Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living PDF
Preview Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living
Praise for Cooler Smarter “Clear, readable, and genuinely smart, Cooler Smarter answers the question concerned citizens everywhere are asking: What can we do to make a difference?” —ELIZABETH KOLBERT, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change “Finally, an excellent, short, and readable book that is replete with examples of what each of us can do to improve our lives and, at the same time, reduce our carbon footprint by using energy more efficiently. Whatever your view may be about climate change projections, there are no good arguments that favor wasting energy and launching the world’s climate into an uncertain future.” —NEAL LANE, Malcolm Gillis University Professor, Rice University, former White House Science Advisor and former Director of the National Science Foundation “Cooler Smarter provides great advice backed by data, analysis, and examples. I was surprised how only a few simple steps can cut your environmental footprint by 20 percent—and most of those steps don’t involve sacrifice, but rather pay for themselves and help you lead a healthier life. I plan on implementing several of these strategies and hope others do, too!” —RICK NEEDHAM, Director, Energy and Sustainability, Google “We can break our addiction to fossil fuels, stave off the worst of global warming, and generate quality jobs that allow us to support our families and build for the future—but only if we work together and each of us does our part. This smart, sensible, and easy-to-use book lays out the most effective steps each of us can take right now.” —VAN JONES, President, Rebuild the Dream, and author of The Green Collar Economy “Global warming affects all of us, no matter what our ethnicity, politics or religious affiliation. This book offers the latest scientific thinking about the most effective steps each of us can take to lower our emissions. It is a valuable tool for congregations and others who care for God’s creation.” —THE REV. CANON SALLY G. BINGHAM, President, The Regeneration Project, Interfaith Power & Light “It’s doubly important now for each of us to act to reduce our carbon footprints because Washington is doing so little. I love this book—a smart, accessible, clear-headed guide that we can all follow.” —JAMES GUSTAVE SPETH, author of The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability “This accessible, science-based book gives each of us the information we need to do our part to reduce our carbon emissions. This is the smart tool for action many of us have been waiting for.” —TIMOTHY E. WIRTH, President, United Nations Foundation and former U.S. Senator from Colorado “A wonderful guide to smarter energy use and a cooler planet that shows how each and every one of us can contribute part of the solution for a better future. Splendidly written, accessible, and essential for any citizen—both virtually and metaphorically cool.” —THOMAS E. LOVEJOY, Biodiversity Chair, The Heinz Center and University Professor, George Mason University Cooler Smarter Expert Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists Cooler Smarter PRACTICAL STEPS FOR LOW-CARBON LIVING SETH SHULMAN JEFF DEYETTE BRENDA EKWURZEL DAVID FRIEDMAN MARGARET MELLON JOHN ROGERS SUZANNE SHAW Washington Covelo London Copyright © 2012 The Union of Concerned Scientists All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 1718 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20009. ISLAND PRESS is a trademark of the Center for Resource Economics. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cooler smarter : practical steps for low-carbon living : expert advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists / Seth Shulman ... [et al.]. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-61091-192-4 (pbk.) — ISBN 1-61091-192-X (paper) 1. Sustainable living—United States. 2. Environmental protection—United States—Citizen participation. I. Shulman, Seth. II. Union of Concerned Scientists. GE195.C74 2012 363.7'0525—dc23 2012008656 Printed on recycled, acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Keywords: climate change, global warming, carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, eco-friendly, energy efficient, sustainability, greening your home, organic food, LEED certified C O N T E N T S Foreword ix PART I Thinking about Your Climate Choices 1 Can One Person Make a Difference? 3 2 Sweat the Right Stuff 13 3 The Weight of the Evidence: How We Know the Planet Is Warming 27 PART II Making Effective Climate Choices 4 Driving Down Emissions 51 5 Home Is Where the Heat Is 83 6 Taking Charge of Electricity at Home 109 7 A Low-Carbon Diet 137 8 The Right Stuff 159 PART III Rescuing the Future 9 Step Up, Connect, Transform 181 10 Stepping Up at Work 197 11 Making Government Work for Us 215 12 Welcome to Our Low-Carbon Future 237 Acknowledgments 247 Appendix A: Resources 249 Appendix B: Our Paths to 20: Team Member Statements about Reducing Our Own Carbon Footprints 257 Appendix C: An Explanation of Our Research and Analysis Methodology 263 Appendix D: Research Results 271 Notes 277 About the Authors 303 Index 309 F O R E W O R D This book is a powerful tool for action. It cuts through the politicized rhetoric that too often clouds public discussion regarding climate change by offering practical and manageable advice as to how each of us can take steps that, collectively, can effect meaningful change. I believe it is exactly the kind of synthesis we need, with accessible, up-to-date scien- tific knowledge that we all will find useful. My scientific research has delved into many aspects of climate science for more than three decades. When I began my career, most ocean scien- tists expected to see little change in the world’s oceans over the course of their lives. After all, the oceans are vast, with an average depth of more than 12,000 feet. Moreover, it takes about a thousand years for ocean cur- rents to fully mix the oceans and, because of strong density gradients, most of the deep ocean is influenced only very slowly by what happens near the ocean surface. I simply could never have imagined that I would see the dramatic changes in our oceans that have been documented over the past few decades. I still vividly remember an eye-opening experience in 1986, while I was at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo- rado. I had taken a sabbatical leave from my position at Harvard to start a new scientific journal and launch a new international research program. One day, a colleague walked into my office with new data showing sur- face ocean temperature over the previous several decades and said, “Jim, it looks like the oceans are warming.” That same year, Antarctic ice core data were first published showing a clear link between atmospheric con- centrations of carbon dioxide and temperature over the last 100,000-year glacial-interglacial cycle. Compelling evidence for human-caused climate change arises from ix F O R E W O R D observations of deep ocean warming, recent melting of land ice and ice shelves that had been in place for many thousands of years, an accelera- tion in sea level rise, ice cores that show how Earth’s temperature fluc- tuated with atmospheric greenhouse gas content in the past, and ocean- wide data documenting unusually rapid changes in ocean chemistry (aka ocean acidification). All of these recent changes are consistent with the unusual rate at which heat-trapping gases, primarily carbon dioxide, are being released into and retained within the lower atmosphere. Developments in climate science have progressed swiftly over the past several decades. We now know that climate change is happening 100 to 1,000 times faster than at any time since humans first inhabited Earth. Textbooks are being rewritten. We now see that climate and the ocean carbon cycle are inextricably linked, and each is highly sensitive to perturbations in the other. We now know with ever-increasing precision that significant change in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations can cause reverberations throughout the entire climate system. As a scientist, I am acutely aware of the implications of the changes now underway in our climate system and the peril they portend. Sea level rise, for instance, poses a grave danger to the disproportionate number of people who live near coastlines. Analyses demonstrate linkages between global warming trends and an increase in the number and severity of heat waves as well as the severity of intense precipitation events, both of which pose dangers to human health and well-being. As a parent and grandpar- ent, I think often about the consequences of these changes for my children and grandchildren. Much of my work over the past several decades has involved the sci- ence-policy interface, and I am dismayed by the current politicization of the debate surrounding climate policy in the United States. Climate sci- ence is complicated, and no one can say with high confidence precisely how climate will change in the future—we are in uncharted territory. But fundamental aspects of climate change science inform us about likely futures and make clear that choices we make today will affect climate decades from now. I am also painfully aware of how poorly scientists have done in communicating some of these fundamental aspects of cli- x
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