Climate and Sustainability News Stories

Let Green Elements Monday's keep you in the know.  Each Monday we will share stories from around the world about environmental issues.  Periodically we will select a topic to write about and share our perspective with you.  Enjoy your week! And thanks for visiting us at Green Elements.
Cotton: Conventional cotton is one of the most chemically-dependent crops, sucking up 10 percent of all agricultural chemicals and 25 percent of insecticides on 3 percent of our arable land; that's more than any other crop per unit.
Environmental Index ranking: Yale University's Environmental Performance Index (EPI), rankingof the United States status.  According to the 2010 the United States has slipped from 39 in 2008 to 61 in 2010.  This is disappointing news and a reminder that we need to be more persistent not relaxed in policies and personal practices of our environmental initiatives.  Keep in mind that as we progress, new light may be shed on what "environmental performance" means.  Also if the parameters are getting stronger, a ranking could also drop.  Let's be thorough in our understanding of all things. Other top ranking countries:
2008 Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland.
2010 Iceland, Switzerland Costa Rica Sweden
Endangered Turtles: Last year 46 endangered Pacific loggerhead turtles were hooked on longlines...  ,their population has declined 80 percent in just two decades.
Uneven Climate Change (ENN)  Scientists are therefore trying to pin down how the warming has affected regional climates because that is what really matters to people...
Cyclone Yasi NASA : CloudSat satellite flew over Tropical Cyclone Yasi and revealed some impressive numbers for the height and width of the storm's clouds. Yasi was a category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph...
The Recycled Port (Science Daily)  In search of a sustainable alternative to dumping at sea or disposal on land,...
Drought in the Amazon (The Independent) the Amazon rainforest last year caused the "lungs of the world" to produce more carbon dioxide than they absorbed, potentially leading to a dangerous acceleration of global warming.
Re: As we continue to examine the impact of human activity, it is critically important that we have comprehensive responses to offset the calamity of overwhelming events  around the world.  If our responses are disproportionate in the minor sense, to the significane of these environmental impacts, we are likely to find oursleves in a compromising position to shift towards more favorable outcomes.  The Amazon plays a key role in carbon sinks as do other parts of the ecological system.
Climate change, housing, and insurance (NYT)...  In Brisbane, Australia, January storms ripped apart a riverside boardwalk— turning a concrete section 150 yards long into a waterborne torpedo.
...one of the world’s largest insurance companies, says climate-related events serious enough to cause property damage have risen significantly since 1980
Re: If the multi-billion dollar a year business of insurance is responsing to climate change relative to affecting their bottom line, it should also serve as a clear indicator that their rising costs and frequence of envets be an indicator to political leaders to respond similarly, by at least the same degree as insurers.

Network Consumption

Utility optimization

By Scotland Willis

Like the nature of recycling and the concept of cradle to cradle, collaborative consumption looks at the advent of social sharing networks commonly known as peer-to peer (P2P) networks; people buying, selling, borrowing, and renting from one another thereby avoiding a retailer- optimizing the usefulness of products and services among individuals.  From Flicker to Facebook, from AirBnB to hundreds of peer-to-peer products and services; this newly defined (compliments of Ray Algar) phenomenon is growing in numerous directions. Collaborative consumption represents a new element in the economy producing a new consumer base that would exist on a much smaller scale without internet technology- the true fabric of P2P networking.  Communication via the internet allows billions of people across vastly different geographies (individuals and groups), the opportunity to connect around the utility of mutually beneficial goods and services.  Put simply you have something with excess surplus and I can utilize that excess surplus which will provide additional (or secondary) benefit to the original owner and primary usefulness to me.

This P2P activity is producing new entrepreneurs and generating revenue in the billions of dollars representing an emerging economic powerhouse while serving other benefits as well.  We are likely looking at the diminishing value of large spaces occupied by retailers who attempt to persuade people to consume new and "improved" products.  Algar sums it up best when he makes the inquiry “What happens when pricing insight becomes accessible and consumers begin to share knowledge?" Essentially people are better informed about products and services, while gaining access to previously hard to complex or out of reach resources.

