This first appeared as an email update last week. To receive 1-2 updates per month, subscribe above in the yellow box.
“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
Reid Hoffman, Founded of LinkedIn
First an overview then updates:
Overview:
Did you know just 10 states produce 1/2 of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US?
…and that Indiana is one of them?
Indiana Drawdown is based on Project Drawdown — the most comprehensive plan ever created to reverse global warming.
We’re a community of Hoosiers ensuring we reduce statewide emissions 45% by 2030, and we’re growing quickly.
Updates:
#1 – Daniel proposed in Trafalgar Square… amidst the largest civil disobedience in UK history! 🍾
#2 – Presented at Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute 🎤
It’s a one hour summary of Indiana Drawdown. Watch the video recording and view the slides. Thank you Jonathan Hines for the invitation.
The presentation begins with gratitude to the following people for contributing to this effort. Each of their names were read. Most give their time in conversations, others critique writings, and some send resources. Thank you!
#3 – The Extinction Rebellion Grows ⌛️
The pot is starting to boil.
A few recent examples:
California Wildfires
In just 50 years, the amount of California land destroyed by wildfire increased 31x. By 2100, 75% of the state could burn every year (see 11:55). Bill McKibben wonders if California is too dangerous to live in.
Refugees => Instability
A new report commissioned by our Pentagon (summary) warns the U.S. military could collapse within 20 years. Why?
Stretched too far by the effects of climate change.
They give many examples (e.g. our national power grid is fragile, 80% of our food goes through ports which are vulnerable to rising sea levels, etc.). Here’s just one:
“[In Bangladesh of] 160 million people… Almost half [live] at sea level. As seas rise and huge areas of Bangladesh become uninhabitable, where will tens of millions of displaced Bangladeshis go?
…
For a recent security crisis benchmark, look at Syria… By comparison, Bangladesh has eight times Syria’s population.
…
How will this large scale displacement affect global security in a region with nearly 40% of the world’s population and several antagonistic nuclear powers?
…
This is a potential result of climate change complications in just one country. Globally, over 600 million people live at sea level.”
So we are responding:
Indiana Republican Senator Leads on Climate
Senator Braun launched a bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, thanks to Citizens Climate Lobby Indiana and others. This caused over fifty Indiana faith leaders to thank the Senator.
And Climate Activists Are Disrupting Cities Peacefully
In spring 2019, Extinction Rebellion (XR) catalyzed what’s been called “the biggest mass protest of the generation” in London. They non-violently shut down five bridges.
The result? The British government declared a “climate emergency,” international media publicized XR, and tens of thousands of people joined the decentralized movement.
Just a few weeks ago, in October, there was an even bigger protest. This time in cities around the world. Over 1,800 people were arrested in London alone.
Daniel interviewed one participant, Frank, in Trafalgar Square.
Frank lost his uncle and grandparents in the Holocaust. He said he knows what can happen when good people look the other way.
He’s been writing letters about climate for thirty years, and he’s done. We don’t have much time left. He’s ready to be arrested. And his son is too.
#4 – Returning to Indianapolis 🇺🇸
After Nov 10th, Daniel’s HQ will be Broad Ripple again.
#5 – Media Mentions
Nine NPR Stations
This radio story and article by Rebecca Thiele of Indiana Public Broadcasting was distributed throughout 20 counties in Indiana, where over a million Hoosiers live. IER is sponsored by IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute. And Brock E. W. Turner published another story through Indiana Public Media.
Natural Awakenings
A 1,100 word article will appear in their November issue. Circulation roughly 70,000 throughout Indianapolis.
Fort Wayne Magazine
An article is forthcoming. Circulation roughly 40,000 in NE Indiana.
#6 – Systems Thinking Course ️
Hoosiers will reduce our emissions 45% by 2030.
How? There are 100 different Drawdown solutions, the Indiana ecosystem is complex, and it changes constantly…
Enter Pierre Omidyar.
