Dietz

Tom Dietz, a professor of sociology and environmental science and policy, spoke yesterday with Michigan Radio’s Charity Nebbe about a paper he and colleagues recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The group found that policies encouraging households to adopt simple behavioral changes could help the United States cut its carbon footprint by an amount equal to France’s total emissions in just ten years.

The interview was one of several Dietz and his colleagues gave about the study. To see more press coverage, click here.

ESPP sat with Parson after the talk for his thoughts on technology’s role in mitigating climate change, how major research universities can help, and why he has skepticism about the upcoming Copenhagen talks.

– Andy Balaskovitz

For three hours, students negotiated a climate agreement under the motivating force of ESPP faculty member Laura Schmitt-Olabisi. The simulation exercise they participated in was developed at MIT and has been used nationally and internationally in preparation for the Copenhagen climate talks December 7-18.

The exercise played out like this. Students formed three blocs, representing developed, developing, and least developed nations. Each received briefing materials on its particular concerns and agendas. Through three rounds of negotiations, they attempted to draft a climate pact that all agreed on.

To emphasize the unequal footing of the nations, developed nations sat at a table with chairs, developing nations had no table, and least developed nationals sat on the floor.

Blocs spent rounds deciding what they are prepared to offer in three areas: emission cuts, mitigation through deforestation, and contributions to a global climate fund for adaptation of poor countries. Blocs also negotiated with each other around desired concessions. The moderator then plugged the numbers into a Web-based model which predicts atmospheric CO2 levels by 2100.

Little progress on capping CO2 emissions was made after the first round. None of the blocs conceded much and everyone was surprised to discover that negotiation positions had resulted in devastatingly high sea levels and a rapidly warming climate.

Things got a bit heated in the second round. The developing bloc accused developed nations of trying to strong-arm a deal that put a higher emissions-cutting burden on developing nations. Negotiations stalled as developed nations refused to lower their emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions were well above the goal of 400 ppm by 2100. Back to the drawing board we went.

By round three, compromises were made, emissions were lowered and you could sense the hope of a successful climate treaty.

Though the group succeeded in steeply lowering worldwide CO2 emissions, it was still a failure in terms of the simulation’s goals. The result was a binding agreement among nations that, by 2100, would still generate atmospheric CO2 levels near 500 parts per million and raise average global temperatures by 3 degrees C. The goal was 400 or less with average temperatures rising less than 2.5 degrees C.

Some were disheartened when the final pact didn’t meet the simulation’s goals. How, some said, is Copenhagen ever going to agree on something in real life, with real stakes, next month when we couldn’t do it in a classroom? Others wished the simulation took into account factors such as technology advances and other greenhouse gases in setting emission goals.

– Andy Balaskovitz

The first talk, held October 15, featured Professor David Zilberman of UC Berkeley’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. His talk was titled, “Can we fill the car and feed the stomach without destroying the environment?”

Following the talk, ESPP sat down with Professor Zilberman to ask what Michigan can do to best position itself in the bioeconomy, how MSU should handle this type of research and what average citizens can do to help the transition move smoothly.

The next talk in the series, on November 12, will feature Edward Parson from the University of Michigan, who will be speaking on “Climate change policies and technological innovation.”

– Andy Balaskovitz

And so far, it’s been teriffic.  I spent yesterday morning on a Great Lakes research vessel, while Andy went birding in the country’s biggest freshwater cattail marsh. More on that later.

This morning the conference headed back indoors for an optimistic address from Al Gore about the upcoming United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen.  He likened the current political atmosphere to a moment in a football game when one team abruptly changes the game’s momentum, and ”the psychology of the contest changes dramatically.”

Gore cited recent defections from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the chamber’s stance on climate legislation, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency’s new reporting requirement for major emitters of greenhouse gases, as indicators that an agreement is likely at the U.N. meeting in December.

Gore admitted that his optimism was largely a result of a fear of what would happen should the negotiations prove fruitless.

“The consequences of failure in Copenhagen would, in my opinion, be catastrophic,” he said.

-Andy McGlashen

The National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers will host its Midwest regional conference at Michigan State Oct. 30 through Nov. 1. The meeting will include plenary sessions on green energy, chemistry and engineering, as well as a keynote address from Dr. Lealon L. Martin of Rensselaer University.  There will also be workshops designed specifically for undergraduates, grad students and professionals, with topics including the fastest growing jobs in the Midwest, and technical writing tips from an editor of Science.

