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Big climate haps in the Emerald City

It's been a pretty extraordinary couple of days here in Seattle -- "climatepalooza," as Mayor Greg Nickels jokingly dubbed it.

Yesterday I went to a small private luncheon with Seattle's movers and shakers. The purpose was to honor both the Green Ribbon Commission's work and visiting author Elizabeth Kolbert. I got to meet the mayor, who was genial and optimistic, reinforcing my sense that he's a bit of a Forrest Gump figure in all this. He got a good idea -- the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement -- from his staff, jumped on it, and now has gotten carried away on a tsunami he doesn't pretend to control. I give him full credit for recognizing and riding the wave. It's a case of accidental greatness, but accidental greatness is greatness nonetheless. His name is on its way to the history books.

Kolbert -- obviously nervous and uncomfortable with public speaking -- spoke briefly. She said she hopes Seattle is able to achieve these goals and that others emulate it, because if not, "all hope is lost." Everyone laughed nervously. She didn't.

A proud day for Seattle

I just came from a press conference wherein Seattle mayor Greg Nickels unveiled the recommendations of his Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection. This is the first big step in Seattle's attempt to comply with Kyoto -- a mission which, via Nickels' U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, now involves some 219 cities (and counting).

I'll have more to say about this event and some others in the past week shortly. For now I just wanted to share something said by former Vice President Al Gore (you'll have to forgive me for paraphrasing -- I didn't record it). He talked of two possible futures ahead of us.

In one, our children ask, "Why? How could they let this destruction happen?"

In the second, they say, "Thank God they had the moral imagination and courage to rise above their limitations and tackle this problem. And it all started in a city between the mountains and the sea. It all started in Seattle."

I'm not much for civic cheerleading, but today I'm pretty damn proud to be a Seattleite.

Media Shower: Another weekly roundup

Well, I'm off to the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival soon for a weekend bonanza of green films. I don't have much time to write, so here's another weekly recap:

How do you grow up on a doomed planet?

Last night I went to a screening of Ice Age: The Meltdown. To be honest, I went more in fan-of-goofy-animated-movies mode than environmental-editor mode. But one of the first lines was: "This global warming thing is killing me." The rest of the movie centered on an escape from the flood that was going to doom the movie's cuddly creatures.

It turned out to be good fun, of course, and had the requisite happy ending (oops, sorry). But I started wondering, as I listened to the kids around me gasp and laugh, what it would be like to grow up in a world where all you hear -- even in cartoons! -- is that the whole planet is doomed. I guess this ties in with Dave's beef with the new global-warming ads.

How does all that fear possibly help, and how can the so-called grown-ups among us change the message? Should we?

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Breakfast at epiphany’s

Your morning repast: how much is it worth in oil? Chad Heeter investigates.

What would your global warming ad look like?

I'll be honest: The new Environmental Defense TV ads about global warming make me cringe. The public is conditioned at this point to view environmental groups as alarmists, and these ads could not possibly play more neatly into that stereotype. I mean, ominous music? A scary, deep-voiced narrator? A train heading toward a little girl? Seriously?

Who's going to do anything but roll their eyes?

If I was going to do a 30-second commercial, here's the script I'd use:

[Over very brief montage of smokestacks, hurricanes, and parched deserts.] Global warming's already here, and it's only going to get worse. In the next 20-40 years, everything's going to have to change: the way we get around; the way we produce our food; the way we power our homes and offices.

[Fade to bright montage of people in laboratories, wind turbines, farmers in fields, construction workers looking at building plans, high-speed trains, etc.] There will be difficulties we don't yet understand; professions we have not yet named; opportunities we have not yet begun to grasp. The next generation will be called on to create something entirely new: a prosperous, sustainable, healthy society. Let's unleash their energy. Give them the tools and knowledge they need.

Together, we can overcome the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. Let's get started.

Hm ... that might be a little longer than 30 seconds. But you get the idea.

What do you think? What would your ad look like?

After the levees

The TPM empire -- aficionados of political blogs will know of what I speak -- has started a new blog: After the Levees, about post-Katrina New Orleans. Bookmark it.

What it takes

I'm reading Wendy Kopp's One Day All Children..., the story of the founding of Teach for America.

It's inspiring. If you ever wonder what it takes to launch a movement, here's some tips gleaned from her experience:

1. Have a great idea.
2. Think big.
3. Focus like a laser.
4. Work harder than you have worked before.

From page 38:

The work was piling up. My solution was to begin sleeping every other night.

Easy!