Inspiring action in pursuit of a livable future: Anna McDevitt at TEDxGustavusAdolphusCollege
Every single person has the choice to build a better future, which requires taking meaningful action toward climate stability rather than continuing current fossil fuel practices. The speaker frames the challenge using the example of a little girl who, testifying against a pipeline, demonstrated the tangible harm oil causes to wildlife. The ultimate call is for people to participate in democracy and find their personal place in the climate movement. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker role: Advocate/Activist, addressing an audience of students and professionals. - Setting/Occasion: An event advocating for climate action. - Framing: A choice between continuing unsustainable practices and actively building a "better future." ## Theses & Positions - The primary threat to a better future is climate change. - Climate change is human-induced, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). - Democracy is not something inherent; it is something that must be actively practiced and done. - The path to a better future requires participation from all roles (students, parents, workers, etc.), not just technical expertise. - The fundamental choice facing the audience is between continuing "business as usual" or taking "meaningful action towards a better future." ## Concepts & Definitions - **Climate change**: A major threat causing human suffering due to rising global average temperatures. - **Carbon emissions**: Gases rising since the Industrial Revolution, causing climate change. - **Mountaintop coal removal**: The process of using explosives to blow off the top of mountains to access coal, which then fills the resulting valley. - **Divestment from fossil fuels**: A campaign urging an institution (like a college) to withdraw its endowment funds from fossil fuel investments. - **Steward of the future**: One of the two crucial roles the speaker argues are often forgotten in the rush to achieve career and education milestones. - **Participant in democracy**: The second crucial role, emphasizing direct involvement in civic life. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Climate change mechanism**: Rising carbon emissions from fossil fuels cause global temperature increases, leading to rising sea levels, crop failure, and pollution. - **Mountaintop coal removal mechanism**: Using explosives to blast the top layer of a mountain to reach coal deposits, subsequently depositing the spoils into the valley below. - **Demonstrating oil effect**: Physically demonstrating how oil contaminates and damages a duck's feather. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Industrial Revolution**: Period marked by the unprecedented rise of carbon emissions. - **Last year (Speaker's Junior Year of College)**: Time the speaker studied abroad in India. - **Last spring**: Time the speaker visited Rock Creek, West Virginia, to observe mountaintop coal removal. - **Last fall**: Time the speaker participated in fasting for climate action. - **Last month**: Time when 25 students participated in a protest in Washington D.C. - **Last week**: Time the speaker attended a tar sands rally and testified before the Public Utilities Commission. ## Named Entities - **Parker Palmer**: Source of the quote regarding democracy. - **India**: Location where the speaker studied abroad for a program focused on social justice, peace, and development. - **Kopal, Karnataka**: Village in India where the speaker witnessed poverty linked to crop failure. - **Norfolk, Virginia**: Location where the speaker grew up, predicted to be underwater by 2100. - **Appalachian mountains**: Region in West Virginia experiencing mountaintop coal removal. - **Rock Creek, West Virginia**: Specific community in the Appalachian mountains affected by mining. - **Washington D.C.**: Location where students participated in a protest. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Coal, oil, and natural gas**: Primary fossil fuels contributing to climate change. - **Wind turbine technology**: Technology that has been adapted to detect birds when stopping, allowing for safer offshore deployment. - **Solar panels**: Technology cited for its positive role in climate mitigation. - **Bicycles/Bike**: Used by the speaker for travel and during protest activities in Vermont and New Hampshire. - **Keystone XL Pipeline**: Pipeline protesting the transportation of tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. ## Numbers & Data - **2 degrees**: Maximum rise in global average temperatures that must be avoided to secure a "liberal future." - **10-15 years**: Approximate duration in India where local farmers have struggled to grow crops due to rising temperatures. - **11 by 15**: Approximate size of the speaker's college dorm room, used for size comparison to housing in India. - **2100**: Year by which sea level rise on U.S. coasts is predicted to rise by 23 feet. - **23 feet**: Predicted sea level rise by 2100 on U.S. coasts. - **830 thousand gallons**: Amount of tar sands oil the Keystone XL pipeline was projected to carry per day. - **25 students**: Number of students who joined