the goal of the conference, which ends friday, is to come up with a global agreement between mayors and city officials to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions and to track their progress transparently.

we asked some friends of planet forward three simple questions about the conference and what they expect to come out of it. 

kathleen merrigan, the executive director of sustainability at gwu and the former deputy secretary of the usda, made the trek to paris for the conference. she was up first to answer our questions:

q: what do you expect from paris?

merrigan: a legal agreement that includes most parties, including developed and developing countries.

q: if you could select two outcomes what would they be?

m: i hope for strong accounting mechanisms and triggers to push countries to do more.

q: what aspect of climate change do you think the public least understands and can you explain it in no more than three sentences?

m: i don’t think the general public understands how easy it is to do the right thing. part of the reason for that is the overblown rhetoric and misinformation campaigns by defenders of the status quo. the reality is that economic development and environmental protection are compatible and mutually reinforcing.

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francesco fiondella, senior communications officer for the international research institute for climate and society at columbia university, has a background in journalism and environmental science. here are his thoughts on cop21:

q: what do you expect from paris?

fiondella: 195 countries have 12 days to negotiate one mutual agreement about climate that will lay out a way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and help us adapt to global warming impacts. we will have an agreement. will it be pretty? no. will it be clean? no. but the momentum is there, and has been building since last year. people are more ‘climate-aware’ than ever, helped in part because of el niño, the drought in california, the much-publicized link between climate, conflict and national security and other issues. 

i expect that countries will formally commit to their intended nationally determined contributions, or indcs, in the paris. these commitments would limit warming to ~3 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels. of course, we need much more aggressive cuts to get to that magic 2-degree celsius limit, but some agreement is better than no agreement. i also expect (hope) that parts of the document will be binding, though likely not kyoto-style binding.

q: if you could select two outcomes what would they be?

f: 1. an accurate, fair way to track and verify emissions reductions by an independent body. otherwise the commitments mean little. 2. motivation (and pledges) to significantly increase investment in energy research by both the public and private sector. this is critical to accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy. we need to make energy greener and much cheaper so that developing countries can readily and quickly transition off of fossil fuels.

q: what aspect of climate change do you think the public least understands and can you explain it in no more than three sentences? 

f: climate conditions fluctuate on many time scales. while we should be very concerned about the long-term planetary impacts associated with our greenhouse gas emissions, the fact is that hundreds of millions of people right now are already hungry, poor, sick or have been driven from their homes because of short-term climate variability. adaptation to the ‘climate change’ of tomorrow starts with adaptation to the droughts, extreme weather and vector-borne disease epidemics we see today.

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eleanor davis is an environmental sciences senior at george washington university who, like merrigan, is at cop21 reporting about her experience there. (see what’s happening on our instagram!) here are her answers: 

q: what do you expect from paris?

davis: while in paris, i am seeing a great amount of civil society engagement. i went to an event where one reporter said, “lima was a cop but this is the cop.” that is really the feel and expectation for paris and the agreement.

q: if you could select two outcomes what would they be?

d: i think we will have a non-legally binding agreement so that president obama does not need to go to congress to ratify it. i also think cop21 shows the strength in civil society involvement and that, after this, there will be more involvement with the unfccc (united nations framework convention on climate change) globally.

q: what aspect of climate change do you think the public least understands and can you explain it in no more than three sentences? 

d: to many people, climate change seems like an abstract concept that maybe they know is a threat but they have no idea how to act to change the current trend. the message we need to send to everyone is, “one drop of water is just a drop, but billions of drops are an ocean.” whether it’s composting, biking to work or buying consignment clothes, all actions are important no matter how small and from all these small actions, we are seeing an ocean of change.

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what would your answers be? share with us, below.

