Cross-posted from: here

The Japanese elections just took place, and I’m excited to say the challengers have won in a landslide.

I’ve had two posts in the last month explaining the very real possibility of Japan having a new government before Copenhagen which aspires to much stronger emissions targets than the current one. The first explored the possibility of Japan’s current Liberal Democratic Party losing to the Japanese Democratic Party, and wondered whether the challengers had stronger positions on emissions. The old government’s commitment of a mere 8% below 1990 levels certainly didn’t move any other countries along in raising their targets. The new government’s position going into the election was 25% below 1990 levels by 2020. The second post focused on the fact that the positions the challengers held on clean energy, stronger emissions targets, and green jobs were polling really well. Based on today’s election results, it looks like the poll wasn’t far off.

So, why would Japan committing to 25% by 2020 below 1990 levels at Copenhagen be important? After all, the buzz words always thrown around are “China, India, US”. For one, Japan has the second largest economy in the world behind the United States. At the same time, they are the 5th largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, and were only recently passed by India who is number 4. There is gridlock on all sides. I might be wrong, but with the exception of the UK indicating going higher than 30%, I think Japan’s new target would be the second strongest in the world. A big problem is developed countries not coming even close to the 25-40% range necessary not just if you follow the science, but based on what would also help move developing countries along as well. If Japan can help ease gridlock amongst the richer countries and the G8, developed countries might set their sights higher.

There’s one more big reason as well, and this is also just a hunch by myself, although in college I’ve taken quite a few courses on Asia and I feel like I know it pretty well. It’s no secret that China and Japan have a pretty rough history. If I put myself in China’s shoes, yes the United States committing to stronger targets would be the most influential, but it would make sense for Japan to be the second most. It wouldn’t seem fair to China that their rival who historically has emitted a lot more than them, and who has benefited decades earlier from incredible economic growth in part because they were able to freely burn fossil fuels…can commit to such a poor target while China has to cap emissions soon.

On top of this, China knows the benefits of clean energy for economic development, and they want to dominate the global market in this sector. Some have said the best way for the US to convince China to force North Korea to give up its nuclear program is to arm Japan with nuclear weapons because China would go absolutely ballistic if their largest regional rival became a nuclear power. What would the response of China be if Japan challenged them to a clean energy race where the winner dominates the world’s largest 21st century market? I think we’re about to find out.

“Tetsuro Fukuyama, also the Democrats’ deputy policy chief, said the party’s 2020 target to cut emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels would impose regulations to curb emissions and incentives for energy conservation, increased use of renewable energy and development of green technology.”

“The minus 15 percent target versus 2005 is equivalent to a cut of only 8 percent below 1990 levels.”

“It just doesn’t go far enough,” Fukuyama said. “How can they dare to persuade China and India with that number?”

Posted in Asia

Under certain circumstances, fasting is the one weapon God has given us for use in times of utter helplessness.

- Ghandi

Martin Luther King said that

A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.

Our grandparents went to battle as soldiers in the second world war ready to lay down their lives for the freedom of their nations. We have a comparable if not bigger threat in climate change.

Who am I to say that I’m not going to make that sort of sacrifice?
Even if there is damage to myself, it’s nothing compared to the global catastrophe that we are heading for if we fail to solve this crisis.

Check out Deepa Gupta’s earlier post here

Posted in Climate Justice, global warming, India

In a recent editorial article for the academic journal Climatic Change, Jon Barnett argues that the current debate about climate change and security is missing the point.  Everyone following the news knows the story by now – global warming leads to resource scarcity, and resource scarcity leads to war.  Barnett, one of the world’s foremost researchers on climate and security, cautions scholars and activists against making such simplistic assumptions.

A major problem with the popular discourse on climate wars is that it is excessively general, and poorly if at all informed by evidence…. what is passing as research on climate conflicts is not good social science either: it eschews evidence, most of it ignores the large body of research on the causes of conflict generally and on so-called ‘environmental conflicts’ in particular, and very little of it is peer-reviewed.

