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On a Positive Note – October
10, 2007 Global Warming Roundtable (2007-10-18)
Despite the fact that our campaign signs are being stolen, the
Aberdeen Democratic candidates are painting themselves green, and
an attack ad was launched by the Democrats directly against the
Green Party candidates, we feel like talking a little about the
biggest issue facing us and the generations of human beings yet
to be born. While it is tempting to react emotionally to the childish
tactics of a political machine gone awry, there are good reasons
not to. The number one reason is that we envision a more civilized
world with more cooperation among people with varied interests and
backgrounds, not a divided population fighting amongst themselves.
The Green Party strives to be part of the solution, not part of
the problem.
On October 10th, 2007 a Roundtable forum entitled “Planning
for Climate Change in Monmouth County: Tools for Implementing Alternative
Energy Strategies at the Local Level” was held at Brookdale
Community College. The Green Party was, of course, in attendance.
The mayors of Monmouth County were sent invitation letters, and
we were informed that only one showed up. The identity of that forward-thinking
mayor is unknown to us, however we would like to congratulate him/her
personally for recognizing the importance of this meeting. As expected,
the mayor of Aberdeen was absent, no person from the current Aberdeen
Council, Planning Board or Zoning Board was in attendance, nor were
the Aberdeen Township Planner or Engineer. The meeting was, however,
very well attended and we recognized planning board members from
other communities as well as an abundance of environmental activists
and involved citizens.
The topic of Climate Change, driven by Global Warming (the continual
rise of average global temperatures over a long time period), is
in the news a lot these days. It is one of those phenomenon that
it would be nice to be able to ignore, but ignoring it will not
make it go away. Associated with Global Warming are the effects
it will produce over the next few decades, effects that will change
the face of civilization as we know it. These effects have already
begun and include rising sea levels and displaced coastal populations,
more torrential rainstorms and flooding, longer droughts and water
shortages, larger hurricanes which cause more damage, a disruption
of food production, spread of infectious disease, and of course
discomfort and more deaths due to hotter, longer summers.
There is no doubt that Global Warming is occurring – if
you believe it isn’t we urge you to research it for yourself
(start by referring to Plan
B 2.0). There are, or course,
people that deny the whole issue, just as there are politicians
who distort facts to remain in power. What has been more
in question is the cause of Global Warming – is it natural
or is it caused by the activities of humans? The evidence
is now heavily in favor of it being caused by human activity, in
particular the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gasoline, coal,
natural gas, and propane. Burning these fuels creates carbon dioxide
(CO2) and other gases which rise into the atmosphere and “blanket” the
Earth, causing temperatures to rise. The rise in temperature
then changes the global climate pattern.
Unfortunately the Climate Change caused by Global Warming will
produce more disruption than immediate benefit. Even though the
issue is global in scope, it will be felt locally. Aberdeen has
a coastline, Cliffwood Beach, that will be directly affected by
rising sea levels. It is important that any construction in Cliffwood
Beach be located taking this sea level rise into account, otherwise
Aberdeen will be in the position of paying for dikes to protect
homeowners, similar to Keansburg and Union Beach. As residents of
these two neighboring communities can tell you these dikes really
don’t work.
Monmouth County itself has long coastlines on both the Raritan
Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Rising sea levels and changing storm patterns
can create coastal “refugees”, people who decide to
move due to flooding and storm surges that affect their home or
livelihood. Aberdeen may become home to some of these refugees.
The incidence of more intense storms, coupled with the loss of
ground absorption of rainwater caused by overdevelopment, stretches
the ability of the creeks in Aberdeen to handle the flow. Erosion
is already becoming more intense in upland Matawan Creek, Gravelly
Brook and Mohingson Brook, and most water tables are falling.
The October 10th Roundtable was not a doom and
gloom rehashing of the above scenarios. Six speakers presented,
and you can read their bios here. To be sure, the first
speaker, Dr. Kristy Dahl, did present the evidence for Global Warming,
its man-made origins, and its effects. Additionally, Dr. Norbert
Psuty painted a gloomily realistic model of what we can expect to
happen to our coastlines, argued that beach replenishment is likely
a thing of the past that will no longer continue to be financed,
and emphasized the need to come up with ways to accommodate the
sea level rise which is guaranteed to occur. Again, it was emphasized
that building too close to the coast is a disaster waiting to happen,
and that we must plan for increased storm surges at the municipal
level.
The remaining speakers are why this web article is entitled “On
a Positive Note.” In contrast to the two speakers above, the
remaining four speakers focused more on how to reduce the causes
of Global Warming; the most effective way to do this is to burn
less fossil fuels, to increase the efficiency of anything that does
burn fossil fuels, to increase the energy and insulation efficiency
of buildings, and to develop renewable energy sources like wind,
geothermal, solar, and tidal. Of course there are other very good
reasons to learn how to cut our use of fossil fuels, not the least
of which is that most oil now comes from other countries which are
not always friendly to us.
Debbie Mans spoke on NJ’s Smart Growth master plan and how
it will benefit local planning on Climate Change issues, and Patricia
Swannack spoke about a successful solar electric project which covered
six building rooftops at Monmouth University and is providing significant
electricity cost savings.
Patrick Hossay next presented a rapid series of
jaw-dropping ideas for what can be done at the municipal and county
level to promote energy efficiency and alternative energy, thus
lowering a town’s
contribution to Global Warming. He spoke often of what
could be accomplished through the use of municipal ordinances. Hossay
also argued for the need to reduce income disparity and provide
for people's basic needs, or nothing as ambitious as limiting climate
change can possibly work.
During the question and answer period which followed
the speakers, we asked if there were “model ordinances” available
which could help a town implement some of these energy
saving ideas. One of the resources Patrick invited us to
view is the Cool
NJ Handbook – this is a must-read for anyone involved
in modern municipal planning, and it could also greatly
benefit contractors and developers.
Faith Teitelbaum was the last presenter and is
involved in the nationwide Cool Cities initiative. For
anyone who does not know what Cool Cities is, please visit
www.coolnewjersey.org. In brief, Cool Cities is an easy-to-follow
framework which a municipality can use to reduce its contribution
to Global Warming. The goal of Cool Cities is to get the
mayor of every city in the United States to sign onto this
program of energy usage reduction. In Monmouth County,
four municipalities have joined: Asbury Park, Long Branch,
Middletown and Neptune. The current Council in Aberdeen
has, more than once, been asked to look into joining the
initiative but has not responded. The Green Party candidates
will fully support Aberdeen joining Cool Cities.
We hope this information is useful to those of you who could not
attend the meeting.
Paid for by Aberdeen Green Party,
109 Wilson Ave., Aberdeen, NJ 07747
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