Must we change? Can we change? Will we change?
These three questions were posed to begin the conference. They were the foundational focus of the week of training at The Climate Reality Training Corps April 26th to 30th, 2021. I had applied to the training in 2019 and was accepted for inclusion in the Las Vegas event in March 2020. COVID canceled the live event. I was fortunate to hook into the virtual event a year later.
The Climate Reality Project was created by former Vice President Al Gore over a decade ago. The mission is “to catalyze a global solution to the climate crises by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.” The project centers on ground up action from a committed critical mass of activists. The main building block of the ground-up coalition is the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.
Over 34,000 people have been trained in 168 countries since 2006. The global network of activists is coordinated by 10 branch offices around the world and 140 chapters in the United States.
I participated in the 46th training event. The event was spread over a full week headlined each day by Al Gore. His live presentations sought to communicate answers to the three questions above. Passion, expertise and devotion jumped through the screen to my eyes and up the cord to my headphones. Surrounding the daily presentations were a wide variety of speakers, topic panel discussions, skill building, breakout small group sessions and some personal interactions. All combined to offer broad appeal to trainees.
With over 600 slides combined and listening to a wide swath of speakers, these 10 concepts pushed to the forefront of my mind to address the three original questions.
- Basics: The sun’s solar radiation in the form of light-waves passes through the Earth’s atmosphere. Most of the radiation is absorbed to warm the Earth. Some energy is radiated back into space by the Earth in the form of infrared rays. As CO2 concentration increases, more outgoing infrared is trapped in the atmosphere which warms the planet further.
- The Issue: 162,000,000 tons of man-made CO2 is dumped in the thin shell of atmosphere like and open sewer every 24 hours. Fossil fuel burning is the largest source of these emissions.
- The Facts: The 7 hottest years on record are the last 7. 19 of the hottest 20 years ever measured are in the last 20 years.
- Extremes: The same extra heat that evaporates more water from the ocean, causes bigger downpours and more intense storms and floods also pulls moisture even more quickly out of soil causing longer and deeper droughts and higher potential for fire. Worldwide extreme weather related catastrophes have quadrupled since 1980.
- The “Cost of Carbon”: Political instability, floods, mudslides, wildfires, droughts, storm damage, ocean acidification, air pollution, infrastructure lose, climate migration, species extinction, melting glaciers, famine. water scarcity, food shortages, ecosystem loss, infectious disease, sea level rise plus…… Climate change is the #1 threat to the global economy.
- Social Justice: The climate issue is a social justice issue. The results of climate change have a much higher and disproportionate effect on those groups of people who have contributed least to the problem — low income and marginalized populations. Must address both to solve both.
- Renewable Supply: There is enough solar energy that reaches the earth every hour to fill the needs of all the worlds energy needs for a full year. Globally, wind energy has the potential to supply worldwide electricity consumption 40 times over. The supply is there — need to build and stitch the infrastructure together.
- Renewable Cost: Since 2009, investment in new generating capacity for energy has doubled for renewables and has been cut by 50% for fossil fuels. The result of past and present investment has energy approaching “grid parity” — the point where the cost of using renewables is at or below fossil fuels.
- Storage: Global storage (batteries) projects to be a $1 trillion dollar industry in the decade(s) to come. Storage is a necessity for reliable energy from renewables.
- Who: Governments (Paris Agreement), investors (renewables offer better returns), companies (290 major companies aim towards 100% renewables), people (people from around the world) are all using their voice, their votes and their choices to fight for the future, communities and the planet.
These 10 capture a taste from the information and experiences at the full buffet offered throughout the week. The overriding theme was cutting CO2 emissions. We have to leave oil, coal, and natural gas sequestered in the ground with its carbon intact. We cannot continue to burn it and release its carbon into the atmosphere.
In analogizing the atmosphere like a bath tub, we have to “turn off the CO2 faucet” and increase the size of the drain (restore ecosystems) to stabilize the climate. Slide after slide combined with speaker after speaker filled my mind with information. As I signed off the final time on the last day, it was not the information that ignited a fire in me.
It was a feeling: A feeling of hope. Dr Katherine Hayhoe described hope as the possibility of something better and knowing we can make a difference. Hope is created out of problems. The training convinced me that there is something better and the stories shared inspire action to make a difference.
Does new information cause my feelings to change or do my feelings ignore new information? I’d like to think I fall in the information leads to feelings camp but I know the reverse is at times true. I do think new information can change feelings. I also believe at times strong feelings ignore new information.
Strong feelings are hard to overcome. Strong feelings likely originate in the depths of beliefs often from the distant past. It is hard to communicate that feelings may be wrong. When strong feelings exist that do not seem to align with evolving information, the intent of the communication is worth investigating.
Presenting information without the desire to convince may help change feelings. If the communication is engaging and the information is accurate, it may help people think in a different way. When we think a different way, we may feel different. The best presentations reveal feelings I did not know I had. I am able to absorb the information and change my feelings on my own terms. This is how I hope to communicate the information I experienced at the training.
The answer to all three questions is YES. We must change, we can change and we will change. With the economics toward clean energy approaching a tipping point, with 70% of people supporting action on climate and with Mother Nature forcing us to change, the momentum is building. The week helped deepen my feeling towards change. My efforts will focus on communicating to the best of my ability to help others potentially uncover their own intentions.
More information about the Climate Reality Project can be found at www.climaterelaityproject.com. The training is free but you must apply.
I’ll always be grateful for the education and feeling received. I look forward to working and interacting with the Climate Realty Project for years to come.
Thank you for your time.
Trent Romer