File:Kim Cobb - Georgia Tech professor of climate science.jpeg: Difference between revisions

Kim Cobb

Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Georgia Institute of Technology

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To fly or not to fly? Do what you can do to make a positive difference. That's what we say at #GreenPolicy360 #GoingGreen

Each of us can make a positive difference stepping up & doing our best

Becoming Planet Citizens

Climate scientists try to cut their own carbon footprints

• https://apnews.com/dde2bf108411ecd973de60bfda5250aa

'Moderation is key'

“I don’t tell people they need to become childless, off-the-grid hermits. And I’m not one myself,” said (Professor Michael) Mann in an email. “I do tell people that individual action is PART of the solution, and that there are many things we can do in our everyday lives that save us money, make us healthier, make us feel better about ourselves AND decrease our environmental footprint. Why wouldn’t we do those things?”

Mann said he gets his electricity from renewables, drives a hybrid vehicle, doesn’t eat meat and has one child.

When Katharine Hayhoe flies, she makes sure to bundle in several lectures and visits into one flight, including 30 talks in Alaska in one five-day trip. She said more people come out to see a lecture than if it were given remotely, and she also learns from talking to the people at lectures.

“They need a catalyst to get to the next step and me coming could be that catalyst,” Hayhoe said...

Former Vice President Al Gore, who has long been criticized by those who reject climate science for his personal energy use, said he has installed 1,000 solar panels at his farm, eats a vegan diet and drives an electric vehicle.

“As important as it to change light bulbs,” he said in an email, “it is far more important to change the policies and laws in the nation and places where we live...”

Teen activist Greta Thunberg drew attention when she took a zero-carbon sailboat across the Atlantic instead of flying.

“I’m not telling anyone else what to do or what not to do,” Thunberg told The Associated Press before her return boat trip. “I want to put focus on the fact that you basically can’t live sustainable today. It’s practically impossible.”

Kim Cobb is trying. In 2017, she started biking to work instead of driving. She’s installed solar panels, dries clothes on a line, composts and gave up meat. All these made her feel better, physically and mentally, and gave her more hope that people can do enough to curb the worst of climate change.

But when she did the math, she found “all of this stuff is very small compared to flying.”

Cobb began turning down flights and offering to talk remotely...

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