GreenGranny

Greengranny's new challenge of finding a fantasy wish

I've been blogging as Greengranny for over three years, and one phenomenon that always delights me is being "discovered."

AARP found me and gave me a small but highly effective bit of publicity in The Magazine.  Getting into a print format, and one with such a huge circulation, is an amazing experience, and one that keeps on giving.

A few days ago I was working in my garden when my husband came out and handed me the phone.  Someone I had never heard of had seen Greengranny in The Magazine and she was on the phone calling me.  And that's how I met Li Daniels.

We talked for a long time.  She was putting together material for a TV program idea of hers called BOOMERS ROCK THE WORLD, and she wanted me to be one of the boomers that might end up in the program.  It was a very preliminary and sketchy thing of course, with no commitments either way, but interesting!

One thing Li wanted me to have was a fantasy wish.  What would Greengranny want done if a wish were to be granted?  I knew it had to be something that was actually feasible, so I didn't say "remove all the unwanted greenhouse gases from earth's atmosphere,"  or even "have all the people who would enjoy reading my blog actually discover it."

The fact was, I'm not a visionary.   Not only did I not have a fantasy, I had a great deal of trouble thinking one up for Li.  She forced me out of my comfort zone and something good came of that.

I returned to a Greengranny blog post entitled "September 19, 2008 --Making the most of my day."  There was my big adventurous bicycle trip to find an elusive apple tree, and the story of how I did locate it a few days later and cart bushels of beautiful golden delicious apples to the Emergency Residence, and on to the community food pantry.  The fruit was on the verge of going to waste, on a tree near the interstate highway, long forgotten by people.

From there I had the idea of a Community Fruit Co-op where such trees, along with those untended in people's backyards, could be made available by the property owners for a systematic harvest for the community network that feeds the needy.  If a project prototype were set up, it could be a model for communities everywhere.  Fruit trees now ignored could add to the food supply already provided by community gardens and donated to the agencies and organizations that distribute fresh produce or prepare meals for the needy.

Li loved my fantasy, which is to see Community Fruit Co-ops become a reality.  It's an idea I'm now in the process of sharing with others in my town, because I really would like to help develop a prototype, no matter if it ever makes it onto TV.  So stay tuned!

 

GreenGranny Goes to Washington: Inaugural Excitement and More

Why I went to Washington

For the second time since taking the moniker of GreenGranny I have traveled to Washington, DC.   The main reason for the trip was business:  I had an opportunity to earn money in my former career of highway safety, despite having been mostly retired for the past 30 months.   In my present financial circumstances there was no way that I was going to turn down the earned income involved in the trip.  Including myself, I'm still at least partially supporting ten people.

Weeks prior to the  2009 Washington trip I realized that my environmental contacts from the January 2007 trip were too busy to meet with me.  They didn't tell me so explicitly, but I could figure it out myself.  Federal employees were documenting "progress" of the outgoing  administration and preparing for the transition to the Obama Presidency and the new federal agency head they would soon be working for.  

Working for a lame duck administration can't be fun.  I'm sure most federal workers look forward to a fresh start, perhaps with a sense of relief that reality (science) would once again play a role in matters of public policy.  In any case, their main priority was to get all their ducks in a row.  I will contact them again later in the year.

The self-employed environmentalist I met two years ago was similarly occupied, and our mutual efforts to set up a meeting were thwarted.  I decided to focus on the opportunity to "green" the annual conference of my professional organization.  Before  getting to that, there are other matters to relate, such as the emotional tone of my trip and the incongruities of "green" that I encountered.

Inauguration In the Air

I arrived just under two weeks before the Inauguration of our 44th President.  Washington-Reagan National Airport was abnormally quiet, apparently due to the recession.   My hotel near the airport was similarly affected.   Workers had been laid off, and I'm sure those still employed were seeing smaller incomes.  I decided the least I could do, having the good fortune of paid work in this city, was to give tips as best I could to the service staff who depend on that as a source of income.  The thousands of visitors soon to descend upon the city would transfer money to the hotel maids and wait persons and tour bus drivers, and it would surely be welcomed. 

In spite of the recession, the mood was upbeat everywhere I went.  Perhaps the political losers had already left on an extended vacation, but everyone seemed a part of the jubilation.   I had not previously experienced the rare phenomenon in a society that occurs when some event triggers a universal sense of good will and mutual understanding.   People had a spring in their step, a gleam in their eye,  a head held higher.  I  felt happy to see it.  Indeed, an observer might have described me in that same way.    

I doubt any presidential election, transition, and inauguration has ever been felt so strongly at the personal level.   The effective use of Internet communications conveyed inclusiveness and enabled broader participation and accessibility to the entire election process.  But the issues mattered too.  Ordinary People, move up to the top of the agenda.  Environment, come on board along with them. 