The meeting is open not just to black chemists and engineers, but to “anyone who is interested in using their talent to save the planet,” said Fletcher Daniels, chair of the committee planning the conference.

“We want the conference to be an interdisciplinary experience, full of scientists, policy makers, economists and agriculture researchers,” he said.

The deadline for registration and for poster abstracts has been extended to Oct. 20.  To sign up or learn more about the conference, click here.

Rowe (Horticulture) has been studying green roofs ever since Ford Motor Co. asked MSU to help install a 10-acre green roof at the River Rouge plant in 2003.

Since then, Rowe has been researching what plants work best on rooftops in different regions, managing water stress levels and reductions in storm water runoff. Results have been promising.

Rowe draws inspiration from European countries, where modern green roofs have been commonplace for more than 50 years.

His latest project at MSU looks at the viability of growing vegetable gardens on rooftops – a practice most effective in urban areas.

“Why not grow [vegetables] on the roof?” Rowe asks in the video. “It’s wasted space.”

– Andy Balaskovitz

Prepare to have common engine idling myths debunked.

“If you’re going to have your car running for more than 10 seconds, if you turn it off and then turn it back on, you’re saving gas,” Grogan says in the video.

Oh yeah — idling is bad for your car too. When an engine idles, it isn’t as hot as when you’re driving. Hydrocarbons aren’t burned completely because of this, which causes sludge buildup.

Grogan’s project looks at how MSU can reduce idling on campus. He and colleagues came up with recommendations for the MSU environmental stewardship team, a campus-wide effort that reports to the Vice President for Finance and Operations on ways to reduce MSU’s environmental footprint.

Grogan said the research remained sensitive to issues like freezing temperatures in the winter and the police department’s need to keep engines running to prevent overheating from computers in the car.

The university is currently working up an awareness campaign.

– Andy Balaskovitz

TNC is the world’s largest environmental NGO, with a mission of protecting natural places. Historically, it relied primarily on buying land; now, especially as it expands internationally, it uses “a richer array of strategies,” and emphasizes partnerships, Kareiva said.

Collaborations between universities and TNC can provide valuable synergies, Kareiva said. Most TNC scientists have “little time to analyze and publish, and it’s hard to stay cutting edge.” Few are specialists. Universities can provide valuable expertise; in turn, TNC provides sites for research. Partnerships are also often appealing to funders.

The best model so far, Kareiva said, is the Natural Capital Project, which is a partnership between TNC, Stanford University, and the World Wildlife Fund. Foundations and agencies have funded researchers to work on a topic of interest to the university and NGOs: clarifying the value of ecosystem services.

TNC is seeking to create more of these holistic partnerships, where TNC signs an agreement with whole university rather than individual scientists. After the seminar Kareiva and other TNC staff met with a group of MSU faculty and administrators, led by Jeff Armstrong, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to discuss the potential to establish such an agreement at MSU. One possible focus is work related to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Kareiva is dedicated to “bringing the science of conservation to the people,” said Doug Schemske (Plant Biology) in an introduction. He gave an example: Kareiva once asked Schemske to write an article. Kareiva’s requirements were that Schemske write with “no puffery” and start the paper with a quote from a rock band. Schemske began with a quote from Nirvana, he said: “Take your time, hurry up – The choice is yours, don’t be late.”

-Maya Fischhoff

As part of our effort to share all of the great work our students, staff and faculty do, we’ve started an occasional series of short videos highlighting environmental work on and around MSU’s campus. We hope the videos will spread awareness of important issues by showing their reach into our own backyards, and that our researchers’ enthusiasm for science and nature will prove contagious.

We’ll post each new video here so that subscribers to our RSS feed will have the latest sent to them, but the entire series will be housed on a new page, available here.

In our first video, we head to MSU’s Tree Research Center, where forestry and ESPP doctoral student Sara Tanis talks about the emerald ash borer, and discusses her research into ways to halt the tree-killing beetle. She even shows us trees in downtown East Lansing that are dying from ash borer infestation.  For more information about the beetle from MSU, click here.