Its Here

Focus the Nation is today! The long hours and days of hard work are about to pay off (or not). Every time I hear that a professor mentioned this in class, or that someone's excited to go to a panel discussion, or even a remark that there's just so much going on, it makes me feel good.

The organizing team itself has done an amazing job at coalescing into a lean, mean, event planning machine. Over the last few weeks I've been able to step way back and let people do the work that they know needs to get done. In terms of organizing, we've already achieved a major goal, which is empowering students, many of whom have no experience doing this, to take on big things.

I met some of the presenters tonight and could hardly control my emotion as they shared their stories of mountain top removal and dirty industry in West Virginia and the Bronx. This day is not only for the attendees, but it is also for the people who will be brought together here and get to know each other.

Ok, time to try and sleep before the big day.

Teach-in Details

(Cross posted from ephblog)
I think its worth responding to David's thoughtful speculations about the nature of the upcoming Focus the Nation teach-in on Tuesday.

Will the teach-in on global warming on Tuesday be any different? I doubt it, but I respect Morgan Goodwin a great deal. If any of the presenters argue that a) global warming isn’t that serious a concern or that, b) however serious, there isn’t much that we can do about carbon emissions via government fiat or c) that the most important human value is freedom and that you have no more right to control my carbon emissions than my speech or d) that Williams, as an institution, should have no more involvement with the political issues surrounding global warming than it does with those involved with fighting malaria, then I will be proved wrong. Perhaps TNG will surprise me with their open-mindedness and commitment to free-wheeling debate.

First, the numbers: Currently 92 professors are 'participating' in Focus the Nation. That means 15 professors will spend the entire class period on Monday or Tuesday discussing climate change. Another 9 will spend part of class time doing so. The majority will spend at least 5 minutes discussing why climate change is relevant, interesting or concerning to their discipline, and a final 12-15 have agree to make an announcement to their class about the day's events and encourage students to attend panel discussions or the talk by Christopher Flavin. These numbers aren't final, and we expect to cross the 100 mark tomorrow.

Bill Clinton on Green Jobs and the Economy

If you haven't called your senator's office yet about the Sanders amendment for Green jobs into the economic stimulus package, do it now! (see previous post)

Yesterday, Bill Clinton painted the picture that we're working for. Sure, we can get even better at messaging, but he definitely go the gist of it. (as an Obama supporter, I'm not convinced that Hilary's plan for green jobs is any better, but I'd love to hear other opinions on that)

"...The only way we can [save our planet and our grandchildren] is if we get back in the world's fight against global warming and prove it is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy that saves the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is the only way it will work."

"And guess what? The only places in the world today in rich countries where you have rising wages and declining inequality are places that have generated more jobs than rich countries because they made a commitment we didn't. They got serious about a clean, efficient, green, independent energy future… If you want that in America, if you want the millions of jobs that will come from it, if you would like to see a new energy trust fund to finance solar energy and wind energy and biomass and responsible bio-fuels and electric hybrid plug-in vehicles that will soon get 100 miles a gallon, if you want every facility in this country to be made maximally energy efficient that will create millions and millions and millions of jobs, vote for her. She'll give it to you. She's got the right energy plan."

Focus The Nation Press

Williams College Focus The Nation gets its first local press coverage!

Below is the copy of our press release that was printed in iBerkshires earlier today.

Williams College Holds Focus The Nation

- January 29, 2008

Engaging everyone in working towards global warming solutions

On February 5th, the Williams Community can help build a climate positive world. Focus the Nation is a student-run event that promotes big picture policy changes as well as local innovation. Participants will hear from local voices, including the Williamstown Carbon Dioxide Lowering Committee and solar technology designer Craig Robertson. They will also hear perspectives from the frontiers of insurance, marketing, and global social, environmental and economic trends.

“It’s amazing how many people from all areas of the college and community are coming together to make Focus the Nation happen,” said Caroline Henry ’10, one of the day’s student organizers. “Global warming is so complex that it’s the ultimate problem for a liberal arts community to tackle.”

Participants will engage with global warming through class time, panel discussions, and ongoing action. Over 60 professors from all disciplines have pledged to focus class time on the issue, including Professor Zimmerberg of the psychology department, who will discuss the links between global warming, red tide, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The entire Williams college campus will transform into a forum, with speakers from the cutting edge of global warming solutions. On one panel, activists from West Virginia and the South Bronx will share stories from the dirty side of the fossil fuel economy. “Most people don’t realize the disastrous effect dirty energy has on the lives of the disadvantaged,” said Julia Sendor ’08, who is writing her senior thesis on grassroots opposition to Coal.

