January 13, 2022 (Thursday) - The CT Governor Lamont is trying to get a “Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) Program through the CT General Assembly. The Governor’s office reports, “The Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) is a historic multi-jurisdictional collaboration to cap and reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the transportation sector and accelerate investments in an equitable, cleaner, and more resilient transportation system for Connecticut and the region. On December 21, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, and Mayor Bowser of the District of Columbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreeing to work to implement TCI-P in their respective jurisdictions.” [https://portal.ct.gov/deep/climate-change/transportation-climate-initiative]. Our small group has been attending meetings and talking to Tom Lefebvre with the TCI Coalition, and CT State Rep. Ryan in Norwich and others. But the resistance from climate deniers, a lot of Republicans in the state general assembly, and conservatives who represent fossil fuel companies are pulling this effort down. But, the better solution would be a carbon tax at the source of the fossil fuels, like the “Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act” proposal our Citizens’ Climate Lobby group has in the U.S. House: “This bill imposes a fee on the carbon content of fuels, including crude oil, natural gas, coal, or any other product derived from those fuels that will be used so as to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fee is imposed on the producers or importers of the fuels and is equal to the greenhouse gas content of the fuel multiplied by the carbon fee rate. The rate begins at $15 per metric ton of CO2-e in 2021, increases by $10 each year, and is subject to further adjustments based on the progress in meeting specified emissions reduction targets” [https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2307]. But that bill is receiving the same resistance on a national level as in the states.
January 14, 2022 (Friday) - Today is the day our Connecticut Climate Emergency Act of 2022 must be accepted for discussion in the Environmental Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly. I sent in the document, but we do not have a strong advocate for the bill. In the past Connecticut considered a carbon tax (which we supported), but that fell flat. Also, as politics became more and more contentious and divisive, we’ve seen increased difficulty in finding common ground and negotiated legislation that is bipartisan.
January 25/27, 2022 (Tuesday/Thursday) - Connecticut League of Conservation Voter’s state conference. I played my 10-minute movie I made interviewing young people (all before the pandemic hit) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JZ-vjOBqY]. I’m on the panel at 1:30 on Tuesday with Sunrise Connecticut young climate activists. Young people are rightly very unhappy about the lack of forward progress on climate actions. We’ve been working with them and high school and college/university students. It continues to be a big hill to climb. Anne’s work in the League of Women Voters is really helping as well.
February 8, 2022 (Tuesday) - Big Citizens’ Climate Lobby Connecticut meeting today in Hartford, and I brought in Trevor Cohen who wrote a book titled “Bright Green Future”. He is an optimist and lists forward progress on an individual level in terms of energy and sustainable practices. We need more of these views - optimism, not what we can’t do but what we can do. We also attended the Climate Coalition Rally here in Hartford at the Old State House. Lots of students. Good to see Millennials (born 1981-1996), and Gen Zs (born 1997-2012) all participating on this existential crisis of climate change.
February 10, 2022 (Thursday) - I’m interviewed on SECTV today about our climate efforts by Terry Roper and Frank Facchini here in Groton, CT. I outlined our bill proposal “The Connecticut Climate Emergency Act of 2022”, and that the CT General Assembly Environment Committee will not take up the bill this year. One CT State Senator told me, “This scares the hell out of all of us - there is no climate emergency.” To me - this is amazing. When one looks at all the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports over the years: First IPCC Assessment Report (FAR 1990), the Second Assessment Report (SAR 1995), the Third Assessment Report (TAR 2001), the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4 2007) -which laid the foundation for the post-Kyoto agreement and the limiting warming to 2oC, the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5 2014) which input scientific data and perspectives into the Paris Agreement, the Sixth Assessment Reports (2019) documented impacts if we reach a warming temperature of 1.5oC (SR15), and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC 2019) - all of these reports document the existential crisis and climate emergency we are living in. Yet, climate deniers fuel emotions in those who doubt science and want to retain conservative power that does not move us forward and does strengthen fossil fuels.