The victory belonged to each of us, and to everyone.  The victory was in gaining a opportunity to make things better, and not a guarantee of success.  If an African-American of mixed racial heritage with a foreign-sounding name had achieved the Presidency, what worthy thing is there that we should not aspire to do?  What changed was the perception that we can succeed.

As individuals and as a people, we are pumped up and on a roll.  Perhaps there is only a superficial consensus as to the priorities of government and solutions to pressing problems.  No matter.   We live in a free and energized society.  The clouds on the horizon will arrive another day.  In any case, whatever the challenges facing us or the realities grasped, we will apply ourselves to what needs to be done.  

As I moved about the city on subway, bus, and on foot, I saw the bleacher seating being erected along Pennsylvania Avenue, the inaugural parade route.  I saw the provisions for huge crowds and for security being set up.  I saw the Capitol dome and the Washington Monument from all sorts of vantage points, but without the throngs yet to come.  And I soaked it all up, trying to fix the images and feelings in my mind.

The Green and the Un-Green

I was on my way to the National Building Museum and its exhibit "Green Communities."  At the Metro Center subway station where I needed to transfer, I looked up and took a gulp.  Signs were everywhere.  The same sign, some huge, some smaller, on walls, on pillars.  The same sign everywhere I looked. 

"Reality--There is no such thing as clean coal." 

The very redundancy of the signs gave the message power.  I had never seen a display like that  in a Metro station.  Who put it there?  If it were not done under official auspices, all these many signs could not have been placed before authorities would have been taking them down.  That mystery is unresolved, but what joy at seeing that message in such a prominent place!

My hotel room had a card "Save Our Planet" with instructions on how the occupant could reduce laundry and with that, water and energy consumption.  The first day the maid took the towel I had carefully hung on the towel bar.  I guess no one had told her about the card, which was printed in English only.  On other days my towel stayed put on the rack.  Staff training must be a continual effort for a hotel.  

One day, as thanks for my tip, the maid left a bottle of water.  I left it alone, hoping to convey the message that not everyone wanted bottled water.  Communication is no easier between workers and hotel occupants than it is between workers and hotel management.  Workers want to please and not get into trouble, and the most reliable course of action for them is to assume customers desire endless consumption and waste of resources.  Many if not most customers still do.

The incongruities of green and not-green continued throughout my visit.  At dinner with friends one night, I mentioned to my companions I would take the leftover bread back to my room rather than have it thrown out, unless they wished to take it.  The way I do this is to gather up the paper napkin under the bread and stick the little package in my purse. 

I was away from the table for a few moments, during which time the bread basket was removed by the waiter.  Apparently immediately thereafter, a dining companion mentioned to the waiter I had wanted the bread, hoping to retrieve what had been just removed.  When I returned to the table I was horrified to see a large Styrofoam container full of fresh bread!  The waiter was doing his best to please me, or so he thought.  I wondered how so much could go wrong in so short a time.

Alas, it was not a teachable moment.  Trying to convey my desire and purpose to the waiter was not going to work.  I picked up the container of bread, feeling like I had a newly spawned monster in my arms.   Back in my hotel room, it could join the array of small or individually packaged peanuts, cookies and mints that I had accumulated during the trip that were now causing environmental guilt.  Even the little coffee maker used disposable cups, and I wasn't smart enough to substitute a drinking glass.  At least I left the little bottles of shampoo etcetera in the bathroom mostly alone, so they would not be replentished during my stay. 

My day of work meetings took place at another hotel, and bottled water showed up again, set out at intervals along our tables.  I'd been seeing a welcomed return to water pitchers at similar meeting functions around the country.  I thought, we have to let hotel management know what pleases or displeases us.  A communication from our organization management might help achieve change.  Better yet, we could put a model green meeting policy into any future contract we set up for our meeting space. 

Our organization has substituted conference calls for numerous meetings and enables some members to participate in that way even when other members are meeting face to face.  It has worked surprisingly well.  I am hard of hearing and was apprehensive about conference calls at first, but they worked for me.  Still, there remains much good that comes from occasional face-to-face work sessions with ones professional peers, and the greenhouse gas emissions from that travel weighs on the minds of many of us.  We have to pull back from travel still more. In this regard and many others, the recession is our helpmate.

A Step Forward and a New Challenge

Back to the professional meeting that brought me to Washington.  One issue under discussion was how to deal with some organizational and financial changes beyond our control.  We needed to formulate our response and were brainstorming ideas about how our organization could move forward.  One person, highly respected by the group including myself,  offered the idea that organizations such as ours sometimes obtain financial support from corporate entities.  The implication was that the corporation gets a better public image out of the deal. 

I had been standing along the wall to stretch my back, but now I moved forward to take hold of the back of my chair and speak to the group. 

