Creation Care Pagosa is honored to bring eminent scientist Dr. Terry L. Root to our community to speak on the 2024 Earth Day theme: “Planet vs. Plastics.”
She will speak on April 26 at 6 p.m. at the Community United Methodist Church (CUMC), located at 434 Lewis St. For those of you who attended her previous talk at the Weminuche Audubon Society, you know she is a fun, energetic and engaging speaker.
Admission is free; donations are welcome to further environmental education here in Pagosa Springs.
“The plastic polymer was invented in 1907,” said Root. “But the use of plastics did not really take hold until around 1950s. Since that time, the production of plastics has grown exponentially. To date, over 8 billion tons of plastic have been produced, yet only 9 percent of that has ever been recycled. The projection for plastic to be produced just in 2050 alone is about 1.75 billion tons. For every pound of plastic produced, 6 pounds of CO2 is emitted into our atmosphere. Consequently, about 10.5 billion tons of CO2 could be emitted in 2050 just due to the making of plastics (CO2 stays in the atmosphere warming our climate for about 1,000 years, roughly 40 generations). Currently, a total of about 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans yearly. To help stem that tide, 12 states have banned the use of plastic bags statewide, including Colorado. Yet 15 states have literally banned the banning statewide of plastic bags. The plastic in the oceans is greatly affecting five different types of marine animals: sea turtles, seals and sea lions, seabirds, fish, and cetaceans (whales and porpoises). Thankfully there is lots each of us can do and must do.
“For example, we all can easily stop using plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic straws, plastic wrap and Styrofoam, which we all must do.”
Root is professor emerita at Stanford University.
She was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change 4th Assessment Report that in 2007 was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Al Gore. Also, she was a lead author for the 3rd Assessment Report (2001) and a review editor for the 5th Assessment Report (2014).
In addition to other honors, Root was awarded the Spirit of Defenders Award for Science by Defenders of Wildlife in 2010, and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for the conservation organization Point Blue.
She served on the National Audubon Board of Directors from 2010 to 2019, currently serves on the board of Defenders of Wildlife, Birds Caribbean and is on numerous science advisory boards, including the Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute.
Rev. Ken Daniell, pastor at CUMC, is a passionate advocate for environmental stewardship. Daniell believes that CUMC, with its central downtown location, provides an ideal venue for environmental education to serve all the people of Archuleta County.
Quoting from the Methodist Book of Resolutions, “As we continue to call for bold leadership and advocate for policies rooted in justice and sustainability, we understand that God is calling each of us to respond and that, as a denomination, we cannot hope to transform the world until we change our way of being in it.”
Creation Care Pagosa is a faith-based environmental stewardship organization open to everyone in the community. We meet on the fourth Thursday of every month (except for March) at CUMC.
If you have questions or would like to join our mailing list, please contact Sarah.Riehm@gmail.com.
