Adapting to a Changing Environment

Sunnheim Arbor Frithyard

Knoxville, , USA

An Overview Of Our Solution

Who is this solution impacting?
Ecosystem
Forests
Forests
Community Type
Rural
Rural
Additional Information
  • Population Impacted:
  • Continent: North America
General Info

Address

127 E. Oak Hill Ave. NE
Knoxville, 37917-5429
United States

Email

InjunSun@aol.com
Problem

Population impacted

600K

Size

large

Major Occupations

Tourism, service jobs helping travellers going through Knoxville, TN.

Local resources the community depends on, and for what purpose

Air for breathing, water for drinking and farming.

Local threats to resources

Mountaintop removal coal mining, natural gas fracking.

Climate Hazards

Coal-burning electrical plants, coal ash (including a recent spill into the Tennessee River), and pollution from vehicle engines.

Level of sensitivity

Even the least sensitive individuals are having asthma develop, and other pulmonary ailments worsen.

Level of adaptive capacity

The pollution is damaging the Smoky Mountain forests, and is weakening our local ecosystems, causing them to be less able to fight off foreign invasive species, as well as ordinary diseases and pests.
Solution

Using federal money plus investment of private citizens, on a county-by-county basis, put solar panel arrays on every building in each county. The poorer the property owner or tenant, the larger the array they would be eligible for, and conversely, the wealthier the property owner or tenant, the smaller array they would be allowed. The wealthy would get arrays to meet their average consumption estimates, while the poor would get arrays far exceeding their needs, such that the excess would be remitted to them. Businesses would also be given arrays meeting their average demands. Investors would get a percentage of daily use paid back to them until their investment was repaid, with a small amount of interest, done as a municipal bond.

Results

Ecological Costs

Provided ecologically sound solar panels are used, those made with less expensive and less politically costly materials (i.e., *not* made with rare earth metals), there would be no ecological cost to implement my program.

Ecological Benefit

My program would eliminate the need for coal, thus for coal mining. It would also reduce our dependence on oil, perhaps eliminating it locally, which would reduce the need to drill for oil, or to use that nasty sludge called tar sand. Eliminating mining

Economic Indicators used to measure benefit

Reduction in both rate and actual acreage of forest losses due to both mining and pollution. Increase in Native biodiversity in forests and streams.

Community/Social Cost

None, other than some job displacement as people go from one energy sector to another.

Community/Social Benefit

The poor and working poor would have far less to worry about, as they would have the equivalent of ~$200 less in bills, plus possibly excesses of production being paid directly to them. All people would have this reduction in bills and possibility of being paid, but for the poor, it would have a disproportionately beneficial effect.

Community/Social Indicators used to measure benefit

Potentially, this might help some people reduce their dependence on social welfare programs, including LIHEAP, SNAP, and WIC. This program *would* permanently reduce the real level of unemployment by directly employing people to put in and maintain the arrays.

Economic Cost

Training to put arrays in could be done ad hoc, as paid and unpaid internships. Early on, federal grants would be used to begin, but thereafter, private investors in municipal bonds would maintain the program.

Economic Benefit

More jobs and fewer people needing public assistance would create even more need for service industry jobs, and greater tourism.

Ecological Indicators used to measure benefit

Locally, having no income tax, we rely on sales taxes to fund most things. Any increase in spending would equal an increase in sales tax revenue, giving an easy way to see the local benefits.

What were/are the challenges your community faced in implementing this solution?

People do not believe we can power everything we currently use and like with solar alone. They need to be shown it can be done.

Action

Describe the community-based process used to develop the solution including tools and processes used

The solution I propose would give the poorest people a cash infusion that would be permanent. Along with solar arrays, everyone would get free energy assessments, and help via state and local programs for weatherising their homes. The wealthy and the poor would be brought together both by investors helping the poor, as well as by the poor becoming less so over time.

Climate hazard of concern

Changing temperatures and weather patterns

How does your solution reduce the exposure of and buffer/protect the ecosystem affected?

My solution would immediately reduce the need for coal for electricity, and would immediately reduce its burning locally, reliving a major issue, serving as an example for everywhere else. It would also create a culture expecting to use electricity for all needs, rather than turning to natural gas for home heating, gasoline for cars, etc.. This could be considered a consolidation of consumption, from several markets into one. Job losses in the Big Carbon markets would be replaced by Green jobs in maintenance and repair.

How has your solution increased the capacity of the ecosystem to adapt to potential climate changes?

Any relief of pollutants, particularly heavy metals, will strengthen the biomes affected. Removing the excess local Carbon from the air will strengthen the plants, and the animals who depend on those plants.

How does your solution reduce the exposure of and buffer/protect the communities affected?

In two ways, my solution helps reduce the exposure of local and regional biomes. First, it prevents their initial harm to get the "natural resources" of coal and natural gas. Second, it prevents their secondary harm from the burning of those same resources as outlined in the previous paragraphs.

How does your solution reduce the sensitivity of the communities affected?

Any reduction in pollution reduces the sensitivity of ecosystems to further harm, such as can be expected from Climate Change. My program would reduce or eliminate pollution from most Carbon sources, as well as reducing the use of nuclear power.

How has your solution increased the capacity of local communities to adapt to potential climate changes?

Any reduction in sensitivity to harms increases the capacity of local communities to adapt to potential climate changes. My program would reduce ecological sensitivities, thus increasing the capacity of local ecosystems to adapt to stresses from Climate Change.

Scale

Can this solution be replicated elsewhere?

Yes. It should naturally spread like a disease, once established.

Overview
Solution
Scale