Environmental Funders Network Program, November 19, 2007
Presenters
Bo Norris, chair of the EFN and trustee of the Lenox Foundation, welcomed the audience and introduced the moderator, Leslie Harroun of the Oak Foundation. Three speakers spoke about the issue of global warming and climate change and what it means for Maine and New England. Dr. Cameron Wake is an ice core paleontologist and research associate professor at the University of New Hampshire's Climate Change Research Center. William Hopwood of JM Hopwood Trust and the Environmental Trust ran an alternative energy company specializing in wind and solar power for 20 years. John Nordgren specializes in land conservation and forestry issues at the Kendall Foundation.
Summary
In its final and most powerful report, a United Nations panel of scientists ... describes the mounting risks of climate change in a language that is both more specific and forceful than its previous assessments, according to scientists here ... "The world is already at or above the worst case scenarios in term of emissions ... we are moving past the most pessimistic estimates of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and by some estimates we are above that red line." said Gernot Klepper of the Kiel Institute for World Economy.
New York Times, November 17, 2007
Two days later, these words haunted the foundations and philanthropists who gathered at the latest program offered by the Environmental Funders Network. The group heard the imperative of the IPCC report, and the central question of the day became: what can funders and nonprofit organizations in Maine do that will make a difference to the issue of climate change? Listeners were urged to understand the issue and the opportunities, participate in community-based carbon reduction projects and direct funds to organizations leading climate change work in Maine.
In an overview of how climate change is projected to affect Maine, Dr. Wake linked his scientific points to overarching issues:
- Human activity is a major driver of that change.
- The future of our climate depends on decisions made in the next decade, starting now; actions of previous decades are determining what is happening to climate today.
Dr. Wake co-led a team of scientists who worked for two years with the Union of Concerned Scientists as part of the Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment to develop the report Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast: Science, Impacts, and Solutions, which was released last July. The report assesses how global warming may affect the climate of the U.S. Northeast under two different emissions scenarios: a "higher emissions" scenario assumes continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels that cause heat-trapping emissions to rise rapidly over the course of the century. The "lower emissions" scenario assumes a shift away from fossil fuels in favor of clean energy technologies, causing carbon emission levels to decline by mid-century. (The IPCC reported that globally we are now already at a level far above the "higher emissions scenario.")
Climate change has already come to Maine in the last 30 years. Winters have warmed 4.3%. We have fewer days with snow on the ground and lake ice-out dates are 1-2 weeks earlier. As a result, ski resorts all make their own snow to keep their businesses going; by the end of the century only western Maine will have skiing and only then if the ski industry is not limited in the amount of water they are allowed to use for snow making. How hot will Maine summers be? Under the "higher emissions scenario," by the end of this century, Maine summers will feel like Virginia's now. Under the "low emissions scenario" Maine summers will be similar to New Jersey and New York.
How will the forests fare? Maine currently has a mix of yellow birch, beech, maple, fir and spruce forests. Under the "high emissions scenario," there will be no more fir or spruce in Maine by the end of the century. Under the "low emissions scenario," the fir and spruce forests would be at risk and eventually move northward, though the birch, beech and maple forests would remain. Oak and hickory from the south would move in. In either case, some of Maine's wildlife species would also change.
It is difficult to accurately calculate the rate of change; current modeling capacity is good for slow changes, but not as precise for abrupt changes. Estimations of the IPCC did not include the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, and if that occurs and the ice sheet collapses, the sea level rise will be around 20 feet.
How can we minimize the impact of climate change? There is increasing consensus that we must aim for a goal of 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
As individuals, we can:
- Know our "carbon footprint" and work to reduce it.
- Speak out in our communities using programs like New Hampshire's Clean Air/Clean Planet, which encourages citizens to set up local climate change committees, work on local carbon reduction strategies, send messages to elected officials.
- Maximize our own energy efficiency.
- Reduce miles traveled in a vehicle, especially in single-occupancy vehicles.
As funders, we can support nonprofit organizations working on projects like the following:
- Community-based programs to educate citizens and encourage them to reduce their carbon emissions and those of their communities
- State policies for energy and transportation efficiency (state policies become models for future federal action)
- Increased use of renewable energy sources including support for wind power permitting
- Reduction of vehicular miles traveled, increase alternative means of transportation away from cars and roads, and encourage investment in telecommuting
- Management of sprawl, alternative means of transportation from cars and roads
- Reduction of coal-fired power plants and encourage energy efficiency, renewable energy, thermal generation, and closing transmission line losses
- Research energy alternatives and assess full risks and benefits for sources like tidal power generation and nuclear power
- Implementation of regional climate change efforts; for example, the Regional Greenhouse as Initiative (RGGI), which requires power plants to reduce carbon emissions as part of a region-wide "cap and trade" system for emissions
- Sustainable economic strategies which build a link between sustainable prosperity initiatives and climate change strategies
- Forest protection, which allows for sequestration, the removal of carbon from the atmosphere by trees
- Research and model projects being done by different groups.
For More Information
The Design to Win report was developed for funders and provides a prioritized list of possible climate change interventions with an estimate of each strategy's expected emissions reduction and cost. The recommendations focus on carbon policy and strategies in five sectors: power, industry, buildings, transportation and forestry. For a full list of carbon reduction strategies identified by the Design to Win study, see the Energy Foundation's report here.
Additional Resources