image by Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Last Saturday, I attended the 350 Conference at Columbia University with Sarah and Rich. Organized by students in the Masters Program in Climate and Society, the speakers looked into climate change from many different angles. Most were scientists, focused on the facts.

NASA’s James Hansen—the outspoken climate change researcher who the Bush administration famously tried to silence—started off the day with an overview of the data that led him to the conclusion that we need to keep CO2 levels at or below 350 parts per million in order to preserve the climate in which we evolved. This is a far lower goal than many suggested levels, but Hansen’s research shows that around 450 ppm, ice melts and cannot refreeze, leading to a sharp rise in sea level and massive catastrophe around the world. He argues for a simple carbon tax—about $1 a gallon, with all the proceeds to be rebated to the American people—to change behaviors and get us off fossil fuels.

Dr. Hansen’s data was convincing, but his presentation (PDF) really made me want to fire up my laptop and edit. I was reminded of the famous case study in Edward Tufte’s Visual Explanations where engineers warned of problems with the Space Shuttle Challenger’s o-rings. Looking through the graphs and tables they presented to make their case, it’s easy to see why the launch was not delayed—the data didn’t tell the story the engineers needed to tell. Likewise, Dr. Hansen’s graphs showed ups and downs without much context as to what makes the curves alarming—except for the one that showed CO2 levels in the atmosphere literally going off the charts.

This theme came back in the next presentation, given by Dr. Daniel Hillel, on the effects of human activity on soil and the relationship between soil and climate change. His topic was fascinating and he offered many positive possibilities to increase the organic content of the Earth’s soils, and thereby increase the amount of carbon stored in them: no-till agriculture, reforestation, usage of cover crops. However, he warned that even with massive changes, gains can easily be lost if we revert to older cultivation methods that strip the soil.

Dr. Hillel was clearly passionate about his subject, and offered one of the best quotes of the day—“I’m an optimist because I don’t know what to do with pessimism.” But he had the same problems with his presentation that Dr. Hansen had, and he actually read big chunks of text—whole pages worth—from his slides.

It might seem like I am harping on this point about the bad presentations. If I am, it is only because it is so desperately important! These scientists have the inside scoop on reality, but if they can’t tell the story in ways that other people can connect with, then how do we build a movement? Maybe truth shouldn’t have to be “marketed,” but I’m afraid that, in this world, at this time, it does. These scientists clearly need some help with this part of their work.

Next up was the speaker I was looking forward to hearing the most—Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx and tireless proponent of greening the ghetto. Carter framed the climate change discussion in human terms, giving examples of how our current dirty energy economy has been subsidized by the physical, mental, and economic health of the poor. We have sold the human rights of poor people around the world, she said, for more and more cheap stuff. And then she exhorted us in the audience to use whatever privilege we have to help turn that around.

One of her ideas to improve the situation centers on horticultural infrastructure in cities—building plants into urban plans from the very beginning—to beautify spaces, clean air, capture carbon, and regulate water flow. This kind of work is as restorative to troubled people as it is to the environment, she said, and it should be part of a comprehensive green jobs program.

She also suggested that when we build a national power grid, we do it in such a way that power is decentralized, so that people in areas with lots of sunshine can sell that power to the grid and it can be delivered where it’s needed.

When she spoke about the decentralization of electrical power, I couldn’t help but think of what a new green economy built by and for all people could do for the decentralization of political and economic power in this country and around the world. With plans like the ones Carter is working on, maybe more of us will connect with the freedom and responsibility we have as citizens of developed and democratic societies. Because, as Carter said at the end of her talk, empowered people who have a stake in the world change the world. So, in building a bright green future, much of our work must be in empowering people, as many as we can, to participate.

I’ll continue with the second half of the day in tomorrow’s post.