Another panel features youth activists Will Bates of the Step It Up organizing team and Morgan Goodwin ’08, founder of Mass Youth Climate Action. “Youth have been at the forefront of social transformation,” said Morgan. “The youth climate movement is winning campus victories, implementing state policies, and gaining a national voice”.

Students and community members can speak out to their elected officials in the Action Center, located in Paresky from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Participants can learn more about local businesses, student groups, and community organizations.

In the late afternoon, attendees can discuss the college’s ongoing sustainability efforts with President Schapiro and senior staff. They will answer questions about the college’s carbon reduction goals and the impact of new building projects.

Focus the Nation will culminate in an address by Christopher Flavin (’77) entitled “The Climate of Hope: The Path to a Low Carbon Economy.” President of the Worldwatch Institute, Flavin will speak to the opportunities available when everyone engages in finding solutions to global warming.

“The greatest thing about Focus the Nation is that the events and speakers come from all parts of the community, which is exactly the way we need to approach solutions to global warming,” said Elizabeth Irvin ’10. "Large scale events such as these expand the boundaries of what is possible."

For more information and a full schedule of the day’s events, visit the Williams home page

Hope's Edge

"The first step is losing naive consciousness," Joao Pedro emphasized, "no longer accepting what you see as something that cannot be changed." (I'm amused by the irony that here in the U.S. it's the opposite. A person gets labeled naive who believes that things can change.) "The second," Joao Pedro continued, "is reaching the awareness that you won't get anywhere unless you work together.

"This shift in consciousness, once you get it, is like riding a bike: no one can take it from you. So, you forget how to say 'yes sir' and learn to say 'I think that...' This is when the citizen is born.

"This change of consciousness is hard to measure statistically," Joao Pedro reminded us. "You can't count it the way you can the number of families we settle or the number of hectares the MST makes productive. But it is equally, if not more, important."

-Hope's Edge, Francis Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe

I think there's an important link between citizenship and empowerment, or the ability to think and act independently. This distinction is painfully obvious for the work that the MST does in moving landless workers onto private land, and then demanding the government fulfill its laws and grant the settlers rights in Brazil.

First, we can learn a lot from how people organize in environments like Brazil. There's a honed skill to creating lasting relationships, empowering people through teaching and collective growth, and building power in a decentralized system.

Second, is there an advantage to organizing and empowering people in a poor and disadvantaged area, over in a privelidged and satisfied upper-middle class setting? Its possible. We can start figuring out how to make change the norm, and the strength of working together appealing to our peers.

Obama Endorses Focus The Nation

Global Warming Solutions and Herding Cats

Holding a big event at Williams is like herding cats. In an institution run by independent and motivated professors and administrators, getting collaboration and consensus is very difficult. That is why I’m very proud to announce plans for Focus the Nation, an event which really will capture the attention of the entire school, at least for a day.

A little background on Focus the Nation: conceived of and promoted by Eban Goodstein ’80, this day-long symposium for global warming solutions will take place at over 1500 schools, churches and businesses across the country. Held on Jan. 31st nationally, the eve of super Tuesday, the goal is to engage 5 million citizens in active and intelligent conversations about global warming solutions.

The classic problem in any sort of activism is that when you throw an event, only the people who are interested come. In order to address this age old problem, we’re going to the students. Starting in September, we embarked on a campaign to speak to every single faculty member individually and ask for some or all of class time on February 5th to discuss climate change from the stance of their department. To speak to over 300 faculty is a big project, and I applaud Meredith Annex ’11 and Martin Sawyer ’08 who have coordinated those efforts.

Its paying off. Currently over 60 faculty will use between 5 minutes and all of their class time to talk about where their passion for a better world intersects with their discipline and subject matter. And more new commitments are coming in every day. We’ve actually been surprised at how many faculty are genuinely eager to participate in an event that addresses a big issue and uses their particular strengths. Maybe it’s not that surprising after all.


With so much faculty involvement, the next step is to hold big, flashy events to bring the campus together. The first will be a town-hall style forum to discuss the college’s commitments and challenges in becoming truly sustainable. President Schapiro and members of senior staff will have a conversation with students about light bulbs, solar panels, the new library and Paresky hours. Later in the evening, for our key note address, Christopher Flavin ’77 will discuss the climate of hope and the path to a low carbon economy.

