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Amit Jain
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Contributor - USGBC-LA
Contributor/Speaker - EcoTuesday
Financial Environmental
Social Criteria
Criteria Criteria
Unaccounted Climate
Population Change…
Growth
Rapidly
Soaring Food Urbanizing
Depleting
Prices Farmland
Resources
Issues of Climate Change
Harsh Weather
Loss of
Biodiversity / Population
Risk to Wildlife Displacement
8
6
4
2
0
1950
1998
2006
2014
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
2002
2010
2018
2022
2026
2030
2034
2038
2042
2046
2050
Impacts of Population Growth
Too many children Agricultural burning over
Consumption of resources Failure to recycle
Production/disposal toxics Improper disposal of
human waste
Misuse of pesticides Improper disposal of
garbage
Overcrowding Erosion from lack of
vegetation
Economic dependence on Urban Sprawl
growth
Depletion of soils by over Over-fishing
farming
Removal of carbon sinks Inefficient use of fuels
(trees)
Urbanizing farmlands Urban growth where water
is scarce
Eating Meat
Food and Water
• 1.2 billion or more people will be hungry by 2015
• Mid-2006 to mid-2008: world grain and soybean prices
U.S. Corn Used for Fuel Ethanol, roughly tripled
1980-2009 • While economic crisis eased prices, they remain above
historical levels
• From 1950 -2000, world water use tripled
• Some 70% of water use is for irrigation
• Over-extraction leads to disappearing lakes and rivers
failing to reach the sea
• Aquifer depletion is causing water tables to fall and
wells to go dry
Peak Oil
Once oil production • The 20 largest oil fields were discovered between 1917
and 1979
turns downward,
• Since 1981, oil extraction has exceeded new discoveries
countries will by a widening margin
compete for a • Most of the easily recovered oil is already pumped
shrinking supply. It
will be far more
difficult to expand
energy-intensive
agricultural
production when the
price of oil is rising
and the supply is
declining.
What will be the outcome?
• Can we address the root causes of rising food
insecurity and state failure in time to avoid global
political instability?
• Can we halt deforestation before the Amazon
rainforest dries out, becoming vulnerable to fire?
• Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to
avoid losing the Greenland and West Antarctic ice
sheets?
• Can we cut carbon emissions quickly enough to
keep temperature from spiraling out of control?
1. Stabilizing Population
2. Eradicating Poverty
3. Restoring the Earth’s Natural
Support Systems
4. Stabilizing Climate
Stabilizing Population
• Universal primary education
• Eradication of adult illiteracy
• School lunch programs for 44 poorest
countries
• Assistance to preschool children and
pregnant women in 44 poorest countries
• Reproductive health care and family
planning services
Three components:
1. Raising energy efficiency and
restructuring transportation
2. Replacing fossil fuels with renewables
3. Ending net deforestation and planting
trees to sequester carbon
Transportation
Restructuring transport to emphasize rail,
light rail, and bus rapid transit would save
energy while making walking and cycling
safer
Moving from oil to electricity reaps big
gains
New Automotive Economy
• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)
running primarily on emissions-free
electricity generated by the wind and the
sun would allow for low-carbon
commuting, grocery shopping, and other
short-distance travel