June 12: Talk about climate change and learn what Cape Cod can do - Cape Cod Times

June 12: Talk about climate change and learn what Cape Cod can do

'It's a race now.' Forum to answer what Cape Cod can do to limit effect of climate change
Heather McCarron

On Cape Cod, climate change isn't a problem that's out of sight and out of mind, waiting to be tackled by someone else, somewhere else, at some vague time in the future, observers say.

It's already happening, with warming waters, flooding roads and eroding beaches.

As Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution senior scientist in physical oceanography Glen Gawarkiewicz recently told The Times, "this is not like our grandchildren's problem. This is in the next five to 10 years."

Internationally recognized climate activist Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and Third Act, couldn't agree more.

"I think that's absolutely right. I wrote the first book about all of this back in 1989. It's not as if we didn't know what was coming. We didn't do anything, and so now it's here," he said, talking by phone Tuesday from Vermont, where he said smoke from the Canadian wildfires — in part owing to extreme weather owing to climate change — was so thick "you can almost chew on it."

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"We're no longer at the point where stopping climate change is a possibility," he said. "We're at the point of limiting it to so it doesn't cut civilization off at the knees."

McKibben is among three climate leaders who will talk about climate change and what can be done on Cape Cod to address its causes and effects during the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative's upcoming forum, "It's Time for Climate Collaboration."

The free event, which will also include Massachusetts' first-in-the-nation state climate chief Melissa Hoffer appointed by Gov. Maura Healey, and Soren Hermansen, community energy leader and CEO of the Samsø Energy Academy in Samsø, Denmark, will be held at Barnstable High School, 744 West Main St., Hyannis, on Monday, June 12, starting at 7 p.m.

According to the Climate Collaborative, each of the speakers is an accomplished leader in growing efforts to meet the challenges of climate change head on and build adaptation and resilience to its effects.

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“We are thrilled to bring these three luminaries in the climate change field to Cape Cod, who individually are incredible, and together are a force not to be missed as they inspire collaborative climate work on Cape Cod,” said Climate Collaborative Board President Dorothy Savarese.

In his book “The End of Nature,” published in 1989 and one of 20 titles under his belt, McKibben argues that "the survival of the globe is dependent on a fundamental, philosophical shift in the way we relate to nature."

On Cape Cod, awareness about climate issues is already high, and growing, he said, observing that Cape Codders are "well aware of what bigger storms mean." And that is as it should be, he said.

"There's few places on the planet where the danger is more obvious," McKibben said. "It's also a place that could be crucial in developing some of the solutions."

Offshore wind is one such solution, which he believes is among key solutions to begin relieving one of the root causes of climate change: burning of fossil fuels.

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"All of us in countries like the U.S. have built up enormous carbon debts," he said. "It's about time we did our part."

At the Hyannis event, McKibben, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science who's also won the Gandhi Peace Prize, will specifically talk about the need to “bring people together and push them forward."

"I will give (participants) a sense of where we are, give a sense of what we can still do, and give a sense of who has to do it," he said.

The challenge ahead is not only to increase use of renewable energy and become more sustainable, but also to discourage any further development of fossil fuels and to get the rest of the world on the same boat.

McKibben is well-versed at inspiring others through Third Act, an organization that brings together people 60 and older for action on climate and justice, as well as 350.org, regarded as the first global grassroots climate campaign organizing protests around climate change on every continent — including Antarctica.

Fellow panelist Hermansen is described as "the driving force" behind transformation of Denmark's Samsø "into a carbon-negative island through the use of alternative energy sources." In the early 2000s, Hermansen spent a decade helping set up investment plans for island residents to buy into a collection of alternative energy sources, including solar.

He plans to talk about those efforts, and how Cape Cod can achieve similar results.

“If we could do it on Samsø, you can do it here," he said.

Hoffer, a former acting general counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency, is an equally practiced hand. When Healey served as attorney general, Hoffer led the future governor's lawsuit taking on ExxonMobil with allegations that the oil and gas corporation "deceived the public about climate change."

At next week's forum, Hoffer will focus on the Healey administration's efforts to address climate change, which she calls "a defining issue of our time."

The message McKibben stresses is that "it's a race now" when it comes to reducing climate problems.

"The question is, can we catch up?" he said.

The Climate Collaborative's forum, which will be held in Barnstable High School's auditorium — accessed through the main entrance — will culminate with a "fireside chat" Q&A session with the speakers. Questions will be taken from participants in advance.

There is no charge to attend, but donations will be accepted, with net proceeds supporting the Climate Collaborative and Sustainable Markets Foundation, the 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor of Third Act.

Tickets to the talk are available on the Climate Collaborative website at www.capecodclimate.org

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on Twitter @HMcCarron_CCT

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