WILL YOU?

As I'm sure you know, the Kyoto Treaty will go into effect next Wednesday, February 16.  Fifty-five industrial nations  (ours not being one of them)  have signed this treaty, pledging to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases over the coming years.  Since the USA has decided that we don't have to care about climate change, it's okay for all of us to go on driving SUVs, overheating and overcooling our houses, blowing as much of anything as we like into the atmosphere.  Yes?  Or, maybe, you think, not.  Here is a fascinating post to help us know what we, as individuals, can do - even if the country's official policy is Nightmare on Corporate Avenue.  It begins like this (highlighting is mine):

"On Wednesday, February 16, the Kyoto Protocol will come into effect, mandating participating nations to reduce their emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases. Canada has ratified Kyoto. The United States has not.

Have you?

Not literally, of course. Individuals can’t sign international treaties. They can, however, pledge to match its goals (summarized by World Resources Institute): a reduction of emissions in the United States to 7 percent below—and in Canada to 6 percent below—the 1990 level by 2008-2012.

Fifteen Cascadian localities have signaled their intent to follow or approximate Kyoto, as you can see in this list maintained by the International Center for Local Environmental Initiatives. (Overall, unfortunately, Cascadia’s CO2 emissions have climbed by about 19 percent since 1990, as we documented in This Place on Earth 2002 (download the book, read pages 47-50).

Inspired by this leadership, I decided to make the pledge myself. A few days ago, I solemnly swore—OK, not so solemnly, but I did swear—I would reduce my family’s emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases by at least 7 percent below our 1990 level.

Climate change is mostly a systems issue, not a personal one. I can’t change my utility’s power plant from coal to wind. I can’t install hybrid-electric engines in all the world’s new motor vehicles. I can’t enact a global cap-and-trade system or a national carbon tax. To see such systemic changes, we need business and government to develop policies and practice that will carry us to the Kyoto goal.

But personal action is at least a small part of the puzzle. And aligning our lifestyles with our values is never a bad idea. So, yes, pledging Kyoto may be mostly symbolic, but so are wedding rings, battle flags, and flaming crosses. Symbols are powerful.

The swearing was the fun part. It made me feel good. The hard part came next: figuring out how I was doing on my pledge. That part proved mind-boggling at first, but I hope it won't be for you if you decide to follow suit.

Among the half-dozen personal greenhouse-gas-emissions calculators available online (for example, Environment Canada’s list), the best seems to be Safe Climate, maintained by the World Resources Institute. It allowed me to make estimates of emissions from home energy use and car and airplane travel."

You can read the post in it entirety here, and discover another fascinating site at the same time.  I first found reference to this post on a new site I have discovered, World Changing, one any serious environmentalists will want to bookmark.