Eco-Alternatives: Top Congressman Skips Bali, Addresses UN Climate Change from Second Life Instead

One World's Climate Change viewing/discussion site-- click the pic or this SLURL link for direct teleport

Here's a fundamental irony of climate change: most everyone around the world agrees we should get together to talk about it, but we usually need to get in emission-
spewing jet planes to do so.  Acknowledging that reality, I just got word that Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, will skip the plane ride and address the UN's Climate Change conference from Second Life.

"Criticism of the carbon footprint of the UN conference has been rife," reads an announcement I just got from reps with OneClimate island run by an NGO of the same name and produced in collaboration with Cisco.  "Congressman Markey’s decision not to fly but attend virtually will stand as an example for many future participants who want to interact without emitting flight-generated carbon."  He'll do that tomorrow at 5:30PM SLT, and you can attend the event in Second Life by going to One Climate's island. Even cooler, questions from the audience there are related directly to the UN panel in Bali. 

"We show delegates in Bali being interviewed and then our audience has the chance to put forward their own questions," One Climate's Beatrix Benoir tells me, grinning.  "Which is very rare for a largely closed UN conference. A lively debate usually ensues!"

But are Second Life conferences a viable alternative to the real thing?  As it happens, I just offered my opinion for Earth2Tech, a eco-entrepreneur blog on the GigaOM network where I'm an editor.  The short answer: except for those who're already using SL, not yet.  Read the full version here.

Comments

Good to see at least one of them actually believes in the message. I suppose that's a beginning. Meanwhile, I wonder where Al Gore will fly to next (on a private jet) to deliver his CO2 reduction sermon? And what he'll be paid.

[DirtCrashr]

According to TimesOnline Algore gets "£50,000 and £85,000 a speech, holds stock options in Google worth £15m, and has made as much as £4m from advances on his book deals. He is also advising a US venture capital company on how to invest a $600m green technology fund...
A contract for one of his speaking arrangements, released by the University of California under freedom of information requirements, reveals that Gore demands first class travel and accommodation and £500 a day for meals, phone calls and other expenses."

I wonder if her prefers Euros, what with the exchange-rate and all?

The difficult negotiations involved with an issue as important as Climate Change require that powerful people be in the same room with each other to hash it out. There is no real substitute at this state of technology for this. Despite the cost and environmental degradation involved, this is too important to start bean-counting the carbon emissions.

If Ed Markey really had the authority of the US government behind him, and could talk turkey with China, Russia, the EU and the rest about how to solve the climate change problem, he needs to be there in the flesh, not the avatar.

He doesn't. He's just going to give a speech.

So the fact that Markey will "rez in" to Bali is totally appropriate (and cool). Given the likelihood of the US administration paying any serious attention to the Bali conference, the whole US delegation might as well do the same.