by Carla Klein
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carla Klein, the Sierra Club Global Warming and Energy Conservation Organizer for Missouri and southern Illinois. I am a native of Stone County Missouri and a graduate of Southwest Missouri State University with a degree in Political Science and Environmental Policy. I will be working out of the Eastern Missouri Group office and look forward to meeting many of you as I travel across the state.
Being raised on a farm, I have always had a great respect and appreciation for the natural world. I became an activist when I witnessed children waiting at a bus stop with trash blowing over them from a nearby landfill. I began a neighborhood crusade to correct this problem, after being told by the Department of Natural Resources that all that was required was a four-foot fence around the landfill’s perimeter and there was nothing more they could do. As is so often the case, the observable problems were only a small part of the pollution. The landfill was contaminating the groundwater, our drinking water, and Table Rock Lake. With the help of several dedicated and passionate people, we were able to close this landfill.
They say timing is everything and this certainly has been a most exciting and challenging time to begin my career as the Conservation Organizer. In the past few weeks President Bush has done a complete about-face on his campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired electrical generating plants. He then stunned the world by bailing out on the 1997 Kyoto Treaty. Next, his Administration targeted the Department of Energy’s energy efficiency and renewable energy research and development budget. This kind of job security I could do without.
With the President’s help Global Warming has become one of the top news stories and for good reason. It is the most serious environmental threat we have ever faced. Scientists warn that if we don’t curb pollution we could see more extreme weather, spreading infectious diseases, sea level rise, and the extinctions of entire species. The world’s leading climate scientists predict that in our children’s lifetime dramatic impacts from global warming will be evident in Missouri.
The Environmental Protection Agency reports "in St. Louis by 2050 heat-related deaths during a typical summer could increase 170%, rising from 80 heat-related deaths per summer to over 200.” In addition, increasing ozone concentrations will cause more respiratory problems like asthma and respiratory inflammation. Other health related threats would come from the increase in mosquito populations: cases of St. Louis encephalitis would increase as the area becomes warmer and wetter.
We all remember the devastating floods of 1993 and 1994; and again severe weather hit in 1998 and 1999. As the world climate increases the atmosphere holds more water and the incident of floods are predicted to increase. “Ecosystems in Missouri include extensive forests, rivers, streams, and prairies. The Ozark Mountains contain several rivers, designated as ‘Wild and Scenic’ by Congress; these rivers also provide winter habitat for many bald eagles. Riparian and stream ecosystems are especially sensitive to changes in rainfall. Water temperature changes caused by climate change could reduce habitat for smallmouth bass, northern pike, and other species such as walleye and yellow perch.” (EPA Climate Change and Missouri, September 1997)
If we don’t begin to curb global warming our children will live in a world where the climate will be far less hospitable than it is today.
Environmentalists, world leaders and even past President Carter have questioned President Bush’s decisions of the past few weeks. It seems everyone grasps the severity of this issue, except President Bush.
Science magazine’s March 30 edition explains, “By now the scientific consensus on global warming is so strong that it leaves little room for the defensive assertions that keep emerging from the cleverly labeled industrial consortium called the Global Climate Coalition and from a shrinking coterie of scientific skeptics.”
Penn State professor and editor, Brent Yarnal, of the journal, Climate Research, agrees, “I know of no scientific area of study that has more consensus than the field of global warming.”
The far-reaching impacts of global warming can seem at times daunting, but there is good news. We have within our means the technology to slow and eventually reverse the impacts of manmade global warming pollutants. There are those who may have differing opinions on how to most effectively bring about positive changes but reducing energy efficiency programs is definitely not the way.
We need to tap our fastest, cheapest, and most plentiful energy resource – efficiency. For example, California could save enough electricity for one million homes – 1000 megawatts of electricity – by replacing outmoded air conditioners with modern efficient ones. Replacing old refrigerators would save another 1000 megawatts. Requiring tire companies to sell replacement tires as fuel efficient as the tires installed on new cars would save 5.4 billion barrels of oil. This is more than geologists expect to find in the Arctic. Demanding that auto companies install the best technology and increase the fuel economy of new cars and light trucks to 40 miles per gallon would save three million barrels of oil every day – more than the Arctic, Persian Gulf imports, and off-shore California combined.
The time has never been more critical for Sierrans to voice their concerns over the President’s environmental choices. I have seen first hand the positive change citizens can make when they are committed to an ideal and work together. A first step you can take is to write your Congressperson and urge them to pursue policies that will promote energy conservation and invest in renewable energy.
As I work to get the urgent message of global warming out to the folks of Missouri and southern Illinois, I need your help. There are excellent national and regional Club publications and fact sheets, which I can provide for events, meetings, displays and articles. Also, I am available to come to your area and give presentations or assist with presentations. Please contact me if there are upcoming events in your area where we could educate people on the threats of global warming. The great thing about being a member of the Sierra Club is that when you join your voice with thousands of others you can be heard.
Carla Klein can be reached at (314) 645-2032 and at carla.klein@sierraclub.org.