CAZENOVIA — On Monday, April 18, Cazenovia Earth Week 2022 (April 18-24) kicked off with “Our Environment: Moving Forward,” a presentation and community conversation facilitated by Sherburne “Shere” Abbott, Jocelyn Gavitt, and Lauren Lines — three local individuals with unique leadership experiences.
Abbott recently retired from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where she served as university professor of sustainability science and policy and director of environment, sustainability and policy. Previously, she was a senior advisor to President Barack Obama (confirmed by the US Senate on April 30, 2009, as the associate director for environment and energy in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President), serving as a deputy to the president’s science advisor. She has also served on the board of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) since 2014. Next fall, she will begin teaching at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Gavitt is a landscape architect and planner who specializes in community engagement, planning, and design. She earned degrees from Cornell University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and she has extensive experience in master planning, site design, and recreational planning.
Lines is the executive director of the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA), an independent non-profit organization representing a broad cross-section of stakeholders in the Greater Cazenovia Area. CACDA helps local organizations, governments, and residents accomplish their goals and objectives through consensus building, planning, cooperative efforts, networking, locating funding sources, grant writing, project implementation, and educational programs for the public.
Climate-, energy- and sustainability-related aspirations and realities
Abbott began the presentation with some historical background on Earth Day, which was first celebrated on April 22, 1970.
According to Abbott, the first Earth Day remains the largest single-day public protest in the history of the United States, and it demonstrated an emerging public awareness of air and water pollution and its implications.
“Most of the pollutants, we could actually see,” she said. “You could see the smog; you could see the [pollution in the water].”
The first Earth Day resulted in several major pieces of federal legislation in the 1970s, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Abbott noted that the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act all represent “end-of-pipe” solutions.
“We solve the pollutant issues after the pollution occurs,” she said. “[Conversely,] the National Environmental Policy Act was formed with the view that maybe we should think about our actions before we take them and figure out what the environmental consequences are [prior to making decisions].”
Abbott added that Earth Day not only brought about government oversight of the environment in the 1970s, but it is also the day the landmark Paris Agreement — an international treaty on climate change — was opened for signature in 2016.
She next stated that the international/national approach to environmental issues has changed drastically since the 1970s.
“We [now] see them as more integrated, we have better science, and we are aiming our solutions at people, not just the environment,” she said.
Abbott then explained that while the 1970s were focused on end-of-pipe solutions, the 1980s were about linking human development with the environment.
“Human progress is linked [with] natural resources and our preservation of natural resources,” she said. “There was a whole lot of science that showed that the two were inseparable, and that led to [a] series of conferences leading up to the [official] definition of ‘sustainable development’ by the Brundtland Commission. . .”
In 1987, the United Nations (UN) Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Such development requires an integrated approach that takes into consideration environmental concerns along with social and economic development.
According to Abbott, the 1990s were centered on “making good on” the environmental aspirations of the 1980s.
“How do societies move forward in a way that really transforms the way that we think about development and environment?” she said. “Earth Day in those years became focused on sustainable development in the United States — [issues of] social justice and social transformation and climate change and energy all came into the fore. On the international side, [the] conferences produced a lot of information about what to do and how to think, but mostly they were aspirational. The problem is that all the environmental damage was continuing. . . People were less poor and living better [but] the climate is changing — we have known about this challenge since the late 1800s — and things are getting worse. So how do you marry the two? . . . How do we transform human societies in ways that benefit the humans and provide equity but also do it in a way that is transforming the way we use energy and that is less damaging to the climate?”
The past decade, Abbott explained, has been focused on integrating science into issues of climate, energy, and sustainability.
According to Abbott, science informs the international climate agenda today more than ever before.
She pointed specifically to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Created in 1988, the IPCC provides policymakers with comprehensive assessment reports about the state of scientific, technical, and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation such as reducing the rate and magnitude of climate change.
“I used to lead the US delegation for [the IPCC] around 2010,” said Abbott. “That’s a group of thousands and thousands of scientists that get together and write reports. They just issued their latest report. They do it every six years.”
