To Solve Global Warming, Congress Must FEEL The Heat!
In August 2015, one of my Global Warming essays was cross posted by the group Climate Hawks on DailyKos. In the
essay I discussed the need for Climate Hawks to spend less time talking about ‘how’ global warming occurs and more time talking about ‘what’ is about to happen if we don’t begin a rapid phase out of fossil fuels this decade. And I threw out some geographically specific examples of sea level rise in Florida, and a 129F heat wave in the American South.
And then DailyKos user, Pirogue, came up with the BRILLIANT idea of setting up some ‘global warming tents’ at places like festivals and county fairs. The idea is to let average people walk through these super heated tents to experience what a super hot summer day in their town would feel like in say the year 2050 or 2100. Here is what Pirogue wrote:
One thing that could be done is for local activists to design tents where inside parameters would duplicate predicted temperatures and allow people to actually experience conditions as they are expected to be at that very spot during hot days in a specified future year. These could be set up at fairs, markets, festivals and natural history museums for the public to get a feel for what's coming. One minute spent standing inside a tent set to 130 degrees would be much more persuasive than many hours of abstract debate.
So True! And let me emphasize Pirogue's last point, “One minute spent standing inside a tent set to 130 degrees would be much more persuasive than many hours of abstract debate.” Later that night I couldn’t stop thinking about this idea. It’s kind of like a reverse “ice bucket” challenge. And the “ice bucket” challenge became a well know event, so why not “Feel The Heat.” So here we go.
• Three different tents will be required. Each tent should simulate one of the bottom three Global Warming scenarios in the chart below. You can read my essay, “How Hot Is It Going To Get” on my blog, AllenInsigt.com, to learn about how this chart was created. A tent for the +12C scenario should not be created because it would likely kill someone. But there should be a display set up to educate the public that a +12C world is quite possible if we keep burning fossil fuels. So we will have a +2C tent, a +4C tent, and a +6C tent.
Increase
In Earth's Approximate Maximum
Average Celsius Fahrenheit Heat Wave
Temperature Temperature Heat Index
+12C 147F 200F
+6C 136F 170F
+4C 132F 155F
+2C 129F 142F
• A sponsoring corporation will be required to provide funding, publicity, and limited liability. This could be a green organization, or perhaps Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate, but the sponsor must have the limited liability that corporations afford.
• A signed “Waiver of Liability” will be required for every person who dares to walk through any of these 3 tents.
• We will require AT LEAST 2 ambulances and 2 sets of Emergency Medical Technicians stationed just outside these tents in case anyone suffers heat stroke or a life threatening complication from exposure to the extreme heat inside. The presence of these first responders will also highlight the narrative of just how dangerous living with Runaway Global Warming will be if emissions continue on their current trajectory.
• All participants will be required to wear only a swimsuit before entering a tent. And a cool down with a water hose will be provided upon exiting each tent. Sandals will be required as well due to the extremely hot surface of the ground or flooring inside each tent.
• And MOST IMPORTANTLY, these three tents should be setup in the summer of 2016 on the National Mall in Washington D.C. And the media should be invited to participate in a walkthrough of each tent. Hopefully we can also persuade some of our Climate Hawk Senators and Representatives to take the challenge. And then they must dare their climate denier colleagues in the House and Senate to come down to the National Mall, change into their swimsuits, walk through each tent, AND FEEL THE HEAT.
• The sight of our elected Senators and Representatives standing in line in their swimsuits on the National Mall should be enough to garner mainstream media attention. And the public imagination.
• And of course, citizens in good health may walk through the tents and then give their reactions to the media cameras as well. As long as they sign a liability waiver.
• It also might be interesting to put some displays inside each tent. Such as a small garden of dead vegetables or a small planting of dead corn to show that crop failures will be commonplace in a warming world.
• Fire extinguishers should be placed prominently inside and outside of each tent. This will also accent the message that Global Warming is dangerous.
So that is my vision. I am not good at “implementation” and I don’t know who to contact or what to do to make this little vision a reality. But if someone out there is great at implementation, please proceed. I think this is a great idea and I’d be happy to help with any strategic advice or writing. I can see it now:
“Feel The Heat” - An interactive display about Global Warming appearing on the National Mall in the summer of 2016. Come and feel “How Hot It Is Going To Get” if we don’t begin phasing out fossil fuels this decade.