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TGPAS-sponsored National Teach-In on Global Warming |
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On February 5th the T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society held
one of 780 sessions of a National Teach-In on Global Warming. A group of local
environmental groups, including Audubon, the Piedmont Land Conservancy, the NC
Cooperative Extension, Environmental Stewardship Greensboro, and the City of
Greensboro’s Community Sustainability Council, joined together to sponsor this
event.
The evening kicked off with a webcast called The First 100 Days, produced by the
National Teach-In organization with support from the National Wildlife
Federation. The webcast was an urgent call to action, both in Washington DC and
here in our own community, to change our business as usual habits and embrace
the revolution that will move us away from our fossil fuel addiction.
After the webcast, Pricey Harrison, North Carolina State Representative and
co-chair of the Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change, kicked off a
panel discussion by describing North Carolina’s vulnerability to rises in sea
level and temperature, the uphill battles she faces in Raleigh getting climate
change legislation passed, and the importance of our writing, emailing and
visiting our elected representatives. She was followed on the panel by Bob
Powell, Professor of Architectural Engineering at NC A&T University and co-chair
of the City of Greensboro’s Community Sustainability Council, who talked about
Greensboro’s efforts to set greenhouse gas targets and implement strategies to
meet them. Then Ken Bridle, Stewardship Director at the Piedmont Land
Conservancy, talked about the effects of climate change on our Piedmont
ecosystems, emphasizing that human populations relied on ecosystem functions
that will be impaired as climate changes. Karen Neill, Urban Horticulture Agent
of the NC Cooperative Extension, wrapped up the panel presentation with
practical ways that we could reduce our carbon footprint in our yards, gardens
and farms.
The audience and panel then brainstormed a list of what we could do to respond
to climate change. The events and activities were collected together to make a
First 100 Days Calendar for Greensboro, and an award was given for the most
outrageously creative idea. (If the City of Greensboro declares that lights are
shut off one night a month so that we can all star-gaze, you will know that our
idea was not so outrageous after all!)
If you missed the event, a link to the webcast, the Greensboro calendar, the
award ceremony, all this and more has been posted to a Google Groups site –
http://groups.google.com/group/greensboro-gw If you would like to add
events or ideas of your own, please do. Our email address is
Greensboro-gw@googlegroups.com
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