Our Environment

A Vision for Reversing Catastrophic Climate Change

Evaluation and Development Institute (EDI)

Massive climate change

Our quality of life cannot survive in a world with massive climate change…and massive climate change is very likely unless we aggressively sequester the carbon dioxide (CO2) already in the atmosphere[1].  If something is not done quickly, the earth will be facing an Extinction Level Event.[2]  Merely reducing the rate that we increase CO2 cannot succeed.  The amount of CO2 already in the air is already much too great to avoid catastrophe.[3] Pre-industrial levels were at 280 parts per million (ppm) and the current level is 387ppm.  Even after massively reducing use of fossil fuels, the earth is expected to exceed the “redline” of 450ppm before the atmosphere gets better.

The reason we must sequester carbon is that 97% of the carbon now in the atmosphere was contributed before this year.  We are far above historical levels in carbon dioxide.[4] The CO2 is causing the earth to retain extra heat, melting the Arctic ice, which, in turn, is causing the conveyor currents of the oceans to slow down.  If ocean currents slow down much more—or stop—it would be irreversible.   The climate could change radically for tens of thousands of years. 

Extinction Level Event

We seem to be facing, literally, an "extinction level event." Gore has played a pivotal role in helping us understand the problem--that climate change is real and will cause serious harm if we don't change our ways.  Now we need to pursue solutions that are larger than just slowing down the rate that we pollute. Here is why:

  • 97% of the carbon is already in the air.  We add 3% per year.  The ice caps are rapidly melting and will be melted in our lifetime.  Under the ice caps, including Greenland, is an enormous amount of methane from dead forests of long ago.  (These were recently discovered and methane is 20 times more powerful than carbon as a greenhouse gas.) This alone could lead to our extinction.
  • The melting ice caps have freshwater and as they melt, they change the salinity of the oceans near where they melt. This, in turn, slows the conveyor currents of the oceans. The conveyor currents of the oceans are what keep the climate moderate. They are starting to stop.  Last time that happened, most of the life on earth--and in the oceans died for tens of thousands of years.[5] Rising sea levels would cause "irreversible commitments to future changes in the geography of the Earth, since many coastal and island features would ultimately become submerged".  Decreases in rainfall that last for centuries can be expected to have a range of impacts, including -- but are not limited to -- decreased human water supplies, increased fire frequency, ecosystem change and expanded deserts.[6]

We cannot change this situation by just reducing our "carbon footprint," the rate we increase pollution.  We have to reduce the 97% of carbon we’ve already put in the air.  Our goal needs to be 280 ppm, the level before the industrial revolution. 


Three Changes

Three “changes” are needed now to avoid an Extinction Level Event.  The three changes will reduce the carbon already in the air and put the carbon in the soils, perhaps the most cost-efficient way to handle it.

    Coal-fired plants are the biggest sources of excessive carbon dioxide on the earth.[7]  United States generates over 50 percent of its electricity from coal plants. China gets over 80 percent of its energy from coal and is building new coal-pulverization plants at an alarming rate. India is doing the same. The amount of greenhouse gases that will be created by the planned coal-pulverization plants in the three countries will be enormous.[8] How can we sequester this carbon quickly?

The following three steps, if implemented well, can do more to reduce the excessive carbon in our air than all other alternative energy, recycling, and energy efficiency efforts combined:

1) Farmers and forestry departments must convert their organic waste to biochar.
2) New power plants must use biomass as the feedstock.
3) Existing coal-fired plants must shift over to biomass as the feedstock.
 

    We also have other powerful steps we can take to reduce greenhouse gases. We can help reduce climate change by preventing massive methane emissions. The primary sources of methane in our environment are cattle and sheep. Methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Cattle have a "methane microbe" that releases methane when they digest food.  Turns out, the methane does not help with digestion.  Also turns out that there is a vaccine that is very cheap that kills the microbe.[13]  We don't really need the methane from cattle and sheep and they don't need it.  We need to ensure that the vaccinations happen worldwide. In the USA, legislation plus funding should be sufficient to get the job done.  We also need to have a system in place to ensure that the vaccinations are verified.

Why these Three

We have selected these three solutions as the most effective based on extensive review of environmental research over the past 12 years. Our criteria are:  magnitude of change, long term effect, immediacy, practicality, freedom from harm, and low cost.   We could conduct  meticulous research for many years to test all the possible consequences of these solutions but if we move at a snails pace, our kids may be dead.  These three changes need to be completed right away, if we are to avoid disaster.  We propose a macro evaluation plan to measure the systemic changes and then take practical actions to mitigate any unintended consequences.

