Saturday, March 16, 2013

What Were We Thinking?

I’ve had meals that were “life-altering”, seen movies that “changed my life”, or in my most recent case, spent a weekend at the Super Bowl in New Orleans that, despite my team’s loss, was agreed by my friends and me to be the “best weekend of our lives”. But there are only a few moments and experiences that I can look back on as truly life-changing, in that their impact was so monumental that I can trace my path from that moment and know, without a doubt, that I would not be where I am or who I am if they had not occurred.

Exactly five years ago I set foot on Antarctica for the first time. As I reflect on that experience, I recall the exact moment that I knew that my life would never be the same. It was the culmination of moments, really. The people I met, the indescribable beauty I saw with my own eyes, Robert Swan’s inspirational story, the physical and mental challenge of the Drake Passage, and ultimately, a speech passionately delivered by my dear friend, Mark Ware, a former energy executive. He said, “If we don’t do something about the way we use energy – in the next 5 years – in 20 years we’ll look back and say, “WHAT WERE WE THINKING?””.  He went on to say that we must look at everything…consumption, alternative energy solutions, nuclear, and our overall energy mix shifting to cleaner energy. He introduced me to the theory of Stabilization Wedges and the Carbon Mitigation Initiative as an example of forward thinking and realistic solutions.

So, it’s been five years. Here’s some good news:
  • More corporate awareness. Sustainability has become a top agenda item for CEOs of major corporations thanks to investor and stakeholder interest. It was barely on the radar for the vast majority 5 years ago. CFOs are already seeing return on investments in energy efficiency and news ways of working that allow for reduction in travel costs.
  • More public awareness. Schools now teach students about climate change and “green team” is common lingo. Restaurants highlight sustainable food options and eco-friendly alternatives are available for almost any product on a shelf.  Responsible television networks have “green weeks” and produce a large amount of climate-awareness programming throughout the year.
  • Known alternative energy industries like solar and wind energy continue to grow and in some cases are heavily supported by governments.
  • Despite the continued presence of climate deniers (and the media outlets that are funded my them), general perception is that climate change is real and global warming is occurring more rapidly because of the increase to record-high levels of greenhouse gases that humans have been pumping aggressively into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution.
Here’s the bad news:
  • The population has grown to over 7 billion people, with huge demand for energy in developing countries.
  • Coal and oil industry continues to grow in these emerging markets due to low cost and high demand.
  • Energy security concerns and a bad economy have resulted in an absence of meaningful climate change policy in the United States. While strides have been made to reduce dependence on foreign oil, the focus remains on more carbon-intensive energy production and less investment is made in innovative alternative solutions and research.
  • Climate change policy makers have never quite recovered from the failure of COP15 in Copenhagen. No meaningful, binding agreement to reduce CO2 emissions has been reached, despite efforts each year. Federal governments have pitched the ball to city leaders and corporate leaders who are willing to make bold moves and investments toward change. While many results are positive, progress is slower without commitments at a higher level.
  • The Republican candidate for President of the United States joked about climate change at his party’s national convention, leading the group in rousing laughter at the thought of “slowing the rising of the oceans”. Climate change was not brought up once as a topic in any of the three presidential debates.
  • Year over year, super-storms are more frequent and powerful, droughts are longer, fires are more devastating, and seasons are changing, resulting in a new agricultural dilemma.
  • The earth’s atmospheric CO2 level as of February 2013 was 396.80ppm (parts per million), as reported by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s CO2 program at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. When I was inspired to change my life and build a career that focuses on raising awareness of the urgent need to change our ways and address climate change, the atmospheric CO2 level was 385.85ppm. We are moving in the wrong direction.
 
I know I won’t be saying, “WHAT WERE WE THINKING?” in 15 years, because I think about it every day. I hope our world leaders, oil executives, and others who seem to deprioritize solutions to reducing CO2 emissions…well, I hope they start thinking soon.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Imprint Action

Thanks to Jena Saffery for highlighting the impact that Antarctica has had on me in Imprint Action's blog. This non-profit seems like a great one to support...

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

TEDxAntarcticPeninsula

I'm happy to finally be able to share the link to all of the TEDx videos that we shot while on the 2041 IAE2012 expediton. The location was Paradise Bay, Antartica, and was filmed using only renewable energy. Video footage by Kyle O'Donoghue.

Click  HERE to watch!
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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Just One Thing

Happy Earth Day!

Remember this shampoo ad from the 80s? Heather Locklear is explaining that her shampoo is so great, that she told two friends about it, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on...

So, here's my Earth Day Challenge for you: pick one eco-friendly tip to tell two friends about. Ask them to tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on...

I often hear people complain about how it sometimes feels hopeless to care about the environment when big governments are acting too slowly on climate change policy, politicians are spreading negative noise about alternative energy, and polluters just keep going about their business. People seem to have a hard time figuring out how one thing, like changing to more energy efficient lightbulbs in their home, can make a big difference. Well, we are consumers. We buy those lightbulbs. If more and more of us drive the market to produce those bulbs at a better price and better quality, we won't need the regular lightbulbs anymore. Don't  believe me? Well, how do you explain the phase-out of incandescent bulbs in the US and other countries? In that case it was the combined effort of goverment AND a grass roots movement that made a difference. Sure, it requires behavior change and some people prefer incandescent lighting. But they will get used to it, just like we all got used to using cell phones vs rotary phones. Times change, things change, people need to evolve. In this case, for the good of the planet we live on.

So, listen to Heather Locklear. Pick a tip (simply enter "eco-friendly tips" into Google and you'll find a ton to choose from) and tell two friends today for Earth Day. Here's my tip to you:

Don't charge your cell phone overnight. It only takes a couple of hours to charge. Once the battery is charged, you'll just be wasting energy AND money.
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Thursday, March 22, 2012

World Water Day: How You Can Make a Difference

As mentioned previously in this blog, I witnessed the finale of an amazing journey while in Antarctica. My new friends, Joost Notenboom and Michiel Roodenburg, rode their bamboo bicycles from Alaska to Argentina, then joined us on IAE 2012 in Antarctica. The grand finale was a final cycle through ice to the TEDx Antarctic Peninsula stage, where they talked of their amazing journey and shared with us what they've learned in their attempt to raise awareness of the global water crisis.

These aren't just two guys who went on a cool adventure. They found projects to fund along the way...real, tangible projects that can begin to help people - NOW. The project that I'd like to ask you to support will construct 125 home-based water filtration systems in a small community in Columbia. They are just a few Euro away from being fully funded. How great would it be to reach the goal today, on World Water Day?!

DONATE HERE

Thank you!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The New Curriculum: Frozen Planet

Discovery's "Frozen Planet" premiered tonight in the US and in my opinion, should be required viewing for everyone. I'm often asked by people, mostly adults, if I ever see polar bears on my trips to the Antarctic. While I know this is not possible because polar bears are in the North, while penguins are in the South, I've always been fascinated by how many people don't know this. Then I realized that anyone over about 20 years old really never got much of a polar education in school. That changed once climate change began entering conversation, and most kids today know exactly where the polar bears reside. Just an interesting observation, in my opinion...

Regardless, watch Frozen Planet...it's awesome.

Frozen Planet on Discovery

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Dances with Whales

Wish the quality was better, but hopefully this conveys how lucky we were last week in Paradise. With any luck, filmmaker friends with more talent than me and a better camera than my point-and-shoot will provide me with some better video.

Whales in Paradise Bay