Uncle Sam Wants You – In the War Against Climate Change

Uncle Sam Wants You to Help Save the Planet

1

Elton B. Sherwin

Venture Capitalist,

Author, Businessman

What Can a

College Student

Do About Climate

Change?

Here Today to Recruit You in the Battle to

Save the Planet

2 Talk specifically about what you can do

3

Recent Past, 1961-1979

Our Country is About to Change

White House Report on Climate Change

4

Some Changes Will Be Subtle

White House Report on Climate Change

Lower Emissions Scenario, 2080-2099

5

Some Changes Will Be Dramatic

White House Report on Climate Change

Higher Emissions Scenario, 2080-2099

6

Some Models Now Predict

Higher Emissions Scenario, 2080-2099

Half the nation

enduring summers

where 100º days

are common

Tropical diseases

invading America’s

shores

Wine making

moving to the

northern states

Elton B. Sherwin

Venture Capitalist, Author, Businessman,

Board of Directors of Six Companies – Including NRG Dynamix, Hybrid Vehicles

7

November 29, 2010

Notre Dame de Namur University

Two Visions of 21st Century

Two Different Roads

8

We Must Choose

Groundhog Day Scenario

20th Century

9

21st Century

First Option

Repeat Last 100 Years

Business as usual:

Continued industrialization using fossil fuels

Double the number of cars

Double the number of coal-fired power

plants

Double air pollution

Add 2 or 3 billion additional people

Population of six to nine “new Americas”

10

12

Not Enough Planet

Absorb all the air pollution

What Will Likely Happen

Business as Usual

Scenario?

Groundhog Day Plan

Keep Doing it Over and Over

Again

13

14

Muir & Riggs

Glaciers Alaska

Many of the

World’s Glaciers

Will Dissapear

15

North Pole Will Collapse

In the Summer

North Pole

NASA

Missing Ice In 2007, much

of the North

Pole

disappeared

17

Greenland Will Melt

Image: Roger Braithwaite, University of Manchester (UK)

18

Ocean Rise Estimates this Century

16 inches

3 feet

11 feet

EPA and National Research

Council Estimates

6 feet

19 SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002.

Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. http://www.bcdc.ca.gov/planning/climate_change/climate_change.shtml

16 Inches

of Sea Rise

San Jose

San

Francisco

Vallejo

San Rafael

Oakland

20

SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002.

Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

Foster City

East Palo Alto Menlo Park

16 Inches

of Sea Rise

Silicon

Valley

21

SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002.

Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

Moffett Field

237

Sun,

Google,

and, Cisco

all at risk

22

July Temperatures

2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy

www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation

California’s

agricultural

regions will be

hard hit

23

Midcentury

Increase of 5 Degrees Fahrenheit

2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy

www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation

5+

24

Could See Increases of 10 to 14

Degree Fahrenheit in Central Valley*

2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy

*“Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California”

Christopher B. Field and 17 coauthors, June 23, 2004, PNAS

10+

25

Smaller snowpack

More water shortages

Less water for agriculture

“Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California”

Christopher B. Field and 17 coauthors, June 23, 2004, PNAS

26

Heat Waves in Los Angeles

Basin Will Be Much More

Frequent

Dan Steinberg, Associated Press

“Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California” Christopher B. Field and 17 coauthors, June 23, 2004, PNAS

27

It Is Not Just California

28

Many cities at risk

• Miami

• Key West

• Tampa

• New York

• Venice

• Amsterdam

29

In 150 years, students may study

New Orleans like Carthage:

A city that no longer exists

30

World’s Poor

Hard Hit

Move 17

million

people this

century?

