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By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  It's 10 o'clock (AM), and I have a feeling all's not well.
For a second straight late-December day, I'm sweating in shorts and a t-shirt, as thunder rumbles and heavy rain pounds my office windows. Thankfully, the tornado watch expired at 5 AM, but it's still not a fit day out for man nor beast. When I did venture forth between deluges, I was barefoot. And, despite the drizzle, I still can't help stopping to marvel at a summer daisy blooming by our driveway... at the bearded irises flashing purple April buds in December... at the koi in our pond who -- instead of resting dormant in cold, deep waters as they should be this time of year -- are swimming at the surface mouthing "Feed me. FEED me. FEED ME!" Around the yard, thrift, black-eyed susan, and baby's breath are pushing out fresh blooms, and the annual herbs in our pots and beds remain abundant and green.
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By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  "I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." Scientists tell us everyday: there have never been times such as these:
By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President 
Extreme weather and widespread power outages in Texas are headline news everywhere this week. As of today, nearly three million customers remain without power, after record-breaking low temperatures and heavy snowfall struck the state. It's a dangerous situation, and many of us have friends and/or family directly impacted.
Emotions are frayed and lives remain at risk. As with any crisis, priority one is restoring power and tending to those in need. Lessons learned can wait until safety is restored. But it's a sad reality we must also contend with disinformation about root causes and contributing factors to the energy portion of this crisis. Specifically, some clean energy naysayers see an opportunity to push a false narrative that these power outages were primarily caused by a wind power failure. This simply is not true. By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  It wasn't always human nature. But, for those of us born since the middle of the 20th Century, technology is our go-to answer to every problem. When you think you can invent your way out of any mess, you kick the can down the road. We tell ourselves we'll deal with it later. Then, when we finally decide a situation like Climate Change must be addressed, it’s natural we gravitate to technical innovation to save us. There’s something sexy about gleaming solar panels, sleek wind turbines, smart buildings, and shiny, new Tesla automobiles.
By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President In our 24 Hours of Reality: Countdown to the Future presentation on October 10, we asked and answered three key questions about humanity's response to the current climate crisis:  Our resounding "Yes!" to all three questions begs a fourth: "How will we change?"
That's where Drawdown Georgia comes in. With their official launch on October 17, they identified 20 top climate solutions researchers have tagged as critical for Georgia to achieve a 35% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Using Paul Hawken's 2018 book Drawdown as a starting point, scientists from Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, Emory, and Georgia State University studied the 100 solutions originally identified by Hawken and his colleagues to determine the highest potential actions for our state. The resulting blueprint for action features 20 solutions across five sectors (Buildings & Materials, Electricity, Transportation, Land Sinks, and Food & Agriculture) that collectively can cut carbon emissions in Georgia from 125 megaton to 79 megatons by 2030. By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  Even as a climate activist and leader of a sustainability organization, I'm still conflicted over President-Elect Joe Biden's commitment to sign an executive order on his first day in office to rejoin the US in the Paris Climate Agreement. I'm convinced we have years -- not decades -- to reverse climate change or face dire consequences, and I accept the urgent need for coordinated global action. The crisis is real. But, as a political pragmatist, I also know this back-and-forth reliance on executive action without congressional approval is ultimately getting us nowhere.
By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  For anyone paying even the slightest attention to climate news, these are difficult days not to run screaming from the building. Then again, this summer, outside is no place to be.
From unprecedented dual hurricanes Laura and Marco striking the US gulf coast last month to the scorching heat and raging wildfires now impacting California and Oregon, we're inundated with news about extreme weather caused by Climate Change. Throw in Siberian temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit and collapsing arctic ice shelves in Canada, and it's a little hard to remain hopeful. OK, nearly impossible. But, still, hope is not lost.
By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  Ah, 2019, It Was Such a Simpler Time
"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."
As I struggle to express my emotions in these socially-distanced, mostly virtual times, Joni Mitchell's lyrics jump to mind. Though now it's less about paving paradise than putting it under glass. Or, perhaps, it's we who are under glass. Has anyone else watched a television show or a movie recently and felt alarmed by scenes of people standing close together -- perhaps even <gasp!> shaking hands or putting a hand on a shoulder? Now, it's The Police I hear singing "Don't stand. Don't stand. Don't stand so close to me." It's the same way when I look back at photos of past Sustainable Newton events. By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  A petunia growing from a wall above my koi pond reminds me we're made of strong stuff. It's taken longer than I hoped -- weeks in fact -- to get to where I could organize my thoughts to share a few words about how we persevere with sustainability efforts in these troubling times. But, I suspect you all understand.
It's a striking reminder how much life changed so quickly to reread my last post about Arbor Day written 43 days ago, on February 20. It was easy then to imagine young seedlings and saplings growing into mighty shade trees to shelter generations to come. But, thinking about that future is a more difficult task today. I find myself spending spare moments on days not occupied by the present to reflect on my past. Or, more accurately, the past of those who gifted life to me long ago. By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  Vegan Black Bean & Kale Soup with Meatless Chorizo Sausage (7 Weight Watchers Points) With January safely in the rear-view mirror, perhaps it's not too risky to mention how those New Year's resolutions are going. I'm referring to the sustainability actions I committed to at the end of last year, along with my fellow Sustainable Newton board members.
For me, the focus was reducing my carbon footprint by driving more fuel-efficiently and adopting a plant-based diet one day a week. Overall, I'm happy with results so far, but neither resolution has been without challenges. (As it should be for any changes worth making.) Today is my fifth "Meatless Monday." I was traveling in early January, so I elected to start my new regimen on Monday, January 13. But, since then, I've opened every week with a vegetarian (but not always vegan) diet. I'm allowing myself eggs and dairy products, but no beef, poultry, seafood, or other meats. By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President  If you're reading this, climate change is probably already on your mind. And, if your experience is like mine, chances are good you've had difficulty discussing it with some folks. Our current climate crisis has been an unwelcome topic in some circles.
Moving past resistance to honest dialog is what tomorrow night's "24 Hours of Reality - Truth in Action" event is all about. But, thankfully, the tide is already turning. I hear it in conversations, and we see it in the very positive response to our Sustainable Newton message. But, I was still pleasantly surprised by a report published this week by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication declaring: "Georgia voters broadly support policies to address climate impacts and expand renewable energy in the state, and they want their elected officials to support those policies as well."
By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President
Sustainable Newton is proud to do our part. We're also a bit apprehensive. Thursday at 6 pm is also the annual Lighting of Downtown Covington event on the square. It's unfortunate timing, but as they say, it is what it is. This being a global event tied to a fixed window of time, we had limited scheduling options. And, when we realized the conflict a couple of weeks ago, it was impossible to shift to a different time on Thursday, with newspaper articles, event posts, and flyers already in circulation.
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