World leaders are calling for new ways of measuring progress on sustainability at Rio+20

Gross Domestic Product is the crack-cocaine of economic indicators. It’s a simple concept, it’s easy for politicians and the media to recite, and it fits in perfectly with society’s single-minded obsession with growth — no matter what the consequences.

It’s time to stop that addiction, say world leaders.

“GDP has always had its limitations. Progress needs to be defined in a way which accounts for the broader picture of human development,” said Helen Clark, administrator of the UN Development Program, speaking at a side event at the Rio+20 summit today.

She was joined by a group of heavy hitters, including Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Zambia’s President Michael Chilufya Sata, former OECD Chief Statistician Enrico Giovannini, and World Bank Environment Program Head Mary Barton-Dock — all of whom called for an end to our overreliance on GDP.

GDP simply measures the volume of economic activity in a given economy. The higher the GDP, supposedly the higher the quality of life. But because it equally values all economic activity — good, bad, and disastrous — it’s a woefully inadequate tool for gauging human and environmental progress.

In 1968, Robert Kennedy made one of the most famous and oft-quoted statements on the limitations of the metric:

“The Gross National Product includes air pollution, and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. The Gross National Product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads.”

The chart below, one of many put together by Demos, is a stark illustration of why GDP is such a poor measurement tool. As economic output has increased in the U.S., our biocapacity — the availability of natural resources — has fallen in tandem. If looking at the brown line in a narrow context, all is well. When considering the environmental impact of that growth, clearly we have a problem:

For decades, those concerned about sustainability have struggled to make innovative methods of measuring human and environmental well-being stick in the international zeitgeist. But they’ve only had limited success.

It’s not like there aren’t any options. Economists and statisticians have developed plenty of alternatives to measuring social and environmental health over the years. In 1992, the United Nations adopted the Human Development Index developed by Pakastani economist Mahbub ul Haq. It’s the most well-known alternative. However, while it’s been widely used by the UN and has been somewhat effective in challenging traditional ways of thinking, it still hasn’t sparked a major shift away from countries’ addiction to GDP.

So leaders are using this year’s Earth Summit to try to change the dialogue. Today they announced plans to craft a new index through the UN’s Human Development Report Office that would track the cost of human development on future generations, rather than just use the current Human Development Index to track current well-being. It’s the UN’s version 2.0.

But fleshing out that new model is complicated. The UNDP’s Helen Clark expressed the difficulties in establishing a new set of metrics: “What should be measured? And what indicators could be used? What are overriding principles? What do policymakers need to know?”

Answering those questions becomes more difficult the deeper you want to go. The World Bank’s Mary Barton Dock provided a fantastic example of how complicated it can be valuing natural capital.

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While Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas are dealing with wildfires today, communities in Minnesota are experiencing dramatic flooding caused by the torrential rain that occurred last night and early this morning.

One specific community in Minnesota that is facing the realities of extreme weather induced by climate change today is the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth.

Minnesota Public Radio reported that at 3:30am someone noticed a seal on Grand Avenue and reported it prompting zoo officials to realize that the flash floods that were causing residents to flee their homes was also causing damage to the zoo. Berlin, the female polar bear, was also able to get out of her holding pen, along with more animals including the seals.

Susan Wolniakowski was on MPR and explained that because the Kingsburry Creek runs through the zoo grounds almost two-thirds of the zoo experienced intense flooding.

“It’s been a pretty tough night and a pretty tough morning here, to be honest with you. We’ve had major flooding from the Kingsbury Creek that runs through our zoo grounds.

It has encompassed several of our exhibits, including our Polar Shores area. We did have two seals escape this morning, Vivienne and Feisty. They were relatively easily corralled and they are secure and they are safe and they are in their holding (area) again.

This seal is one of two that escaped from the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth during last night’s floods. It was photographed on Grand Avenue. Zoo officials say the seals were returned safely. (Photo courtesy of Kelli Latuska, via mprnews)

I know for a while there were rumors that the polar bear was out and wandering Duluth. That was not the case. Berlin did get out of her exhibit. She did not get very far before the zookeepers found her and she was able to be tranquilized and she is also safe and secure and in her holding area.”