While there is evidence that resource scarcity does increase the likelihood of violent conflict, correlation is not causation.  The current assumption that climatic stress leads to war takes no account of social and cultural responses, to say nothing of international aid and cooperation.  Worse still, taking an oversimplified view of conflict related to environmental stress, such as the violence in Darfur, could inure us to the reality of war crimes and atrocities.

Moreover, Barnett points out one more major factor in the discussion of climate security: the military establishment, which has no particular interest in promoting peace. The army is in and of itself a major greenhouse gas emitter – Barnett estimates the U.S. military’s total emissions in 2006 at 1% of the global total.  Yet their interest in co-opting the discourse around climate change is more insidious than protecting their desire to emit.  Countries which are already powerful through military means need a narrative of conflict to maintain their status on the international stage:

These countries require discourses of global disorder in order to justify their security and trade policies, and their security and defence agencies require problems to justify their continued existence in a world where the threat of war has diminished since the end of the cold war. They seem to be appropriating the dangers of climate change to serve these institutional agendas. That these agendas are inimical to a sustainable world where there are deep cuts in emissions and considerable action on adaptation is obvious.

It is clearly time to adopt a view of climate security which puts peace at the center of the discussion, rather than war.  Moreover, it is our job as activists and organizers to expand our scrutiny to include anyone, including the military and the arms trade, whose interests stand at odds to human security and social justice.

Posted in Climate Policy, Politics

I came home to the rolling green hills of the Mohawk Valley, to my laughing cousins, and to the beginning of a new upstate new york.

It seems the new green economy has inspired the homeless, community organizers, faith leaders, and local officials alike. On my first day home I attended the launch of a new green low-income housing block in the poorest crime ridden area of Utica, NY—Corn Hill. Corn Hill is one of those area’s that never received enough public assistance and therefore remained a hot spot for drugs, murder, and racial disparity.

But things started to change with the initiative of two women, Reverend Skates and Reverend Meier. There commitment to the area and their beautiful vision for a transformed community brought all the right people together. We heard from speakers from the NYS Governor’s office, they mayor of Utica, and local homeless women that were moving into these new green homes.

I haven’t been so moved than when I heard Reverend Skates lead us in a visualization of the buildings around us. We yelled out words together like “Green!” or “Community Garden” pointing to broken down buildings and empty lots. With all of the right people in the room you could almost feel the space around you changing, especially when so much already had.

I think as young people we sometimes see ourselves bearing the entire burden of changing everything starting with policy and then our local communities. This reminded me of a couple things: 1) Positive change can flourish everywhere– without my involvement 2) Building up our local economies and communities deserves as much attention as our national work.

There is something to be said about the tangible gratification of this kind of work. It can be a hard thing to balance when climate policy seems to be the most important, yet illusive thing.

Passing a strong climate bill that protects communities like these, is the key to actually tangibly building a green future and more green communities.

As I get more in tune with my surroundings that balance becomes more critical. Let us integrate more hands-on creation in the movement and really shape the present for our local communities!

Posted in global warming

Cross-Posted from: here

UMD(University of Maryland) for Clean Energy is the student group I’m campaign director of. I recently made a post about our position statement we delivered to Senator Ben Cardin’s office, which showed up in the Washington Post Maryland blog(scroll to bottom). Beyond weighing in on Federal legislation, we’re taking advantage of an incredible opportunity to influence College Park policy in the upcoming elections this November, the city our school resides in. We think the transition to a clean energy economy and more sustainable society needs to come from not just from the top down, but the bottom up starting in our communities. We’re going to do our best to make that a reality in ours. I could say a lot more, and I’ll have plenty more updates as the school year moves forward. I think the below press release previewing our campaign touches pretty well on all the main points, and shows some of the groundwork we’ve laid for this to rock. We’ve also got a new website which is pretty basic right now but will have plenty more content soon. You can find our platform for the election here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 28, 2009

Contact: Kenny Frankel, Media Director: 301-437-8197, kfrankel88@gmail.com

Ambitious Student Group Pushes Green Platform

A student environmental group looks to push for green investment in College Park and green jobs in Prince George’s County

UMD for Clean Energy, a student activist group from the University of Maryland, looks to advance a green platform for the city of College Park elections this coming fall.

