My Open Letter to the EPA

Photo from Thom Ayres' Stilled Life Series

Dear EPA Leadership:*

Your decision to begin to address our Climate Crisis today will be something you tell your grandchildren some day. Or not. It really is that black and white. A decision to regulate carbon gives a glimmer of hope that we will be able to survive Climate Change. Without it, our chances for survival as a species are diminished. We are at that crossroads and you, members of the US Environmental Protection Agency, may very well be deciding the fate of our species and many other life forms on this planet. 

Coming to realize just how dire this crisis is has been a very painful journey for me. I am a Climate Leader, a volunteer with the Climate Reality Project. The more I learn, the more I want to shake everyone I see and meet and tell them that this is the crisis of our lifetimes, not some future generation. It is happening NOW. To convince others to wake up, to act, to write their Congressman or Congresswoman and demand action be taken immediately is my goal for the rest of my life.    

At this point, it is very much like standing in a theater shouting FIRE but the audience remains transfixed by the images on the screen, not hearing our cries. Except with this fire, there are no exits. Either we extinguish the flames together or die a certain death together. 

What I hope you do is to first fine those corporations who are spewing carbon, the major cause of global warming, into our atmosphere. We will not be the first country to do so. In fact, there are nearly 40 countries before us who are already regulating carbon polluters to help curb Climate Change. Even China has a pilot carbon policy program in place that they will expand to the rest of the country by 2015. Even China understands what this crisis means.  

Secondly, my hope is that you and the Obama Administration will set up a task force to determine our way forward as curbing our carbon output is only the very first small step toward addressing this crisis. We need a task force comprised of: 

Climate Scientists who can tell us the best and worst case scenarios over the next year as well as 5, 10 and 15 years from now and how much carbon needs to be reduced.

Ecologists/Environmentalists who have had boots on the ground for the past 50 years, passionately telling us that this was coming, who have vital networks within our communities who will help us roll out the plan or plans determined to be best. 

Community Leaders who can tell us how to best organize these plans in their towns, cities and rural areas, what kind of practical application will best be applied to their home territories and others in their charge.

Policy makers who know the laws, who know what laws will affect this process and can suggest fair and just laws that need to be written to support this way forward. 

What this task force will determine are two vital points:

What sources of energy will be used going forward?

How will we capture the carbon existing in the atmosphere? 

BOTH tasks need to happen simultaneously if we are to survive this crisis. Choosing to only secure alternative energy sources will only lead to a longer lingering death for millions. We must also draw the carbon out of our atmosphere to avoid further degradation of our overall climate, water, and soil systems. There are carbon capturing resources that exist now and many are being developed and championed. These technologies exist and more will be invented as we focus on this crisis.

We are a creative, thoughtful species and we are approaching the 11^th hour to address this Crisis. Please lead the way.  

Thank you for the opportunity to speak out on this issue. 

Monica Jenkins, Climate Leader

*For the last couple weeks, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been hosting public listening sessions, inviting the public to suggest ways to address the carbon pollution pouring from our power plants into our atmosphere. This is my written statement response to that question and addressing the larger issue of Climate Change that I think they are stepping too gingerly around. 

Handout from the Presentations on Climate Change this Weekend

Here is a pdf of the handout I used this weekend for the The Climate Reality Project.

This is a list of Climate Actions you can take as an individual as well as actions to take as a family, a group or a community.

Thank you to all who attended this weekend!

Best regards,

Monica 

Click HERE for your printable copy.

Presentations Coming Up: Friday, October 25 & Sunday, October 27

 

I will be presenting the Climate Reality Project's material the last weekend in October two times. Both presentations are 60 minutes long with Q&A following. Both will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Geneva at the corner of 2nd and James. 

Friday, October 25, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary.

Sunday, October 27, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. in the Common Room.

This presentation will review the science of why this is happening, present current climate events over the last several years, and suggest solutions to this crisis. Actions individuals can take to address this crisis will also be covered. Admission is free for both events.

I tell those who attend my presentations the following three things: 

• This IS the crisis of our lifetime and you need to pay attention to this. 
• It doesn't have to be this way!
• Everyone has a role to play in addressing this crisis. (And there are no small roles!)

Please spread the word! Looking forward to sharing this information with you!

More on the 'Sun is Just Hotter Now' Myth

Just found this video on Skeptical Science this evening and had to share. It's short, sweet and loaded with science fact that's easy to follow.

• Smoking gun evidence right here: Troposphere, lower atmosphere is warming as the Stratosphere, upper atmosphere is cooling.
• The planet warms at the same rate at night as it does during the day.
• More warming in winter than in summer.
• More warming at the poles than at the equator.

'Windows to the Universe' by Randy Russell

And be sure to watch the latter bit that addresses a well-worn and false argument that it's sun spot activity. Nope. It's not those crazy sunspots either no matter how the data is cherry picked.