the Washington D.C. protest. - **1000 students**: Total number of students who joined the Washington D.C. protest. - **400 people**: Number of people arrested at the Keystone XL protest. - **54 people**: Number who fasted for climate action in support of the cause. - **1300 miles**: Distance the speaker biked across Vermont and New Hampshire. - **11**: Age of the little girl, Laura, during her testimony. ## Examples & Cases - **Farmers in India**: Experienced reduced millet yields and inability to make ends meet due to rising temperatures over the last 10-15 years, as seen in Kopal, Karnataka. - **Kopal housing**: Example of a home with mud walls and a thatched roof, noted for being comparable in size to the speaker's 11 by 15 dorm room. - **Norfolk, Virginia**: The speaker's childhood home, predicted to be underwater by 2100. - **World's largest naval base**: Predicted to be submerged by 2100 due to sea level rise. - **Coal contamination/pollution**: Included accounts of a man drinking expensive bottled water because his digestion was harmed by well water contaminated by a coal processing plant, and families witnessing machinery bulldoze ancestral graves. - **Laura's testimony**: An 11-year-old girl who testified against the pipeline, stating her opposition was rooted in wanting to save ducks. - **Dugout/Mining Site**: The physical representation of destroying a community/valley when using explosives to extract coal. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Coal, oil, and natural gas**: The primary fossil fuels driving climate change. - **Wind turbine technology**: Modern technology capable of detecting birds mid-flight for safer offshore deployment. - **Solar panels**: Technology cited as making "great things" in fighting climate change. - **Bicycles/Bike**: Used both by the speaker for personal travel (1300 miles) and during protests. ## References Cited - **Parker Palmer**: Source of the quote: *"democracy is not something that we have it's something that we must do."* - **UN (United Nations)**: Source of the estimate requiring a halt to all new fossil fuel infrastructure by 2017. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Education/Job Security vs. Climate Action**: The perceived necessity of pursuing jobs and education versus the immediate need to address climate change, which the speaker argues cannot be ignored for the sake of career building. - **Science/Technology vs. Democracy**: Recognizing that advanced technologies (solar panels, efficient cars) cannot be regulated or implemented without democratic decision-making regarding fossil fuel subsidies. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The speaker proactively addresses the notion that failure to solve the crisis is because people "don't know what they are doing like at all," stating that admitting ignorance or uncertainty is part of the process. - Acknowledges that not every person needs to participate in acts of protest like arrest. ## Methodology - **Observation/Learning**: Gained knowledge via a course on environment and ecology while studying abroad in India. - **Direct Witnessing**: Observing the physical and human impact of coal mining in West Virginia. - **Advocacy/Protest**: Participating in protest activities, such as the Washington D.C. demonstration and efforts to achieve divestment. - **Testimony**: Participating in a public hearing before the Public Utilities Commission. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - To ensure a "better future," participation in democracy and taking meaningful action are non-negotiable requirements. - Every individual has a place and a reason to care, encapsulated by the need to "find your ducks." - The final call is to choose: "continue business as usual or take meaningful action towards a better future." ## Implications & Consequences - **Status Quo Continuation**: Leads to catastrophic climate change, national security crises (submerged naval bases), and persistent human suffering. - **Failure to Act**: Ensures the "better future" remains unattainable. ## Verbatim Moments - *"every single person here today can make the choice to have a better future and it's possible"* - *"if we are to have a liberal future if we are going to avoid this snowball effect of catastrophic climate change"* - *"the last thing that we know is that climate change is causing human suffering and it's going to continue causing human suffering"* - *"i feel really guilty... my fossil fuel consumption to have that energy is causing this family that was right in front of me suffering they weren't able to make ends meet because of my lifestyle and the lifestyle of people like me"* - *"democracy is not something that we have it's something that we must do"* - *"if we knew it was going to work we would have done it already by now right we would have already solved this climate crisis we would already have a secure future and we would know that the future was going to be okay"* - *"the answer is anything something it just do it just do anything"* - *"you have a place in this movement every single one of you and so does everyone else"* - *"continue business as usual or b take meaningful action towards a better future"*