"I really have trouble with this suggestion," I began.  My thoughts were racing--the corporation buys credibility and public favor by supporting our organization but essentially we have no control over whether it behaves responsibly.  The corporation's bottom line is profit.  Sooner or later a motive like public service, even if sincere at the time, is going to wear thin, and we won't know when we become merely a facade.  When the facade is no longer useful, then we'll be tossed aside.  Obtaining stability or security for our organization cannot be achieved this way.  It's the highway safety equivalent of green-washing.

I mentally thanked Keith Farnish, the co-founder of Green Seniors and author of the Unsuitablog, for the mental preparation I was now drawing upon in a new context.

I went on to say something to the effect that highway safety's bottom line was saving lives while a corporation's was making money.  The two were not a good match, I said, and making ourselves in any way dependent upon such an entity was a slippery slope to be avoided at all costs.  

There was a moment of silence.  As my words sunk in, they seemed to be taken to heart.   No other comments were offered on the idea, and we went on to discuss other alternatives.

When the meeting concluded late in the afternoon, participants became engaged with small private discussions, taking advantage of the opportunity to speak to one another in person--for we all had come from different states.  I hurried over to the Program Chair for next summer's annual conference. 

"I've been told you want the greenest possible conference this year.  Is that correct?"

"Yes!" she replied.

"To help us achieve that, may I solicit information and ask questions of all relevant sources, including facilities and vendors, by indicating I act under your authority?"  

"Yes, definitely!" 

I said I would take on this mission as a volunteer.  It would have nothing to do with my other roles in the organization or be included in any contract work I might perform.

In a way I felt like I had taken on Mission Impossible.  The organization wants as many people to travel to the conference as possible, and with today's transportation technology and infrastructure, that can't be green.  Sadly, it is the antithesis of green. I also was well aware that by this time, most hotels have impressive green policies primarily driven by economics, and imperfectly adhered to.  

Where was more greening going to happen?  We didn't have money to rent zero-emission buses or do any of the flashy things that "green" conferences often do.

How could this opportunity to green our conference be used to educate our membership and promote environmental stewardship far beyond this one event?  I need new ideas.  I have to think outside the box.  If you have thoughts, please speak up!

Our culture of environmental degradation is a big ship to turn around.  The recession has caused a let-up on the throttle.  Now we move the rudder...

YES, WE CAN!

Do You Know Where Your Electricity Comes From?

Here in America we flip the switch and the lights come on.  When there are major power outages, it makes national news.  Utility companies across the nation try to keep their customers satisfied with cheap, dependable power.  And all too often, that power is coal. 

Coal is bad for several major reasons. First, the mining--whether deep shaft or mountain-top removal--is harmful to people and the environment.  Second, endless coal trains rumble across the nation west to east, to feed the coal power plants generating electricity.  Those diesel train engines are not  environmentally friendly. Third, when burned, coal releases a number of nasties that harm those downwind.  It releases mercury, causes acid rain and respiratory problems, and creates the "solar dimming" phenomenon that obscured the sun in Beijing, until China shut down factories for the Olympics. 

Last and worst, coal releases prodigious amounts of carbon dioxide gas when burned, such that if coal burning worldwide isn't soon curtailed and eventually ended, nothing else we do to stop green house gas emissions will matter.  That is the scale of the threat coal has for earth today.

Let's return to electric power generation.  Juneau, Alaska is in the news because the isolated city uses hydroelectric power exclusively, and an avalanche destroyed the transmission towers and lines from the dam to the city.  It will take three months to rebuild, during which time the city is getting by with expensive fossil-fueled generators.   The cost is so great that people voluntarily reduced power consumption in ways that would be unthinkable to most Americans: candlelight in the evening, hanging out the wash in a cloudy wet climate, doing without appliances. 

The people of Juneau know  they will return soon to their non-polluting power supply.  Moving to the lower 48, most areas are on THE GRID, the network of electric transmission lines that covers the nation.  A variety of power sources feed the grid and there is some ability to move that power around should any specific source fail. 

Most of us have no idea how the grid actually works.  It is a part of the infrastructure as significant as roads and as ubiquitous, but as long as the power lines don't run through our backyards, we ignore them.  We ignore them until there is an avalanche, or more commonly, an ice storm, that can take down neighborhood lines and giant towers in just hours, affecting hundreds of thousands of households.  Many towns have had to get by with emergency generators and public shelters for weeks at a time while repairs were made to restore electric power.

The grid may be interconnected, but the utility services that run the power plants are discrete entities.  In Iowa, there are many rural electric cooperatives supplying power to farms and small towns.   Numerous cities have their own municipal electric services which are also not-for-profit.  Then there are the publicly owned and traded power companies serving many cities and rural areas as well.

The map of service coverage in Iowa recently published by the Des Moines Register (April 27, 2008) shows two public companies, each as several large "blobs" of service area with tentacles snaking out into rural areas otherwise served by the co-ops.  There is no smooth geographical demarcation of their territory, and the tentacles of each snake around and past each other.