It's Climate Change.

Let us all do something about it rather than focus on a few diehards who continue to throw up poorly reasoned arguments that obscure the crisis at hand and waste valuable time.  

See my earlier post:
Isn't the Sun Really Just Hotter Now? 

Isn't the Sun Really Just Hotter Now?

The Sun

Question: Isn't the Sun Really Just Hotter Now? 

Short Answer: No.

I can see where this would be an easier way of looking at the whole climate change crisis. It's simple, it involves that large yellow orb we all see every day in the sky that we all know is very hot to begin with - so no visuals really needed to illustrate this response to those concerned with climate change.

But unfortunately for proponents of this explanation, Science provides a more complex but not hard to understand view of the actual reality. Indeed, no part of 'the Sun is just hotter now' is true.  

Data from satellite collection (ACRIM) indicates that the energy output of the sun is actually lower now than it was earlier last decade.

 

Data from ACRIM (Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor).

 Satellite measurements of daily (light line) and monthly average (dark line).

Scientists have been observing the sun's solar output since 1979 and have observed that the solar output over an 11-year cycle only changes 0.1 percent.

The global warming that has been observed since the 1950's has not followed this pattern.

When the sun's warming is at it's peak, you would think that both the the lower and upper atmosphere would become warmer as more ultraviolet light is captured. Not so. The lower atmosphere (troposphere), as it traps more greenhouse gases (carbon, methane, etc.), becomes warmer. The upper atmosphere (stratosphere) becomes cooler as less ultraviolet light is able to reach this level because our carbon pollution is becoming more and more dense, trapped in our lower atmosphere.

This graph shows the changes in this dynamic over the past 30 years. This data is consistent with a warming planet from greenhouse gases and not from the solar output cycle. 

 Source: NASA. Graph by Robert Simmon

For more information about the many ways our planet is warming, visit NOAA's 10 Signs of a Warming World.

Talk to your representative and tell him or her your concerns and ask for action to be taken immediately.

I propose that the first step would be to set up a task force of climate scientists and ecologists to discuss the various solutions open to us at this point. As with any crisis, the longer we wait, the fewer the solutions available. Please don't wait and think someone else will address this.

THIS is every human on this planet's problem. Please do your part as it is a vital one and talk about this with your representative in Congress. Not sure who that is? In the United States, find your representative HERE.

My Open Letter to My Congressman #1: Please take a Leadership Role on the Climate Crisis

Dear Representative Hultgren,

As a member of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, I urge you to support a task force addressing the ongoing Climate Change crisis. As a parent, I am quite sure you share my concern for our children's future. We both want them to enjoy the best that Life can offer them. We both want them to be healthy, find love, and raise a family, find a calling and follow it truthfully. This we share, I know it. What we do not share - yet - is a concern for our climate's health. I hope to convince you of this crisis that is threatening our children's future starting with this letter.

A few years ago, when you first took office as representative of our District 14, I called and was given a 15 minute interview with you to discuss my concern about climate change. We met in your local district office one afternoon. I delivered a copy of an article from Forbes describing the economic disaster that awaits us if we do not address this crisis in a timely way and a DVD that I felt strongly put the case forward that the crisis is now and needs to be addressed immediately. I was warned by friends and family that it was a fool's errand and not to bother as you could not be swayed, that you were firmly in the 'denier camp'. I thought, and still do, that we are both humans on a journey. We both hope the best for our country, we both are parents. And given enough information, that you would eventually see the truth and choose to act to address this crisis as our District's representative, as you, above all others in our District, have the power to talk about this in Congress and on the national stage and affect the change that needs to happen. I am asking you to take the lead on this on your committee and in your caucus for all of our sakes.

I was initially saddened to receive your letter a month after we met, a form letter that thanked me in a generic way for the unnamed concern I expressed about an unnamed topic and made no mention of the articles I gave you for review or that we even met face to face. Having recently been inspired to pursue this cause again, I thought I would again try to convince you that you do indeed need to take a leadership role on this issue. For your review, I would like to direct your attention to the recent opinion piece written by four former EPA directors who served during the four past Republican administrations titled A Republican Case for Climate Action. (See enclosed)

I will also be chronicling what I hope to be a discussion with you on my blog Exploring the Green Road to give hope to others who are writing their Congressional representatives who are not now actively addressing this most important crisis of our lifetimes.

Sincerely,

Monica Jenkins
Constituent of District 14

Climate Reality Leadership Corps: More on the Training and Presentations

The Chicago Area Climate Leadership Corps.
Photo taken August 1, 2013 by Franc Acevedo after the McCormick Place Training Event.

Earlier this month, I attended a training at McCormick Place. in Chicago, Illinois hosted by the Climate Reality Project. Along with 1300 people from 70 countries and all 50 states, I was trained to present the latest version of material that Al Gore has personally been presenting for the past 30+ years. We joined a group of 7000-strong volunteers who are presenting the material in variety of ways - presentations, letters to editors, blogs, articles, etc - all over the world.

