Climate change discussion continues

    With some interest I’m sure many have joined me in watching the daily news and listening to the reports of the talks in Copenhagen the last two weeks. I must admit, there is a part of me, it should be no surprise to many, which would still like to have been a fur-coat-spraying, tree-spiking, billboard-carrying activist. So the AP photos of the rows and rows of protesters “sitting in” has been comforting, if a bit odd, to me here in northern Maine, as I’ve shivered and complained about the cold.     I spoke with a relative in Arkansas this last week, 40 something, who has been to college, a member of the Snapple Bike Racing team (not what one might think of as a stereotypical “redneck”), who told me they don’t believe this hooey about climate change and global warming, and gave the antidotal story of “it’s been colder than it’s ever been in their area the last several years” as proof of their position. I generally do try to avoid the PETA card-carrying type discussions with people. But, it was a relative, one who I thought might have shared some concerns, but who most definitely did not. For those of you also not sharing these concerns or sentiments, I would defer to your scoffing, and ask you to consider “going green” just another capitalist venture! There’s new, big money to be made, in offshore winds. Professor Dahger (Orono) and Governor Baldacci were on the news announcing their plans to make Maine a leader in this technology, and business just this last week.
    We may not be able to do anything to cut carbon emissions, or ash production in Third World countries. I have a hard time being interested in what folks half a world away are doing to destroy their parts of the ozone. But as we move forward together, there are things we can do to make a difference. We can change our own ponds, lakes, streams, forests and carbon feet!
    The Vulcan Project shows carbon emissions per year in thousands of metric tons. Aroostook County is largely in the 1.0 to .2 area – with two exceptions: Our PI/Caribou/LDA area and what one would assume is the Fraser Paper mill in Madawaska – which shows up as a suspiciously lone organge/red dot in the midst of otherwise faint emission readings for our area. And, the same scientific team which invented this program has also invented a program which will be able to make thermal maps of buildings, in order to help communities pinpoint their most inefficient buildings. Al Gore’s “Our Choice” opens with a quote which Kurt Vonnegut thought might have been appropriate to leave as a marker of our civilization: “We probably could have saved ourselves, but were too damned lazy to try very hard, and too damned cheap.” Twenty years ago now.
    The good news about CO2 is: if we stopped producing it today, about half of the manmade CO2 would fall out of the atmosphere to be absorbed by the ocean, plants and trees within 30 years. Ah well, the bad news is, the rest will “dissipate” much more slowly, and as much as 20 percent of what we emit this year, will still be in the atmosphere 1,000 years from now. As a planet, we’re collectively emitting 90 million tons of CO2 every single day.
    Geothermal is one of the solutions touted by many scientists, which sounds good to me. There are some inherent problems for our area (surprise, surprise). In 2006 the Massachussets Institute of Technology studied the depths which would be feasible/cost effective to generate electricity, and virtually 40 percent of the country is gauged at a depth of 10 km. Still, a technology for money to be made in, and the happy side effect for the bleeding hearts can be reducing our fossil fuel consumption.
    Finally, my 5 year old and I have recently been having in-depth discussions about who eats who and what on the planet. What are the cats? Carnivores. What are we? More to the point, we’ve been talking about digestive tracts: carnivores have short ones, herbivores have long ones. Some herbivores have the ability to choose what they eat. Bringing me to, did you know, it takes on average more than seven pounds of plant protein, and 6,000 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef?
    Methane emissions are the second largest source of greenhouse gases, and 72 percent of all methane emissions in Canada are attributed to cattle. Google away: I had to. 6,000 gallons of water? Typo? Those cows need to stop taking those long baths that my children like so well. One last bit of TMI: my little men have never met Mr. Hitchcock, they know he’s the one who’s going to shut Momma off if they don’t stop it with those long tubbies.
    The per capita meat consumption in developed countries has increased 50 percent the last 50 years, and 200 percent in developing countries. Not without consequences we can measure readily enough to our immediate environments. Besides the health consequences, the significance to the environment is one we may not be able to continue to ignore indefinitely! Food for thought if you will!
    Finally, happy holidays! Under full disclosure, I must admit, we are having pork loin for dinner Friday! Oh my! Take care!
    Wendy Landes, MPA, is the executive director of the Caribou Chamber of Commerce & Industry. She can be reached in person at 24 Sweden Street, Suite 101; by telephone at 498-6156 or via e-mail at wlandes@cariboumaine.net.