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.