Jeffery Sachs at Chicago Field Museum 5/13/09

Water: Sustaining Our Blue Planet
Presented by the Gary C. Comer Family

This roundtable discussion, moderated by WGN radio host John Williams and featuring Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Peter Annin, author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, will cover topics ranging from water as it relates to poverty and health, water as a commodity, and how climate change is affecting water resources. Potential solutions to these problems will be addressed and local as well as global water issues will be highlighted.
Please call 312.665.7400 to register.

Lecture
Adult
May 13, 2009
7 p.m.
FREE
Pre-Registration Required

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

I have often been conflicted about my feelings about affordable food in this country and my belief that we should all be eating organic, locally grown food. It's hard for me to make a case for "everyone" buying organic and local food when I know all too well that it's almost impossible for 35 million Americans to get enough food AT ALL. On the other hand...not only is cheap, processed food from industrial farms often harmful to the body and causing poor Americans to suffer health disasters like Type II Diabetes and obesity (particularly awful considering how many of those people are uninsured), but the use of pesticides is harmful to the health of farmers and everyone affected by the waste of these industrial farms. *sigh* How to sum up the feelings of an anti-poverty activist who also wishes to simultaneously be an environmental activist?

Finally, I found a paragraph that perfectly encapsulates my feelings. It was written by the ever eloquent and concise Michael Pollan in his book, "In Defense of Food" on page 184.

"Not everyone can afford to eat high-quality food in America, and that is shameful; however, those of us who can, should. Doing so benefits not only your health (by, among other things, reducing your exposure to pesticides and pharmaceuticals), but also the health of the people who grow the food as well as the people who live downstream and downwind of the farms where it is grown."

That's the part. Those of us who can should. We can protect ourselves, our land, our food producers and... if we buy our vegetables from farmers markets and CSA's (community supported agriculture orgs)... we can also help out the small family farmers who end up on food stamps because our messed up Farm Bill is not very helpful to the growers of healthy, delicious crops! But if you can't, then you should do simply do the best you can be as healthy as you can.

Jeffery Sachs' letter to the next US president

I came across this on youtube. Jeffery Sachs, Director of Millennium Promise and one of the leading voices regarding global extreme poverty, reads a letter to the next president. He is speaking at some engagement with "State of the Planet '08 on the podium. He calls the letter: "Peace Through Sustainable Development"

He draws connections between US military actions, climate change, food insecurity, water scarcity and poverty. I have not heard anyone give such a direct speech about national security and poverty together before. He offers 10 suggestions to implement on Jan 21, 2009

1) End the Iraq war immediately
2) Announce the end of the Bush tax cuts in 2010
3) Send a climate envoy to China, India, the G77 countries and the European Union to open intensive negotiations on a climate agreement by the end of 2009
4) Hold a summit of dry land regions including Sudan, Isreal, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Chad, Senegal, Niger, Somalia, Yemen, Afganistan, Mexico, Australia, Mali, Iraq, the north African countries, the mediterrainean Europe and and the US to launch a project to assess water risks, food insecurity, new engineering and climate hazards to the worlds dry lands
5) Call on congress to sign UN convention on the law of the sea and the UN convention on biological diversity
6) Triple public funding for R&D into sustainable energy systems to reach 10 million dollars/year in 2010
7) Embrace the Millennium Development Goals as the organizing principle for US foreign assistance. Double aid from $25 billion this year to $50 billion in FY2010 and reach 0.7% of GNP ($100,000 billion) by 2015.
8) Call on congress to eliminate subsidies on ethanol production immediately to reduce pressures on food prices and rationalize our approach to sustainable energy
9) Immediately re-establish US contribution to UN population fund. Revisit objectives of global plan on population development from 1994 (aim to stabilize world population by 2050 at 8 billion people or fewer thru rapid and voluntary reduction of fertility rates )
10) Establish a new dept for international sustainable development to oversee international efforts on climate change,poverty alleviation, biodiversity conservation

He estimates these plans would give net savings of over 200 billion per year to be used on other domestic programs and reduce the US deficit.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnsRzh15BnA&NR=1
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HoFQugyr-w&feature=related

Poverty and Climate Change: on my reading list

Ever since Al Gore and Bono spoke together, I’ve been thinking more about how global climate change and extreme poverty are inextricably linked. I’ve been very adamant about my belief that we can end extreme poverty in our lifetime. Yet, more and more, I’ve been wondering if that has to be a qualified statement…that it’s true IF we don’t enter an era of destructive climate change. Whether or not global warming is a human-made event is really irrelevant if it comes to pass. Questions in my mind revolve around what sort of policies will be necessary to deal with climate refugees and the effects of widespread drought. I think I need to know more. Two books are on my reading list to educate myself more about this stuff. I’ll put a little about them, leaning heavily on Amazon.com reviews since I haven’t read them.

