Educator aims to separate fact from fiction at climate-change lecture in Cresson
CRESSON, Pa. – Science and environmental educator John Frederick compared the impact of climate change to that of cigarette smoking when giving a presentation on Saturday as part of the Cresson Public Library's 'Let's Talk About It: Conversations Among Citizens Series.'
He said some people smoke 'like a chimney' and live to 90, while others have a half-a-pack-a-day habit and die at 43 from lung cancer.
'The point here is with cigarette smoking is that every cigarette you smoke slightly increases your chances of either lung disease or lung cancer,' Frederick said. 'And the same thing is true with (climate change). And I think it's an important thing that needs to be explained to people because sometimes, depending on your point of view on this, this point gets argued. An individual catastrophe cannot be solely blamed on climate change.
'But when you start looking at all the charts, and all the occurrences, and the temperature of the water, the amount of rainfall that comes out of the sky and you look at all those things, there is a correlation between global warming and warming oceans and the number of these climate catastrophes or climate-related catastrophes that we have.'
Frederick addressed six main questions during his 'Climate Change and Central Pennsylvania: Separating Fact from Fiction' lecture – how do we know climate change is happening, what are the true costs, what do people have to do with it, does it matter in Cambria County, how do we affect people far away, and can we make the issue less political and divisive?
His goal was to get two main points across to the audience.
'One of them is to try to make what people think is complicated science a little more simple and digestible, shall we call it,' Frederick said during an interview before his lecture.
'I think sometimes one of the reasons that people are perplexed or struggle with some of these things is they think the science is beyond them. … The other thing, which I think is related to that, is that some of these things ought not to be controversial or partisan and they are. I'd like to hope that maybe one of the things I can do is help us talk to each other a little bit better, more easily and with less confrontation and divisiveness.'
Frederick provided data about numerous aspects of climate change, including the occurrence of natural disasters and their economic impact.
'It's really, really difficult for me to understand how after the last few years there are still people that are saying that this is all a hoax,' he said during the presentation. 'You do not have the number of wildfires that we have had. You do not have the number of floods that we have had. You do not have the number of violent hurricanes that we have had. You do not see the significant rises in sea level, the significant amount of coastal flooding.
'This is all unprecedented stuff.'
Etta Albright, who helped organize the event, added: 'These issues, even though they're on the front pages and talked about in our political system and so forth and so on, it all comes down to it's impacting someone on someone's home front.
'We, as citizens, need to understand the facts as to what's behind this all, so that we can apply this knowledge and understanding to make the kind of changes that are needed without getting into drama and catastrophe after catastrophe for it to make sense.
'We shouldn't wait. We shouldn't wait.'
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Over the course of a year, he found that in winter the inside temperature of the black model was on average 7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the white one. In summer, the white model house was 12 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. 'The answer wasn't, 'Should I paint it black or white?' The answer was: It should be black in winter and white in summer,' he said of the findings. 'It is not really feasible to paint a house twice a year. I began to think, 'Surely there are other ways of doing this?'' Doucet's solution was inspired by his childhood interest in mood rings, which feature manmade 'stones' that change appearance according to the wearer's finger temperature. 'I recall a fascination I had with a mood ring I received as a child and really trying to dig in and understand what it was,' he explained. 'I knew, even as 7-year-old, that (the ring's changing color) had nothing to do with my mood, that there was some type of chemistry at play. 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President Donald Trump's promise to 'terminate' his predecessor Joe Biden's clean energy policies — which he has called the 'Green New Scam' — has created an uncertain climate for eco-investing. Doucet, who is also involved with an wind energy venture, says the resulting change in how investors respond to green projects has made him reluctant to raise venture capital and go at it alone. Instead, he hopes to find a partner that can bring the invention to market, like a paint company, a chemical company or some combination of both. 'When situations change,' he said, referencing the Trump administration's plans to cut subsidies and tax rebates for clean energy projects, 'you need to change with them.' Nevertheless, Doucet appears confident that his creation has a potentially huge market. Not only could the paint be used on homes, but also larger buildings like schools, factories and other structures requiring a controlled internal environment. 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What if your house changed color with the seasons?
When Joe Doucet bought a new house in Katonah, New York, he wanted to make it as environmentally friendly as possible. As a designer and inventor, he immediately found himself wondering whether the exterior of his home could play a role in mitigating the effects of climate change. 'One of the things I had not really considered before was: What color should I paint the house?' he told CNN, speaking in a video call. It's well known that light-colored buildings reflect heat and stay cooler while darker ones absorb — just compare chilly Scandinavia's black housing tradition to the whitewashed homes found across warm Mediterranean countries. But what shade would perform best in a climate like New York's, with hot summers but dark and snowy winters? Doucet started by 3D-printing small scale models of his house, complete with similar levels of insulation, and painting them in different colors. Over the course of a year, he found that in winter the inside temperature of the black model was on average 7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the white one. In summer, the white model house was 12 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. 'The answer wasn't, 'Should I paint it black or white?' The answer was: It should be black in winter and white in summer,' he said of the findings. 'It is not really feasible to paint a house twice a year. I began to think, 'Surely there are other ways of doing this?'' Doucet's solution was inspired by his childhood interest in mood rings, which feature manmade 'stones' that change appearance according to the wearer's finger temperature. 'I recall a fascination I had with a mood ring I received as a child and really trying to dig in and understand what it was,' he explained. 'I knew, even as 7-year-old, that (the ring's changing color) had nothing to do with my mood, that there was some type of chemistry at play. 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His climate-responsive paint, as he dubs it, appears 'very, very dark gray' below 77 degrees Fahrenheit and gradually turns lighter as the temperature rises. Doucet has since filed a patent application for the technology. He admits his invention won't be especially useful for people in consistently hot or cold climates. But Doucet believes his paint could be a 'game changer' for those living in the world's temperate zones — including large parts of North America, Europe and Asia — where average temperatures are typically higher than 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the warmest months but no lower than 26.6 degrees Fahrenheit in the coldest. Last year was the hottest year on record. It was also the first calendar year to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a critical climate threshold. Doucet sees his invention as a direct response to this changing climate, rather than innovative new technology: 'This could have been done 70 years ago, there was just no need for it,' he explained. 'Climate change wasn't an issue at the time.' But more than helping homeowners respond to rising temperatures, Doucet's invention could have an impact on their climate pollution amid increasing energy costs and dependence on air conditioning (in 2020, 88% of US households used AC, up from 77% two decades ago). The operation of buildings accounts for 30% of global energy consumption, according to the International Energy Agency. But homes with improved thermal control consume less power by reducing demand for both air conditioning and heating. Doucet's modeling 'conservatively' predicts his paint could help households save between 15% to 30% on their energy costs. 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President Donald Trump's promise to 'terminate' his predecessor Joe Biden's clean energy policies — which he has called the 'Green New Scam' — has created an uncertain climate for eco-investing. Doucet, who is also involved with an wind energy venture, says the resulting change in how investors respond to green projects has made him reluctant to raise venture capital and go at it alone. Instead, he hopes to find a partner that can bring the invention to market, like a paint company, a chemical company or some combination of both. 'When situations change,' he said, referencing the Trump administration's plans to cut subsidies and tax rebates for clean energy projects, 'you need to change with them.' Nevertheless, Doucet appears confident that his creation has a potentially huge market. Not only could the paint be used on homes, but also larger buildings like schools, factories and other structures requiring a controlled internal environment. Though he is careful not to oversell the impact of his invention. 'There is no single solution to climate change. It's a series of steps and small actions,' he said. 'But this could be a meaningful one.'
