CLIMATE CRISIS AND CITIZENSHIP

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CLIMATE CRISIS AND CITIZENSHIP
Mary Christina Wood Philip H. Knight Professor of
Law University of Oregon School of Law Available
at http//www.law.uoregon.edu/faculty/mwood/
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• THE CLIMATE CRISIS
• GOVERNMENTS ROLE
• THE VICTORY SPEAKERS
• RELOCALIZATION

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PART I THE CLIMATE CRISIS
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How Global Warming Works
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70 Million Tons of Carbon Every Day
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Carbon lingers 100-1000 years in the atmosphere
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CARBON LEVELS WERE INCREASING BY 3 EVERY YEAR
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Each gallon of gasoline sends 20 lbs of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.
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1000 Years of CO2 and Global Warming
Degree Celsius Increase
Parts Per Million
1800
1000
1200
1400
1600
2000
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000


Year
Year
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Average Global Surface Temperature for 2001-2007
Relative to 1951-1980
Temperature Change
Mean Increase 0.54C in only 7 years
Fahrenheit equivalent 1 rise so far, and 2.6
in the pipeline
- Source Hansen
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The polar ice cap in the Arctic may have no more
summer ice by 2012.
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Discharge from major Greenland ice streams is
accelerating markedly.
- Prof. Konrad Steffen, Univ. of Colorado
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Effects of Global Warming
Water Shortages
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I don't think the American public has gripped in
its gut what could happen We're looking at a
scenario where there's no more agriculture in
California I don't actually see how they can
keep their cities going either. Steven Chu,
Secretary of Energy under President Obama
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Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in China supply
the Yangtze River, which provides 40 of Chinas
water
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• Portage Glacier, Alaska

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News, February 9-10, 2009
Los Angeles Drought Prompts Call for Drastic
Action. By Phil Willon, LA Times, February 10,
2009. Beijing Fights Drought as Wheat Fears
Rise. By Jamil Anderlini, FT, February 10,
2009. Argentine Drought Withers Agriculture and
Kills Over a Million Cows. By Joshua Partlow,
Washington Post, February 9, 2009 90 of State
of Victoria, Australia, Experiences Record Heat.
By Marian Wilkinson, Sydney Herald, February 10,
2009.
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Effects of Global Warming
Increased Temperature
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117 F IN MELBOURNE
furnace-like conditions
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Effects of Global Warming
Dying Forests
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Raging Wild Fires
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They resembled less a wildfire than a massive
aerial bombing. Firefighter in the town of
Labertouche, east of Melbourne, on February 7,
2009
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B B Complex fire 100,000 acres, Central
Oregon, Metolius River Basin
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Effects of Global Warming
Hurricanes
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Children are likely to suffer disproportionately
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Policy
Statement, Global Climate Change and Childrens
Health, October 29, 2007
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Effects of Global Warming
Rising Sea Levels
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Effects of Global Warming
Species Extinction 25-30 of species are
threatened by climate change
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(No Transcript)
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Environmental Refugees
UN estimate -- 50 million environmental refugees
by 2010, 150 million by mid-century.
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Global warming threatens "not simply the Earth,
but the fate of all its species, ?including
humanity" Jim Hansen, Leading Climate
Scientist, NASA
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If we keep doing exactly what we are doing
today,. . . the world in the latter part of this
century wont be fit to live in. James Gustave
Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry
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The Earth is in imminent peril from carbon
emissions. Our continued carbon pollution will
cause a transformed planet. Jim Hansen et al.
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DANGEROUS FEEDBACK LOOPS
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OCEAN SINK TURNING INTO SOURCE
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Dying Oceans
Acidic oceans need urgent action BBC
News January 30, 2009
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Dying Forests Turning from Sink to Source
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(No Transcript)
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• Melting permafrost a potential atmospheric
  tsunami
• FRED PEARCE, WITH SPEED AND VIOLENCE WHY
  SCIENTISTS FEAR TIPPING POINTS IN CLIMATE CHANGE
  (Beacon Press 2007)