Algar opened the portal for Rachel Botsman and co-author Roo Rogers to expound on the concept in their book What's Mine is Yours.  Botsman and Rogers do an excellent job exploring the connectivity and concepts therein, along with the economics and behavioral implications.

Here I simply add important-to-consider impact and implications of peer-to-peer (P2P).  It is important to further expand on this emerging phenomenon by building on valuable concepts that enhance the explanation of the P2P consumerism. My guess is that collaborative consumption will continue to evolve; it is not likely to diminish as the economy rebounds-- I see it as an emerging trend that sets new precedence.  Consumers and owners (not producers so not to confuse the concept with manufacturing) are identifying new approaches to usefulness for goods.  Consider this one of many developments that lie ahead for collaborative consumption.

Collaborative consumption embodies only part of what P2P is becoming.  There are a couple of elements that deserve to be addressed in the concept I call product utility optimization.  I use this term because what people's actions are demonstrating is that they are attempting to find creative ways to further utilize products or services.  From distributing workloads to distributing expenses; in some instances people are buying high ticket items, or perhaps making more efficient use of items they possess in communal ways.  One might think of P2P as the great equalizer-- peer utilization.

Wikipedia provides hundreds of millions of people around the world with access to encyclopedic information at no charge, arguably the most efficient benefit possible, consumers in turn of this information, volunteer donations (at least that is the hope).   In my opinion, the idea of collaborative consumption is more about optimization through networking services.  Wikipedia achieves this somewhat altruistically, which leads to the social concept.

As found  in Botsman and Rogers' research, there are thousands of opportunities entrepreneurs capitalizing on those opportunities that are creating this nurturing "groundswell" as they put it.  Some of the more popular P2P include Freecycle, Landshare (in Europe), Netflix, Kazza- too many to mention.  And while at one point, P2P was referred to predominantly in the technology circles such that Netscape created, it has grown into a much broader network where the landscape is accelerating the social fabric of P2P.  Facebook and Twitter are an example of P2P news and information sharing, where messages can be transmitted around the world at near light speed.  All of the aspects of P2P play a tremendously valuable role in society.

What is the social benefit?  One perspective is that it allows people to be equally privileged- an online egalitarian society ; if you can afford it you can have it; if you have access to information or resources you can share it.  No red tape and the all important “S” word simplicity!; perhaps in this case sharing.  The appeal is a combination of both along with other factors.

With product utility optimization the initial consumer may be making their purchase because their consumer surplus consist of functionality towards their need and not necessarily price; the secondary consumer is more likely seeking as their primary benefit a combination of  cost savings + social benefit.  In their mind they are achieving or exceeding the value the initial purchaser received if the product enables them to achieve full utility of that resource for their needs.

In a second example we can consider an individual who owns a condo.  Suppose they have an empty space and choose to make the space available on Airbnb (a P2P room and home sharing service that generates revenue for the owner).  The peer utility allows the peer owner to be matched with the peer user optimizing the empty space.  One generates revenue where there would have been none, the peer user benefits by utilizing a space at what is usually a much lower cost with much higher benefits than a comparative price they might have paid if choosing a traditional hotel.

Where does this lead us and what are other benefits?  Referring back to the cradle to cradle concept; reduce, recycle, reuse, repair (4R's) and Botsman says redistribute. At this point the product is changing ownership.  I believe redistribute is implicit in the reuse concept of the 3R's with the exception of when ownership is changing hands.  Nonetheless, we use fewer resources when we reuse products and thereby reduce the taxation on the natural resources and the environment that results from traditional approaches in consumerism i.e, reducing hyper consumption.

From a social perspective we have large groups of people from all around the world that can participate in the free market concept without a middle man and as mentioned earlier. In large groups many people can gain leverage to negotiate the price of products ranging from oil to televisions.  People also assemble around the notion of being able to utilize what they need most without assuming full responsibility for the expense i.e. Zip Car, kind of like a distributive welfare and accountability system.  The key word is system.   We are looking at an intricate network of multiple systems organized around the multiple needs of people, exponentiating the utility of a good or service.

