Focus the Nation on the Climate Crisis

I got so absorbed in the Democratic presidential campaign leading up to Super Tuesday (and not to worry, I'm still following it fitfully at American Dash) that I neglected quite a bit else here, including a big Climate Crisis event called Focus the Nation. Over 1500 colleges, universities and high schools, as well as some cities and towns (like my current hometown of Arcata, CA) took part in two days of webcasts, teleconferences and local events: teach-ins, panel discussions, film screenings and both theatrical demonstrations and demonstrations of clean energy technologies.

Here in Arcata there was a little of all of that, both at Humboldt State University and Arcata City Hall. But here--like a lot of places--focusing on the Climate Crisis and clean energy isn't new. The discussions on energy technologies are often very practical, because there are ongoing efforts--the students themselves started a fund a few years ago to participate in designing and installing the kind of changes that will further the university's goal of off-the-grid, clean renewable energy for 100% of the university's energy use. Arcata's Town Hall Meeting is online.

But this isn't all that unusual for campuses, even though it may not be generally known how much work has already been done and how committed faculty as well as students are and have been on this issue for a long time. An impressive example is the University of Vermont, which had over 80 teach-ins and 30 events involving 16 academic departments over five days. During that time, the president of the university announced a new Office of Sustainability, to coordinate efforts and planning. If you know anything about universities, you know that's a powerful commitment, though of course it depends on the follow-through.

Still, this sort of thing is great for spreading the word, getting people to see each other and renew or deepen or even begin their commitment. And it's good for synthesis--for people who've been working on their piece of the solutions, who can share what they're doing, cross-fertilize ideas and get new ones. Plus it gives everyone an idea of how far along we are as a whole, and where we need to get to next.

These events happened on January 30 and 31, and though they escaped my mentioning them because of the campaign, they didn't escape Barack Obama's. He was a principal endorser of the event, and told students at Clemson University in South Carolina where he was campaigning,"There is an organization called Focus the Nation, which is going to have the largest campus teach in on global warming in United States history right here on the Clemson campus," Obama said. "This is an important issue and I want everyone to be involved with it, everybody to be paying attention. I hope all of you choose to participate, because this is a terrific issue."

But even though the event has passed, the Focus the Nation website suggest continuing efforts, and stresses the importance of voting for leaders--and voting for a President--who will address this issue: The new President and Congress will be setting their agenda—and that agenda will determine if the climate can stabilize at a heating of 3-4 degrees F, or instead 5-10 degrees F... Between now and the end of 2008, we can move this country from a fatalistic acceptance of business-as-usual global warming. We can end the paralyzing sense that our children must accept from us an impoverished planet. We can embrace a determination to act, and hold global warming to the manageable low end.