There is no quick and simple way to identify and implement a local response to climate change. Discussions, planning and prioritizing all take time and Kachemak Bay Campus is devoting the next eight months to that end. KBBI’s Kathleen Gustafson spoke with Zoe Cramer, one of the organizers of an action plan underway at the college on Pioneer Avenue in Homer. Cramer says the source material is "Drawdown" by Paul Hawken.
Discussions will be held every third Thursday at 6 p.m. at Kachemak Bay Campus on Pioneer Avenue in downtown Homer.
Transcript:
Cramer:
The book came out in 2017 and so Cook Inletkeeper in Soldotna started their Soldotna Drawdown series, and we were inspired by that at Cook Inletkeeper in Homer. And we began planning a Homer Drawdown series.
KBBI:
First of all, what is "Drawdown"?
Cramer:
"Drawdown" is a book edited by Paul Hawken. It's filled with realistic, well-researched, and innovative solutions to global warming.
So the title of the book "Drawdown" is drawing down carbon from the atmosphere. There are eight chapters in the book, and there will be approximately eight meetings, one meeting monthly at the college where we will dedicate…to the larger ideas, issues or industries that have the largest stake in global warming, like energy, food, buildings and cities, land use, transport materials and technologies that are being invented as we speak.
KBBI:
What's the structure like?
Cramer:
There's a large backing behind this. We have a steering committee at Inletkeeper office in Homer, and this is also sponsored by Kachemak Bay Conservation Society. In september, when these monthly meetings wrap up, the community will be choosing one of the projects that have been developed through discussion.Every month we'll be targeting a different chapter.
KBBI:
Oh, right. And you have a team taking notes.
Cramer:
Yes, we will have Sarah, and she's an amazing artist, and she's going to be doing visual note-taking so that we have a log of what people have been saying.
KBBI
That's Sarah Frary.
Cramer:
Yes.
KBBI:
Okay. But back to September, you're going to look at all of the notes coming up….
Cramer:
Then, we're going to vote and whatever project we vote on, we will take action. We will have already figured out a lot of the logistics before, cause that's what we're doing during the brainstorms.
KBBI:
Everybody's invited, right?
Cramer:
Everyone. They happen every third Thursday, 6 to 8:00 PM at Kachemak Bay Campus.
KBBI:
And what should people bring with them?
Cramer:
You can bring a notebook or a laptop or a phone or any note-taking device. We will have "Drawdown" books that are available for $15.
KBBI:
There's no charge to attend?
Cramer:
Nope. Donations are accepted, but it is no cost to you. There will be food provided every meeting. And so this week we'll have soup and bread from Two Sisters.
KBBI:
And you're going to read a little bit from Paul Hawken's introduction to "Drawdown."
Cramer:
“If we change the proposition from global warming is happening to us, to global warming is happening for us. We instead start to think of it as an opportunity to grow, innovate, and effect change. And it's a pathway that awakens creativity, compassion, and genius instead of fear.
And that, is one of the things that Paul Hawken tries to communicate in his book. It has stuck with me.
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