A climate change policy worthy of Albertans: Part 1

Our planetary biosphere is changing. The chemical composition of our atmosphere has been altered. Though always containing a certain intrinsic dynamic quality, the parameters that govern the climatic regime of planet Earth are undergoing fluctuations at rates that are unprecedented in the expected patterns of normal evolution.

Healthy debate continues to exist around the subject of climate change, however, the causes and general tendencies are not so much members in the discussion. Contrary to what corporate media and many a professional talking head will tell you, the debate that exists concerns itself mostly with details, thresholds, and potential trajectories. PPM tipping points, positive feedback possibilities, and migratory patterns of flora and fauna are good examples of how, for most educated and interested citizens, civilized engagement with the reality of anthropogenic climate change has moved beyond the stage of skepticism to that of exploration.

This two-part essay postulates policy that I think will work for Alberta in the context of the dominant scientific hypothesis that humans are causing significant disruptions to the normal functioning of global climate systems, that we are beginning to experience the effects of such changes, and that we can expect to feel them increase exponentially over the next century (and probably millenium). I have thought long and hard about 'political realities' here in the province and have concluded that if there is one area of policy that we cannot afford to 'beat around the bush' on, it is that approach we take to mitigating and adapting to life on a climate changing planet.

I propose that by making a genuine attempt to mobilize our democratic, intellectual, and material resources in coordinated efforts of response to this massive (and currently, overwhelming) issue, we can set a tone of ethical maturity and a level citizen involvement that will provide a nexus for social cohesion and a shared common purpose well into the end of our current century. All the while, we will be giving ourselves and those that come after us the best possible foundation to work from in building during uncertain times.

What follows is a rough overview of a few legislative and institutional innovations that I believe hold positive potential for our culture, economies, and communities in navigating at least the next 50-100 orbits. Some are well-known adaptations that other jurisdictions across the world have already employed. Others are the results of personal and peer-discussed thought experiments whose non-conventional nature require further discussion and formulation. And so, as an acrobatic plumber once said: Here we go:

The first step in our climate change policy should be the development, funding and mobilization of a publicly-funded Popular Education campaign centered around anthropogenic climate change.

From my sustained efforts at creating dialogue with my fellow citizens around the concept of a human induced, warming world I have concluded a few things regarding the degree of familiarity and depth of knowledge that the average person holds concerning said topic here in the province. The first is that mere exposure to the data and perspectives offered up by mass media outlets regarding the changing of our planet's climate systems is insufficient to inform individuals about the seriousness with which we should be engaging this issue. Secondly, I've noticed a general resistance to speaking about this subject matter in anything other than academic circles or in passing as small-talk with familiars.

The only way I see us overcoming both tendencies in the time-frame required to act capably to stem and adjust to our emerging global reality is through a sweeping and sustained popular education campaign facilitated by a passionate group of local and international scientists and educators whom are steeped in the intricacies of the issue. The continued ignorance of our society about climate change is unproductive and frankly, dangerous. Lack of awareness will only result in disorganized fear-based social behavior, fruitless efforts of disaster management, and ultimately, a prolonged state of harsh change brought about by rising levels of chaos in the patterns of local and regional weather forces.

Following the trail blazed by the philosopher, Paulo Friere, an interdisciplinary troupe of intellectuals, activists, and entertainers would travel throughout the province enacting a curriculum of participatory public education. The development of a robust appreciation for the collective potentials of being response-able humans in the pursuit of social and environmental justice as part of a future-oriented, ecological vision, would be made central to the medium and message of a public venue for learning. The pedagogy of ecoliteracy, biotic planetarity, and the effects of anthropic evolution can and must form the nexus of an authentic attempt at climate change popular education.

We can give ourselves and our communities a fighting chance at living in the world conditions that are emerging on our shared horizon. However, to do so, we must first overcome the hurdles of laziness, cowardice, and cynicism that have stigmatized anthropogenic climate change as a subject best avoided in polite company. Popular Education is the first and most important step we can take in preparing the citizens of our province for the challenges ahead. If we do this right, the following steps I recommend will be more attractive, effective, and ultimately, enjoyable.


The second step that I will cover in this part of the essay revolves around an idea that I have adopted from the global permaculture movement: Land Repair.

Part and parcel to the changes that are ongoing in our planetary climate regime is the reality of every terrestrial life system being subject to disturbance patterns that are increasingly compromising the long-term viability of the organisms and relationships that compose those systems.

We can speak of an industrial agriculture that slashes and burns forests, drains and tills wetlands, and overwhelms the local landbase with the impact of concentrated livestock and monocropping operations. We can talk about urban sprawl and the deleterious effects that our settlement patterns have on the stocks and flows of natural capital around our communities. Or we can examine the cumulative impacts that arise from our tendency to push further and further into wilderness, building roads, clearing land, searching for untapped concentrations of non-renewable resources to feed the hungry corporations that dominate our present-day economy.