These emerging industries are intricate systems of like minded people seeking take advantage of not just psychological surpluses in economic terms, but take advantage of the physical surplus that both the owner of an existing good and secondary consumer of that good acknowledge.  This product serves two utilities because it may no longer be of any use to the one, but an amazon.com can optimize its utility without that product going to waste, to the other peer, it results in a secondary value system.

Google does this by enabling share ware and non-proprietary or open source software- efficiency yields a social efficiency that results in less restrictive environments.  Less restrictive environments mean more people have access.  People who embrace this system seem to pursue and desire the liberal (from a non-political perspective) informal attributes.  With greater access to information they become resident experts which also requires an element of self confidence, something you don necessarily gain with retailers.

Trust is another concept that Botsman refers to as the cornerstone of collaborative consumption, and I agree.  While I am not suggesting definitively, that trusting people flock to this environment, I am suggesting that the trust profile (in part) make up a segment of the value added in a P2P environment. Though I would argue that when someone developes a rating system that tracks trustability and applies it to the general online population, the system will lose much of the character it currently enjoys.

Mike Reynolds, founder of Earthship Biotecture demonstrates many of these social value systems mentioned in this article in his architectual Earthship project, where individuals commit to contribute to building a community with little financial output in exchange for 1) preserving natrual resources and helping to build homes.   As in Earthship and other examples, people exchange and share resources with little more than a verbal agreement(ride sharing or swap tree), in all these examples trust is a paramount attribute.  The risk is relatively small compared to the percieved value of being a merchant, executing a trade or share, and successfully feeling like a part of a community without boarder relative to judging your personal character.

Unrestricted resources enable people to connect at low to no cost products which fosters a greater social network, it is an enabler which also fosters resulting in a more egalitarian marketplace.  Craigslist provides individuals with an endless resource to sell products or services, assemble around a common interest (e.g. ride sharing, match making etc).  There are very few restrictions (which have also resulted in legislative pressures to modify certain policies), but in general Craigslist is tremendously successful as their model operate world wide at zero or very modest cost to P2P users.  It is not unusual to find people gloating about how they found a car, lamp, plant, book or clothing on Craigs list free or inexpensively.  These borderless communal opportunities connect people in expansive ways, which people embrace the service and one another . Many price prohibitive barriers have been removed thereby creating greater access to a wider community of people.  People develop individual equity solely based on their results- a tremendous social value.

Peer to peer utility optimization, collaborative consumerism and whatever other language P2P networks might assume, it is anything but temporary.  P2P is a new and component to our society that is likely to improve society, the market place, the environment, and multitude of areas the have and have yet to be explored.  The trend of utility optimization is not new, some might recall a time when grand parents or earlier generations saved everything for another purpose; no this is simply a more innovative approach to allowing the world to look at yet another use for that galss jar.

Psychological Filters of Climate Change

by Scotland Willis
Whether you are a believer in climate change or not, the intensity of your belief passes through many filters.  This is one of the many things preventing the kind of progress which advocates for climate change would like to see.
Opponents, on the other hand, lack research infrastructure, attempting to manipulate and falsely extrapolate intensely researched data from climate experts- not advocates.

Researchers from Yale University published a book titled Global Warming's Six Americas.  They examine varying degrees of individual's perception on climate change.  More extreme views for immediate action(which might include shutting down all coal fired power plants,) make up a small percentage of environmental activists.  You could easily put Jim Hansen in this category.  Though a renowned scientist, he is becoming increasingly recognized as an aggressively staunch environmentalist, rather than scientist.  But like many people, Hansen has likely become frustrated with the tree sap pace implementation of legislative, social, and industrial (policies, lifestyle and operations) respectively, and the commitment to reversing human induced climate change.