The map also shows a few small "blobs" of service areas scattered about the state representing service by municipal utilities.  I happen to live in one of those places, but my natural gas service is provided by one of the for-profit utilities.

Taken together, these electric utilities obtain most of their energy from burning coal, with lesser amounts from natural gas plants and nuclear plants.  Wind farms are developing wonderfully well and are expected to become a significant part of the mix in the near future.  It can't happen too rapidly!   

As naturally occurring resources go, Iowa's abundant wind power is equivalent to Juneau's hydro power.  Water behind a dam is stored power.  Until wind power storage technology is adequately developed, it isn't possible today to use wind as the only source for electricity.  As wind farms become more numerous and geographically distributed, the power they supply to the grid, as a whole, will have smaller variation.  Wind speeds at a variety of locales will average out. 

Which brings us back to coal and the challenge all Iowa electric utilities face: how to transition from fossil fuels to renewables without dallying around for 50 or 100 years doing it.  Iowa is colder in winter than Juneau, and far hotter in the summer.  Instead of 30,000 people, we have about three million.   What to do?   There is a lot that can be done, and the more one searches for ways, the more opportunities are found.  A subsequent post will share what I have been learning. 

Meanwhile, the first step is to understand where electric power comes from in your town, your county, your state, your nation.  Then, goals must be set in terms of emissions reductions and when those must be achieved.  This may change as more scientific information becomes available.   For the last couple of decades, the science emerging by the month only shows an increasingly urgent global situation.  We aren't in a position to choose the pace of change that suits us. Like the avalanche near Juneau, nature has spoken. The atmosphere is more fragile and in worse shape than we ever thought possible just a decade ago--or just a year ago.

Concurrently with the above steps of understanding status and goals for electric power, we can be building and start implementing our arsenal of alternatives to fossil fuels and ways of reducing power consumption.   The good news is, we may not have to use only candles at night or hang laundry on the back porch to keep it out of the rain, as in Juneau.  Provided we act now.

      

You Could Be Green Granny's Neighbor--A Thank You to AARP

I was out raking pine needles in my backyard when my neighbor diagonal from me waved me over to speak.   Most backyards on my block are screened from those behind either with a row of spruce trees or with privacy fence, but there are opportune gaps for neighborly communication.  We stood in one such opening and she handed me a page torn out of the March/April 2008 AARP Magazine, said to have the largest circulation in the world. 

"I KNEW it!" she said.  "When I saw this I said to my companions, I think that's my neighbor they're talking about in that article!"

Indeed I was.  During get-acquainted talks I'd had with her since moving to my home, I included a bit about my blogs and writing as Green Granny, so she was able to make the connection.  But by then, having people know of me and my mission via the AARP Magazine article was something I'd grown accustomed to.

The Article

"Tree Amigos -- Older eco-activists are logging on--and spreading the word" only occupies page 13, and the text itself is just a fourth of the space.  The size belies the impact.  A paragraph about me and my environmental work is followed by noting how "eco-elders are organizing online." 

The article's finale is about two other senior activists, Max Lindberg, 76, and Robert Lane, 90, to finish the play on words (Tree Amigos).  Both Max and Bob are highly respected by Green Seniors and their sites are linked to ours at www.greenseniors.org.

The Impact

The week that the publication came out, the daily hits to Green Seniors doubled, then tripled.  Weeks 4 and 5 were the peak, followed by a trend toward baseline, a lovely if somewhat skewed bell-shaped curve.  Hits are still running 50% higher than before the article, and I hope it stays that way.  Some super folks found us and we want them to pay return visits. 

So many emails and comments and requests came in that I'm still not through the entire list.  My home office looks like a cyclone hit it.  I found I'd been added to many mailing lists, because I was deluged with emails regarding Earth Day.  Though it ranged from too commercial all the way to fascinating, I was glad to get a better sense of who was doing what.

I want to thank Reporter Jeff  Young for interviewing me and writing the clever and effective article, and Assistant Editor Chai Woodham for verifying every detail.  They were very impressive.  Special thanks go to Holly Schultz, the eCommunications Editor of AARP International, for discovering me and co-founder Keith Farnish of the UK, and partnering with Green Seniors on a couple of projects last year.  Holly's patience and kindness made it a good experience.

Bask in AARP fame one moment, fight coal emissions the next

And so, readers, the first reason I'm behind on blogging is the happy result of the AARP article.  The second reason is the April surgeries of two family members, but now they are doing quite well, so that's happy too.  The third reason is taking time to do my duty as a citizen of Ames and Iowa regarding the issues of coal power plants. 