I wrote of my Climate Reality Leadership Corps training earlier here (Myth Busting August 16, 2013) and will reiterate what I felt was the most important point again - Mr. Gore stressed that we only deliver the truth as we know it, in the spirit of Satyagraha, regarding what is happening with the climate. There are so many untruths being spread - the worst being that this is not a problem now, an idea largely promoted by those who are benefiting from this ignorance with profits from the fossil fuel industries and unfortunately there are far too many who still believe them.

This is a complex topic and there is no one person who can hold all the latest facts and figures in their heads. Even Mr. Gore gave his presentation with the assistance of two climate scientists who were adding deeper explanations of particular sections of material presented. Fortunately our goal is not to hold all the facts in our heads and spew them out at people. Our goal is to spread the word that this is happening, to tell the story of why this is important now, to point out who has been and who will be affected, and most importantly - to get people talking about this crisis and to stop ignoring it so We. Can. Address. This. Crisis. Ignoring it has cost us dearly and so much of what we love about our earth, the creatures who live here with us will pay for that silence with extinction. It is possible, if we act together now, future effects of climate change may be lessened.

I am speaking publicly at two events locally the last weekend in October. If you live in the Northern Illinois area, you are welcome to attend. There are a number of private events I will be speaking at and presenting this material. If you can't make the two public events and can't wait for the next public event I post here, invite me to speak to your group. I would prefer to present the material for 60 minutes and then follow with a question and answer period but that presentation time can be reduced to 30-45 minutes. The presentations contain climate change science facts as well as list possible solutions and actions individuals can take in their families and communities.

PLEASE NOTE: These presentations, given on a volunteer basis, are free of charge to the host organization. If there are traveling costs, the host may be asked to cover those expenses.

Friday, October 25, 7:00 p.m.Friday Focus: Climate Reality
Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva
2nd and James Streets, Geneva, Illinois 60134

Sunday, October 27, 1:00 p.m. Munch & Learn: Climate Reality 
(Please RSVP as lunch will be served)
Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva
2nd and James Streets, Geneva, Illinois 60134

If you would like to schedule a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps to speak to your group, you can find one here no matter where you live. Some of the volunteers provide discussion of the effect of climate change around a specific topic: healthcare, family, religion, business.

I started this blog in 2008 to discuss the Green Revolution I saw unfolding in front of me. I viewed it as one of the most creative and revolutionary things to happen to our civilization since the Industrial Revolution. I have restarted blogging here now as I see this revolution as a beacon of hope for our future. If you are interested in the larger ideas that may propel us forward into a new and better day, search this blog for 'Big Idea'. If you are looking for ideas on how you can change your lifestyle and revamp your spirit, search this blog for 'Things to Do'. As this blog grows, no doubt these will become their own sections - but for now a simple search should suffice.

Thank you most kindly for reading my words here. Never doubt though that you have a role to play in this great drama unfolding in front of us. You make a difference with each act you take, each choice you make - from the purchases you make at the store, to the car you drive (or choose not to drive), to the way you garden, to the way you spend your time.

The actions you choose send ripples out every day and 

those around you will benefit by your example... or not. 

You decide. 

One my favorite quotes from Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.

“People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.” 

Dorothy Day

Myth Busting

Chicago CR 07312013. Photo by Gabriel Zurita Holder / Photoshop by Lilia Villa

  
Humans put a man on the moon, cured smallpox, and created a computer that can fit in your pocket. 

Deniers claim it’s too hard to build a clean energy future, but that’s a myth you and I can destroy.     

~ Al Gore



I attended a three-day Climate Reality training earlier this month and officially joined a global movement of volunteers who are determined to get us all talking about solutions to the Climate Crisis. Former Vice President Al Gore led the training and started out the morning referencing Mahatma Gandhi’s term – Satyagraha. Gandhi based his entire life’s work around this term - loosely translated it means "insistence on truth’ or ‘Truth Force’. This word is a combination of two Sanskrit words that Gandhi linked together.

Gandhi wrote:

I have also called it love-force or soul-force. In the application of satyagraha, I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one’s opponent but that he must be weaned from error by patience and compassion. For what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on the opponent, but on oneself.

That term was at the core of his non-violent actions that changed the British Empire and gained India her independence. 

And so our training began with the insistence that we tell others about Climate Change with kindness, patience, and to always tell the truth. If we do not know the answer, we must say so and get the up to date information back to whoever asked the question.

I am not, as many of you know, a climate scientist or a specialist of any kind. I am a human, like you, living on this planet. I, like you, have a role to play here addressing this issue. And I am 100% convinced that we must act together to solve this problem starting now - if you haven’t personally started already.