Whatever benchmark we use, it is an inarguable fact that human civilization in the province of Alberta demonstrates an increasingly large array of disturbance patterns on our land, water, air and resident life systems. Coupled with the unpredictable and potentially catastrophic effects of climate change on these same spheres, it is imperative that we begin the restoration of abused and degraded areas using Permaculture Principles (principles derived from observing nature) to support and re-establish balanced, diverse and resilient eco-systems capable of supporting productive, sustainable life systems and durable ecological services.

Land Repair would be effective in dealing with localized environmental degradation while preparing humans and wildlife to adapt best to the long-term conditions brought about by global climate change. The expansion of existing agroforestry and woodlot extension programs here in the province would be an essential first stage of capacity building that would be followed by the establishment of local, government-funded Land Repair Outreach Centres modeled after the national Agroforestry Development Centre. These would provide consultative, educational, and resource provision services with the aim of building ecological literacy, imparting proven methods of environmental rehabilitation, and providing Albertans with the tools needed to 'dig swales, plant trees, and grow soil'.

In my experience, Land Repair is primarily composed of three realms of activity that assist us in working within the limits of natural processes while simultaneously building natural capital and resiliency in the systems that we depend upon.

The first is what may best be described as an applied restorative hydrology. Teaching people how to work with and alter the conditions of the land to provide maximum catchment, distribution, and recharge of falling/flowing water is profoundly powerful. Keyline design, regenerative earthworks, and watershed restoration are all wonderful examples of how moving from 'dehydration models' to 'rehydration models' of water management benefit plants, animals, ecosystems and people on household, farm, and community scales.

Land Repair initiatives would foster the dissemination of theory and the empowerment of practicing applied restorative hydrology at local outreach centres throughout the province. In so doing, we in Alberta would be performing our due diligence to avoid being left high and dry as the onslaught of climate chaos begins to rear its ugly head and puts ever greater stress on our already struggling water supplies.

The second realm of Land Repair focuses itself with the increase of bio-diversity and hence, eco-systemic resiliency, through the reforestation of degraded and marginal lands. A Land Repair programme would teach citizens how to plant native and naturalized flora in ways that work with the process of ecological succession to bring barren bio-deserts into complex communities of climax forests. It would encourage private citizens, non-profit organizations, and municipalities to move private and public lands away from wasteful land-management practices and towards intelligent designs of sustainable utility.

Acting as plant nurseries, educational facilities, and experimentation plots, Land Repair Outreach Centres could help farmers, landholders, and decision-makers transition the land under their care into low-input, high-output equations. Where long-term planning and systemic health takes precedence over short-term fiscal priorities, we would see a Land Repair initiative not only help plant and animal communities adapt to changing environmental conditions brought about by climate change, we would build vital knowledge in our citizenry while taking a significant step towards developing self-reliant, diversified local economies.

The third realm of Land Repair has to do with the medium of life upon which every human civilization rises and falls: the Soil. Today, in Alberta and across most of the world, the trend is towards erosion and depletion of our soil. To reverse this, it is essential that we dedicate significant human and material resources to mobilizing knowledge and technology. Restorative hydrology and reforestation efforts can help in growing soil but there are many other measures that remain unexplored or non-integrated into the fabric of Albertan society.

The scientific art of composting is perhaps foremost among these. Though world class efforts have been initiated here in the province with regards to organics recycling, there is still tremendous capacity to involve individual households, citizens, and smaller municipalities in both low and high-tech means of improving the quality and quantity of our soil through the generation of humus. From the simplicity of planting deep-rooting plants that mine minerals in the sub-soil and bring them to the surface to decompose in the form of leaf litter to creating a provincial movement around household composting systems, a Land Repair programme would do wonders to instill the idea that organic waste is, optimally, a resource for growing soil.

Indeed, with 'underemployed' citizens working through Land Repair Outreach Centres to build and sell appropriate technologies like worm bins, compost tumblers, and pyrolizers it is not unfeasible to imagine Albertans decreasing unemployement, building topsoil, and sequestering carbon all at the same time!


And so, to summarize: the first step in the climate change policy I am proposing has to do with authentically engaging Albertans in the science, ethics, and possible implications of climate change. The second step has to do with assembling and making ready grassroots solutions in water conservation, reforestation, and soil building through local outreach centres around the province.

It might seem odd, at a glance, that these measures are proposed as the basis of the recommended policy. Especially to the active environmentalist who has been campaigning to limit greenhouse gas emissions it will be counterintuitive. However, this type of unconventional 'bott0m-up' approach, I feel, is not only optimal, but necessary given the unique socio-economic situation and cultural tendencies that my fellow citizens here in Alberta exist within and exhibit.

I believe that if we can phrase climate change as a challenge, an existential learning curve, that is calling us to step up to the next level of citizen participation, cooperative enterprise, and resilient re-localization, we will not only get people on-board for the sacrifices that have to be made but we will also rediscover a love of life and an appreciation for nature that each of us is yearning to experience.

Stay tuned for the second part of this essay where I will delve into the interesting and rewarding steps of Transition Measures and Adaptation Protocol.

जय सच्चिदानन्द

-KSE