Coal power for electricity is a crucial issue that is coming to a head in numerous states.   I've been pleased with my opportunities to join in the debate, and I've been impressed with the sheer numbers of activists involved. Even those arguing for one more new coal plant understand that emissions reductions (as by closing older, less efficient coal plants) are necessary to combat global warming.  The dissention is only about  how rapidly and by what means that reduction can occur.

One of the top climate researchers of our time, Jim Hansen, provided comment to our state's debate.  The latest science only shows more clearly how grave earth's status is, with more carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere than can safely avoid the ultimate melting of all polar ice.  (Having read reports of ancient ice melting in Greenland, this comes as no surprise.)   

The ante has been upped

This really should stun the go-slowly-lest-you-harm-the-economy group.  We can't cut emissions at our chosen pace--reality isn't negotiable.  We must reduce CO2 as rapidly as it takes to stop those ice caps from melting.  Earth is past the "tipping point."  If we could wave a magic wand and freeze the CO2 concentration exactly where it is today, the poles would still eventually melt, turning earth into something unlike anything most species alive today have experienced. 

What we strive for now is to achieve reductions not only in current emissions but also in the atmosphere as a whole, sufficient to prevent going past a point of no return, a point where the natural systems of earth accelerate warming  in runaway fashion. 

Humanity got earth into this predicament by being so darned smart, so "successful" as a species that we've overpopulated the planet.  The industrial revolution with the greenhouse gas issue certainly helped us do that.  Now, we've got to figure out how to undo it.  If we fail, it won't be just our own species that experiences population collapse.

As Bob Lane put it:

"Our generation defeated fascism and Japanese imperialism, but we exploited the earth.  So we owe it to our grandchildren to do what we can to repair it."

  Bob's generation and all subsequent generations need to put their shoulder to the wheel.  The second world war lasted much less than a decade.  In America, industry was re-tooled from consumer goods to the tools of war in just one year--1942.  We need a similar all-out effort to stop burning fossil fuel, but it will take longer to change direction, and far longer to bring to a successful conclusion.

Even if I live another 20 years I do not expect to see the outcome.  But I do hope I can say that I did my best, and I send my love and hope into the future with my grandchildren.

 

GreenGranny accepts invitations from Eons and AARP

"Involve your parents and grandchildren in a family plan for going green," I advised in a post to GreenGranny's new blog on http://www.eons.com.  Eons, a social networking website for people "lovin' life on the flip side of 50" invited me to participate as their "Going Green" expert.  The content is similar but not identical to http://www.greengranny.org, so I invite you to visit.  Just go to the Eons home page, click on People (just to the right of Home),  then do a Members search by entering "GreenGranny" and my profile should come up.  Click on that and you can read items about me and enter my blog.

If you wish to leave a comment to any post on Eons, you need to create a Profile of your own.  You can do this and still remain anonymous by leaving a lot of optional fields empty.  I enjoy Eons far more than I expected--having a site tailored to my age group is really great!  Eons gets something like a million hits a month.  My posts have gotten quite a bit of exposure, and I make sure Eons readers know about http://www.greenseniors.org  and http://www.greengranny.org.

At the same time the Eons affiliation was starting, I was invited to participate in the AARP International exhibit at the AARP Annual Convention in Boston September 6-8, 2007.  I offered to send them a Powerpoint presentation about Global Warming and Green Seniors, suitable for continuous running in the exhibit.  That event should take place tomorrow.   Keith will be putting up a link for it on the Green Seniors website, so that you can view the slide show also. 

Keith Farnish, the Green Seniors Co-founder, provided much of the content and editing of the presentation, so that it became yet another product of our partnership.  Keith and I will follow up with an article that AARP International can publish this fall.

A new batch of "I'm a Green Senior" pins (badges) should be arriving soon.  For those of you in the US or Canada, I will send you some if you have a group to distribute to, and people who are likely to wear them. 

I have quite a backlog of material for posts to all the blogs I write or contribute to, and I'm raring to get more of them written soon.  I just wanted you, my readers, to know what I have been up to.   I'm certainly no expert on "going green" but I can use others' writing with their permission, and repost as well.  Some of you may well see yourselves on Eons!

Here's to Going Green!  May we succeed in inspiring others to do the same. 

To My Traffic Records Forum Colleagues

I was wondering if any of you were going to visit me.  Thanks for dropping by. 

Since I "retired" from government one year ago, the one thing that has changed most in my life is this blog and its companion blog, Green Seniors (www.greenseniors.org).   They represent the volunteer portion of my life, working to preserve and improve the natural world and combat global warming for the sake of our children and grandchildren.   After all, I was educated as a scientist and as a science educator.  This is a logical role for me.

For many years I was immersed in my career and family, as most of you are now.  I ignored the reports that humanity's use of fossil fuel over the decades was putting enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, along with other greenhouse gasses from agriculture and industry, to alter the climate.  Yes, I had this wonderful scientific background and I just ignored the reports from climate and atmospheric scientists.  It seemed a bit over the top and far into the future.   

