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Climate Science Course Offered
In light of how Council has been discussing greenhouse gas emissions and the climate and ecological emergency, I am challenging all Councilmembers to join me in taking an upcoming online course in the essentials of current, up-to-date climate science as of 2019. This self-paced course will be taught by Michael Mann, a graduate of Cal and Princeton, an internationally famous climate scientist known for documenting a global temperature record covering the past 1,000 years - showing extremely strong proof that our burning of fossil fuels has caused an unprecedented disaster (the "hockey stick" graph).
You can see details about the course, including a 2 minute video introduction, here. You can also sign up here:
https://sdgacademy.org/course/
To audit the course is free (but requires registration). I would encourage you to join me in signing up ($50) for the option of working towards a certification. This option allows you to have your homework graded, to test for your own benefit your understanding. There are 8 modules in the course; each is estimated to take 4-6 hours to complete. And again: the course is self-paced. You will have a whole year to complete it to be eligible for a certificate.
As people who help to form public policy, each of us has a duty above and beyond just this course. In this course we'll learn the urgency of reducing emissions, immediately, from today's levels, and by a large amount. But it is up to us, as public servants, to struggle with what the science implies for the specific situation of Berkeley, of the region, of the economy, and of our way of life. It is our responsibility to learn these things and tell the truth to the larger public, and then to *act as if the truth is real*, as climate activists are putting it these days.
On tonight's second reading of the eventual ban on natural gas in new buildings, I'll leave you with this:
Q. How many tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions will this item reduce Berkeley's emissions compared to today's level?
A. 0 (zero). None at all. It is not a meaningful response to the urgency of the emergency that we face.
I think what was missed last Tuesday was the opportunity for Council to help educate your constituents about the real and present emergency. By analogy: If we were in the throes of an earthquake, with people trapped in rubble, with supplies so endangered that deaths might amplify in coming days -- you would not be crowing for the TV cameras about improvements to the building code. You would not pretend you were responding to the emergency with such stuff. Yet in the context of climate, you sit in a burning building and crow about your thoughts on improving fire safety someday.