Holly Henry, the zoo’s marketing director, told msnbc.com that 11 animals have been confirmed dead. Most of the barnyard animals were the animals that died explained Holly.

Last year residents throughout the U.S. experienced flooding that engulfed houses and severely damaged roads and bridges – a very weak aspect of the U.S. already.

PBS even made the link between the extreme weather events in 2011 and global warming. However, this spring residents in Virginia witnessed their state lawmakers commission a study to determine the impacts of climate change on their shores, only to see that the House of Delegates omitted words like “climate change” and “sea level rise” from the study.

Extreme weather is affecting nearly every region of the U.S. again this summer. The most destructive wildfire in Colorado history have already destroyed 55,000 acres. The wildfires in the west are being fueled by climate change.

As for the stunning deluge in Minnesota, Dr. Kevin Trenberth, former head of the Climate Analysis Section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, explained here in 2010: “There is a systematic influence on all of these weather events now-a-days because of the fact that there is this extra water vapor lurking around in the atmosphere than there used to be say 30 years ago. It’s about a 4% extra amount, it invigorates the storms, it provides plenty of moisture for these storms.”  He told the NY Times, “It’s not the right question to ask if this storm or that storm is due to global warming, or is it natural variability. Nowadays, there’s always an element of both.”

– Matt Kaspar

By Jackie Weidman and Max Frankel

Today the Senate rejected another attempt to block vitally important public health safeguards. Forty-eight Democratic Senators and 5 Republican colleagues voted against Senator Jim Inhofe’s (R-OK) Congressional Review Act resolution, S.J. Res 37, which would have blocked the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard. Forty-one Republicans and 5 Democrats voted for it to stop the mercury protections.

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, or MATS, was finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency in December 2011. It would require steep reductions of mercury, lead, arsenic, and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants, the largest domestic source of mercury emissions in the United States. These plants spew 53,510 pounds of mercury into the air each year. Mercury and other airborne toxics are linked to birth defects, brain damage, learning disabilities, cancer, and other serious ailments.

The 46 Senators who voted in favor of blocking these important health protections received over $12.5 million in direct campaign donations from the coal and utility industries throughout their congressional careers. The senators who voted against the resolution received just $4 million, according to Center for Responsive Politics data.

Senators who opposed mercury safeguards received an average of $273,500 in contributions, while supporters of protections received an average of $83,000 from the polluting companies.  In other words, Senators who wanted to block clean air standards received over $3 in campaign cash for every $1 received by supporters.  These contributions don’t include any donations to Super PACs that support them.

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Associated Press

by Maggie L. Fox

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit, the pivotal 1992 event that put climate change on the international map. The theme of this year’s Rio+20 summit is sustainable development  — economic growth that sustains us in the present without placing the lives and welfare of future generations in jeopardy.

Many of the most daunting and important challenges of the 21st century are the subjects of debate and negotiation at the Summit: How we create and use energy, confront global climate change, and adjust to a rapidly growing population.

Yes, these are huge challenges, but in the last 20 years we have learned one clear and resounding truth: that a commitment to protect the rights of women and young people around the world is a critical step toward a sustainable future.

There are 200 million women in the world who want to use contraception to prevent pregnancy, but don’t have access to these basic services. Access to integrated reproductive health services for all is essential — including maternity care and safe, effective, affordable and acceptable modern methods of contraception. By reducing maternal and child mortality and improving the health of women, these health services have a powerful impact on sustainable development.

Access to modern birth control isn’t a side issue — we truly can’t have sustainable development without it. Empowering women creates a positive ripple effect — creating healthy and more prosperous families and communities, slowing population growth, and helping restore the balance between people and the air, land and water we all depend upon for life.

In so doing, we will also dramatically slow the growth of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions — to the same degree as if we increased the world’s reliance on wind power dramatically, scaled up the efficiency of buildings and vehicles, or made huge strides in reducing deforestation. Now that’s a huge win for women, families and for the planet.

We are also too far behind in ensuring access to comprehensive sexuality education. An essential, powerful impact of the Rio+20 negotiations would be to affirm the human rights of women, men and adolescents to make decisions related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free from coercion, discrimination and violence.