Changing our Destiny 

For the first time in human history, we face annihilation.  The enemy is ourselves, not invaders from space or microbes spread through the air.  We have ruined the ecology of our environment through years of self-centered behavior focused on growth and profit without considering the environmental consequences. Stopping climate change is a challenge we can and must meet.  The answer is to sequester carbon and prevent it from re-entering the atmosphere when organic matter decays. This solution will create jobs.   We need legislation and inclusion in Obama's green jobs stimulation package. In addition to getting legislation passed, we need to complete a broad campaign to support grassroots efforts.  We need to get key environmental groups involved and to help them change their goal from the smaller effort of "reducing the carbon footprint" to the much larger effort of reducing the carbon already in the air.

Evaluation and Development Institute (EDI)

R. JERRY ADAMS, Ph.D.   Environmental Strategist,

Meta Evaluator

Dr. Adams has spent 12 years as an Environmental Strategist compiling environmental research and its impact though his work with his website--AwesomeLibrary.org.  He has published articles such as “Sustainable Planet” and “Threatened Oceans” which assemble documented opinions about climate change. Awesome Library is #11 (out of about 60 million Web sites) for "current events" on Google.

As a Meta Evaluator, Dr Adams has assessed health and human services programs for over 35 years.  In the last three years he has specialized in the evaluation of disaster preparedness projects, especially those involving simulation exercises. He started his career as the Director of the Evaluation Unit for a 22 discipline federal program at The Ohio State University and taught graduate level courses in Program Evaluation in the Department of Education within the Development and Evaluation Division.  He worked for the Governor of Ohio as the Executive Director of the state's Developmental Disabilities Planning and Evaluation Council to administer a $2 million a year program to plan, evaluate, research, and provide services for developmentally disabled individuals in the state. 

Dr. Adams was the Coordinator at the Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan where he managed federal, state and local programs related to education and community development.  Dr. Adams is currently the Executive Director of the Evaluation and Development Institute (EDI) where he oversees and conducts evaluation and development services.  He also serves as the project evaluator for the Healthcare Facilities Partnership of South Central Pennsylvania. He has played a co-lead role in writing Three grants on disaster preparedness.  Dr. Adams has served on national, state, and local advisory boards in the fields of program evaluation and developmental disabilities.  He holds a Ph.D. degree in Educational Evaluation and Development from The Ohio State University, 1973.

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KAY A . LISCH, Ph.D.   Culture Change Expert, Leadership Development Specialist

Kay (Kay) A Lisch, Ph.D. founded the ComPro Group, Inc. in 1990 to be a catalyst for social change by bringing people into balance and organizations into alignment.

Kay’s passion is helping companies become socially responsible in creating healthy people and a healthy planet.  She strives to build a company’s revenue, retention, and reputation as they increase their contribution to social change.   

Kay’s core expertise is helping businesses transform their cultures by engaging everyone in a shared vision to accelerate personal, team, and business growth.  Her work spans the energy, service, telecom, chemicals, medical, consumer products, transportation, and technology industries.

Kay excels in coaching & training leaders; facilitating teams; and managing growth and change. Kay brings an extensive understanding of leadership behavior to the issues facing leaders. The ComPro Group has provided  organization development consulting to over 60 companies including  DuPont, BNSF Railway, El Paso Energy, Levi-Strauss, Conoco, Coca-Cola, AAA, St Luke’s Hospital, Tahoe Forest Hospital System, Tenet Health, and James L West.

Kay received her Ph.D. in Organization Development from Ohio State University and her BA from the University of Texas at Austin. Kay has authored over 50 professional publications including her book Leader’s Handbook for Computers (Lexington Books, 1984).  She has also conducts graduate seminars in the MBA Program at Southern Methodist University and leadership training for Collin County Community College.  

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IDA M. HALASZ, Ph.D.   Marketing/Public Relations Strategist, Evaluator/Researcher, Executive Coach

Dr. Halasz founded Halvan Associates to focus on organizational change

and improvement through strategic marketing, research, training, and coaching.  She works within the government, for-profit and non-profit

sectors, including emerging technologies and medical/dental. She consults

for the US Office of Personnel Management as a coach for executive leadership programs and as an assessor/coach in the Senior Executive Assessment Program.

In 2000, she took a hiatus from her company to become the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for a hi-tech manufacturing company in Boulder, CO.  Her team increased sales by over 100% during her first year by designing and executing a comprehensive marketing/sales plan that included marketing research, a new advertising and media campaign, new interactive website, customer technology training, and targeted sales strategy. 

Earlier in her career, Dr. Halasz directed vocational education research, training, and executive leadership projects for over ten years at Ohio State University's Center on Education and Training for Employment.  Her work included developing programs for executives from across the USA and around the world.  She later worked at the US Department of Justice’s National Academy for Corrections as the vice-president equivalent. 

She has authored over 90 publications, including a book on computer documentation and numerous articles on varied topics in professional refereed journals.  She revised a series of 12 management workbooks for the American Correctional Association.  Dr. Halasz received her Ph.D. at the Ohio State University in Education and Vocational Psychology. 

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Copyright 2010, EDI and Dr. R. Jerry Adams