A CLIMATE SCIENTIST TAKES HIS COMPUTER MODEL SERIOUSLY
At the University of Wisconsin's program on Climate, People and Environment
Dr.
Jonathan Foley makes computer models to study what might happen if the
human
economy continues to emit greenhouse gases.  Like hundreds of other climate
scientists, he is deeply worried about global warming.  Unlike most
scientists
I know, he carries that worry into his personal life.
For some time Jonathan and his wife Andrea and their three-year-old
daughter
Hannah have been cutting down the amount of carbon dioxide they produce --
which means the amount of coal, oil, and gas they burn.
They used to live 25 miles out in the country and drive two cars.  Now
they've
moved to a house four miles from the university with a bike lane at one end
of
the street and a bus line at the other.  They've sold one car and rarely
drive
the other.  "I was sick of all the driving anyway," Foley says.  "Now I
have
more time, a beautiful bike ride and no car payments."
The Foleys have done "all the usual things" to their house to reduce its
fuel
and electric needs.  Compact fluorescent light bulbs.  Much better
insulation
and ventilation.  They found an electric utility that makes power with
windmills, so they're not contributing to climate change every time they
flip
on a switch.  The house came fitted with a solar water heating system, so
the
sun heats about two-thirds of their showers and dishwater, even in cold
Wisconsin.
That is already climate responsibility well above the call of duty, but
last
New Year's Eve the Foleys decided to go all the way.  They thought about
the
new millennium and decided to make a millennium-sized resolution to enter
the
21st century emitting no net carbon dioxide.
How can you do that?  I asked in disbelief.
Well, to start, Foley is compiling the numbers on how much carbon he emits
with
every mile he drives, every computer he buys, every plastic bag he throws
away.
He's constructed a spreadsheet to calculate his carbon budget and to
integrate
it with his money budget, so his family will march toward zero carbon
emissions
one step at a time, as they can afford it.
"This month we're trading in our electric washer and dryer for a more
efficient
front-load washer and a lot of clothesline.  We'll get a gas dryer for
wintertime.  Next our goal is a more efficient refrigerator -- the new
domestic
models are pretty good.  The EPA Energy Star website lists all the
alternatives."
Foley aims first at high energy efficiency, then renewable sources.  He
expects
there will be unavoidable carbon dioxide emissions left, mainly embedded in
things the family buys.  He intends to offset those emissions with green
plants
that will absorb the carbon dioxide.
A group called American Forests, Foley tells me, has calculated that the
average American would have to plant 30 new trees every year (and keep them
all
growing) to suck up the carbon dioxide he or she emits.  There's not enough
room for us all to do that.  But Foley figures he's already cut his
family's
emissions in half and can get down considerably further, to a point where
he
can pull off the necessary planting.  Living in southern Wisconsin, he
intends
to plant not just trees, but prairie.
Every square meter of forest, Foley tells me, stores 10-15 kg of carbon in
biomass above ground and 10-15 kg in the soil.  A prairie stores only 3 kg
above ground, but 30-40 below.  Midwest soils are deep and fertile because
the
prairie built up humus there for millennia.  Prairie restoration is a
popular
community activity around Madison, so the Foleys will help do the work and
also
contribute money to prairie and tree planting groups.
"It's not all that hard," Foley says.  "Our quality of life has improved.
We're saving time and money, though some things, like the wind electricity,
are
more expensive.  Zero carbon emissions is something anybody can do, just by
making a few simple choices.  People choose to spend tens of thousands of
dollars for a sports utility vehicle with leather seats and a CD player.
They
could just as easily choose to buy better insulation or an efficient
refrigerator or a solar water heater.  Helping to prevent climate change
isn't
a matter of our ABILITY, just our CHOICE.  We're not stuck.  It's not
impossible."
 "But whenever I talk about this stuff at scientific meetings, my
colleagues
look at me dumbfounded.  We seem to think we should testify to Congress
about
the Kyoto protocol and do nothing else. I'm surprised that other scientists
aren't more personally aware of their own actions.  Airline travel to
climate
meetings is still my single largest emission of carbon dioxide -- I'm
counting
work-related emissions in a separate budget.  Isn't it crazy that 100
scientists will fly to some remote place to discuss changes in the global
carbon cycle?"
"I know my personal actions are only a drop in the bucket (or in this case
the
atmosphere).  But as a scientist and teacher I feel I have a moral
obligation
to lead, even in a small way, to show you can achieve a zero net carbon
budget
and still live comfortably and productively.  Maybe if I set this kind of
example, folks will begin to take the science I do a little more
seriously."
"Something about putting your emissions where your mouth is."
(Donella H. Meadows is director of the Sustainability Institute and an
adjunct
professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College.)

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