The global campaign against climate change and the devastating results of global warming are not being fought hard enough in the eyes of Denis Hayes, Earth Day Founder and environmental activist.
Hayes spoke Tuesday in Lippes Concert Hall, warning about the consequences of ignoring drastic climate change as well as the benefits of current alternative energy sources.
A luncheon and discussion on climate neutrality led up to the evening lecture, where Hayes spoke as a featured guest for the "Greener Shade of Blue" campaign, sponsored by UB Green.
Hayes started the lecture by sharing his appreciation for being in Buffalo, a city where fellow environmentalist Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president.
He explained that there are several ways people can adapt to using a "different set of technology," and also various strategies to incorporate renewable energy sources such as solar power, hydroelectricity, wind power and geothermal power into our daily lives.
"It's your generation that's going to bear the brunt of climate change," Hayes said. "It's unthinkable, it's crazy, but this is what's going to happen."
He went on to criticize the decisions made by the US Department of Energy as well as the energy policies rejected by the government.
"Today all the most widely accepted models of climate behavior predict the continued growth of atmospheric CO2 will increase the planet's surface temperature," Hayes said.
A slideshow featured changes in oil prices over the past few years, graphs and curves representing projections of oil demand, fuel efficiencies versus climate change, as well as recent advances in solar power technology such as the Sanyo Solar Ark in Osaka, Japan.
According to Hayes, the result of one hundred years of fossil fuel use will take a millennium to dissipate. He warned against waiting for another disaster like Hurricane Katrina to happen before taking action.
"There will be so much CO2 in the atmosphere that no matter what we do we will have to live with conditions we have already seen... the melting of glaciers, increased precipitation, and sometimes, snowfalls in northern places and in months when it is not expected," he said.
Hayes compared the availability of renewable energy sources with the revolution of the information age. He explained that both were developed around the 1980s and as one blossomed, one was stillborn.
"In 1980, America's energy program was the envy of the world," he said.
Decades after President Jimmy Carter proposed the objective of gradually acquiring 20 percent of our energy from renewable sources by the year 2000, his cause has not yet been realized.
Hayes blames the federal government for the stalling of the renewable energy age. Based on his firsthand accounts of hiring scientists to work on the Manhattan Project, he claimed the government expelled renowned experts and slashed budgets for the cause by 80 percent.
"The Federal Government consciously set out to destroy the renewable energy industry," he said.
Time magazine's "Hero of the Planet" gave one last piece of advice before the question and answer session.
"We need to walk the talk," Hayes said. "My role on the agenda is to leave you with a well grounded hope and also, a realistic sense of the magnitude of the task... You have a concrete choice for the future. If you don't make it, other people will make it for you."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
