CHICAGO - A renowned climatologist and public science educator says, in a sense, climate change is an opportunity.

Richard Alley, geosciences professor at Penn State University, was the host of the PBS miniseries Earth: The Operators' Manual. While he says climate change poses a significant threat to the planet, he adds that we now have a chance to change the entire way humans make and use energy.

According to Alley, humans have spent hundreds of thousands of years burning through a series of energy sources – wood, whale oil, and now fossil fuels.

"We're the first generation that knows how to get off the treadmill," says Alley. "We know how to build an economical, sustainable energy system without changing the climate and without running out of trees or whales."

Alley says one way to help make sure the transition happens is to implement the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan. Under the proposal, Illinois will reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent – compared with 2005 levels – by the year 2030.

Some coal and oil executives say climate change is a hoax. Alley says among scientists there's no question that climate change is not only real, but is very serious and demonstrably caused by humans. He adds that small-scale, decentralized energy production is starting to do for the electricity grid what the Internet did for telecommunications.

"You can make power on your house with your solar cells, make power with wind, and you can have some batteries," he says. "You can be a buyer, you can be a seller. A lot of sources, a lot of diversity. And that is robust against fluctuation."

Alley says the transition can be seen as a profound step in human history. He compares it to when humans stopped being hunters and gatherers, and instead shifted to agriculture.

"When our ancestors switched to farming food, they learned to make the earth give a whole lot more food," he says. "We can make a whole lot more energy that really can do a lot of good for a lot of people in a lot of places."

Engineers looking to make the grid more stable and flexible are considering several creative ideas, including using electric cars and water heaters as a giant, distributed battery. Alley says these could provide a way to get energy when demand temporarily outstrips supply.


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State officials in Maine are preparing the next generation for climate change-related activism and careers.

A new state-run website helps young Mainers find ways to use their own talents and interests to counter any climate anxiety and work to build the state's climate resilience.

Abigail Hayne is Maine's youth climate engagement coordinator.

"Whether it's taking action just in your community or in your life, or exploring different climate jobs that are specific to Maine," said Hayne, "the youths can just kind of poke around and find something that makes sense to them."

Hayne said the website offers practical, localized ways young people can get active with their town or school as well as Maine's Climate Council, which currently includes a dozen youth representatives.

Maine faces simultaneous challenges. The state is warming faster than the global average and coping with an increase in extreme weather events.

It also has one of the oldest populations in the nation.

Hayne said towns statewide are developing plans to strengthen infrastructure, and the state has a responsibility to make sure young people are well-informed about these climate-related jobs.

"Soon enough, we're going to start seeing younger generations really on the front lines of climate change and community resilience," said Hayne, "and we need to make sure that they are fully prepared when they enter those roles."

More than 170 communities are utilizing state grants to identify the roads, buildings and energy infrastructure that is susceptible to climate change and begin needed upgrades.

Construction, engineering and electrical workers will be in high demand.

Hayne said the website can connect young Mainers with these new work opportunities as well as each other.






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School buses are getting cleaner in Washington state after this year's legislative session.

Lawmakers in Olympia passed House Bill 1368, which will fund the purchase of zero emission school buses.

Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, said the program is getting off the ground quickly.

"As we work towards that long-term goal of all new school buses being zero emission, we're kick-starting this year with $40 million in grants to school districts in overburdened communities," Senn explained.

Going forward, Senn noted school districts will have to purchase zero-emission vehicles once the total cost of ownership is equal to or lower than the cost of diesel vehicles. The state is leveraging the state's Climate Commitment Act resources to fund the transition of its 10,000 school buses.

Devin Denney, director of transportation for Highline Public Schools in King County, which already has electric school buses in its fleet, said he has driven the electric buses and talked about some of their benefits from a driver's perspective.

"You're not competing against that engine noise, the kids aren't competing against the engine noise," Denney observed. "It's a much quieter bus all the way around. The major advantage, of course, is that there's no tailpipe emissions with an electric bus, so our kids' health is better protected."

Senn emphasized health studies have shown there are negative health effects from diesel vehicles for kids, and it is easy to understand why.

"If you think about kids waiting to get on their bus in front of an elementary school and you have this line of buses idling, letting out diesel fumes right at the height of a little child, it becomes obvious that this is probably not the most healthy thing for our children," Senn added.


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Today, in honor of Earth Day, climate advocates are asking California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to rally around a plan to put a $15 billion bond measure on the November ballot.

If passed, the bond measure would fund a range of climate resiliency measures.

Sam Hodder, president and CEO of the Save the Redwoods League, said March was the tenth month in a row to break monthly heat records.

"I think Earth Day is a terrific opportunity for the broader public to recognize how nature is critical for resilience, for our quality of life, for our mental and physical health, and for our communities more broadly," Hodder outlined.

Two similar bills to put a bond measure on the ballot are under consideration in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1567 and Senate Bill 867, but they have been stalled since last summer. The bond would finance many programs, including some to restore wetlands that guard against sea-level rise, and to remove dead wood in forests to guard against mega-fires, which Hodder noted have killed 20% of the giant sequoias in recent years.

Opponents pointed out the state already faces a budget deficit and cannot afford to take on more debt. But only 5% of California's old-growth coastal redwoods remain, mostly due to aggressive logging many decades ago.

Hodder argued the giant trees can be critical ingredients in the fight against climate change because they trap so much carbon.

"Redwood forests sequester more carbon per acre than any other forest system in the world," Hodder emphasized. "We have the opportunity to transition the redwood forest from something that is vulnerable to climate change to something that is helping to solve and address the climate crisis."

Experts blame climate change for California's wild weather over the past few years, which has been marked by extreme drought, devastating fires and flooding rain.