He’s the billionaire who founded Ebay. He invests in social enterprises in critical fields like civic health and journalism. Every organization in the Omidyar Network uses systems thinking.
First you map the forces in a system and their relationships. This enables your team to both speak the same language and discover counterintuitive levers you can pull to unlock change in the system. As you experiment with the system you learn and update your map. Your team understands the situation more and more clearly and — ultimately — you can shepherd the system to greater health.
So a group of us enrolled in their course. Four of us in Indianapolis will meet in-person:
- Zoë Hayes (IU Law)
- Elizabeth Wallin (Project Lia)
- Debbie Pierce (Earth Charter Indiana, Central Indiana Social Enterprise Alliance, Good. Must. Grow)
- Daniel Poynter (Indiana Drawdown, Applied Ideals)
…and the rest will pipe in over videoconference:
- Dresden De Vera (Portland, Washington)
- Tasha Reshetnikova (St. Petersburg, Russia)
- Sam Levac-Levey (Québec, Canada)
We’ll generate a systems map much better than what we have already.
#7 – More Interviews With Indiana’s Unsung Climate Heroes Released
We’ve identified hundreds of entities in Indiana implementing Drawdown solutions, and we’ve been interviewing them to build a systems map, spread insights, identify policies to implement, and more.
Two new interviews:
- Shawn Naylor, Hydrogeologist (Solution #42) – 10% of all energy worldwide is used to heat or cool buildings. Maximum efficiency can cut this 30-40%, and, according to Drawdown, one solution stands out from the rest — heat pumps.
- Cultivate Culinary, Food Rescue (Solution #3) – Food waste represents 8% of global emissions. Cultivate partners with Notre Dame and others to rescue high quality food that was prepared but never served. Over 1,000 volunteers help to repackage it into frozen meals that are sent home with schoolchildren in special thermal backpacks.
Interview with three founders of the Hoosier Electric Vehicle Association (Solution #26) coming soon.
#8 – Upcoming Public Events
Saturday, Nov 16th – Greening the Statehouse
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Get your tickets before they run out.
We’ll have a booth about Indiana Drawdown. We hope to also set up this magical art installation, which we used at the first Project Drawdown conference to evoke imagination from the participants.
Thursday, Dec 12th – Zionsville Rotary Club
7:30 am – 8:30 am at Zionsville High School
#9 – Upcoming Meetings
Jesse Kharbanda & Jim Poyser
Discuss collaborations between Hoosier Environmental Council, Earth Charter Indiana, Indiana Drawdown.
Notre Dame Faculty
Each year, 50 ND students get a minor in sustainability. Each needs a capstone project. How might they advance Drawdown solutions in Indiana? Invited and organized by Dr. Phil Sakimoto and Dr. Rachel Novick.
Project Drawdown Staff
Discuss coordination and support.
IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute
Start to strategize an (un)conference for Indiana Drawdown in early 2020.
Kevin Michael VerKamp
Discuss Extinction Rebellion Indiana.
Action Step – Indiana Drawdown (Un)conference
Did you hear what they did in Kansas City?
130 city officials got together on a Saturday and figured out how they can implement Drawdown solutions. They also are doing it in Georgia, Illinois, Michigan…
What if we did something similar in Indiana?
What if it was radically participatory?
What if it was an (un)conference — where instead of listening passively to someone on stage we broke into groups and generate knowledge together?
What if it was facilitated lightly to unleash the wisdom, creativity, and passion of everyone present?
What if it was designed to be evoke imagination — fun, magical, even enchanted?
What if it resulted in not more talk but action?
What if it resulted in “progress groups” of 4-5 people each?
What if each group took responsibility for a different Drawdown solution?
And what if they committed to meeting regularly for the next few months, maybe even year?
In other words, what if we had groups like Indiana Food Scrap Initiative(Solution #3), but for all of the other Drawdown solutions?