In addition, throughout the day, several panel discussions will hit on issues such as environmental justice, the growing grassroots youth movement, marketing, insurance, Williamstown and college architecture.

In short, we’re throwing a huge event. We’re taking a big risk, and trying out methods of organizing ourselves and team building that are more ambitious than most groups ever attempt. After all, we’re students; we can take big risks because we don’t have that much to lose, but everything to gain. An event of this size requires coordination of a lot of administrators’ time, faculty time, and the resources of two departments (environmental studies and the Zilkha center) as well as lots of support from the president’s office.

Is it worth all this effort? Putting so much time into bringing people to talk together? Yes. Global warming is not a single problem and it will not be solved with a single solution. It will take collaboration and the sharing of resources among people with different strengths and interests, and it will provide opportunities for those who have visions of a better world to find each other, grow that vision and start building it.

For more information, see our current schedule here: (note: the williams.edu schedule is out of date, it should be fixed soon.)

Front Page in the Transcript

Thursday Night Group continues to charge ahead. Today we appeared on the front page of the transcript, featuring the MYCA effort to schedule appointments with congressmen in April for Massachusetts Power Shift.

The article, written by Bonnie Obramskie, features Elizabeth Irvin making phone calls and includes quotes from everyone in Wendy Penner's winter study class.

Friday, January 25
WILLIAMSTOWN — From a "call center" on the Williams College campus, several students spent Thursday morning on the phone with state representatives to show their support for a bill that would call on the commonwealth to become more environmentally friendly.

About 160 legislators listened as the young activists asked for appointments to talk about supporting the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2007, which is a bill sponsored by Senator Marc R. Pacheco (D-Taunton).

Read more.

Culture of We Can

In How do we end the Planetary End Game, Terry Glavin calls for an all-out war on global warming; a massive mobilization of people and resources to fight to eradicate this threat from our lives and the entire world. He's right in what he's saying, but his messaging is not quite there.

We can declare war on global warming. We can mobilize the way we did for world war two, as a nation utilizing every resource. Everyone did their part. We had victory gardens and Rosie the riveter, as well as brave men in uniform. We saw a massive government expansion which was handled very well with almost no corruption. And we invented some really cool technologies and vastly improved a lot of existing ones. Sound like a good start to global warming solutions? You bet it does, sign me up.

However, a 'war' is an ugly thing that we neither have nor want. Excluding (or not) other poorly framed 'wars' like the war on drugs and the war on poverty, a war is a violent and disruptive process, and also one that requires massive centralizations of power. Who are the people that cause global warming? We are, and while we cannot be considered guilty, we can start to hold ourselves responsible, and then the war turns against us. I have many deep struggles to figure out myself, but I don't think framing those as battles, with the world against me is going to make it any easier or more pleasant.

Here's another way of looking at our current transformation that is much less combative, not to mention even more far reaching. The economic transformation that has occurred all over the world since the rise of modern capitalism has re-shaped the entire face of the earth and empowered billions of people to pursue lifestyles that they wanted. Was there a negative aspect to all that? Yes, there was. Can we choose to take the best parts of that revolution in human thinking and move on? Yes, we can.

This is why I was heartened by Lester Brown's essay, Cutting Carbon Emissions, on how many opportunities we have to switch to an entirely renewable energy sector. He gives us lots of examples of deep and far-reaching gains that can be made in the switch to an efficient and clean economy. He also says that we can cut carbon emissions in half by 2015. That sounds pretty good to me. I'm ready to start working on building a better world. Vince Lombardi said, “those who say it can't be done, should get out of the way of those who are going to do it.”

Affirmative World View

An affirmative world view

An affirmative world view is a certain way of envisioning the world that causes it to become like the vision. If a critical mass of people share a certain set of assumptions and goals for a person's role in the world, then they will live as if such a world exists. Living as if something exists can be a force, pro actively developing its own reality.

In the abstract, this is a pretty far-fetched idea. A bit of metaphysical nonsense which might be true and might not, but we have more important and relevant things to think about. I want to propose a case study; a set of assumptions and commonly held beliefs which started out only being held by a few but ended up driving the change and creating the conditions for this world view to become predominant. What began as a few people holding a vague belief, but still acting as if it were real, affirmed that such a world was eventually possible.

The case study is, of course, modern capitalism. What started as a vague notion in the seventeenth century that division of labor, economies of scale, investment of capital and of course, individuals making economic decisions in their own self-interest was a rational way to run the world, became the norm. What did those early capitalists think about? Was it how to someday run a multi-national corporation? No, they thought about how to grow from an individual into a factory, into a company into larger manifestations of this new kind of system all stemming from the agent and the idea.