February 15, 2022 (Tuesday) - I’m part of a panel on climate and the environment put on by the environmental group “Save The Sound” - addressing environmental and climate issues in the Long Island Sound. Ed Ford (Representative from Middletown), Wildaliz Bermudez (Representative from Hartford) and others are also on the panel. Wildaliz is remarkable, and represents the Puerto Rico citizenry in Hartford. Lots of agreement on what needs to be done, but not a lot of agreement on how to pass meaningful, actionable and accountable climate and environmental legislation, especially in light of the fact that the environmental committee refused to debate my climate bill. Frustrating.
February 24, 2022 (Thursday) - Anne and I are attending another CT General Assembly public hearing, and have been in close dialogue with the impressive CT State Representative Aundre Bumgardner. He is really open minded and learning a lot about climate change. This is a good politician (was a republican, now a democrat). But the Environment Committee and Senator Christine Cohen did not debate our bill - so it is dead. We’ll of course keep trying for the next year session. But State Senator Christine Cohen is a mover and shaker, and she’s let us know she’s on-board to work on the bill for next year.
March 14, 2022 (Monday) - I have COVID - tested positive. It is hitting me really hard with all the symptoms. I’m isolated in my office, and luckily Anne did not get it. I am pretty sure I contracted it at one of Anne’s events - her friend had a birthday party we attended on this past Saturday. So glad Anne doesn’t have this.
March 24, 2022 (Thursday) - Still have COVID - still severe. Like razor blades in my throat, and lungs compromised.
March 26, 2022 (Saturday) - The last couple days I’ve improved, and testing negative today for COVID. Wow - this is a tough thing to get. There have been 995,000 deaths in the U.S. from this thing - scary as hell if you get it bad. I’m on the mend now, even with the vaccine.
March 27, 2022 (Sunday) - Second day in a row with a negative COVID test. Out of the woods.
April 6, 2022 (Wednesday) - Started my second year of my 8-week long (every Wednesday from 3 to 5pm) on-line film making class with the University of Wisconsin Cederberg Bog Research Station. Good roster, and my sister Jeanne is in this class. We are focused on nature/environmental films.
April 16, 2022 (Saturday) - One million people have died in the U.S. from COVID - this is an ongoing pandemic catastrophe.
April 23, 2022 (Saturday) - Citizens’ Climate Lobby group leader volunteer Ron Brandes has helped organize an Earth Day environmental fair in Southbury, CT. He also got a dozen people (including Anne & I) to bring our EVs so people could learn more about them. Great to see a parking lot full of electric vehicles!
April 24, 2022 (Sunday). I have another climate intern with Citizens’ Climate Lobby - Isabelle Harper from Greenwich. She’s a go-getter, and as a high schooler really has a grasp of climate issues and the need for policy.
April 27, 2022 (Thursday) - Through my University of Wisconsin on-line film class, the participants are delving into making short videos of environmental issues affecting them. We have in-depth discussions of “writing the screenplay” on climate, environmental and community issues close to the students. Again, the participants range from university students to professionals in mid-careers working at nature centers and non-profit land trusts and so on. It is an important way to educate the public and get young people involved - using film making.
May 3, 2022 (Tuesday) - Even though my climate bill is tanking, Anne and I are working with a high schooler (Bobby Callagy) on a plastics relabeling bill (to tell the public which plastics are truly recyclable, and some simpler environmental bills. We’ve met progressive democrat CT Representative Christine Palm, who is passionate about these things too. We have a strong supporter and sponsor in her.
May 15, 2022 (Sunday) - Today I give my talk on “Voting, Climate, Legislation, & Consequences” to the Connecticut League of Women Voters [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCiHvC7KufY]. The state is way behind New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island . . . and a dozen other states in meaningful climate action. This “game” takes insight, patience, science knowledge and political acumen. I hope I have enough of these skills to keep moving forward!!!! There is a bill in the works: “The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” which is loaded with good climate and clean energy actions. It is crawling through Congress, but with President Biden - I am very optimistic.
