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Where Every Issue is a Green Issue| Providing Wisdom in Building a Sustainable Future | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Want to Stop Global Warming? Stop Coal! At the conclusion of Climate Week in September, Architecture 2030 delivered the “silver bullet” for solving the global warming crisis in a full-page ad in The New York Times. According to Edward Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030, the only way to stop global warming is to stop coal. “We must stop burning coal or we don't make it.” Coal is the only fossil fuel that can push the planet to dangerous climate change, resulting in irreversible glacial melt and sea levelrise. We can meet our energy needs without coal. ” With global reserves of oil and natural gas being depleted and their prices increasing, coal is the only fossil fuel plentiful and supposedly cheap enough to push the planet to 450 parts per million (ppm) CO2 in the atmosphere. Although many believe that coal is necessary to meet our increasing energy needs, Mazria asserts that these needs can be met without coal. At 450 ppm atmospheric CO2, scientists project dangerous climate change with potentially irreversible glacial melt and sea level rise. We are currently at 385 ppm, and are increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 at approximately 2 ppm annually. At this growth rate, we will reach 450 ppm in 2035. Architecture 2030 is calling for an immediate moratorium on the 151 coal-fired power plants now under development in the US, and the phasing out of the more than 600 US coal plants currently in operation. This puts an immediate cap on coal plant emissions while allowing enough time to retrain coal workers for healthier jobs. “Coal is not cheap,” Mazria emphasizes. The Department of Labor and Social Security Administration, for example, have made $42.3 billion in Black Lung Program payouts since 1971. This figure does not take into account administrative costs, other black lung programs, health and environmental costs or the billions in government funding provided to the coal industry. Seventy-six percent of all electrical energy produced at coal plants is consumed by the Building Sector. The 2030 Challenge, officially launched by Architecture 2030 in January 2006, is a global initiative to reduce building energy use of new and renovated buildings by a minimum of 50%, which negates the need for new coal plants. “Renovating to 50% allows you to build new buildings at 50%, flattening out the sector's CO2 emissions curve,” says Mazria. By reducing the energy use of new buildings an additional 10% every five years until 2030, and by using renewable energy, we ultimately negate the need for existing coal plants. In the ad, Architecture 2030 also debunks the belief that reducing Energy Intensity (energy consumption per GDP) by 1% will have an effect on CO2 emissions and global warming. The US has reduced its Energy Intensity by 1.5% on average every year since 1980 while increasing its CO2 emissions by approximately 40%. “By placing a moratorium on coal, we avert the worst consequences of climate change. If we begin now, we make it,” says Mazria. “If we wait, even for a few years, this window of opportunity is lost.” About Architecture 2030 In January of 2006, Architecture 2030 issued The 2030 Challenge, a global initiative calling for all new buildings and major renovations to reduce their fossil-fuel GHG-emitting consumption by 50% by 2010, and that all new buildings be “carbon neutral” by 2030. The Building Sector accounts for almost half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. annually. By galvanizing and collaborating with the key players in this sector, including the US Conference of Mayors (USCM), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Green Building Council (USGBC), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), American Institute of Architects (AIA), American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), and many others, Architecture 2030 is working to achieve a dramatic reduction in the global-warming-causing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of buildings by changing the way they are designed and constructed. What can You do? Make your voice heard. Polls show that the American people are very concerned about global warming. What’s lacking is the political will to do what needs to be done. If enough Americans make clear that they are not willing to gamble our nation’s future, our children’s future, those who wish to lead will find the political will to do the right thing. They will do what it takes to secure our future, calling for a moratorium on coal and embracing not only The 2030 Challenge, but all the many other worthwhile initiatives that can help undo the damage caused by CO2. Word-of-mouth and the Internet are the most powerful and effective forms of communication today. Contact your federal, state and local representatives. Demand a MORATORIUM ON COAL. Start a word-of-mouth epidemic, talk to everyone you know, put it on your blog, YouTube, MySpace... |
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