31

Some Consequences

Are Unpredictable

Some Are Irreversible

Image: Roger Braithwaite, University of Manchester (UK)

32

Ice Sheets Collapse

Consequences

are Huge

20+ Feet of

Ocean Rise

Image: Roger Braithwaite, University of Manchester (UK)

NSF Website and the National Center for

Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

33

Acidification and Warming

of the Ocean Risk of some piece of the ecosystem collapsing

NOAA

34

Effect on Ocean Currents

Hard to Predict

Ocean’s Conveyor is Driven by

a Cold Arctic

Image: Argonne

National Laboratory

35

Picture: MSU.edu

400 Gigatons Of Methane Locked

In The Frozen Arctic Tundra

36

Methane Burps

A Ticking Time Bomb

There are enormous

quantities of naturally

occurring greenhouse

gasses trapped in ice-like

structures in the cold

northern muds and at the

bottom of the seas.

Published on 15 Dec 2004 by Baltimore Sun (Common Dreams). Archiv ed on 15 Dec 2004.

by John Atcheson

Image courtesy of NASA

37

Dramatic

Change in

Just 12

Years

38

An Area the Size of Germany and

France Combined is Melting

Unprecedented

and

Irreversible

39

“The climate is nearing tipping

points. Changes are beginning

to appear and there is a

potential for explosive

changes, effects that would be

irreversible”

James Hansen, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for

Space Studies

The Observer, February 15, 2009,

40

“Climate change is real. It's

happening now.”

Senator John McCain

August 24, 2009

LA Times

Kristen Wyatt Associated Press http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-

global-warming-national-parks,0,6162897.story

In Your Lifetime

Temperatures will rise faster

More extinctions

More climate refugees

41

Business As Usual

Collapse

North Pole

Greenland

West Antarctic

Himalayas

Melting permafrost

Acidification of oceans

Rapid species extinction

Ocean clathrates (frozen methane)

Deforestation and mega fires

42

Six of These will

Happen in Your

Lifetime

Why is This

Happening?

Burning too much stuff

Coal

Tropical forests

Wood and agricultural waste

Being Inefficient

10% efficient homes

18% efficient cars

43

Air pollution

Soot

CO2

CO

Methane

Ozone

Nitrous Oxide

HFCs/CFCs

Deadly Combination

Inefficiency

Burning

Air pollution

45

Business as Usual

Extreme Makeover – Home Edition

47

Scenario 2

Amory Lovins' home

Objective “Home Makeover”

Better Environment

Safer Environment

For Everyone

48

55 Recommendations

Find more:

www.EltonSherwin.com

Download first few chapters free:

Amazon Kindle reader for:

iPhone PCs

iPad Droid

Blackberry Mac

49

50

World-

wide Next

20 Years

(Soot)

World-wide Campaign Against

Soot, Air pollution and Refrigerants

Attach All

Appliances to

the Internet

Owners know how

much power each

one is using

51

Put More Information On-line

52

www.energyrating.gov.au 1

Brand Refrigerators-

Freezers

Model

Total

Volume

(litres)

Energy

Consumption

(kWh/annum)

10 Yr

Energy

Cost

Star Rating

DAEWOO FRN-U20__I 603 515 $875 *****

WHIRLPOOL 6E_2__XR_ 640 614 $1,043 *****

SAMSUNG SRS767DGB 768 731 $1,242 ****

GENERAL

ELECTRIC PCG25

GSG25MIP__ 761 729 $1,239 ****

1 There is much to like about the Australian government’s site, foremost is showing the ten-year cost of

energy. I like it even better than showing the five-year costs.

The site also leaves old appliances on the web site, even when they are no longer sold in stores.

This is enormously helpful, not only to users of eBay, but also for energy auditors and building

owners.

The site also grades products, which is good. Unfortunately, the Australians give products one or

two stars that would earn a “D” or “F” under the scheme I proposed earlier (page 184).

I would purchase a product with one or two stars. I would never bring a product home with a

“D” or “F” on the label. Grades work; stars and happy faces do not. That is why we stop

giving stars in elementary school and switch to grades.

I predict that every foreign appliance and consumer electronics company will lobby against

grades, forgetting that they already sell graded products in Europe, and some will actually

convince lawmakers that grades are “too hard.” It is amazing how many “capitalists” do not seem

to like competition.