May 16, 2022 (Monday) - Intense chat about the lack of climate legislation with global climate economist and retired Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) professor Gary Yohe.
May 20, 2022 (Friday) - I’ve been an advisor on high schooler Katherine Lam’s Capstone project, and today she presented to the school - environmental justice. She did a great job. Meanwhile working with high schoolers Isabelle and Bobby - I am optimistic about the future because of the desire to help create a livable world through actions in communities and governments that these young people are demonstrating.
May 28, 2022 (Saturday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Anne and I have prepared timelines, budgets, and I’ve finished the screenplay and getting the casting underway. My long-time friend in Galena, Illinois - actor/writer/director Ronn Toebaas is a real touch stone for me. We had a long zoom call today to bounce ideas about locations for filming and actors who I can interview.
June 20, 2022 (Monday) - A week at The Clearing Folk School in Ellison Bay, WI, taking a class with Bob Grese, who has studied Jens Jensen, the founder of the Clearing. It is great to be in these north woods, in log cabins, and just being able to enjoy nature without the political buzzing around our heads for a week. Badly needed retreat! Anne is in spinning class of Deb Jones.
June 29-31, 2022 (Wednesday-Friday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Today Anne and I filmed a couple scenes of our time-traveling characters (me and the 11-year-old Jackson Hine; Jason Hine’s son . . . Jason is founder of RiseUpMystic and owns the sustainability products store “The Ditty Bag” in Mystic). We filmed the time travel scenes in some woods just down the street from our home in Mystic. It’s the first time (after some practice) of using the Komodo Red 6k cinema-graphic video camera - really a computer with a lens! Jackson has been in a number of middle school plays and wants to be an actor. He’s doing okay!
July 6, 2022 (Wednesday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Today Anne and I filmed the Antarctica researcher scene in the movie. We have casted friend (and Dutchman) Hans Rollema in the role of the wizened, bearded and Netherlands-accented on-site climate scientist. We filmed it in our garage set. It is hot today, and Hans was sweating under his Antarctica gear outfit.
July 11-14, 2022 (Monday-Thursday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. We had a good week of working on the movie - working title is “The Continuing Adventures of Carbon Man”. We’ve cast my friend Bill Young (whom I worked with in the environmental field over these many years); he’s not a professional actor, but has a senatorial look and an outgoing personality. We’ve been practicing lines on zoom calls with Ronn Toebaas (who I cast as a retired republican senator from Kentucky). Bill Young is playing a junior senator from New Jersey. Bill is from there, and joked in his New Jersey accent, “Do I have to learn that New Jersey accent?” I’ve also held script reading practice session on zoom with Wisconsin actor Mark Moede, who plays a retired democrat senator from Wisconsin in two key scenes across from Ronn Toebaas.
July 19, 2022 (Tuesday). THE MOVIE CARBON MAN - For the film we’ve cast professional actress Sandy Laub in the role of one of the oil company executives in the film. Sandy is a teacher and a volunteer with Anne in the League of Women Voters. She is also helping us with casting a couple other roles. Sandy and I read her lines through a number of times. She is really great. I’ve still got a lot of work to do finding filming locations, casting, and working with the actors on their lines.
July 20, 2022 (Wednesday) - Met with CT State Representative Christine Palm again. The 2022 General Assembly session was not impressive. There have been some environmental oriented bills passed, addressing pollution. But the elephant in the room is climate change and climate justice.
July 25-30, 2022 (Monday-Saturday) - Back at The Clearing in Ellison Bay teaching my week-long writing class. We drove the Tesla this time so I could transport our film equipment. In my class I have a small bunch of enthusiastic first-time storytellers, and we explore story arcs, character development, and all the other elements of story making, tension creation and energy levels. Great fun with walks in the north woods. I was able to film a couple scenes on location at The Clearing; it is quite beautiful along the Niagara Escarpment on the waters of Green Bay. Anne & I will be back next month and we’ll do more filming up here.
