Dr. Arun Jhaveri is the first Mayor of Burien. He is a physicist and mechanical engineer, recently co-authoring the book “Carbon Reduction: Policies, Strategies and Technologies.”
He stayed in touch, through email and telephone, with several colleagues who attended the recently completed United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
We asked Dr. Jhaveri to provide his thoughts on the conference.
He kindly obliged with this synopsis:
One must consider the following three separate yet inter-connected three-pronged/triad elements, that holistically encompass Global Climate Change:
- Inter-relationship among Energy, Environment, and Economy (the three E’s)
- Three groups of critical participant nations – Developed/Industrialized, Developing/Emerging, and Less Developed/Poor/Most Vulnerable
- Time-line of Global Climate Change history – Past, Present, and Future
Based on my knowledge and understanding of what happened these past two weeks in Copenhagen, it is absolutely clear that thousands of delegates representing the United Nations’ 193 members, appear to be vocal, determined, outspoken, scared, excited, frustrated, optimistic, enthusiastic, and hopeful that somehow or some way, a consensus would result from their extremely hard work through forceful negotiations, which could become a meaningful roadmap/action plan to significantly reduce the current greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, impacting billions of our earth/planet inhabitant’s future survival and associated quality of life – a truly tall order for this extremely complex, science-dependent, universal phenomenon.
As it turned out, the legally non-binding Final Agreement/Understanding among the major political leaders, fell far short of the desired high expectations. However, based on the past 17 years of very impressive history of the United Nations’ journey from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, to 1997 Kyoto Climate Change Protocol in Japan, to 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, to 2009 Copenhagen, Denmark’s Post-Kyoto Global Climate Change Treaty Negotiations, it is absolutely remarkable that notwithstanding the unprecedented multicultural diversity, socio-economic variations, degrees of growth & development, differences in science-based vulnerabilities, and unified desire to urgently work towards realistic & quantifiable assessment, mitigation, and adaptation re global climate change, the Copenhagen Declaration has succeeded in marshaling the absolutely critical political, financial, technical, educational, and social framework to move forward, based on mutual trust, respect, communication, coordination, as well as cooperation.
The long and difficult path ahead will surely require hundreds of thousands of decision makers, scientists, community activists, academicians, and business/industry leaders to work together to make sure that the global temperature rise does NOT exceed 2 degrees Centigrade or 3.5 degree Fahrenheit atmospheric temperature from the emitting greenhouse gases and/or the equivalent carbon quantity remains less than 350 parts per million, both in the near future through 2020 as well as long term by 2050, when the world’s population is expected to increase from some 6.5 billion now to nearly10 billion.
This extremely optimistic goal or tall order can be accomplished via very promising Energy Efficiency Technologies, Renewable Energy Sources, Life cycle cost-Effective Financing Mechanisms, Creative & Innovative Clean/Green Business Practices, On-going Awareness, Education & Training, and Periodic Exchanges of Ideas, Expertise, and Verifiable Information.
As an Eternal Optimist with many years of practical experience in Energy, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change, Economics, Governance, and Leadership, I am more than convinced that the world as a whole would rise to take on the Copenhagen Challenge for not only the survival of the current generation but also to leave a beneficial legacy for future generations to come.
Therefore, we all must begin now, since it takes a Village.
- Dr. Arun Jhaveri
For our previous coverage of Dr. Jhaveri, click here.
Burien's new City Hall celebrates "Earth Hour" by leaving all its lights on.
by Jim Branson
Having heard about Earth Hour on the news, (it was the lead story on Google News all day), I shut off all the lights and headed out for a walk with my dogs. I expected to see a few like-minded people out enjoying the festival of darkness to save the planet. I wondered what others were doing to celebrate Earth Hour, and I speculated that there might be a spike in births recorded in hospitals around the world on December 28th.
Instead, I found the streets were empty and lights blazed in almost every home as people sat in front of their TVs. Even yards that had prominently displayed political signs for pro-environment candidates had floodlights blazing. Fewer than one home in ten appeared dark, and some of those may have been vacant. One guy, the one with the immaculate lawn that he waters all summer and mows even in the dead of winter, had all the lights in his home on, and he also had a full-size truck running in the driveway with its headlights on, aimed out into the neighborhood. I’m not sure if this was his personal statement against Earth Hour, or just his standard practice.
The dogs and I walked through Olde Burien, and I expected a few of those shops, run by people who, one would hope, tend to pay attention to what’s going on in the world, to be participating in this global event. I thought some might even use it to promote business, inviting people to enjoy a candlelight dinner, perhaps. Not only were the open businesses fully lit, but most of the closed business had their lights blazing. They seem to leave them on all night, every night. The shops of Olde Burien even had extra lights strung along the tops of the buildings. All those lights make it a cheery place, I suppose.
The real kicker was the new Town Square. It is completely vacant right now, but lights shone from every floor of the residential building. The City Hall and Library building glowed so brightly it was hard to look at. I needed sunglasses to walk by it. These lights also stay on twenty-four hours a day, even at 9:26 on a Saturday night when no one is working. Participation in Earth Hour wouldn’t necessarily save the planet or even slow global warming, but it was a chance to raise awareness and show solidarity with our fellow earthlings as we recognize that our actions make a difference.
The city of Burien, its citizens, businesses, and government, seem to be sending a different message to Planet Earth:
“We hope you die a slow and horrible death, you stupid planet.”
Way to go, Burien.
Here are some photos of how other places around the world celebrated Earth Hour:
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Branson is a longtime area resident and environmental activist. On a personal note, when "Earth Hour" rolled around at 8:30pm Saturday night, we actually turned off all the lights in our home and sat in the dark. It was not only peaceful, but it felt...different. Mostly because when we stepped out on our porch and looked around, we noticed that ours was the only "dark" house on the block. Sure, some think this is a silly exercise. And some think global warming is a bunch of hooey. We wonder if any of our Readers participated? If you did, what did you do? And if you didn't...why not? Please Comment below...]
| Mar ’09 |
| 28 |
| 8:30 pm |
This coming Saturday, March 28th, from 8:30pm-9:30pm will be “Earth Hour,” where all citizens of planet Earth are encouraged to turn their lights off for one full hour.
We just double-checked and determined that Burien was still part of Earth, so apparently this will include our town as well.
“Earth Hour” is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, which is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.
It is projected that one billion people will go dark for Earth Hour.
Already hundreds of icons and landmarks around the world have signed up to turn their lights off for Earth Hour 2009 including:
- The Eiffel Tower in Paris
- Sydney Opera House
- Acropolis and Parthenon in Athens
- The London Eye
- Perhaps your house?
For more information, check out earthhour.org.
Here’s another video with more info:
