No one can do everything. But everyone can do something. And, together we can do more.
MICG Fall Speaker Series off to a great start
Bill Henley, Professor Emeritus of plant biology, ecology and evolution, Oklahoma State University, led the audience in an informative and stimulating discussion of the basics of climate science during our first Fall Speaker event on September 10. Presenting a series of graphs that showed the historic connection between the rise in atmospheric CO2 and global temperatures, Henley put the recent huge spike in CO2 and our current rapid temperature rise into sobering perspective. A lively audience discussion clarified numerous issues about our current situation.
Our Speaker Series will continue at the Monmouth Senior Center at 7:00 PM on October 8, when Brooke Edmunds, Ph.D., community horticulture and Oregon State University Extension Service for Marion and Polk Counties, will present “Your Garden Future.” Later talks in the series:
Nov. 12: Climate Action: National and Local — Gina Carter and Cindy Bethel, Third Act Corvallis climate activists and organizers
Dec. 10: Recycling vs. Landfill: The future of waste disposal in the Willamette Valley — Joshua Brandt, Owner, Brandt’s Sanitary, recycling and waste disposal specialist
Upcoming special event — film — The Little Town That Could
Ordinary people are building an emissions-free future in the Hudson Valley community of Croton-on-Hudson, New York — and they’ve made a film about it! We are lucky to have a showing of this upbeat movie as its producers make their way across the country to a San Francisco film festival. Plan to join us at Monmouth Senior Center at 3:00 pm on Saturday, November 7.
MICG volunteers help Monmouth develop Climate Action Plan
The City of Monmouth wants to do its part in the global effort to slow the advance of harmful climate change. To that end, the City Council instructed its staff to form a Climate Action Plan Advisory Group comprising staff members, a representative from WOU, and MICG volunteers living in Monmouth.
Meeting monthly, the group discusses topics such as land use and transportation, buildings and energy, consumption and waste management, ecosystem stewardship and preparations for climate emergencies such as extreme heat waves, wildfire encroachment and floods. The group’s goal is to propose a series of practical actions and policies that will both reduce Monmouth’s contributions to climate change and improve the city’s safety, ambience, and livability.
Books About Climate Change
October’s reading: HOW TO COOL THE PLANET: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth’s Climate by climate journalist Jeff Goodell.
Acclaimed climate journalist Goodell explores the scientific and ethical issues of “geoengineering,” a technology usually understood as an attempt to cool the planet by spraying a substance into the atmosphere that reflects incoming sunlight back into space. Based on the premise that it might be too late to cool Earth by simply reducing emissions, geoengineering’s boosters tout it as an emergency solution to a rapidly warming world. But this hypothetical, untested techno-solution has the potential to create more problems than it solves, as discussed in Goodell’s book.
Ongoing Activities
Attend our monthly online meeting: Join our Climate Group’s next regular online planning meeting at 6:00 PM, Monday, October 12. These “business meetings” focus on policy issues and task distribution for our group’s activities. If you want to attend, please send us an email and we will send you the link.