PORT TOWNSEND — A Port Townsend couple who have worked as climate change activists returned from the United Nations 21st Conference of the Parties this weekend, renewed in their effort to make people aware of the need to decrease their carbon footprint.
“It’s the single greatest issue that will ever affect man on a planetary scale,” said Hank Walker, 61, who traveled to the conference with his wife, Laura Tucker, 59.
“We all breathe the same air, we all drink the same water. No one will escape the effects of climate change if we don’t address the carbon issue.”
Tucker, who said she has been an educator all of her adult life, was one of 10 teachers in the United States who was invited to participate in the international conference by Climate Generation, formally the Will Steger Foundation.
Tucker approached the trip from an educational standpoint, striving to connect students with the issue and get them working toward decreasing their carbon footprint.
While at the conference, Tucker and Walker set up daily Google Hangouts, which allowed them to connect with local students on four mornings.
Tucker spent the days recruiting interviewees from among the conference’s younger attendees and sitting them down at 5:20 p.m. Paris time (8:20 a.m. in Port Townsend). They connected online with students in Blue Heron Middle School and Port Townsend High School for interactive questions.
The first effort Dec. 7 suffered from a poor Internet connection. The connections improved throughout the week, although the experience wasn’t completely positive.
“We kept trying to find an Ethernet connection, and there just wasn’t one,” Tucker said.
“There was a lot of bad Wi-Fi, but we got better.”
During one session, fourth-grader Chloe Lampert, 9, asked Australian climate activist Zoe McClure how students can change their lifestyles to fight climate change.
McClure responded that for someone so young, the problem can get overwhelming.
“Sometimes you feel like, ‘What can I do? I’m just one person,’ but it’s important to conserve energy and reduce waste,” McClure said.
“Getting involved with groups that are doing something positive is really important. You can start an environmental group at school, perhaps addressing the waste from the cafeteria and helping reduce energy use for the school as a whole.”
McClure said she became a vegetarian in order to reduce her own carbon footprint but acknowledged that it’s hard as a young person to decide what food is being served at home.
“But reducing the amount of meat you eat, even a little bit, can make a big difference,” she said.
Tucker said her days were “packed” with attending exhibitions, talking to students and exchanging information with other activists, but she had no access to the area where leaders such as President Barack Obama and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee were presenting information.
“I came away more hopeful than I was before,” she said.
“When you get together with people from all over the planet with a common vision and a passion to get the job done, when you see that firsthand, it’s huge.”
The day after their return, Tucker was sworn in as the newest member of the Port Townsend schools’ Board of Directors, to which she was elected in November.
But when it comes to climate change, Tucker will not attempt to educate those who believe there is no problem to begin with.
She said that when a change takes place, people fall into one of four categories: trailblazers who move forward with a small amount of information, pioneers who provide the framework for the change, settlers who are first adapters of the technology and the stay-at-homes “who aren’t going to join in, no matter what you do.”
“If you spend all your energy focusing on them, you abandon your other three groups,” she said.
“I have decided that trying to convince deniers is not worth my time.”
Tucker said she returned with more to share with people in the community, adults in particular, to give them hope.
“Coming back, we have names, faces and information about where things are shifting that we can share with people here,” she said.
“We’re getting the kids more involved, helping them to have positive, constructive outlets for their energy.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.