Back to the topic at hand, it would be great if the DOE’s new web site could help find “plug

compatible” new, replacement products and calculate breakeven points: Which newer products

are the same size? What new refrigerator is exactly the same size as the old one? What new attic

fan will exactly fit in the cutout created for the old fan? How much more efficient are the new

products, compared to the one I have installed? Is the old product so wasteful that one should

replace it immediately?

The DOE does not have to do all this research. Energy auditors and average Americans will

provide much of this information.

Energy Hog Website

53

Put Grades on All Products

54

Grade Buildings

Start grading buildings based on

ACTUAL ENERGY USE

Inefficient buildings steal jobs and wealth

55

55-step Action Plan

“Home Makeover”

Create Better Homes

Create Jobs

Create Wealth

Eliminate Air Pollution

56

57

Checklists

Documents section of:

www.EltonSherwin.com

www.Slideshare.net/EltonSherwin

Energy Wasters at Work

Energy Wasters at Home

Cities and Counties

Simple Green Building Code

Homes

Commercial Property

www.Amazon.com

Dramatic Savings

$5/month utility bill

Some homes in

Woodside use 100

times as much

energy!

58

Amory Lovins' home

59

“The time for action is now.”

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Elton’s Focus

Buildings

Accurate grades

Mega-projects sip energy

Fast action greenhouse agents

Soot, methane, CO, ozone,

refrigerants

Joint action with China

Next year

NGOs take a family planning pledge

Subsistence farmers

YouTube

60

What Are You Going to Do??

61

62

Service Project

www.stovesonline.co.u

k/darfur-stove.html

Efficient

Cookstoves

63

Work with a Middle/High School

64

Start An Energy Hog Contest or

Website

Use Your Skills and Passions

Teach or train

Research, count, measure

Improve efficiency – upgrade buildings

Reduce emissions

Write, blog, Facebook

Start a new group

Contest

Service project

Video production

Work on Policy Issues

Air pollution

Carbon tax

Waste management

DMV fees

Congestion fees

Urban planning

International relations…

66

Or

Many Opportunities

Pool pumps

Window films

Motor controls

Smart lighting

Building tune ups

Thermal storage on air conditioners

Green building code recommendations

Research

Smart appliances 67

Pick One

School

Work

Church

A nonprofit

A local dump

Your utility

One town (outside of US)

A local water treatment

plant

City planning department

State or federal

government

A local university

On the web

In the media

With the elderly

With low-income housing

With local agriculture

69

and Focus

70

You Did Not Create the Problem

You Are Inheriting It

It Will Change Your World

More Information

www.EltonSherwin.com

www.eltonsherwin.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/EltonSherwin

71

72

Questions

73

Appendix

74

Recent Past, 1961-1979

Higher Emissions Scenario, 2080-2099

Lower Emissions Scenario, 2080-2099

Number of Days Over 100ºF

White House Report on Climate Change

Recommended Label In Monthly Utility Bill

C-

B+

Electricity**

Gas**

*125 is highest score

1 is lowest

Compared to all federal buildings in

America (See Inverted Scale with Progressive Weighting)

** The energy grade is determined

comparing this building to other similar

buildings in similar climates

74 *

Image from iStockphoto

Why This Label

Grades motivate change

Rewards small improvements Automatically update

monthly

Universal participation Does not require pre-audits

Fair: works for all sizes of buildings

Drive dramatic reductions in energy consumption

77

http://www.slideshare.net/EltonSherwin/presentations

http://tinyurl.com/34dp6qx and http://tinyurl.com/34vrhl6

Also, see

Response to the

National Energy Rating Program for Homes

Request for Information

78

North Pole Ice Thickness

In 2009, less

than 15% of

the North

Pole was

“old ice.”

North Pole, NASA

McKinsey

79

McKinsey 2007

86

Sector Specific Abatement Cost Curves

Agriculture in the UK

87

The First Report of the UK Committee on Climate Change

December 2008

88

US DOE. CO2 in America. Excludes other greenhouse pollutants: methane,

Soot, CFCs, etc. Also excludes embedded energy in imports and most impacts from Agriculture.

CO2 Emissions:

Circled sources are

mostly buildings

89

Electricity Consumption in

Healthcare Buildings