In the last few years, the evidence of global warming has become much more evident, in particular the retreat of glaciers and ice sheets all over the world.  Scientists on Greenland discovered new mechanisms of how some melt water can speed the melting even more.  The permafrost melting going on in Asia and North America is of huge concern because of its ability to release huge quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.   

Think of how a ship capsizes. There is a tipping point which, if exceeded, the vessel goes bottom up.   As applied to the climate getting hotter, we don't want to go there.  In particular, we don't want to finally nail down a scientific understanding of where the tipping point for the global greenhouse effect is and find out it is already in the past, and far from our ability to do anything about it.   The prudent thing is to act now.

Didn't those of you close to my age think that by 2007, the world we live in would have changed in terms of where energy comes from, how we live and travel?  Didn't you think it would at least LOOK different?  Near the beginning of my traffic records career, I attended a Forum in Orlando at Walt Disney World.  Epcot was such a thrill!  Now think, next year the Forum will be in Orlando again--is Epcot any different?  Has even Future World been updated?   

When oil deposits were first discovered in Pennsylvania, the whaling fleet passed into history.  When the automobile came into vogue, cities were glad to be rid of horse manure that was everywhere.  If you are fascinated by the photographs of William Henry Jackson, you know that the nation we were a little more than 100 years ago has come and gone.  Now that we need  change so badly, why is it so slow in coming?  Wind power rivals fossil energy sources in cost.  Solar is developing rapidly and could have been further along. 

I learned from my readings that Germany is way ahead of other nations in building photovoltaic power plants.  Why Germany?  Then I read that the Black Forest is considered their national treasure, and all Germans know that the forest is dying--from acid rain.   Acid rain comes from coal power plants.  The Japanese think they are way ahead of Germany:   in their high-tech approach, they reportedly invented homes with walls that sense where the occupants are and only heat that area.   What became of the USA as technological leader of the world?   Students from other nations are filling our university science and engineering programs.   

Every one of us has a role in bringing about the changes needed today.  The "green" blogosphere has something to offer every taste, every philosophical persuasion.  Churches are becoming a major focal point of action.  As the "Green Tips" handout (available from Joyce@greenseniors.org) shows, there is work ongoing that needs your support and participation at the federal, state, and city levels of government.   Finally, we can jump start the process by changing habits in our personal lives.

All Forum attendees have skills in planning and experience in making positive changes happen in our society.  The Highway Safety Community (and its component traffic records systems) for decades has been developing communication and coordination among diverse disciplines to reach safety goals.   What the world needs now...is us!   We are the model; let us also become the change.

    

Will 2007 Bring Action? - Six Month Report

On December 29, 2006 I wrote "Will 2007 bring action?"  about my hopes for 2007, about what the world needed to get from 2007.  I am far from able to monitor or evaluate the anti-global warming activity that has occurred since then.   It has been astounding.  There has been a sea change in the United States; what remains to be seen is whether we can stay on task and on schedule.   The anti-global warming momentum can still fizzle; it can still bog down and  positive changes can be overwhelmed with bad choices.

As I write, the Union of Concerned Scientists has notified its members that it is time to ask our elected members of Congress to support two bills that are aimed at an emissions reduction of 80 % by 2050.  In the Senate it is the Sanders-Boxer Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act.  In the House it is the Waxman Safe Climate Act.  Congress may be able to pass this legislation as early as this fall.  If it does, score one!

I am also learning from a member of the Iowa Legislature that it is time to ask our governor to help fend off merchant coal in our state.  Decisions may be made soon about two proposed pulverized coal power plants to be built by investors for the sale of power outside the state--1,350 megawatts between the two of them.  Of course, the proposed cities for these power plants are much in need of jobs--as if the local pollution these plants will cause can be foisted upon  poor people living in a state that doesn't need this kind of energy--a place where the air is still clean and mercury levels relatively low.   

Water is a finite resource even in Iowa, where crops are not irrigated.  New ethanol plants are laying claim to water resources--do we really want Iowa's water going towards coal power for export?  If States can follow California's lead to stop coal expansion, if negotiations brokered by Environmental Defense to keep Texas from building a bevy of new coal plants continue to succeed and expand to other places,  score two!

Another march against global warming is being planned for central Iowa this summer.  If local activists throughout the nation can keep ramping up their efforts to make global warming issues visible and convey the urgency of starting countermeasures now, score three!

People have gone to work on the processes required to bring about  change.  Cities are joining the Sierra Club Cool Cities program by signing the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement--Ames just did.   One friend in another state is on a new environmental committee for his city.  My sense is that these steps are being repeated in thousands of places across America.  Greenhouse gas emissions are being inventoried and plans to reduce them are being laid.  While those processes will start to pay off a year or two down the road, I am learning of new public buildings and homes that have been built "green" all around the state.   Iowa already has so many wind turbines, and is such a good place for many more,  that a manufacturing plant will be built here.  If local governments and businesses can keep ramping up these efforts, score four!