According to Abbott, the most recent report is significant because it is the first to include a chapter on the social aspects of climate change mitigation.
“What that means is that the social science is robust enough to be included in the report,” she said. “We know that economies can grow within a clean energy system, and that it doesn’t kill the economy to move towards a clean energy system. We know that it provides more equity and equity is good, because once people have increased equity, they are more likely to be in favor of climate policies and they are more likely to do things that are more favorable to the environment. . . All this stuff has data and information and shows [that] sustainable development is a reality if we think about it in a planning sense.”
Abbott concluded her remarks by pointing out that the development of the US has been costly to the environment, and that this country, along with the other top greenhouse gas emitters, has played a considerable role in creating the current global problem.
According to Abbott, the US and China combined are responsible for almost 40 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions annually. In 2019, for example, China was responsible for about 27 percent and the US was responsible for about 13 percent.
“Historically, since the industrial revolution [and] actually going back to 1850, the US share of cumulative emissions is about 20 percent,” she said. “China, with later industrialization, is responsible for about 11 percent of the total. Total emissions [are] what we’re worried about in terms of temperature rise, which equates with increasing risk of damages, but the amount we produce per person — that is, US per capita emissions — is about twice China’s.
Abbott pointed out that the US accounts for only 5 percent of the world’s population, while China accounts for about 20 percent.
She also reported that the world’s wealthiest ten percent of people collectively emit around half of all global emissions.
“The richest people’s carbon footprint is about 175 times higher than the poorest,” she said. “There’s an inequity in the role and responsibilities for the problem, and there is probably an inequity in the role and responsibilities for the solutions. That is, we need to be out in front with innovation, with sharing our knowledge, [and probably with helping to pay] for developing countries to absorb these new technologies.”
Climate-, energy- and sustainability-related aspirations in planning
In her remarks, Gavitt highlighted some of the changes in human thinking and behavior that need to happen to transform climate-, energy- and sustainability-related aspirations into realities.
“We can’t continue to look at everything the way we always have,” she said. “. . . Change is difficult, and we are going against a lot of cultural norms.”
Gavitt pointed specifically to housing norms and the long-held ideas about what it means to succeed in this country.
“Over the course of [many, many decades], we have privatized a lot of activities and things that used to be in the public realm,” she said. “If you think about back in the day, before I was even alive, there were more public plazas being used by the general public as social gathering spaces. People were going to public pools for recreation. People were going to the park and playgrounds and gathering together. Over the course of many decades, it became the cultural norm or a sign of success to have a pool in your backyard, a playset in your backyard, your own yard that you mowed, and your own house — with four walls that were insulated against the exterior — that you managed. When you multiply that times the millions and millions of people who are sold on that dream. . . it has a massive global impact.”
According to Gavitt, reversing the desire to achieve this version of the American Dream and ultimately transitioning back to cohabitating and/or sharing communal spaces and facilities would require creativity, exciting design solutions, and a willingness to think differently about the meaning of success.
Gavitt also discussed the agricultural landscape and the challenges associated with sustainable farming.
“How do we do that and have our farmers still make a profit and be able to make a living?” she said. “[The sustainable] things we might ask to happen would cost so much, and then the cost of our food goes up. The tradeoffs are immense. These aren’t easily solved problems; that’s why we’ve treaded water for as long as we have. It’s going to take very innovative solutions to [develop] the model for this. Are we willing as a society to pay a lot more for our food? Not many people are going to say yes to that, but if we want to change a lot of things, it’s going to cost us.”
Gavitt next stated that she believes one potential avenue for change is to begin looking at landscapes, particularly urban spaces, in terms of their potential to meet both human and environmental needs.
“Any time we are making changes, [we should] look at all the different ways our landscape can be performative,” she said. “[We need to start thinking beyond] ‘I need 25 new parking spaces for my store,’ and instead think ‘I can get 25 parking spaces on a permeable, tree canopied landscape with a really great filtration system that will purify the water, and I’m going to add an immense amount of vegetation to this area, it will be shaded, and it will lower the heat index.’ We need a way to get many levels of performance in everything we do, and we need a lot of changing attitudes to make that happen.”
