Green People - Walter Simpson

The second installment of Green People features Walter Simpson. He's credited with helping to make the University at Buffalo perhaps the region's greenest institution. Simpson is about to retire to devote himself to environmental activism. He's one of the prime movers and shakers in the local green community who has trained directly under Al Gore.

Involvement: Energy Officer at the University at Buffalo for 26 years - directing, coordinating, catalyzing UB's energy conservation and green campus program.  Director of UB Green Office and chair of UB Environmental Task Force.  Also, active in the community: co-founder of the WNY Sustainable Energy Association, WNY Climate Action Coalition and the Animal Right Advocates of WNY.  Active in Sierra Club and leader of Clean Energy for Jamestown Campaign, a coalition of 14 environmental groups opposed to the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Jamestown.  Long- time vegetarian and, with my wife Nan, vegetarian educator.

Suggested green strategy for the region: Climate change is the most critical and urgent problem we face as a species. To address it, scientists tell us that we need a massive effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel burning by 80% by 2050.   That needs to happen everywhere in the United States including right here in Buffalo.  It means high performance retrofitting of all existing buildings (including low income residences whose owners and occupants cannot afford to do it on their own), refraining from constructing new buildings unless they are LEED Gold and Platinum with maximum energy efficiency (i.e. much better than required by code), and transitioning to green power and renewable energy resources like solar, wind, sustainable biomass, geothermal and maybe even more run-of-the-river hydro. Funding this effort will be a challenge but the green jobs/full employment potential is huge. This green strategy entails the construction of no coal plants and no new central power plants at all.  If even a fraction of the money squandered on the oil war in Iraq was spent on this desperately needed energy revolution, we would be well on our way.

Nifty idea: Throw out of office every politician who doesn't "get it" and is not actively and aggressively working to clean up the environment, address climate change, and create green jobs.

Regional assets to build on: Wind and water. Good will. Good people.

Obstacles to overcome: Cheap energy. Only when energy prices rise further (as they surely will given pending peak oil, growing conflict over global energy supplies, and the need to put a price on carbon) will our behavior change.  And the mistaken belief that we have a lot of time.  Leading Climatologist Jim Hansen says we have just ten years to get on a new (non-fossil fuel) energy path. This is the blink of an eye.   

Tip for living green: Pledge to achieve a climate neutral lifestyle in five years and become politically active right now -- insisting on new policies and leaders to address climate change. 

Recommend green book: "The Green Campus: Meeting the Challenge of Environmental Sustainability," editor Walter Simpson (2008), APPA.

Recommended green Web sites: Al Gore's new site and David Suzuki.   

Comments

[Mike]

"He's...who has trained directly under Al Gore."
Ah, I see. Mr Simpson is one of the high priests in this new religion called Global Warming that has Al Gore as its pope. I'm sorry if I don't kneel before this new priesthood. As long as these priests and others like the Buffalo News deny others the ability to debate this issue. How many calls for dismissal or censure have we seen concerning those individuals who want to debate Al Gore. Oh by the way, any bets on how long before those new ethanol plant projects in WNY and near Albany get canceled because, oops, we probably should not be using food stuffs for fuel. But then again, the high priests of global warming demanded it.......