Much ado/what to do about global warming

In class last Wednesday, we had a heated discussion about global warming (sorry, yes, that pun was intended...). 

As Janelle pointed out, our conversation became sort of nihilistic and depressing toward the end. It began to feel like there was absolutely nothing to be done about climate change—that it will happen and our world will simply fade away with the glaciers. Now, this might be the reality—I can't see the future and I have to admit that it is possible that the human race will take a huge hit due to global warming. However, there are solutions! And that's at least a little reassuring. 

We discussed a couple topics that might have been new to some people… or at the very least, they were fuzzy to me personally. These topics including policies that could reduce carbon emissions, such as a carbon cap and trade program and/or a carbon tax. Meg mentioned and explained both of these in her presentation, but for anyone who needs a quick recap, here you go (pun not intended):

In general, both programs are market-based policies that seek to manage carbon emissions economically, rather than socially (appealing to people’s moral codes/ethics, and all that).

These programs “put a price on carbon” so that it is in a company’s interest to reduce their emissions. Also, you might find this slightly reassuring: although the US federal government has not yet enforced a national policy, several states have already implemented regional programs.

Carbon Cap & Trade:

In short, there would be a national limit to carbon emissions. Individual firms/corporations would be allowed a certain amount of carbon emissions (and potentially other gas limits such as a NO₂ and SO₂, both of which contribute to acid rain). Firms that effectively limit their emissions could sell their excess allowance to other firms. Thus, carbon emissions would become a commodity. The policy has worked in other countries. The EU has had a cap and trade system since 2005!

Carbon Tax

For carbon taxation, rather than specifying the amount of carbon that firms can collectively emit, it specifies the price via tax. With a cap and trade program, the price of carbon emissions would vary depending on how challenging it is for firms to keep emissions in check. With a tax, the price would be set and all firms would pay the same amount per unit of emitted gas. 

For anyone who cares to read more about these two policies/who might be interested in a nice compare/contrast, here’s a a good link

Also, some EASY ways for you to help reduce your own carbon footprint:

Disclaimer: yes, it can feel silly to take shorter showers when mega-corporations in distant countries appear to be the real carbon culprits, but a penny saved is a penny earned… or something like that.

à Think about your food! According to the EPA, an estimated 13% of US carbon emissions result from the production and transport of food. Moral of the story: buy local (harkening back to one of our first class themes). Also, try to eat less red meat and dairy.

à Reuse and recycle! Who hasn’t heard of this before? But in all seriousness, 29% of US carbon emissions result from the “extraction of goods” (which basically means the extraction of raw materials and the subsequent manufacture of consumer goods, such as the paper cups we have in commons). For the love of the Adirondacks, invest in a thermos/mug/Nalgene, and use it!

à Turn off the lights! Electricity is not as a clean a resource as you think, because much of our electricity results from burning coal, which emits a colossal amount of CO₂.

à Take the stairs! It saves electricity and you tone your quads #DoubleWin.

à Yes! An excuse to do less laundry! Laundry machines use a lot of energy, so only use them when you’ve got full loads. Also, use the “Colors” cycle, because the water isn’t quite as hot.

à Take shorter showers with colder water. Similar to the laundry dilemma, heating water takes a lot of energy. Also, fun fact: cold water is better for your hair.

Interested in other ways to improve your carbon footprint? Read this this and this!

Anyway… I intended to talk less about carbon emissions and more about today’s reading (Adirondack camps and railroads), but alas, I got carried away. My main thoughts on the reading, however, is that Adirondack vacation culture appears to be very polarized by wealth, and has themes of elitism and racial/ethnic/economic discrimination that might continue today. Does anyone with a little more contemporary Adirondack knowledge know if this trend is still prominent today? Feel free to comment below/enlighten me.