A lot of people have decided to reduce energy consumption.  It doesn't necessarily mean they believe the evidence for global warming.  It may be due to a desire for national energy independence,  to save money on fuel, or perhaps simply a way to express their dismay over the Iraq war.  There is an enormous distance to go on this matter of energy conservation, but those who are leading the way are no longer looked upon with total amazement.   I see more hybrids around town and more bicycles--even other grandparents out there with youngsters, all on bicycles.  The display area in many stores is now much larger for CFLs than for incandescent bulbs.  If energy efficiency and energy reduction by consumers continues to make headway, score five!

Now, those are a lot of ifs.  That's why there is nothing to celebrate yet.   2007 could be a very good year.  It could score big in five different ways.  We must continue working with all of our energy and all of our might to make it so.   

GreenGranny's First Rally

It’s amazing that at the age of 63 there are still plenty of things to do in life that one has never done before—for instance, taking part in a rally.  I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun!

When I got back to my hometown of Ames in early March, I checked the stepitup2007.org webpage and found the name and email address for the Ames rally organizer.  After sending her several suggestions, she invited me to the next planning meeting.  From then on, I was one of the group and made a lot of new friends.

I offered to have a Green Seniors display at the rally which the plan group was pleased to accommodate.  Lots of people at the rally came up to the display, read it, talked to me, and took a Green Seniors button and card. I was surprised at the number of seniors who had come to the event, but people of all ages wanted to see what Green Seniors was all about.   Special thanks to my husband for carrying boxes, taping down posters blowing in the breeze, and for taking these photographs, all while wearing a Green Seniors pin.  It was his first-ever rally too.

During the planning meetings I noticed everyone taking care of rally expenses from their own pockets, and it was adding up for some people.  I offered to solicit donations, which I did by bringing a sign and a big glass jar to the rally. Most of the donations were in the $1 range, but it was enough to off-set the cost of the park rental and the rental for the Solar Traveler that powered the music and microphones for speakers.  We also had enough to buy carbon off-sets to make the rally completely carbon neutral.

IowaGlobalWarming.org set up at the picnic table next to mine, and I enjoyed a strategy talk with their Iowa point man, Steve Falck.  Steve’s job is to recruit and train volunteers to question presidential candidates on their global warming policies.  Then, as candidates travel our state campaigning for the primaries, they will find this is a priority of the people.  Judging from the traffic at his table, Steve signed up a lot of folks.

I was the only person disappointed by the turnout of 300 people. I knew there were thousands of people in my town who consider global warming a critical problem. Perhaps we just didn’t advertise the mission well enough, because if everyone in town who was passionate about slowing global warming had turned up for the group photo sent to Congress, there would easily have been 4,000 people in it.       

While there were several other Step It Up 2007 rallies in Iowa, there could have been hundreds.  What Iowa towns lacked was a Kate Crowley.  Kate is the youthful grandmother, a Green Senior, who instigated and executed a rally in little rural Sandstone Minnesota that brought out over a hundred people!  Now that’s one individual making a huge difference! 

Green Seniors pitched in at rallies all over the country.  There is plenty of work yet to be done in hundreds of ways.  Choose an avenue that suits you and GO GREEN SENIORS!

Greengranny Goes To Washington

It may come as no surprise to you that Greengranny likes to hide behind the written word.   Email and blogs are a safe haven.  One need not reveal too much or face direct confrontation. Yet, I am committed to fight global warming in every way I can.  And so, when my post-retirement work took me to professional meetings in Washington DC last week, I had to gather my courage and my wits and bring my activism along.

I realized that going at all weighed heavily on me.  A plane flight across the country is not easily justified, not even by “offsetting” the emissions I’d help produce.  Washington had become a cherished place to me, full of national history and pride, with the added perk of seeing dear friends gathered from all over the country.  That was before the catastrophe of climate change had sunk in.  But, I thought, if I don’t go, I won’t be able to carry the message to them.  I should try this once, to see if I can make a difference.

I flew to Washington with a briefcase of background information, a pocket full of www.greenseniors.org cards, and a lot of trepidation.   Still a rank amateur as an activist, I had only landed two formal appointments with environmental entities based in the nation’s capital.  I felt like I had failed in my mission before I even arrived.   

A few days later I found myself flying home dazed and amazed as I reviewed how it had played out. 

Open hearts, willing partners

At my professional meeting I used break times to hand out my cards to everyone I knew (most of those present).  For some, a conversation ensued. For others there was only time to say, here is something I’m working on in retirement that you might care to look at.  The conversations were all supportive and the cards were all graciously accepted, though taking such a personal action in that business setting was almost unheard of.

