S

(With Thanks to Amory Lovines)

Reinventing Fire

Detroit City Gas Company Delivering Coal

Pollution and Segregation

S So my early life was affected deeply by the coal, cars, the

whole fossil fuel industry and also the systemic

segregation of the races that led to violence in 1943 and

1967 and the shrinking and economic strangulation of

Detroit.

S For me, then, the issues of battling climate change and

reversing poverty and racism have been profoundly

connected.

Newark 1967

Detroit 1967

S

Environmental Roots

S

Building

A Green Power Bloc

S

In 2009, Governor Jerry Brown

sent an email to several friends

asking what should be done

about these charts from the

CIA…

Drought

Fire

Flood

War

S

California as

Green Global Model

S

California Clean

Energy Economy

S California laws drive national progress

in: clean air, fuel efficiency, green

building design, green venture capital.

S Consumer energy savings $74 billion

over 40 years

S 200,000 clean energy jobs

S Renewable energy generation +56%

between 2002-2012, three times more

electricity from solar, 2002-2012

S Wind generation increases five fold 2002-2012

S 15.4% of California electricity is from renewables, three times the U.S. as a whole.

S Silicon Valley venture capital: $27 billion since 2006

S Per Capita GHG emissions down 17% since 1990

S Phase out of out of state coal

“…Miles to go before we sleep.”

- Governor Jerry Brown, 2014

The Green Bloc Rising:

Pacific Rim

S Pacific Coast Action

Plan on Climate and

Energy: California,

Oregon, Washington, &

British Columbia

The Green Bloc Rising: East

S Regional Greenhouse Gas

Initiative: Participants:

Connecticut, Delaware,

Maine, Maryland,

Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, New York,

Rhode Island, Vermont; New

Jersey until 2011 Observers:

Pennsylvania, New

Brunswick, Ontario, Québec

The Green Bloc Rising:

Midwest

S Midwest Greenhouse Gas

Reduction Accords:

S Signatories: Illinois, Iowa,

Kansas, Manitoba,

Michigan, Minnesota,

Wisconsin

S Observers: Indiana, Ohio,

Ontario, South Dakota

Michigan

Michigan is in climate crisis

S Michigan is suffering from the legacy of coal that I grew

up with. We have in this state the oldest coal plants in

America We import 100 percent of that coal from other

states, like Dick Cheney's Wyoming. Climate change -

heat waves - is worsening the condition of the Great

Lakes. Fishing in Lake Erie is like trolling in a dead zone.

S

Michigan Renewables

SMichigan Public Act 295

(2008)

SGoal:10% From

Renewables by 2015

SUnion of Concerned

Scientists (2014):

S17.5% from Renewables

achievable by 2020

S32.5% by 2030

S“Michigan has vast in-state

renewable energy

resources, enough to

generate annually several

times the state’s total

electricity demand.” – Union

of Concerned Scientists,

2014

Students & The University

War is about burning fossil

fuels

with weapons to obtain more

fossil fuels for cars and

industryS I learned how war was not about people alone, but about

fire, smoke, pollution, the death of forests, fields and

streams. Fossil fuels were used to belch death so that

more fossil fuels could be obtained to power the gas-

guzzling cars I grew up with in Detroit.

Sunrise in Ann Arbor

The Granholm Moment

S Back in 2008, under the leadership of Gov. Granholm,

Michigan passed its Clean, Renewable and Efficient

Energy Act, mandating the utilities and energy providers

to supply ten percent of Michigan's electricity from

renewables by 2015.

S

2012: a Setback for

Renewables

S Environmentalists pushed ahead with an initiative in 2012

to achieve a 20-25% renewable standard and were badly

defeated under a ton of utility lobbying and spending.

Your DTE here in Ann Arbor was a major opponent of that

initiative.

Why an environmental justice

coalition is necessaryS Prop 23 (2010) by the Koch Brothers to

suspend California Global Warming Law:

S Defeated 62-38% overall, people of

color 73% against, whites 57% against.

S LA Times Poll 2010:

S 50% of Latinos & 46% of Asian-

Americans, “personally worry a lot about

global warming.” Only 27% of whites

worry.

Battling On

S The battle for Michigan is far from over. Obama's EPA

standard of reducing carbon emissions from coal plants

30% by 2030 is helping drive the process. Michigan

utilities are expecting to invest $15 billion in more efficient

and renewables-based infrastructure over the next five

years, and cutting coal by at least 50 percent. The fight

will be over efficiency and renewables like wind and solar,

versus natural gas and nuclear.

The University as Catalyst?

S We idealistically conceived of our universities as being centers where new ideas and activism would be nurtured across the country. Under the pressure of students today, that dream is being kept alive.

S The University can be a catalyst for change, for all the reasons described in the Port Huron Statement.

S UM has official endorsed sustainability as a university mission.

S Promised a carbon reduction of 25 percent by 2025 [from 2006 baseline]

S The University has nearly 700 faculty and 600 courses that focus in part on sustainability issues.

S Building efficiency, water use, recycling all improved.

The University as Catalyst?

S The University has the Graham Sustainability Institute.

S The University has just begun to purchase wind energy for its AA campus.

S But only 3.5 percent of purchased electricity is from renewables. Half the University's electricity is still from coal. Carbon Emissions have increased.

S The University has not signed the carbon reduction agreement endorsed by 684 college presidents. Ohio State is purchasing 25% of its electricity from local wind farms, and uses geothermal wells for building heating and cooling. It has a zero-waste football stadium. Stanford is lowering emissions by 50 percent, and recently decided to divest from coal and look at other fossil fuel divestment options.

Cutting Emissions While

Improving Justice

S California law requires progress on reducing greenhouse

gas emissions [AB 32, 2006] and co-benefits for

disadvantaged communities [SB 535] at the same time.

S This is a path to a broader environmental coalition than

ever before, as community-based organizations and

trade unions seek there share of co-benefits

[weatherization, irrigation, rooftop collectors, green cars,

buses, trains, etc.

So Which Way Detroit?

Detroit is a result of white

flight, the outsourcing of

industry, and heavy pollution

S Detroit also is an opportunity for sustainable development

at all levels, from community gardens to workforce

training and local jobs, energy-efficiency and wind/solar

manufacturing.

S Reducing emissions pollution and raising up justice can

go hand in hand.

S Will they?

A New Detroit Model for a

world of urban poverty and

pollution.

S The world’s megacities where billions live suffer from

crises similar to Detroit. They need reinvestment along

sustainable lines, not abandonment of people and

polluted property.

The UN Climate Treaty

Timeline

S Lima Negotiations, December 2014

S Paris Summit, December 2015

UN Climate Treaty Goal

S Achieving “Climate Stabilization”

S No greater than 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) warming above pre-industrial levels

S 15 Countries produce 70% of global GHG emissions:

S Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indian, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States

S Jeffrey Sach’s Report:

S “Not on track to stay within the 2° C limit”

S “Goal is feasible”

S “December 2015 is our last chance.”

The Green Bloc Rising

S The Green Bloc in the United States

covers an approximate population of

143,057,455.

S US states with a total GDP of $6.4 trillion.

North American GDP influenced by green

policies equals $8 trillion.

A Green Global New Deal