i
Street Roots • May 5-11, 2017
DRAWDOWN, from page 5
later, alarming reports painted an even bleaker
picture of Earth’s climate future, and yet the
solutions remained elusive.
Even today, he said, with a quick Google
search of “climate change solutions,” the top
results list actions such as upgrading your
electronics and moving closer to work.
“Move closer to work - people say, ‘I’ll do it,
but it’s not going to make a difference,”’ Hawken
said. “People don’t see climate change as an
opportunity.”
That paired with alarmist headlines about sea
level rise, ocean acidification and the other
devastating impacts of global warming, and the
result, he said, is that people are left feeling
helpless and guilty.
“Here we are, 40 years into the greatest crisis
humanity has ever faced, and we have no plan,”
he said.
Not only was there no plan, but the goals of
stabilizing carbon emissions and mitigating the
impacts don’t go far enough.
“If you’re going the wrong way,” Hawken told
the room, “you have to stop and turn around.”
That’s why the solutions outlined in
Drawdown” aim not only to reduce the world’s
greenhouse gas emissions, but also to take
carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back in
the Earth’s storage reserves, where it belongs.
“We can only bring it back through land use,”
he told the room.
Turning idle landscapes into carbon sinking
machines through afforestation and silvopasture
and utilizing carbon-thirsty plants such as bamboo
are just some of the land-use solutions on the list.
Protecting tropical and old-growth forests and
coastal wetlands is also crucial, according to the
Drawdown team.
Every year, as spring and summer spread
across the Northern Hemisphere, plants reduce
the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by about
6 to 7 parts per million as they sprout leaves and
conduct photosynthesis. Hawken illustrated this
point by showing a dramatic time-lapse video that
showed how CO2 builds up in the Northern
Hemisphere over the winter before it begins to
draw down in May.
You can view the video, “A year in the life of
Earth’s CO2,” on NASA’s website, nasa.gov.
The Drawdown team forecast three possible
scenarios their plan could take.
News
Page 7
The earliest Earth could expect to see a
decline in the overall accumulation of greenhouse
gases in its atmosphere would be in 2045,
according to the “Optimum Scenario.” This is the
most aggressive scenario and would require 100
percent worldwide adoption of renewable energy
by 2050.
On April 27, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon
co-introduced a bill that would transition the
United States to 100 percent clean and renewable
energy by 2050. However, it’s largely symbolic
because the Republican-controlled Congress is
unlikely to pass it.
The team’s “Plausible Scenario” used a
“reasonable yet optimistic” forecast for the
solutions’ global growth rate. In this scenario,
Earth would not achieve drawdown by 2050.
But, when the conservative bias is removed,
the “Drawdown Scenario” has greater potential.
In this scenario, transitional energy sources such
as biomass, landfill methane and nuclear would
still be in play in 2050, but electrical energy
generation would be 100 percent renewable.
While the team calculated drawdown of
greenhouse gases would be possible, it said there
are also too many unknowns to be certain.
How much carbon the oceans will continue to
sequester as acidification increases and how
much carbon forests will release if rising
temperatures cause them to dry out are just two
factors that will affect the outcome of the
scenarios.
But emerging technologies and innovative ways
of sequestering greenhouse gases that are as of
yet undiscovered will also play a role.
Hawken ended his presentation at Ecotrust
with a quote from the 2015 blockbuster movie
“The Martian.”
The quote comes from Matt Damon’s character
as he’s teaching future astronauts in a classroom
setting. He tells them that when they go up into
space, at some point, everything will go terribly
wrong.
“You solve one problem, and you solve the next
one, and then the next,” Damon told them. “And
if you solve enough problems, you get to come
home.”
After reciting the quote, Hawken looked out
over his audience and said, “And that’s what
we’re doing.”
DOUGHNUT
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
22 SW 3RD AVE. / 1501 NE DAVIS ST. PORTLAND, OR
Mom
by Eileen Vizenor
It has been thirty-eight years
Since I’ve seen your pretty face.
You have been missed dearly,
Not only by your daughter and sons,
But by the lives you touched as well.
The fourth of May each year I am
Reminded of when I lost my best
Friend. I cry.
Then happier times flood my memory,
And laughter replaces tears.
The sacrifices you made for your
Family have never been forgotten.
Nor will they.
Mom, each day I thank you, love you
And miss you.
Rooted
by Jaison Kirk
Street Roots is a family by my side
With my fellows I do confide,
Letting out what’s inside
Smiles and knuckle bumps greet
Whoever looks inside
From the past I no longer wish to hide
Rooted in place, the sea of humanity
comes like a tide
Torn clothes or worn shoes
I stand with pride
emily@streetroots. org
ACROSS
1.
Fermentation agent
4,
Have a bite
Ó.
Tree fluid
7.
Cake ingredient
8.
Three-ply cookie
9.
Hook's henchman
12. Ground grain
14. The gift o f __
16. Tease or ridicule
17, Francis or Kevin?
DOW N
1.
Affirmative!
2.
Type of fritter
3.
Analyze or try
4.
Cake ingredient
5.
Très
Deal
8.
10. Potter's practice
n . Nosh!
13. Late rapper; abbr.
15. ___appétit
n
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