Local Global Warming Coalition Convenes

Author: Nicha Rakpanichmanee

Reverend Paul Bortz did not believe that last Saturday's 50-degree weather was a fluke. Neither did the 20-some others at the third planning meeting of the Multifaith Global Warming Action Coalition. On Nov. 29, the group met at St. Stephen's Church and brainstormed a wide array of environmental campaigns.

"We are the environmental action committee of the spiritual community of the Middlebury area," explained Professor of Political Science David Rosenberg, who attended the meeting. He shares the group philosophy that there is a "spiritual obligation to be stewards of the Earth."

"We belong to the land; the land doesn't belong to us," Rosenberg cited an old Native American saying.

Bortz, who also leads the Ripton-based Spirit in Nature program, spearheads the Multifaith Global Warming Action Coalition. Membership includes a long list of religious groups, such as Unitarian Universalists, Congregationalists, Jews, Quakers and Episcopalians. In addition, several environmentally concerned members of Middlebury College have involved themselves over the years. Along with Rosenberg are Sustainable Campus Coordinator Connie Bisson, global warming expert and Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics Richard Wolfson, as well as renowned environmentalist and author, Visiting Scholar Bill McKibben.

In the past, the Coalition has collaborated with many campaigns led by Environmental Quality (EQ). Likewise, some EQ members are regular participants, even board members of the Coalition. Because of academic conflicts, however, only two Middlebury students attended the Nov. 29 meeting. Rachel Cotton '03 is on the EQ Executive Board. Emily Berg '05 is a member of the new student group called Middlebury Initiative for Sustainable Development (MISD).



Local Plans to Save the World



The Coalition resolved to initiate several campaigns to reduce local emission of greenhouse gases. Emphasis was on a positive campaign, promoting fuel-efficient cars and other environmentally conscious decisions. The majority at the meeting wanted to avoid the "offensive" nature of an anti-Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) campaign, for example.

"Personally, I was a little disappointed that the whole group did not want to be anti-SUV," said Bortz. The idea of placing mock tickets on SUVs surfaced during discussion. "One minister said it was offensive. I think it's offensive to destroy God's creation all around us. For me, the Earth and God's creation are two terms for the same thing."

As voiced at the meeting, another reason for a positive campaign was that virtually everyone knew the car dealers in town.

The Coalition, however, did agree overwhelmingly on the many dangers posed by global warming. McKibben cited evidence that by 2050, there could be no winter in Vermont.

The New England Regional Assessment (NERA) projected a six to 10 degree increase in average annual temperature of the six New England states and upstate New York. Published in 2001, NERA is one of 16 regional climate analyses nationwide, conducted at the request of the Presidential Science Advisor in response to the Congressional Act of 1990.

According to NERA, if the six-degree rise is added to the 30-year annual average temperature in Boston, Mass. (51.3 degrees from 1961-1990), the result is about the equivalent of the 30-year annual average temperature in Richmond, Va. (57.7 degrees). Similarly, if a 10-degree increase is added, Boston's temperature would become the average temperature of Atlanta, Ga. (61.3 degrees).

The projected climate change could affect the weather patterns, animal habitats and species composition of New England, according to an August 2000 study by the Tellus Institute for the World Wildlife Fund, entitled "New England's Global Warming Solutions." The study cited serious threats to the regional economic and recreational sectors.

"There'll be no skiing, no fall foliage, no maple trees, no maple syrup," Bortz explained.

Bortz also noted two issues that he believes to be results of global warming. "Buffaloes went all through November without snow for the first time in 130 years. And in the last 25 years, Lake Champlain has not frozen over half the time. This is in comparison to records kept from about 1830-1855, that only once did it not freeze over. This is a pretty dramatic indication in just 200 years."

One campaign, proposed by McKibben, is to alert Vermont winter enthusiasts to these projections. Ideas that came up during the brainstorming session include passing out literature and talking to people on ski slopes.

"It involves tapping into something that's symbolic of Vermont," said Bisson. "Save Winter. Save Maple Syrup. Save the Foliage. We want to link up with people from that standpoint. Tying into that, we also want to offer them everyday choices that will make a difference in reducing the negative impact on the climate."

Another campaign, strongly advocated by Wolfson, is to reserve a few prominent parking spaces downtown for promoting Low Emission Vehicles (LEVs). LEVs are newly manufactured cars that release less greenhouse gases than allowed by the federal emissions standards. Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and Maine have adopted LEV programs to reduce regional air pollution. As the program becomes fully implemented, the Air Pollution Control Division of Vermont will not register non-LEV vehicles.

The Coalition wants to advertise LEVs as an environmentally friendly alternative to larger, less fuel-efficient cars, like SUVs. The plan is to ask the town for some visible parking spots, as well as religious organizations for reserved spaces in church or temple parking lots. The Coalition will contact local car dealers for available LEVs, and will place literature on the advertised car for passersby.

Another plan, appropriately suggested by Rosenberg, is to lobby Middlebury Selectmen and local organizations on vehicle buying decisions.

Moreover, Rosenberg proposed lobbying state legislatures to avoid any "regressive subsidies," which award quantity discounts for gasoline or electricity.

Some other ideas include placing bike racks at churches and temples and setting up a booth to educate the public about LEVs and global warming during the Middlebury Union High School spring event.



The Challenges of Successful Campaigning



"The goal is to educate people and inspire them to want to change their lifestyle," said Cotton. She sees the positive campaign plans of the Coalition as analogous to EQ's shift this year to more positive campaigning.

"We seem to be rethinking [our campaigning method]," added Cotton. "Something like the anti-SUV program might not be as successful as offering positive solutions, with the Yellow Bike Program, for example."

While optimistic of the public response to a positive campaign, several members of the Coalition recognize the challenges that lie ahead.

Bortz noted the importance of receptiveness on Middlebury campus, in addition to the town. "[The College] is a concentration of the single highest voting population in the country," he remarked. In addition, Bortz cited a survey that found half of the 1,000 cars owned by Middlebury students, faculty and staff to be SUVs.

"I think more awareness needs to be raised," said Ben Brouwer '04, who is on the EQ Executive Board. "It could very well be the role of EQ or MISD or some other groups. But students should be responsible for doing it."

"I don't think anyone is particularly well-educated on the global warming issue, except for a very small number of people," said Wolfson. "It's a complicated subject, and there are a lot of grounds for misconception."

"We're not going to require that everybody take a course on global warming," he continued. "This is not a College problem; i
t's country-wide. There isn't a lot of controversy about global warming. But the problem is that people who don't believe in global warming are very vocal and very well funded. They don't understand that there is a very firm consensus on the part of the scientific community that global warming is happening."

The Coalition also hopes for energetic student participation in this year's campaigns. Bortz is optimistic from experience. He noted about two-thirds of last year's participants in the Bike to Work Day Parade were Middlebury students.

As for the fact that only two students were able to make the Coalition meeting, Bortz said, "Students don't seem too big on planning. They like to do stuff."

"I think [students] are relatively active," said Rosenberg. "But it's very seasonal. They have a different rhythm of involvement from the town. On the whole, townspeople are more involved on a year-round basis. Students are move involved when they don't have exams."

However, the question of involvement may rise above time commitment, in Wolfson's opinion.

"Ten to 20 percent of the land area of Bangladesh will be underwater if the projections are true," he said. "Do we have a responsibility of relocating these people when we emit 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases and when the United States. is one of the countries refusing to go along with the Kyoto Protocol? That's an ethical question people should be asking themselves."