Feb. 16, 2005. Does this date mean anything to you? What about the Kyoto Protocol? Climate Change? Coastal flooding? Boston underwater?! Should I panic now or later?
Feb. 16 marks the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, a part of the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change that finally goes into effect after seven years of jumping through political hoops. Kyoto sets a legally-binding cap on greenhouse gas emissions. President Bush's 2001 pullout led many to believe the treaty would fail.
However, 141 nations, including the European Union, have signed, refusing to let the unilateral power playing of the world's biggest polluter determine their fate. Skepticism is healthy, but the debate over whether or not climate change exists is over. The scientific community, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization of more than 2000 scientists, has reached consensus. A small, but vocal minority would lead you to believe otherwise. Admittedly, the efficacy of Kyoto to attain climate neutrality is questionable. However, the treaty represents an international commitment to collective action.
The lackluster attitude of the current administration towards the Kyoto Protocol is understandable as Kyoto has a built-in penalization mechanism for noncompliance. If the United States signed Kyoto, it would immediately enter into noncompliance, costing America billions in levied fines. (Note that the U.S. is responsible for nearly 25 percent of global emissions). U.S. opponents fear that signing Kyoto would damage the U.S. economy, but pitting the environment and the economy against each other is no longer an adequate argument.
The imminent weather and sea level changes will be expensive. A recently released E.P.A. study on the effects of climate change in Boston, cited in the Feb. 15 Boston Globe, priced the impact on Boston's metropolitan area buildings, emergency services, and energy prices at up to $94 billion over the next century. Boston is just one of hundreds of coastal cities; as sea levels continue to rise, small island nations like the Maldives will cease to exist.
Our government may be dragging its feet, but Tufts has pledged to independently meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol; intending to make a 30 percent emissions reduction by 2012. This is part of Tufts commitment to the Talloires Declaration, a historic declaration initiated by Tufts' former President Jean Mayer. "Universities educate most of the people who develop and manage society's institutions; [they] bear profound responsibilities to increase the awareness, knowledge, technologies, and tools to create an environmentally sustainable future" (www.ulsf.org). Tufts Climate Initiative, has worked tirelessly to make this a reality. Thanks to their dedication, students will soon witness the construction of Tufts' very own energy efficient "green dorm."
Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO), Tufts' undergraduate environmental group, has its own clean energy-curb climate change campaign. ECO's push for Tufts to purchase renewable (wind) energy is a concerted effort towards joining over 50 universities, including Harvard, who have purchased percentages of their electricity from renewable energy sources. Connecticut College students voted to pay $25 per year to purchase wind. Certainly nobody likes fees, but I would gladly forgo one North-End dinner a year if it meant I helped steer Tufts in a more sustainable direction.
This year's 20th EPIIC Symposium: Oil & Water, communicates climate change as a salient, pressing, international security issue. Though we joke that oil and water never combine, in reality, they coalesce in their relation to climate change. To articulate the causal relationship quickly - the combustion of fossil fuels exacerbates Earth's natural greenhouse effect, which perpetuates climate change, whose extreme weather systems threaten freshwater resources. (Say that ten times fast!) Any ecology student will tell you that the earth is a closed-loop system. Climate change is no exception; we are all affected. America may have the financial means to adapt but should we have to?
Kyoto's ratification marks a turning point in global climate change mitigation efforts. It is admittedly only a first step, but I urge you to make a similar first step in going to this year's symposium. Its balanced panels feature experts from the oil industry, scientists from the IPCC, Nigerian government officials (one of the world's leading petroleum exporters), hydrologists, and nationally acclaimed authors. The symposium is a unique opportunity to learn directly from their wealth of knowledge. For the week of February 23-27, suspend your personal, political, or intellectual inclinations and attend the EPIIC symposium with your uncertainties and open mind.
