Earth is in need of some serious spring cleaning. This was the conclusion made at the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government's Spring 2007 Symposium Monday.
A series of speakers, covering issues from global warming to water policy, said that current concerns about the environment amount to more than just another "inconvenient truth."
Titled Environmental Policy: Issues, Concerns and Solutions, the symposium sought to identify current problems with United States environmental policies and find potential solutions for the future. Speakers for Monday's discussion came from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds, including the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, The Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the Florida Solar Energy Center.
Though their areas of expertise and experience varied, the speakers' messages were similar: Something has to be done about the nation's energy, ocean and air policies - and soon. But finding a way to enact change is a complicated issue.
"The debate is, how aggressively can we, as a country, start to reverse the last hundred years of momentum?" said Jason Grumet, the executive director of the National Commission on Energy Policy.
The challenge lies in coming up with a plan that's both effective and economically sound. While it's not too late for America to clean up its act, the road to a greener future will not be easy.
"The amount of pollution we need to reduce in order to actually have a sustainable change is totally out of whack with what is possible," Grumet said. "What the science says, and it's very clear, is we need a very significant reduction very quickly."
Part of the problem is a lack of energy efficiency, both in the home and on the road.
"The cars that we were using before you were born are just as fuel-efficient as the cars you drive today," Grumet said. "That is a disaster."
To Grumet, the answer lies in moderate reforms and breaking the reliance on using a single type of fuel.
"Florida energy is really becoming a state of mind," Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, said. "It makes no sense not to pursue energy independence."
Allen and Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, made surprise appearances after Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the morning's scheduled keynote speaker, was unable to attend.
Grumet pointed to ethanol as one way to break the reliance on standard fuel. But energy efficiency is only part of the problem.
Another growing challenge leaders will have to face is the current ocean policy. According to Thomas Kitsos, former executive director of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, there have been very few coordinated efforts to protect our oceans. The result is an outdated system in need of serious restructuring.
"The way the government - the federal government, and, in fact, state governments - are set up to manage coasts are not conducive anymore in the 21st century to handling today's modern problems," he said.
In September 2004, Kitsos and the Commission on Ocean Policy delivered to President Bush a 600-page report titled An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century.
The report urged the president to encourage more effective governance of existing ocean laws, improve science research funding and increase emphasis on educational programs. He said the commission has also asked the federal government to create a trust fund to help pay for ocean committees and initiatives.
Penelope Canan, a professor of sociology at UCF, turned the public's gaze to the skies. Of particular concern, she said, were greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which have contributed to an increase in the Earth's temperature.
"We like greenhouse gases," she said. "We must have them. It's the enhanced greenhouse effect since the Industrial Revolution that is worrisome."
Canan attributed the buildup of greenhouse gases to natural and human processes. While we can't control natural processes, such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions, we can make an effort to modify or reduce our own processes, such as burning fossil fuels. If not, we run the risk of increasing global temperatures, she said, and the consequences, such as the melting of the polar ice caps, could prove disastrous.
But there are solutions.
Martin Wanielista, director and professor emeritus of UCF's Stormwater Management Academy, said that having a good water policy can also benefit the atmosphere.
One way to do that is by building "green roofs," which lessen heat generation, conserve energy and return water to the atmosphere. Wanielista also reported that since 1620, 90 percent of America's mature, natural forests have been cut down. To compensate, he urged members of the audience to "go home and plant four trees."
While the Earth isn't headed for a catastrophe just yet, the panelists said that changes need to be made immediately or there could be serious consequences down the road.
As Canan put it, "There's no other place for us to live."
Staff Writer Tyler Gillespie contributed to this report.
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