(images at top: scenes from cop21 in paris via our instagram takeover by eleanor davis.)

it was caused by a nearly decadelong series of disastrous windstorms in the southern plains. you may know it as the dust bowl.

on nov. 11, 1933, massive dust storms swept across south dakota. history.com reports that within two days, dust from the storm had reached albany, n.y. — more than 1,500 miles from where the storms originated. in 1933, there were 38 storms in total, according to pbs’ american experience. that was more than double the 14 that occurred in the region the previous year.

over the next year, the dust storms spread, and the drought became the worst in u.s. history, with more than 75% of the country affected. on april 14, 1935, a “black blizzard” developed, resulting in the most damage from any storm in the history of the dust bowl. it is now known as “black sunday.”

while the situation became dire in the plains, washington was simultaneously dealing with the great depression. franklin roosevelt took office in 1933 and congress worked quickly to push through the emergency banking act of 1933, which stabilized the bank industry. in the months leading up to black sunday, a series of farm- and drought-related actions followed, including the taylor grazing act, the frazier-lemke farm bankruptcy act and the drought relief service. a week before black sunday, the emergency relief appropriation act was approved by fdr, which along with funding created the works progress administration, employing 8.5 million people — and offering an opportunity for those hard hit by the dust storms.

soil erosion was the enemy, with experts estimating 850 million tons of topsoil lost in the southern plains to the storms over the course of 1935. the soil conservation service, established in april 1935 as part of the u.s. department of agriculture, developed techniques that have become standard practice for farmers, history.com said.

slowly, the plains were rehabbed by “changing the basic farming methods of the region by seeding areas with grass, rotating crops, and using contour plowing, strip plowing, and planting ‘shelter belts’ of trees to break the wind,” american experience reports. by the fall of 1939, the rains finally came again, ending the seemingly endless drought — and years of anguish. 

(image at top: machinery and a car are partially buried in dallas, s.d., in 1936, in the dust bowl. / united states department of agriculture)

doug guthrie, dean of the gw school of business, moderated a discussion between deborah wince-smith, president of the council on competitiveness, and debra rowe, president of the u.s. partnership for education for sustainable development. rowe explained that every job could be considered a “green job” because all jobs and industries impact the “bigger picture” of sustainability. however, in order to create more opportunities and jobs involving sustainability and innovation, rowe asserted that higher education must be reorganized. all agreed that the discussion of sustainability is not enough; giving students the information and materials to understand sustainability and solutions and educating them as well as the public, policy makers, and employers is essential.

moderator megan hughes of bloomberg tv led a discussion between aneesh chopra, mayo shattuck, executive chairman of exelon corporation, and alex laskey, the co-founder and president of opower, a new engagement platform for utilities companies that sends customers information about their energy spending habits through text message, e-mail, snail mail, and even facebook. laskey compared a part of opower’s services to that of a credit card company feature that is undoubtedly useful to its customers: activity alerts. opower also uses behavioral analytics and data to inform customers of unusual usage, enabling them to use that awareness to save money on their utility statements and in turn help them to conserve energy. chopra asserted that information technology will be the key to an energy efficient future, explaining that the intersection of liberated data and financial innovation will be a “big boon to sustainability.”

the new york times’ andy revkin moderated the last panel discussion of the day, “renewables: boom or bust?” the panelists discussed natural gas and renewable power sources, including water, wind, and solar energy. vice admiral dennis mcginn (ret.), president of the american council on renewable energy, called natural gas “a blessing,” as it is cleaner to produce than coal and has a “firming capability” for when wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining as brightly. the panel came to the conclusion that, ultimately, there must be a synergy between natural gas and renewables in order to diversify our energy portfolio.

as international treaties and federal policy-making stall, cities are taking the initiative, fostering innovation and fueling competition, all in the interest of adapting to climate change. the impacts of a changing planet aren’t theoretical for these leaders. for them, it’s adapt, innovate or watch their city’s future die.

moderator: frank sesno, founder and host, planet forward
vincent gray, mayor, washington, d.c.
mark mallory, mayor, cincinnati, oh
tommy battle, mayor, huntsville, al
steven knapp, president, the george washington university
melissa keeley, assistant professor of geography, the george washington university

the panel of experts discussed renewable energy in the wake of solyndra and how the debate can move forward.

moderator: andrew revkin, blogger, the new york times
vice admiral dennis mcginn (ret.), president, american council on renewable energy
robert hefner, founder and chief executive officer, the ghk companies
reed hundt, chief executive officer, coalition for green capital
ron smith, co-founder and president, verdant power

moderator: frank sesno, founder and host, planet forward
vincent gray, mayor, washington, d.c.
mark mallory, mayor, cincinnati, oh
tommy battle, mayor, huntsville, al
steven knapp, president, the george washington university
melissa keeley, assistant professor of geography, the george washington university