They aim to mobilize hundreds of students to vote for city council and mayoral candidates this November 3 that support this platform which includes green economic policies, sustainable transportation, and more environmentally friendly buildings. This mobilization will culminate in front of the university’s McKeldin library on Election Day, from which all the supporting students will march the half-mile to city hall to green-mindedly cast their ballots. The kicker is that usually a candidate can win their election with a few hundred votes, so these students will represent large portions of their vote.

Among all the green recommendations in the platform, there is one notable priority. The student group wants to implement a mechanism that would drive energy efficiency investment in the city.

This priority is the establishment of an energy efficiency loan fund. This would be a pool of money that can be loaned out at a low interest rate to finance energy efficiency upgrades and home improvements for residents of College Park. Borrowers could then repay the loan fund with their energy savings, and reap the savings once they have paid back the loan.

“One of the biggest barriers to investing in energy efficiency is financing. If people can pay for these upgrades with their energy savings, that barrier disappears,” said Laura Calabrese, UMD for Clean Energy Organizational Director.

Energy efficiency loan funds have already been created in Annapolis and Montgomery County. If a similar policy is passed in College Park, it could serve as a model for other small cities in Prince George’s County and Maryland.

Sound like a lofty goal for a group of college kids? UMD for Clean Energy has already met with city councilmembers Mary Cook (District 4) and Patrick Wojahn (District 1), current mayor Stephen Brayman, and mayoral candidate Andy Fellows to facilitate a discussion on city energy policy.

“It is our goal to meet with every single candidate and current councilmember to share our ideas and hear theirs,” said Matt Dernoga, UMD for Clean Energy Campaign Director.

Although making this loan fund a reality will take a multi-faceted approach, the group looks to reach out to civic and community associations in College Park in addition to other student groups in their campaign. They are already bringing mayoral candidate Andy Fellows and PG County Clean Energy Corp Director Thomas Cannady to speak at their kickoff meeting on September 14 to engage in a dialogue with students over the need for a new green direction in the city and county.

Maryland has already moved in that direction by passing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act last spring. It mandates the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 2006 levels by 2020. According to a MD Department of the Environment factsheet, if the bill’s funds start “developing clean energy industries, Maryland could create between 144,000 and 326,000 in-state jobs over the next 20 years”.

“Where are those jobs and the business investment that comes with them going to fall? We want College Park and Prince Georges County to be on the forefront so they land here,” said Dernoga.

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For more information about the Maryland global warming bill, see

http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/Air/ClimateChange/GGRA_factsheet.pdf

For more information on the Annapolis initiative, see

http://www.whatsupmag.com/home-garden/green/09-07-29/Money_to_help_Annapolitans_Install_Geothermal_Solar_and_More.aspx

For more information on the Montgomery County initiative, see:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/bill/2009/20090422_6-09.pdf

More About UMD for Clean Energy

www.umdforcleanenergy.com

UMD for Clean Energy is a student activist group at the University of Maryland. In the past, they have successfully petitioned the university and University System of Maryland Board of Regents to commit to carbon neutrality by 2050. This past spring, they were successful in collaborating with statewide environmental groups to pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, which sets the strongest short-term emissions reduction target in the nation – 25 percent reductions from 2006 levels by 2020. The group has also recently engaged at the federal level, lobbying for climate legislation which passed the House of Representatives this past June and will be considered by the Senate in the fall.

Posted in green jobs