How many times do we have to get bumped on the head to wake up and change our old ways? Think of the pelican losing the struggle for its life in the 39 million barrels of oil already released by the gushing wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico. That pelican is a symbol of the shrimper families, the hotel owners, the sick cleanup crews, the dead drill rig workers, my friend who is a Realtor in the Destin, Fla., area known for its pristine white beaches, and the unique and vital Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and its wetlands and marshes.
But the pelican is also the symbol of the dead miners in the Massey coal mine in West Virginia, the 542 metric tons of radioactive waste in Wiscasset (Wall Street Journal, June 2); the radioactive fish near Vermont Yankee (Bangor Daily News, May 31); as well as the 500,000 gallons of cancer-causing benzene released in the air over British Petroleum’s refinery in Texas this spring.
What about the unusual global climate events this year — floods, wildfires, blizzards, hurricanes, record heat and tornadoes — bringing not only financial but human health, social, psychological and environmental losses. So much pain has been and is being caused by greed and the lack of foresight and willingness to set a new energy path.
On May 19, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences released “Advancing the Science of Climate Change,” which concluded “Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for — and in many cases is already affecting — a broad range of human and natural systems.” One hundred and eighty-two nations met in Bonn, Germany, June 1-11 to set a framework for limiting greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.
If there was ever a time when events are screaming for us to change, it is now. Here are three examples:
Johnson Controls tells of the retrofit of the Empire State Building that will make it 38 percent more energy efficient, saving $4.4 million in annual energy costs and paying for itself in three years. (Wall Street Journal ad, June 1).
“Setting the Course for Deepwater Offshore Wind” tells of the 15,000 potential jobs created, energy research and resulting economic development, plus sustainability effects from offshore wind. Federal money is helping fund this effort — thanks to our congressional delegation’s efforts. (Insert in the Maine’s newspapers June 4-5).
The ad from Shell Oil about their 25-year-old annual ecomarathon that supports teams to improve vehicle efficiency. In 2009 the winning vehicle traveled 8,870 miles on the equivalent of one gallon of fuel. (Financial Times, June 1).
Adding insulation, replacing your old vehicle, furnace or refrigerator — all of these things save energy, reduce costs and have fast payback as well as reduce emissions.
The Senate has a variety of climate and energy bills that I urge be merged and passed this summer. Two key votes are from our Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of whom have been strong supporters of climate and clean energy legislation in the past and both of whom are working on current efforts. Sen. Collins is the originating co-sponsor of the Collins-Cantwell CLEAR bill.
In 2008, Sen. Snowe spoke on the floor of the Senate in support of previous climate legislation. Her statement is as relevant now:
“This is not a Democratic issue; it is not a Republican issue. It is not a conservative or liberal issue. This is a human issue. It is a planetary issue. It is a moral issue. It is a matter and a question of stewardship, of responsibility not only to ourselves and the world in which we live, but, most critically, to a future we will never inhabit but will largely determine based on decisions we make now … The bottom line is, this debate is no longer a question of science. It is now a question of our political will to provide solutions to these problems … I have not come lightly or lately to this debate … as far back as 1988 … So I am left to wonder exactly how far down the road we would be now if we had acted then.”
Please act now, Sens. Snowe and Collins.
Pamela Person of Orland is a co-founder of the Coalition for Sensible Energy and Maine Global Climate Change.