August 6, 2022 (Saturday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN - Music. I’m getting the music together for the movie. I’ve written ten songs and working on instrumentals. But I’ve also brought in Mark Paffrath of Racine Wisconsin and his company New Leaf Music Enterprise. I met Mark years ago, but last year he attended my writing class at The Clearing in Ellison Bay, WI. This reconnection was serendipitous - and Mark, a really great musician, is now helping record my tunes for the movie. Exciting.
August 7, 2022 (Sunday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. A long zoom on-line session today with Mark Moede in Jacksonport, WI and Ronn Toebaas in Galena, IL. Mark plays the retired Wisconsin senator - a democrat, and Ronn plays the retired Kentucky senator - a republican. Both are really doing well in displaying firmness and compassion in their roles as they play off each others dialogue. I spent a lot of time building this part of the story to demonstrate how you can be on either side of the aisle in the Senate, but still work together. Ronn is our oldest actor at 81, and is in cancer treatments - prognosis looks good. He’s a tough old Norwegian-heritage guy, Chicago experience and a brilliant actor. This is his first film project! I am honored.
August 8, 2022 (Monday) - I made a short video about geologic time for Bill Young’s environmental class at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) class [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYk8pgo4LJQ]. Ronn Toebaas is up in Door County from his home in Galena, IL, and Mark Moede lives here in Jacksonport - so we touched base and talked about character development.
August 14, 2022 (Sunday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. We’ve brought on another actor to play a member of Congress - so we had a long zoom call this afternoon with Rob Mendel & Bill Young to refine lines and the scene. I can see the scenes in my head, and can’t wait to film them. Anne and I are designing a senate office set for those scenes. It’s in the garage . . . we call it Studio 7B!
August 16, 2022(Tuesday) - Even as our “reel life” film preparations in fill up our schedule, Anne and I are still working on climate actions in “real life”. Our work with Citizens’ Climate Lobby is as busy as ever, m and this afternoon I had a long strategy meeting with CT State Representative Christine Palm. She is short-tempered about the short-comings of the CT General Assembly’s inactions and filibustering by republicans. “Maddening!” She says.
August 17-18, 2022 (Wednesday-Thursday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. A couple of long days on zoom calls with our growing cast. Practicing with scripts and my direction and input from the actors. Calls today with our leading lady, Carin Estey, an actress recommended to us by actress Sandy Laub. And with Rob Mendel and Bill Young, and with actress Susan Barg - a friend of Ronn Toebaas’s in Galena, IL. Things are coming along. Anne and I leave for Wisconsin on Friday to teach at The Clearing and to film some more scenes in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, we have completed the senate office set in Studio 7B - the garage - and we’ll film some of those scenes after the Wisconsin trip. Carpenters Ed Gaffney and his son Brian helped build the set that Anne & I designed.
August 21, 2022 (Sunday) - Back at The Clearing in Ellison Bay, WI, to teach my geology and Niagara Escarpment class. Been doing this wonderful task for nearly twenty years! Ronn Toebaas is up from Galena, IL this week in Door County, so we’ll be filming the retired senators scenes next week. But the big news is President Joe Biden has signed into law the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” [https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/inflation-reduction-act-guidebook/]. This is really important, it is the biggest piece of legislation addressing climate change and clean energy ever signed into law to date, addressing “clean energy, climate mitigation and resilience, agriculture, and conservation-related investment programs” and “includes $8.8 billion in rebates for home energy efficiency and electrification projects, which is expected to save American households up to $1 billion annually. This legislation provides point-of-sale discounts to low- and moderate-income households across America to electrify their homes.” This is really, really important!
August 27-30, 2022 (Saturday-Tuesday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. My week of teaching at The Clearing is complete, and Anne & I spent four days with Ronn Toebaas and Mark Moede in Jacksonport (Door County). Mark has graciously agreed to let us film on his property where he has a nice modest Door County home with a porch. We spent the weekend practicing lines and a bit of direction from me. Filming on Monday and Tuesday were all-day affairs. Mark and Ronn are trained stage actors, and both have done a lot of Shakespeare - and, hilariously, they both began reciting King Lear lines together - great full voices and big smiles. I love these guys. I’ve given them many pages of lines, but with a number of takes we got both scenes completed by Tuesday afternoon. The Komodo Red 6k digital video camera performed really well. Anne helped with light reflectors, microphones and setting the set on Mark’s front porch. A good four days.