Opponents of climate change concern's have a line to tow, depending on the degree of opposition.  Even starlet opponents such as Bjorn Lomborg, who lead a study sponsored by Copenhagen Consensus funded by the IMF, to address what the most pressing issues are facing humanity and how to prioritize them; Lomborg noted the environment is not a priority in his comments.  Claims by legitimate scientist counter Lomborg's opinions as fabricated and deliberately distorted.  Lomborg lacks fundamental insights to science and is not qualified to contest the evidence put forth by most climatologist; and as the evidence mounts his opposition continues to wilt.

Because human activity on the Earth is also directly related to conflict on the Earth(environmental, social, economic and otherwise) setting priorities will grow increasingly difficult- but making the right choices is paramount.  In a recent discussion with a friend who had come up with a model for saving polar bears that are dying because of melting ice caps; he asked for my opinion.  I was forced to ask him a series of provocative questions challenging the invention, for which he was not prepared to receive.  As it turned out he neglected to consider a number of ecological unintended consequences.  Opponents often don't support their arguments with hard data because of such oversights.

Heavily disputed IPCC's work happens to have 831 scientists and researchers in the fifth climate report they will generate.  For whatever data they omit from their report, we still have to recognize the strength of the caliber of talent this body is made up of.  If the strongest argument for opponents of climate change is  that data was left out; which it was, there arguments will continue to fall apart.  It is important to understand that government leaders specifically asked that IPCC research include significant data that might present insight to the most challenging environmental issues.  That would imply that some pressing matters may not take priority over others- report back to us on those matters.  Also universities, and other governing authorities as well as the National Academy of Sciences verified that the work was not compromised in terms of ethics or procedure and is in fact valid.

Ultimately individual people will have to amass enough knowledge to influence government to set environmental policies.  Knowledge helps to persuade government of a matters significance.  And because of the force of lobbyist against climate change policies, consumers must be able to consistently present formidable arguments capable of becoming mainstream thinking- but that requires a change.
Our perception of the cost of goods is skewed in the United States, resulting from a long standing feeling of entitlement.  Cheap fuel, merchandise and taxes all make the United States very appealing but we have a lot to learn about the impact of our amenities.  When we learn to adapt to a higher cost of living for the resources we use we will become a nation of advocates and revolution will be a mantra that is not as painful as it is in its current form.

Thomas Friedman author of Flat Hot and Crowded suggests that we are not even on the cusp of an environmental revolution; in a real revolution there are winners and losers.  That means no cheer leaders, society is much more sophisticated than that.  An environmental revolution will set policies that say either you get on board or get in the water and hope for the best.  There is no compromise . The environment is not going to wait and give us a few more years until we get our house in order.  Friedman was right when he said, the dot com revolution created leaders and those who got left behind- you got it or you didn't.  We need an environmental vision that powerful.

There are very specific reasons we are going to experience what I call Climate Strange, because the climate will always change; but the strange occurrences will increase in frequency.  This is a broader topic I will address in the near future.

Each of us needs to get out of our comfort zone and do something to advance a reversal of our carbon footprint.  There an abundance of evidence and numerous experts indicating the urgency of climate change.  If we fail to acknowledge as a nation the matter before us in the environment; and if we don't make it a national priority(which means creating jobs, investing in research and development and positioning the United States to be a leader in the industry of environmental products and innovation)  we will no longer be identified as a leading nation among our global counter parts.

Scotland Willis is an environmental strategist, lecturer and advocate.  He is currently a dual Masters candidate at Tufts in Environmental Engineering and Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning.  He is a management consultant in systems and large scale change and is a columnist/ photographer for environmental issues.

Human Activity ...In Flames

Not far from the Caspian Sea lies the crater the crater 328 feet wide.  It is the result of gas exploration in Turkmenistan during the early 1970's.   Incidence such as this are a stark reminders that can penetrate psychological barriers that block understanding of the need to protect natural environment.  Here we see evidence that indicates the prevalence of poor judgement, detrimental when exploiting the natural environment.

