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 WEBCAST VIEWING INSTRUCTIONS (PDF Download)
Start your teach-in with "Solutions for the First 100 Days" webcast.
President Obama faces a critical window for action in the first 100 days of the new administration.
If he acts boldly, like Roosevelt and Johnson, then Obama can immediately set the planet on the path to a stable climate. Join David Orr, Hunter Lovins, Betsy Taylor, Ray Anderson, Dianne Dillon-Ridgely, Jessy Tolkan, Billy Parish and Wahleah Johns as they discuss global warming solutions for the first 100 days.
       
This 50 minute webcast will focus on the recommendations from The Presidential Climate Action Project. Show The Solutions for First 100 Days and then use the discussion guide to follow up with a ½ hour conversation. There will be two versions of the webcast: one for campuses and one for faith audiences. We recommend screening the launch webcast on Wednesday evening, February 4th. All you need to show the Solutions for the First 100 Days is a laptop and projector!
Webcast discussion questions
Webcast Discussion Questions and Supplementary Readings: (PDF Download) (Word Download)
Overview of Webcast
Over view of "Solutions for the First 100 Days"
(PDF Download)
This 35 minute webcast is divided into several segments:
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A discussion of why the first 100 days of a new administration is an important window in the American political process, including remarks by David Orr, Hunter Lovins, Dianne Dillon-Ridgely, Jessy Tolkan, Betsy Taylor and Ray Anderson. |
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An interview with youth climate leaders Billy Parish, Wahleah Johns and their baby Tohanna. The focus is on the importance of youth leadership and involvement in the first hundred days; the economic challenges faced when shifting to “green jobs”; and the challenges facing today´s student generation. |
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A discussion of two PCAP proposals—see the actual webcast text for this section here. (BELOW) Comments on America in 2020 from Orr, Lovins, etc. |
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Concluding remarks. |
The "Faith Version" of the webcast includes the "Sermons" video from the Interfaith Power and Light campaign (watch it here) as well as a powerful segment that follows a faith community in Texas fighting for clean energy.
The "Campus Version" of the webcast includes a discussion of NWF’s "Chill Out" competition.
TEXT FOR PCAP SEGMENT
The Presidential Climate Action Project, or PCAP is based out of the University of Colorado. Two years in the making it lays out an agenda for the first 100 days of this administration to put us on a path to stabilizing the climate.
PCAP proposes two related big ideas that taken together, would remake the global economy over coming decades: from energy to agriculture, to forests and food systems, from transportation to the design of buildings and the design of whole cities.
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Cut Global Warming Pollution 40% below 2006 levels by 2020. Insure a just transition that protects middle class Americans and displaced workers. |
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Revitalize the US economy. Lead the world in renewable technology and create millions of jobs now weatherizing, solarizing and rewiring America. |
OK, first 40% by 2020. The steps outlined in the PCAP would get us an average reduction of around 4% of CO2 emissions per year for 10 years. This is a very ambitious, but a doable goal—and it would set the stage for today´s young people to largely phase out fossil fuels by 2050. Some colleges and universities are piloting these ideas: Butte College in California plans to cut its carbon emissions completely by 2015! One requirement to meet this goal: no new power plants that produce net CO2 emissions. Coal is by far the dirtiest energy source, so this means no new coal plants that can´t capture and safely store their pollution.
Getting to 40% by 2020 would revitalize the American economy by forcing aggressive investments in cleaner energy and transportation technologies: wind, solar and geothermal power; high speed rail systems; and a new generation of efficient vehicles; and in modernizing our aging transmission grid, rewiring it for a new generation of smart, clean energy. Of course the cheapest electricity is the power that you never have to produce—policies that eliminate energy waste by promoting weatherization and retrofits would pay off quickly, and help provide jobs for folks who need them—in rural areas and inner cities.
The PCAP also recommends policies to recapture America’s lead in renewables—investing in research, development and commercialization of a whole suite of new clean energy technologies, from solar cells to fuel cells to sustainable biofuels and geothermal power. At the same time, the very large subsidies to mature industries like nuclear and oil and gas, would be eliminated.
These steps will help avoid runaway climate change; but what will they mean for the economy? Bottom line: If we do it smart, most Americans will benefit.
First jobs: we’ll see immediate job gains in efficiency, renewables, and energy infrastructure development. And over the medium run, as America recaptures leadership in clean energy technology, American workers will help rewire the world.
Of course there will be some gradual job loss as well, as the nation shifts out of dirty fuels. So we need a just transition, with dependable support to help coal miners in particular to bridge to retirement or retrain for a clean energy future. Also the cost of gasoline and coal-based electricity would also rise—potentially hurting low income and middle class Americans. Can we deal with these issues?
To cut carbon 40% by 2020, the government will use auction off a limited, and shrinking, number of permits to emit global warming pollution into the atmosphere—and the good news is, the auction will generate hundreds of billions of dollars to support this just transition. The foundation of the auction system is a well-tested approach called cap & trade”
[At this point, there is a showing of a short National Wildlife Federation Cap & Trade video]
To recap: to cap and cut carbon, the government will auction off a set number of permits—so if you want to sell coal, oil or gas you will need permits to cover the carbon dioxide the fuel will emit. The number of these permits will shrink over time, in order to cut pollution. Companies will pass on the costs of permits, so the price of gasoline and electricity will gradually rise. This in turn will drive innovation, as families and firms cut down on energy waste.
Auctioning off these permits will generate a lot of revenue. And if government turns around and rebates some of that back to families, most Americans will be better off. For example, a middle class family might pay $300 per year more in gasoline prices, but get a check from the government—their share of the auction revenue—of $400!
And finally of course—to get us out of the current recession, the government will be borrowing and spending hundreds of billions to create jobs and promote recovery anyway. By focusing economic recovery efforts on green investments, we can solve the short run economic crisis, invest in a solid long run economic future, and start to solve the climate crisis all at the same time.
Stopping global warming will take sustained and focused effort—that is why all of us, young and old, need to step up to engage in this mission bestowed on our generations. None of us asked for this, but acting together, we can both save the planet, and restore America´s economy and spirit.
What would America would look like in 2020 if we followed the PCAP plan?
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