If Jason Trager can't raise $30 million for sustainability fellowships in Berkeley, it simply cannot be done. Or so he explained thoroughly over coffee, an amazing cappuccino that made Margaret ridiculously happy so that she just wanted to get back to work, and a brownie, a part of which I found inexplicably placed in my hand, this afternoon at Nefeli.
And at the same time, if he cannot raise $30 million for sustainability fellowships, there's no way we're ever going to solve global climate change.
You know what? I think he might be right about that. If he can't raise that kind of money for a cause so inextricably tied to the Berkeley ideal, both the local mentality and the national/international image of Berkeley, then there's no way we're ever going to be able to get enough people interested in making a difference in the way we live on this fragile earth. That's not to say the two are the same, or that the students who would be supported by said fellowships would solve the world climate crisis, but when it comes down to it, $30 million isn't very much money.
And if anyone can do it, Jason Trager can do it. This guy is so passionate about his ideals of sustainability that he really seems to embody the principles themselves. You listen to him talk about this, and there is no doubt in your mind that
1) he's 100% right
2) he genuinely thinks fixing these problems is possible (which is an attitude many scientists and engineers lack) and
3) he could certainly talk a Fortune 500 Chief Exec into directing oodles of (probably tax-deductible) dollars into his cause.
So good luck, Trager. I sincerely hope that we can, if not "solve" global climate change (this is not actually physically possible, at least not in the amount of time humans will walk the earth), at least we can begin to reign in our hugely negative impacts. The most important thing, though (as of right now), is to educate people about what's actually happening.
It's hard to imagine, but there are actually people out there still who think global climate change is a "theory" which a rational person can choose to believe in. If you happen to be one of these people, please, please, I beg of you, read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from 2007: [here's the summary]. Unfortunately, the powers that be in the international community (US, China, India, and other nations with manufacturing and oil interests) have put such hard restrictions on the IPCC that the strongest words they can use are high agreement and much evidence, rather than blatantly stating 'dude we're friggin killing the earth'. But everyone who considers themselves educated and in any way qualified to discuss the topic should at least read the report. And unless you're incredibly set in your opinion before considering evidence, it should be able to speak for itself.
And by the way, let's please stop calling it "global warming". It's actually incredibly misleading for all of those people (who won't read the report) who think a cold winter in a mid-Atlantic state disproves global climate change entirely. Thus, a plea: use the term "global climate change". kthanksbye.
So, kids, lessons for the day:
1) Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, but most of all, REDUCE (why don't people remember this is the most important of the three?) [need help remembering it?]
2) Be super passionate about whatever you care about and a CFO from a Fortune 500 company might give you mad $ to support your cause [or maybe these guys]
3)Let's try to walk lightly upon this earth; it's the only one we've got.
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