Located Near the village of Derweze in the Karakum Desert, it is an easy reminder that we need more foresight when embarking on new "oppotunities" so that we proceed with the proper amount of caution.  There is a balance to preservation and the impact of human activity that will allow us to avoid leaving disasters such as this in our wake-- Deepwater Horizon is a reminder of that as well. This particular incident, has  been exacting its revenge for nearly 40 years now and continues to burn today.  This incident occurred near a 350 person village of Derweze and the risks associate with that population are no in my perview as of yet.
Location link Derweze (gass flame crater)
video link: Derweze in falmes

Never Before in History

Never before in history have all social components of society been on the verge of collapse. Politics, family, economy, religion, education.  The question we are left with then is what do we do?  Before we decide that it is important to look back in history.  This article simpley acknowledges that we need to address these issues and that we are running out of time.  I can't say that the threshold is but it certainly seems as though we are approaching many of them simultaneously.
Looking at the following list, it is difficult to put them in their correct:  Native Americans were clearly established in North America first, but problems arise with each cultural category where do you place African Americans and Women on a timeline when considering historical impacts and implications?  So this order reflects the experience and when major events occurred in no particular order of significance.  African Americans could have a slave experience and a historical experience based on civil rights.  These nuances would consume too much time and I would lose lots of readers.  So for practical purposes I have just chosen to list them in no particular order.
Native American History American; Explorers- Colonial Period 1772- 1786-; The Revolution 1787- 1820- The New Nation; 1820-1855- Antebellum;  The Civil War Period 1865-1897- Reconstruction and Industrialization  1897-1920 World Stage; The Twenties;  The Depression  World War II; Postwar America 1945-1960; The Sixties and Civil Rights- 1960-1974; ; African American History; America 1975-2010 Women's History.
 If you look back to the Native American period, they had education, agriculture, trade etc.  During North American colonization education, economic growth, religion and family values were prevalent.  Even during the Revolution and Civil War, the family unit was essential; despite the intra-family conflicts that occurred families though fragmented, were bound by the pursuit of freedom, prosperity, and agriculture and beyond.  During the formation of the New Nation people coalesced around the idea of independence from Europe and a sense of determining their own fate-- people in control of their own destiny.  Again during Antebellum people were still heavily dependent on the family unit.  Towns and communities were designed for security and social enhancement.  While more people died in the Civil War than at any other time, in U.S. history, it was also a time of growth from agriculture to war as a stimulus for manufacturing and again families worked to populate those who were sacrificed during the war.  Re construction and industrialization revolutionized the world.  New innovations and some of the greatest minds continued to flow into the U.S.  This was a great period of thinking.  World War I and World War II posed more challenges to the United States but it continued to wield its influence as a new comer to the world state, making a name for itself and creating a real presence as a force to be reckoned with.  African American experience stretches from slavery to Civil Rights and beyond, the same could easily be said for the feminist movement and women's rights. 
 But what lead us up to today where religion is not only disruptive but in deep conflict all around the world.  What is responsible for the world economy collapsing?  Why have our family units been dismantled? Why has faith and trust in politics and government gone by the wayside? And why is the state of education look more like the state of chaos?  One thing I can guarantee you is that I do not have the answer, rather this is a wake up call to everyone.
 No one president, leader, organization or government; religious or academic institution is responsible.  My point here is only that each (politics, family, economy, education, and religion) is on the brink on destruction or collapse a place we have never been before.  We are in need of more than just a change in health care; we are in need of more than educational or banking reform.  Nothing Planned Parenthood or right to lifers can do will change the course we are currently on.  And to top it all off we are destroying the very environment we depend on to sustain human life as we know it.  Don't pray about it, fix it.  We need to do and be something revolutionary that will transform the current conditions we face as a society-- as a human race.  If we do not we will surly perish.
 There is much that has not been captured here but we must begin to look at things differently.
This topic requires a much broader conversation which I embrace; but we have a problem greater than any world leader or president, political party, fundamentalist group.  We need to look upon it that way and fix it not the part of it.  We have our priorities wrong and we are not doing anything to create a holistic change.  We must look at all of these components and begin mapping out a revival plan that is strategic and deliberate.  I am amazed we have not articulated this argument sooner but we need to have the conversation.