But isn’t that too controversial to make progress on now? No, because despite the recent dustups in the United States, public opinion polls consistently show that the vast majority of Americans believe family planning is essential and support open access to contraception here and abroad.

Rio+20 presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that women’s health, reproductive rights, and sexuality education are recognized and incorporated in our vision of and an action plan for our shared sustainable future. This is the moment to transform the human side of sustainable development into reality.

Maggie L. Fox is the President and CEO, The Climate Reality Project. Since joining ACP in 2009, Maggie has led a campaign to help citizens around the world discover the truth about the climate crisis and take meaningful steps to bring about change. She is a veteran of numerous political, environmental and national issue campaigns, and has over 30 years of experience mobilizing people to work for progressive change.

By Jessica Goad

A new report from the Outdoor Industry Association released today shows that outdoor recreation is an enormous economic powerhouse.  The report finds that 6.1 million American jobs are directly supported by the outdoor industry, as well as the fact that Americans spend $646 billion each year on activities like camping, hunting, and snow sports.  This is a bigger economic impact than those of the pharmaceutical and gasoline and fuel industries.

America’s federal public lands and waters are a critical part of creating this economic boom.  As the report explains:

From seashores and local parks to the wild backcountry, America’s public lands and waters are the very foundation of the national outdoor recreation system.  Outdoor recreation can grow jobs and drive the economy if we manage and invest in parks, waters and trails as a system designed to sustain economic dividends for America.

Additionally, the study found that direct jobs in the outdoor recreation industry outnumber those in the oil and gas industry nearly three to one.  While outdoor recreation supports 6.1 million direct jobs like manufacturing equipment, inventory managers, and retail, the oil and gas industry supports just 2.1 million direct jobs.

This contrast is interesting in light of the fact that tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting yet again on bills that would open more taxpayer lands to drilling, roll back public health protections, and punish citizens for raising concerns with the impacts of oil and gas leases on recreation and wildlife habitat.  A separate report released this week found that this House has voted 109 times to enrich the oil and gas industry.

On the other hand, only a handful of bills to protect public lands and places to recreate outdoors have been approved by Congress, despite the fact that a number of such bills have been introduced by Republicans

This failure to protect locally-supported places may in part be explained by some conservatives’ ideological opposition to the very idea of public lands.  For example, Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) recently signed a law that demands Congress turn 30 million acres of federal lands over to the state by 2015 or it will sue, which could eventually result in them being mined or drilled.

And some members of Congress like Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) have continued to downplay the importance of protecting public lands to local economies.  For example, Bishop stated last year that:

Contrary to claims by the administration and others, the designation of national monuments and wilderness are not a boon to local economies, but rather a detriment in most scenarios.

The Outdoor Industry Association’s report released today adds to the mounting evidence that land conservation is good for the economy.  Other recent reports have shown that home values are higher closer to national wildlife refuges and that jobs in rural western counties with more than a third protected public lands have more than tripled over last 40 years.

Jessica is the Manager of Research and Outreach for the Public Lands Project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

by Amanda Staudt, via the National Wildlife Federation

Western wildfires are dominating headlines in June – but the media coverage focuses only on effects while ignoring a major cause. We hear about an increase in the number and intensity of wildfires. And separately, we hear about ongoing global warming, like how May was the 2nd-hottest on record globally behind only May 2010. Why aren’t those dots being connected?

There’s compelling evidence that talking about western wildfires without mentioning climate change is like talking about lung cancer without mentioning cigarettes. I want to walk you through what’s happening out west right now, what the latest science tells us about why it’s happening, how it’s affecting people and wildlife in the region, and what we can do about it.

The Latest Major Fires

The consequences of carbon pollution are immediately apparent to residents of Colorado this week. More than 52,000 acres of forest have burned since lightning started the High Park Fire on June 9. Smoke has been wafting over Fort Collins, as stands of pines have been going up in dramatic blazes. The fire is already the second largest in the state’s history, exceeded only by the 2002 Hayman Fire. Of course, the High Park Fire is only 15% contained, so it may well take the leader spot in the days to come.