September 2, 2022 (Friday) - Anne and I drive back to Connecticut from Wisconsin with a couple big scenes in the can (digital cards these days)!
September 5-10, 2022 (Monday-Saturday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. A very busy week back in Connecticut filming senate office scenes in our garage-make-do Studio 7B! I’ve asked Anne to act . . . for the first time in her life; a bit of a stretch from her pharmaceutical biology career! But, she got into it (often cracking up with beautiful laughter when flubbing lines!). Rob Mendel and Bill Young are also in suits and being their U.S. Representative character (Rob) and U.S. Senator character (Bill). We’ve engaged UConn freshman student Matt Johnson, who is quite good with the camera gear and made short movies in high school. He is a film student at UConn in Storrs, and Anne & I go up to get him, then drop him off every day for filming - since he doesn’t have a car. But it is well worth it, as I can then focus on directing. Anne is also our line cue person, script in hand and helping the other actors. By Saturday we completed a couple of Anne - Bill scenes, and the Rob - Bill scene. These delve into how Washington, DC works and the reluctance of some politicians to pass meaningful climate legislation. It is a mirror of what we are experiencing in real life . . . that’s why I wrote the screenplay.
September 14, 2022 (Wednesday) - I gave another climate and community talk today organized by Jason Hine and his Ditty Bag store. Sometimes I feel like I’m screaming into a hurricane wind! You can preach to the choir about climate science, renewable energy, the problems of using fossil fuels and on and on - but the choir isn’t always singing (and I put that line in our film). And the naysayers and climate deniers and those with different interpretations of what DEMOCRACY is will never attend such talks and discussions. Even Citizens’ Climate Lobby - although having a conservative coalition - is top heavy with progressives. But . . . I believe in education, so we continue to do what we can.
October 8-9, 2022 (Saturday-Sunday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Over the weekend we filmed the Bill Young and Sandy Laub scene of her as an oil executive and Bill as the junior New Jersey senator - and Sandy’s character telling him, “NO TO A CARBON TAX!” Our neighbor Nick Van Drimmelen knows a friend with a yacht (John Stone) in Stonington, and we filmed the Bill and Sandy scene on that boat. Nick with wife Barbara went on an Antarctica cruise with National Geographic a number of years ago and took a lot of GoPro video, and we are using in the film. Filming on the small yacht was interesting. Bill, Sandy, camera man Matt Johnson, Anne and I packed into a smallish cabin and filmed. The yacht would move and spin in the wind, changing the light on the actors’ faces all the time. So - that was a challenge, and I’ll have to be very aware of that in the editing of the scene. But we got great footage, and Sandy was so powerful in her role that Bill said, “Wow - you actually scare me a little bit!”
October 20, 2022 (Thursday) - Meeting on climate with the data group ClimateXChange. Every day, every week, every month, every year the Earth suffers more and more from the impacts of burning fossil fuel. And that means human infrastructure is threatened and human food sources are at risk. This can be exhausting. It is the involvement of the young people that keeps me and Anne going. Anne is also on the Groton Conservation Commission and the secretary for southeast Connecticut for the League of Women Voters - so we are involved in a lot of angles. Earlier in the week we had on-going meetings with CT Representative Christine Palm, and global climate economist Gary Yohe - no one is optimistic this month. Rep. Palm is great - she is our main sponsor for the next General Assembly (next session is in January 2023, and we’ll get our bill in the Environment Committee this time. Rep. Christine Palm is good friends with State Senator Christine Cohen (Committee chair), and that is moving along well for us.
