? Read on...

What is a Carbon Footprint?

A Carbon Footprint (CF) is a "measure of the amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels...in the case of an individual or household, as part of their daily lives."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint).

There are lots of sites that will calculate your carbon footprint - some analyze your lifestyle in excruciating detail, others give very general estimates. Some of the more detailed CF calculators estimate your electricity usage, personal habits, travel (business and personal), and housing type. Here's one from Al Gore's EXCELLENT "Climate Crisis" site.
(http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator)

Why is this important?

"The average American generates about 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year from personal transportation, home energy use and from the energy used to produce all of the products and services we consume."
(http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/)

We all contribute to global warming every day - especially Americans. Look at the Global Greenhouse Gas (GHS) emissions bar chart below. Sorry it's not bigger, but it lists a bunch of countries and their Global GHG emissions. The US is at the bottom.

Source: Globalis: http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator.cfm?IndicatorID=196

Pretty compelling huh? And to those of you who say - well we have more people than many countries - you are right. But our per capita emissions are also among the highest in the world too.

So what do we do about it?

Well the easiest thing to do is to start at home.

We reduced our footprint by changing our car type from SUV to large station wagon, and reduced our commute by literally thousands of miles yearly. Both Ron and I now commute using public transporation, we live in an apartment, and use renewable energy when available and simple money saving conservation practices (turn our lights when not in room, keep heat and A/C at a low setting). We recycle when we can and buy local foods when its convenient.

The quickest and perhaps most difficult change YOU can make is to take responsibility for caring for the planet.

"You go into a community and they will vote 80 percent to 20 percent in favor of a tougher Clean Air Act, but if you ask them to devote 20 minutes a year to having their car emissions inspected, they will vote 80 to 20 against it. We are a long way in this country from taking individual responsibility for the environmental problem." ~William D. Ruckelshaus, former EPA administrator, New York Times, 30 November 1988

ACT...NOW... Your children's future depends on it.

What the Hell is Global Warming - and what is climate change?

I am pretty qualified to talk on this subject if you will bear with me for a moment...

As is tradition, I will first post some pictures of my kids, because that's what keeps me motivated (for you non-policy people it's called intergenerational equity - that just means taking care of the next generation).

So - what's my qualifications?

a) I recognize that global warming is the single biggest problem facing our future and the future of our children

b) I have degrees from colleges to support that I know what I am talking about (mostly - no one knows everything)

c) I want to talk to normal people about this problem that WILL effect most of us DRASTICALLY IN OUR LIFETIMES

I am not going to put in citations or anything like that so if you want more information, or clarification just ask me...

Now let me present to you some information...

BTW - I am going to use "GW" for Global Warming and "CC" for climate change - at least most of the time.

Global Warming IS happening and it CAUSES Climate Change

This is TRUE, it has been presented in the media as NOT TRUE by those who would gain by denying it - but it is TRUE - literally they keep one guy with scientific credentials in a cube somewhere and drag him out when they want to disprove Global Warming and Climate Change

I guess the next question would be "What is Climate Change?"

What is Climate Change?

Climate change is all these weird weather events - hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, no snow at Christmas, that we remember as different from whan we were kids, and those events that will begin to change our lives (more on that later...)

Let me give you a hint - regular changes in climate happen over EONS - long, long periods of time... anything that we can notice is not NORMAL. I can remember lots of Christmases with snow, summers that were mild (not when lots of people died due to the heat), now it seems always hotter, maybe the storms are stronger, I keep hearing about "weather records being broken" - those are the kind of events that describe CC.

Let's take Katrina for example - scientists are constrained about connecting Katrina to GW and CC because there is no conclusive proof. We all suspect it, probably even know it (and I have talked to some very well respected oceanographers who concur/agree) but no one will shout it out on the rooftops becuase they are concerned about their public reputations...

Let's consider the the transitive property -
if a=b and b=c then a=c,
then it is pretty simple right???

if global warming = increased sea surface temparatures (fact)

AND

increased sea surface temperatures = increased storm intensity (stronger storms)

THEN

GLOBAL WARMING = KATRINA/RITA

Remember Arlo Guthrie???

Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

(Steve Goodman - popularized by Arlo Guthrie)

Geez, I love that song -- but it gives you some food for thought right?
Here's a global view...



More later (wait till you see the pictures if what is going to happen)





"Since 9/11 we have seen sympathy turn to antipathy towards the U.S." (CNN reporter - 2006)