In the meantime, New Mexico is in the midst of fighting the largest wildfire in its history. The Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire has already burned nearly 300,000 acres, mostly in the Gila National Forest. This fire comes on the heels of the Las Conchas Fire last summer, which ranked as the largest New Mexico wildfire at the time. What’s worse, heavy rainstorms after the fire was extinguished led to major flooding and erosion. Sediment and ash were washed downstream into the Rio Grande, affecting drinking water for Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico.

Climate change is literally fueling these and other major fires in western states. In fact, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas have all had fires since last year that ranked as one of the two largest in their histories (see table). The frequency and extent of fires in recent decades is unlikely to happen under natural conditions. With one catastrophic fire after another, it is clear that something quite different is happening to our forests.

Climate Trends and Forest Fires

Climate scientists have identified several ways that a warming planet will increase forest fire risk. Not surprisingly, all of these factors are fanning the fires we’ve been seeing recently in the western United States:

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Today, the Senate votes on Sen. James Inhofe’s measure to derail the first Environmental Protection Agency regulation to reduce mercury pollution and other toxics. The EPA projects the new standard will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths. The push by the coal industry’s GOP allies isn’t likely to move forward, however, with a White House veto threat on the table.

Mitt Romney’s campaign has once again drawn where the candidate stands on reducing mercury pollution, and it doesn’t happen to be on the side of most Americans. Though a majority of Americans support the standard, Romney and other Republicans have argued on behalf of the coal industry, which has lobbied aggressively against the EPA. Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul told the National Journal:

“Governor Romney has made clear that he opposes the Utility MACT…. President Obama cannot claim to support clean coal while imposing regulations that his EPA admits would prevent another coal plant from ever being built.”

Romney’s position reversal is the latest example of the candidate’s etch-a-sketch transformation. As governor, Romney said pollution is akin to “killing people,” and Massachusetts joined several states to sue the EPA for the very regulations Inhofe wants to derail.

In 2003, Romney unveiled regulations that would require older power plants to reduce mercury pollution, “putting Msssachusstetts in the forefront of reducing air pollution.” The state’s Department of Environmental Protection proposed its own mercury standard, to capture 95 percent of the mercury by October 2012. At the time Romney touted, “Our comprehensive mercury reduction efforts are a major step towards eliminating mercury pollution and will have a positive effect on the environment and public health for many years,” according to a press release from Romney’s office.

Romney and the 35 dirty Senators backing Inhofe’s push are out of step with public opinion. A new United Technologies/National Journal poll finds that 57 percent of Americans support the EPA’s finalized rule. The rule draws broad bipartisan support in the poll, as well, with 57 percent of Republicans in support of the rule with more time to comply.

Here’s the pre-Etch-A-Sketch Romney standing in front of a Massachusetts coal-fired power plant, explaining that he would “not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people”:

by Adam James

“This is a country who hasn’t gotten the memo that things are impossible.”

Those were the enthusiastic opening words to the Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Business Plan Competition from U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park.

Technology innovation broadly has accounted for three quarters of post-WWII growth in the U.S. And moving forward clean technology innovation will be a key driver for American economic growth. However, advancing clean technology will require the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs to find the financing they need to scale. And that is the exact purpose of the Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Business Plan Competition, which, under the expert guidance of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, has developed six innovation regions funneling the best and brightest ideas into a competition with a $100,000 grand prize.

In addition to a kick-off address from Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and an awards ceremony introduced by Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Heather Zichal, these bright entrepreneurs rubbed elbows with some of the nation’s sharpest (and wealthiest) clean tech venture capitalists — honing their sales skills in the hope of landing essential funding for getting their projects to scale.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got the Golden Ticket!”

Well, the winning team didn’t exactly say that — but they might as well have. In talking to the finalists and runners-up over the two day event, it was very clear that despite bringing brilliant world-changing ideas, these folks would be absolutely nowhere without the committed funding for their research and development. And beyond simple R&D, these technologies will never get to scale without serious financing from venture capital and private equity firms. That’s the goal of this competition.

All the finalist and runner up technologies made it out of the regional competitions for a reason. From radiator efficiency to new battery technologies, these were some of the most creative and revolutionary ideas to come out of America’s innovation ecosystem. I will profile some of the particularly promising prospects in my Climate Progress column UpStarts over the next few weeks.