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THE ALBEDO FLIP
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• THE TIPPING POINT
• 383 parts per million
• 350 parts per million to
• stabilize climate

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The crystallizing scientific story reveals an
imminent planetary emergency. We are at a
planetary tipping point. - Jim Hansen, NASA
scientist
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Billions of Metric Tons Carbon


Goal Reductions in CO2 Per Year
2007
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Our Goal
Billions of Metric Tons Carbon


Gigaton Carbon
Reductions in CO2 Per Year
2007
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End Coal

• One more new coal fired plant with its lifetime
  emissions of CO2 could be the straw that breaks
  the camels back.
• - Jim Hansen, leading climate scientist

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The Earth is now in a state of planetary
emergency - DAVID SPRATT PHILIP SUTTON,
CLIMATE CODE RED THE CASE FOR A SUSTAINABILITY
EMERGENCY
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II. GOVERNMENTS ROLE
ALL LEVELS MUST BE INVOLVED LOCAL, STATE,
NATIONAL
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• Two-thirds of the greenhouse gas pollution
  emitted in this country is pursuant to
  government-issued permits.
• GERRARD ET AL., GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND U.S.
  LAW 259 (ABA 2007).

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Government is treating the future survival of our
children as a political issue
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ADAPTATION HELPING PEOPLE SURVIVE IN 2.6 DEGREE
F. RISE

• WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU?

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No orphan shares can be left behind.
The U.S. is responsible for 30 of the worlds
carbon emissions. Every city, every county,
every state must reduce its carbon output.
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THE OTHER CRISES
PEAK MONEY

• PEAK OIL
• PEAK MONEY

PEAK OIL
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• III. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
• This is all hands on deck time.
• - David Orr, Chair, Environmental Studies
  Program, Oberlein College, in The 11th Hour

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THE WWII VICTORY SPEAKERS
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CLIMATE VICTORY SPEAKERS
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Not guilty the Greenpeace activists who used
climate change as a legal defense
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knowing they only had one sort of pixel in this
incredible mosaic - Bruce Mau, Creative
Director, Bruce Mau Design, in The 11th Hour
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What is your carbon footprint?
The average American produces 20 TONS of carbon
every year!
We can reduce. We must reduce.
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CUT CARBON AT HOME!by 50
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• RELOCALIZE !
• Its not just changing a light bulb . . . Its
  changing your whole way of life.
• Join the Great Family Turning
• SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOOD, TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY

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EAT LOCAL FOOD AND GROW A GARDEN

• 20 MILLION AMERICANS HAD VICTORY GARDENS IN WWII

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Plant a Victory Garden!

• Did you know the Victory Gardens of WWII
  produced 40 of the domestic food supply? Every
  home had a garden! Schools did too!

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Turn
Canning and a root cilo
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ADOPT A NO WASTE, NO PACKAGE ETHIC FOR YOUR
FAMILYRecycle as last resort
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Eliminate Plastic

• Say NO to
• plastic grocery bags
• bottled water
• plastic cups, dishes
• plastic containers (refill in the bulk
• section of your store)
• soda pop

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Think before you buy!

• Products from China and far away places have lots
  of embedded carbon
• Can you find a USA-made, or local product?
• Can you find something without packaging?
• Can you buy it at the thrift store?

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Cut your mileage by 50! - Remember, each gallon
of gas sends 20 lbs of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere
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DONT DRIVE TO SCHOOL OR ACTIVITIES
Each average car emits one pound of CO2 each mile!
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Bike or walk instead!
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Dont Fly
Airplanes are a huge source of emissions. They
put pollutants up in the troposphere.
Wait for the solar airplanes!
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• There isnt one single thing that we make that
  doesnt require a complete remake. . . . This
  generation gets to essentially completely change
  this world.
• - Paul Hawken, environmentalist and best-selling
  author