The first book is “Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet” by Jeffrey Sachs. If it’s anything like “The End of Poverty” it will probably be a pretty tough read, but an important one. Sachs is an optimistic economist tackling some of the most depressing problems of our time. The nice part is that he offers solutions. This book focuses on heading off global warming and environmental destruction, stabilizing the world’s population, ending extreme poverty and breaking political logjams that hinder global cooperation on these issues. In tonight’s Daily Show interview, I liked how he spoke of these issues as problems we share with the whole planet, even our “enemies.” He says that Darfur is mainly a conflict over water and that we have no hope of bringing peace to that area unless we address the water issue as well as bringing in military.

The second book is “The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations” by Brian Fagan. He writes about a period of history (800-1300) characterized as a medieval warming period. It brought great disasters for some parts of the world, which he says caused the collapse of the Mayan civilization and played a part in the Mongol incursions into Europe. Fagan notes how times of intense, sustained global warming can have particularly dire consequences. For example, by 2025, an estimated 2.8 billion of us will live in areas with increasingly scarce water resources. If that’s true, to me, that sounds like many more people will be considering going to war for water.

Bono and Al Gore: World Economic Forum Annual mtg

It is my pleasure to provide this link since I feel poverty and environmental sustainability are pretty much the same issue. Here are Bono and Gore, the Big Dudes of each of the issues, in a joint interview. It's awesome to see them presenting together! These two have seen the importance of working together to save the planet. They speak about the fact that the brunt of the climate crisis is going to be felt by the developing world and all the good work will be undone if we don't focus on sustainability, too.

http://blog.algore.com/2008/01/world_economic_forum_annual_me.html

Notable moments from the interview...
Good news about poverty from Bono:
-29 million more children in Africa going to school due to debt cancellation
-2 million Africans on AIDS drugs due to the work the recent administration in Washington
-46 million bednets distributed
Bad news:
- MDG's look like they are not going to happen
- Commitments made by the G8 summit to fight poverty in 2005 will not happen

Best quips:
Gore: "I've recently begun to fear I may be losing my objectivity on Bush and Cheney"
Bono: "Father Al, I am not just a noise polluter, I am a noise-polluting, diesel-sucking, ethane-emitting, gulf stream-flying rock star"

Poverty and Sustainability in Zambia (MDG's 1&7)

Sometimes anti-pov and eco activists forget how much the two issues are intertwined. This latest piece from the Micah Challenge in Zambia shows how Millennium Development Goal #1 (Eradicate extreme hunger & poverty) is connected deeply with MDG #7 (Ensure environmental sustainability).
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Press Statement on the ZESCO Power cuts.
Posted: 29 Jan 2008 07:06 AM CST

Micah Challenge Zambia is concerned with the pressure we seem to be exerting on the environment due to the power crisis that our nation has been going through for last several months and recently made worse by the extended power cuts. The extended power cuts are reversing the gains we have been making in the fight against poverty.

Our nation is endowed with a wealth of natural resources within 16 ecosystems with landscapes that range from extensive forests to wetlands. This rich natural resource is under threat if we cannot control the wanton destruction of forests due to charcoal burning. Sadly, Zambia faces daunting challenges of de-forestation at the rate of 250-300 thousand ha per year. The destruction of our forests will lead to reduced biodiversity.

Due to the current power blackouts being experienced in our nation, the search for alternative sources of fuel will lead to unsustainable charcoal production and increased demand for fuel-wood. As more households demand for charcoal as an alternative source of energy our forests will be face further destructions. This will make it difficult for Zambia to attain Millennium Development Goal number 7, where we have committed ourselves to ensure environmental sustainability. . In the year 2000, the government of Zambia and 188 other nations made a promise to halve poverty by 2015 through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Many of the goals are in danger of not being met in Zambia. As a coalition of Christians committed to standing up for justice, we remind the Zambian government to keep the promises they made. Conserving natural resources will certainly contribute to the reduction of poverty in our country.

Unsustainable destruction of our forests will certainly contribute to climate change. This climate change which is human induced impacts negatively mostly on ecosystems. As a nation as we operate within the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol we need to curb practices which will ultimately accelerate the process of climate change. Failure to control change factors that accelerate climate change will lead to widespread loss of productivity, erosion, reduction in stream flow and other negative impacts. Today we are threatened by destructive floods due to climate change.

Micah Challenge Zambia calls on the Zambian Government to quickly resolve the problem being faced by ZESCO to meet the ever rising electricity demand. Micah Challenge Zambia urges government leaders to re-focus their efforts, especially to ensure the following goals are met: With the extensive power cuts or load shedding in place most households regardless of their economic status are depending on charcoal. The rising demand for charcoal is not good for this nation as it has negative effect on environmental sustainability.

Sustainability can help reduce poverty

While we're waiting for more Farm Bill news from the Senate, here's a diversion from breadblog.org. It combines two of my favorite things (right up there with raindrops on roses): poverty reduction and sustainability.

"The Nature Conservancy released a study today about poverty reduction and conservation. Researchers interviewed over 1,000 people from 3 different countries about the impact of marine protected areas on quality of life and income. Some villagers saw their income double as a result of conservation efforts. This is a great example of countries who are working to achieve Millennium Development Goal #7 - ensure environmental sustainability. "

How Marine Protected Areas Help Alleviate Poverty (a site containing a preview of a longer 15 min video)
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/protectedareas/howwework/art23185.html