“What got you here will not get you there”

That was a warning from Ken Morse, Chairman of Entrepreneurship Ventures. Put another way, the skill set that turned these ideas into proof of concept will not get a technology to market. You need sales, marketing, communications, and most importantly, money. Lots and lots of money.

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A round-up of the top climate and energy stories. Please post additional links below.

You won’t need a calendar to mark the start of summer in the northeastern U.S. The National Weather Service forecast potentially record-breaking hot temperatures just as the season officially begins Wednesday, the summer solstice and longest day of the year. [Associated Press]

More than 150 world leaders and ministers kick off the Rio+20 Earth Summit on Wednesday amid widespread disappointment about the strategy they will adopt to put the global economy on a more sustainable path. [Guardian]

Renewable energy can supply 80% of US electricity demand by 2050, concludes a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. [SustainableBusiness.com]

Environmental groups in Maine and Vermont are raising an alarm about the potential for tar sands oil to be piped across northern New England. [Associated Press]

On the eve of a major gathering to discuss the state of the planet, a Washington Post poll shows that most Americans think the world’s natural environment has deteriorated over the past decade, and more than six in 10 say humans are making the problem worse. [Washington Post]

Months before the sea ice reaches its annual minimum extent, this summer looks likely to follow suit, bringing unusually ice-free waters. [Live Science]

Public companies in the UK are to become the first in the world forced to publish full details of the greenhouse gasses they produce, under plans to be announced by the government. [Guardian]

Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday it will start recycling rare earths and other key materials in hybrid auto batteries this year — a key innovation in the Japanese automaker’s effort to be green. [Washington Post]

It was too perfect. And sad. On my way to see experts at Rio+20 speak about the growing waste problem in the developing world, I watched a man on his cell phone walk up to a recycling bin and dump his trash in the wrong receptacle. He walked off without even realizing what he had done.

It perfectly encapsulated the challenge. If people with access to proper recycling and waste management services aren’t using them properly, what about countries without those services?

According to experts at Rio+20, the problem is far greater than the international community is recognizing. With global municipal solid waste set to double in by 2025 — mostly in developing countries without the capabilities to manage that waste — many say it’s one of the most pressing environmental problems of our time.

“We are creating an environmental disaster that developing countries are ignoring at their own peril,” said David Newman, a board member with the International Solid Waste Association.

Less than half the world’s population has access to proper waste disposal, causing mountains of hazardous trash — including a growing amount of e-waste — to pile up. By 2020, e-waste from consumer electronics will jump 500% in some countries. That’s causing toxic chemicals to leach into groundwater and putting a financial burden on economically-constrained countries.

The United Nations has identified waste reduction strategies as a key part of its sustainable development goals. Chemical and municipal waste is mentioned frequently in the draft text that negotiators are putting together at Rio+20.

We recognize the importance of adopting a life-cycle approach and of further development and implementation of policies for resource efficiency and environmentally sound waste management. We therefore commit to further reduce, reuse and recycle waste (3Rs) as well as to increase energy recovery from waste with a view to managing the majority of global waste in an environmentally sound manner and where possible as a resource. Solid wastes, such as electronic waste and plastics, pose particular challenges which should be addressed. We call for the development and enforcement of comprehensive national and local waste management policies, strategies, laws and regulations.

While the text “recognizes” the solid waste problem and urges action through existing conventions, Newman says the international aid community doesn’t seem to be focused on the scale of the problem.

According to him, 0.25 percent of all development aid goes to helping with waste disposal strategies, or less than $400 million per year. “It’s nothing,” says Newman. “We have to raise the profile of this emergency on the international agenda. The consequences of doing nothing are disastrous.”

The World Bank issued a report on urban waste in March, finding that waste is cities around the world would grow by 100 percent by 2025. However, developing countries would face the greatest burden — with five-fold cost increases expected.

All that waste has more than just local environmental consequences. Waste disposal is responsible for 12 percent of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. With global waste streams set to double — more than two thirds of which will not be recycled — the global environmental consequences are stark.

“It’s madness. We’re on a downward resource spiral, yet we fail to recover 70 percent of the resources we consume. Are we crazy?” asked Newman.

Maybe that question is better asked of the man who dumped his tray of trash into the recycling bin at a global sustainability conference.

Stephen Lacey is reporting from Rio this week.