   

I did not know the political inclinations of most of those I approached.  Politics is never a good conversation topic for people in government—particularly in the highly polarized atmosphere of recent years.  We need to maintain harmony within our teams in order to get our work done, regardless of our differences.   It was possible I would offend some people by pushing a cause that had political overtones in the past.  The future of the planet is too important to be a partisan matter, I was ready to say, but I never needed to.   Concern for the planet had already taken hold—it is right under the surface for most people and in need of expression.   

By the time I was having dinner with a large group of friends following the meeting, it had become much easier to talk about Green Seniors and their mission.  I had opened the door to the topic about as far as it would go that day, and I was already thinking about next steps.   

Monday morning I found myself at the visitor entrance to the monolithic US Department of Transportation building in the heart of Washington.    During my trip preparations I had discovered that the USDOT had a Center for Climate Change.   I studied their material, then asked for a meeting.   A friend was ready to accompany me and provide moral support.  Only the day before my departure for Washington did I get confirmation that anyone could see us.  I was grateful but did not have high expectations.  I was a nobody imposing on the time of busy people.

A young staffer met us at the entrance.  After we went though security, she escorted us to a conference room where a senior staff member awaited us.  I’d had no idea I would get to speak directly with the Environmental Policy Team Leader.  She was cordial, competent, and forthright.  She and her assistant had come prepared to answer the questions I had submitted in writing earlier via email.   I felt inadequate at first, but they soon put me at ease.   There was time to talk things through and to pursue ideas that came up in discussion.

The Climate Change Center is a “virtual” office directed by top USDOT officials and staffed with personnel time donated from various parts of the bureaucracy as needed.  I was familiar with that method of organization at the state level and believe it can be just as effective as creating a separate new office, and maybe even more so.  A virtual organization necessitates communication and cooperation among all the stakeholders, avoids duplication of administration, and reduces expenses. 

In my view, global climate change belongs in everybody’s job description in some way or other.   It’s not something that a few work on while all others go about business as usual.

The Center is “dedicated to fostering awareness of the potential links between transportation and global climate change, and to formulating policy options to deal with the challenges posed by these links.”   The studies already completed included one on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on transportation.   

The key data summary of the Center is a pie chart showing that in the USA, transportation accounted for 27 percent of greenhouse gas emissions during 2004.  It was second only to electricity generation at 33 percent.  The third largest category was industry at 19 percent, with agriculture, commercial, and residential comprising the remainder.

I learned that there are many opportunities among the various modes of transportation—air, rail, highway--for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but that much additional research is needed to clarify what steps should be taken.   As could be expected, the Center suffers from a lack of funding for the research it needs to do.  I felt my instincts were correct:  capable, dedicated people were doing good work in spite of that lack of support.   I left with my head spinning with ways that Green Seniors could help build support for the work of the Center. 

I came home from my Washington trip feeling satisfied.  I may have been a novice unsure of where or how to start, but thanks to the warm reaction of everyone I encountered, I found success.  Only time will tell if I can convert the knowledge and experiences of this trip into lasting progress.  Again, I will try.

To all of the Green Seniors out there, take courage, muster your strength, and start doing the things you know will matter.  Don’t feel intimidated.  My experience shows that volunteers are accepted and appreciated, and they will only become more so as society moves into action phases.  America is ready for you.  America needs Green Seniors! 

Green Seniors, Help STEP IT UP on GLOBAL WARMING

Seniors have been writing to me asking, "What can I do?" For those of you in the USA, see the idea below.  For those in other nations, this might be an idea you can use or are already using. 

See the website www.stepitup2007.org  "Step It Up on Global Warming: Communities Uniting for Climate Action Now!"

Led by environmentalist Bill McKibben, this group is organizing a nationwide day of rallies on April 14, 2007, declaring it a "National Day of Climate Action."  On the website, you can see what rallies may already be scheduled near you, and you can sign up to organize your own. It is easier than you might expect.

The idea is to convene hundreds of smallish rallies around the nation for promoting the message, "Tell Congress - Cut Carbon 80% by 2050." Photographs would be taken of each group and sent to the organizers the same day, to create a protest of a size that can get national attention.

These rallies are local and, frankly, it is easier to start one in your own neighborhood than to drive any distance to one.  As a senior, I really like that.  If you are not an organizer-type, you can still help spread the word, encourage others or offer to bring some of the refreshments--and get in the picture! 

I looked up my state and found that a rally was already planned in my own town.  I signed up, and I'm going to help get a turnout for it.  The background material we'll need is on the website.

The magnitude of the cut in greenhouse gas emissions being called for by 2050 will surprise some Americans.  That is why these rallies are so important to the United States.  From towns to cities to the nation, rallies can help inform that we have to start making progress now, because we have so far to go.   Our elected officials cannot take proper actions without an informed and supportive consitutency.