October 26-27, 2022 (Wednesday-Thursday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Filming the complete Rob Mendel and Bill Young scene in the senate office set. Rob is remarkable - experience in Hollywood working on shows like Hill Street Blues and Quantum Leap and others as a set production director and other jobs. His insights into how a scene flows are really helpful - and I take all of his advice. In this scene Rob plays a U.S. Representative from a western state, and is one who follows leadership’s orders and policies - and he lectures on that to Bill Young’s senate character. Some really great moments in the scene.
November 5, 2022 (Saturday) - Today I participated in the Groton Public Library Local Authors Book Fair. I had a table and my four books laid out: “Didn’t See That Coming”, “Dolphin Mimicry”, “The Last Move”, and “Navigating the Energy Maze”. Lots of discussion with other authors - the best selling one wrote stories about mystery-solving cats!
November 9, 2022 (Wednesday) - This evening I gave another one of my climate-community action talks, this time organized by Kim Blake in Waterford for the American Association of University Women. Small but energetic group with very science-aware discussions.
November 13, 2022 (Sunday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN - Movie. Mark Paffrath in Racine, WI, is working on my songs for the movie. I sent him a link of the very rough mix of video footage for my song Help Me [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwm9TNMDTcg]. We are making progress.
November 14-17, 2022 (Monday-Thursday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Anne and I packed up the Tesla with the movie making equipment and portable props and sets and headed to Galena, Illinois. Ronn Toebaas is there to greet us and put us up for the week. He plays the congenial retired Kentucky senator, and he’s found Susan Barg to play an oil executive and Dug Mackie to play a hedge fund manager - both opposed to the carbon tax goal in the movie. Ronn got permission to film Susan’s scene in the Galena Bank - pretty cool set, and Dug’s scene out side town at a horse ranch - also pretty cool. At one point, as the horses whinnied during filming, Ronn said, “At least the horses know their lines”. Great fun this week, and we had some marvelous gatherings with locals over good meals in historic downtown Galena (home of President / General Grant). It is well into November, but not too cold. We drove home through states with sign after sign touting TRUMP for PRESIDENT and some saying horrible things about President Biden. I think our film respectfully approaches some of the split in America. I keep hoping I don’t have to make it - if we were to pass a carbon tax - but then the nation proves me wrong!
November 20, 2022 (Wednesday) - The states in some cases are continuing to take the lead on passing climate legislation. This can be the lead for the federal government, and certainly can build on the Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden has signed into law this year.
November27, 2022 (Sunday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. We are making progress on the movie music. Periodically I send notes and video info to Mark Paffrath in Racine WI as a guide for the songs. Here's a rough mix of ideas for the video backdrop for the song Backroom. The final will be different as I haven't filmed the actress who will be in the video yet. Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqgvRaQiYxc
November 28, 2022 (Monday) - Anne and I went to see the Daily Show with Trevor Noah in NYC tonight. Our daughter works there, and got us into the show. Politically on point if you are a progressive!!!
December 15, 2022 (Thursday) - Working on the movie and climate and dealing with medical stuff and on and on . . .
December 19, 2022 (Monday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Today we filmed scenes between actress Carin Estey, who plays a climate scientist and is daughter of the junior New Jersey senator played by Bill Young. Carin is excellent - great portrayal of the dialogue I wrote to create tension between daughter-and-father and climate science-and-denial.
December 28, 2022 (Wednesday) - THE MOVIE CARBON MAN. Today Emma Chodes stopped by so we could film her scenes (all 8 of them) for the movie. Emma, Sandy Laub’s daughter, plays an on-line progressive blogger - sort of a conscientious watchdog - in the movie. Great scenes on the cluttered set in my office known as “Studio 7A”.
December 31, 2022 (Saturday) - And 2022 has been a year experiencing record sea level rise and record glacier melting. Pack ice in the Arctic and Antarctic is experiencing record lows. And 2022 saw the warmest ocean temperatures on record - the top 300 feet of ocean has warmed by 0.33oC since 1969 - that is a lot of heat energy to add to the planets oceans. Climate impacts cost the U.S. over $165 billion this year, according to NOAA.