Today we live in a world that has been actively re-envisioned by millions of capitalists to the point that it is established almost everywhere. We are so far into it that we forget it rests on some very fragile assumptions. We forget money is really just trust in institutions which are really just made up of people. We forget that our consumer purchases contribute to the wellbeing of millions of people all over the world, (as well as the inequality and ecological difficulties they experience.) We also forget that money is an end in itself for many people, (although it doesn't have to be.) These assumptions are held widely enough to create and perpetuate capitalism.

Many ideas are dismissed because 'people don't think that way' or 'the world doesn't work that way'. For most of them this is true, they won't work and this isn't a rallying cry for every 3am genius on the internet. But an idea that works, a set of assumptions that makes a lot of sense, a world view that encompasses enough hope and opportunity and meaning and foundation will reshape the world as soon as we start living in affirmation of that vague notion.

My notion is a belief in people. I believe in people's minds, I believe in people's motivations and I believe in people's ability to realize their dreams. I believe in people's ability to make responsible choices about their future and the world if only they are given an opportunity to make that choice. I believe in our need to connect spiritually with each other once we know that is possible and wonderful. I believe in our pride and self-confidence if that can be also open and humble and free from attack or fear. I believe in people's ability to organize themselves if they have a sense of their own power. I believe we will direct our life energy towards the greater good if we do not constantly see the meaningless allure of endless consumption and status symbols. I believe self-interest is the same thing as community interest if we believe it to be so.

When Smith described the division of labor as the driver of economic development, industry had barely scratched the surface of how specialized and productive labor could be. Once industry knew that this was the key to unlocking the productive power of their factories, it became obsessed with analyzing every detail of how tasks were divided. Entire realms of profit were discovered in the tiniest corrections of understanding a movement or a piece. Some early capitalists were like explorers on epic journeys towards greater efficiency. They believed the key to unlocking productive power lay in the details of the actions of production and they were right, and they affirmed that the world worked in such a way, that the world would become organized around such principles.

In order to believe in people, we must recognize that the value is only the beginning. The much greater question that we will explore and struggle with and reshape and develop is how to believe in people. We too must embark on epic journey's towards new and exotic looking ways of believing in ourselves, our friends and our networks. These journey's are so exciting because they are often venturing into the unknown, and we might encounter very real and threatening dangers along the way. And yet we will keep exploring because we will also start bring back wildly effective and exciting things. We will also keep exploring because we have affirmed that the driving force, the energy of the world we want to live in is here, waiting for us to find it.

A Question for the Spirit

Nordhaus and Shellenger, the authors of Death of Environmentalism and Breakthrough, awaken controversy when they speak of the high church of environmentalism. People don't like to think of environmental leaders as priests and environmental writers as prophets. I feel like that cuts particularly deep because we don't have a very positive image of a traditional church dynamic in our minds, and because we somehow believe in the modernist philosophy that people are becoming less religious and therefore less in need of churches or spiritual guidance.

Parts of all that are true, and we can recognize how environmentalists don't like the image of themselves as part of a flock. But we can also phrase that relationship between a shepherd and his flock as something very beautiful and very human. We all have certain skills we bring to bear on the situation, and an ability to create a space where the spirit can roam free is a contribution to a group the same way a teacher, a chef or a manager can do their jobs. All of these jobs can be done well or poorly, to be sure, and all these jobs are necessary.

Most of us do not react very strongly to observations of the similarity between the belief system of environmentalism and other belief systems. I think a lot of us know that there's enough of a connection there that it's not worth getting down into the details. I'm more curious about the people who do react very strongly against the notion that environmentalism does fill a spiritual need in many of our lives. What is it about the similarity is so disturbing? What would be bad about embracing that connection?

We are very aware of the somewhat delicate frame of reference upon which our identity as environmentalists rests. In the cultural back and forth of framing and re-framing that the intellectual leaders of our partisan social sphere engage in as if it were warfare, certain ways of looking at things begin to look dangerously like 'the enemy'. If certain words like religion and priest have the power to put us on edge, then we are not on a very stable keel. We are not going to right ourselves by moving further to one side of the cultural ship. We've probably already rocked it about as far as it can go. Lets start to come back, to find our balance and accept that we have spiritual needs which can be met in many ways.

I hope I haven't lost anyone on that little ramble. Typing is a lot harder than conversation, and I can't exactly check in to see if you're with me. However, if you are with me, then thank you.