Gavitt concluded by advocating for leading by example and working to move sustainability from niche to normal. She also highlighted the importance of purchasing goods that are produced as locally as possible to avoid supporting the creation of large carbon footprints through overseas plane travel and/or long truck trips.
Local accomplishments and community dialogue
Lines wrapped up the presentation with an overview of some local efforts to mitigate climate change.
According to Lines, both the Town and Village of Cazenovia were among the first municipalities in the state to be designated NYSERDA “Clean Energy Communities.” The Town of Nelson received the designation soon after.
The Town and Village of Cazenovia are also recognized by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as Bronze Certified “Climate Smart Communities.”
“This means that our local officials and staff people in our municipalities have taken a proactive approach to reducing energy usage,” Lines said.
The actions taken by the community to achieve these designations include creating climate action plans and greenhouse gas inventories and subsequently completing multiple small and large projects, such as LED street lighting.
“By the time NYSERDA came out with the Clean Energy Communities program and we looked at it, we were almost there,” Lines said. “That’s why we were able to get that designation among that first cohort.”
Lines explained that the designations not only give the community “bragging rights” and potentially attract new residents, but they also lead to funding.
As a direct result of the designations, Cazenovia has received nearly $400,000 in funding for multiple projects, such as replacing the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in the Village Municipal Building and the fire station and insulating the Town of Cazenovia Highway Garage.
Lines explained that the designations also help to bolster grant applications for future projects by giving the community credibility.
Additionally, Lines said, the designations are significant because they are the result of decisions and actions that benefited the town and village.
“Usually, they ended up being really good fiscal decisions and certainly good governance decisions,” she said. “Mostly, those actions that we took to get to the designations were cost saving — they were either no cost or paid off in a very short period of time. So, it wasn’t that the town and village had to spend a whole bunch of money to reach this level, they were just good decisions anyway. . . That’s often true for all of us when we are making decisions about our own homes.”
Lines encouraged the attendees to take advantage of some of the programs available to local homeowners, including the town and village’s heat-pump campaign (heatsmartcny.org), which kicked-off on April 23 at the village hall.
“The things that the local governments have done are really important, but there is a lot more potential if you look at all our homes and our cars,” she said. “All the individual actions people can take add up to a lot more than even the local governments, so I encourage you to look into those opportunities and take advantage of what’s out there.”
Following the presentation, the speakers opened a dialogue with the audience members, who asked questions and discussed several topics, including their personal efforts and/or struggles to live sustainably, actions that could be taken locally moving forward, and the potential roles of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, in addressing the climate crisis.
Cazenovia Earth Week 2022
Cazenovia Earth Week 2022 involved 26 local groups coming together to present more than 20 events exploring the practical actions people can take in their homes, neighborhoods, and communities to help save the planet.
This year’s events were presented by the following organizations: Scout Troop 18, Cazenovia College (seven different groups), Cazenovia Heritage, Cazenovia Garden Club, Cazenovia Lake Association, Cazenovia Preservation Foundation, Cazenovia Public Library (CPL), Cazenovia Rotary Club, Cazenovia Village Tree Commission, Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce, Madison County Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Madison County Department of Solid Waste, New Woodstock Free Library, Project Café, Town of Cazenovia, Town of Nelson, United Climate Action Network (UCAN), Village of Cazenovia, CNY Chapter of Izaak Walton League of America, and USDA Forest Service.
According to Earth Week organizer and UCAN Steering Committee member Geoffrey Navias, the participating groups joined together to encourage each other, learn from each other, and hold each other to a higher standard.
The celebration focused on three major themes — moving away from fossil fuels and towards electric, understanding and protecting Cazenovia’s freshwater resources, and applying creativity and ingenuity to finding better ways to reuse, recycle, and reinvent trash.
