You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. - Abraham Lincoln
The future depends on what we do in the present. - Mahatma Gandhi
We left Jenny’s Prius in Muskegon, MI in a wooded backyard storage area we located through an app called Neighbor. Our intention was to bicycle along the Lake Michigan coast across the Upper Peninsula, south into central Wisconsin and then over to Manitowoc to ferry across the lake back to the Michigan coast. But bicycle trips often inspire improvisation, and our route changed a bit to include both Munising and Marquette on the Lake Superior coastline. Unfortunately, we ran out of time (because we had the happy opportunity to visit my kids and grandkids in Wisconsin) so we didn’t get to some of the incredible places further west in the UP and far northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, but we will on another trip. This incredible north country got under our skin, and opened our eyes to another vast and remote area of this country we now long to see.
Interestingly, the weather around the Great Lakes was pleasant for most of our trip. Although it was hot and rainy when we started, it became only slightly warm, and dry. Given that we track climate events, our enjoyment of good weather was bittersweet amidst the record shattering heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, the persistent drought, relentless heat and horrible forest fires plaguing the American and Canadian west, and the damaging, disrupting and record breaking flooding in Germany and then China.
Like many other climate activists, I’m not surprised by such events, even though they always gnaw at my soul. Yet, every crisis inspires new hope that the inevitable shoe will drop and climate deniers will finally join the rest of the world in trying to solve the climate crisis, or at least get out of the way so others can. But truculent, misguided beliefs don’t die easily. As we boarded the SS Badger with our bikes near the end of our trip I mentioned those events as more evidence of a warming atmosphere to a Trump supporter. I was unhesitatingly told that weather events like that happen all the time, that volcanic eruptions add more carbon to the atmosphere than mankind ever has, and that warming is an act of God and we would be under 4000 feet of ice if it wasn’t happening. And then my tormentor-in-line told me with considerable glee the ferry we were about to take was the last remaining coal fired ferry in operation in the country. He is right about the ferry - and dead wrong about everything else.
It was a beautiful ride across the lake in placid waters, in spite of the depressing context. I checked the news on my iPhone. To add to my ever present black-humor-climate-despair, I came across an article in Inside Climate that reported the latest projections of the International Energy Agency (IEA) are that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will hit record levels again in 2023. Sigh….
We disembarked in a cloud of coal smoke.
Nevertheless, the Great Lakes are extraordinary natural treasures. Collectively, they hold about 90% of the freshwater in the United States and approximately 20% of the world's freshwater supply, with Lake Superior alone holding half of it. Both Lake Michigan and Superior can be surprisingly clear, quite colorful and deliciously bracing. In many places the surrounding forests are equally abundant and healthy, although many parts of Lake Michigan coastline are highly developed and coastal forests are a fraction of what they used to be.
Like everywhere else on our magnificent planet, the changing climate in the Great Lakes Region has both global and specific attributes. Over the last 100 years global temperatures have increased an average of almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit, and the rate of atmospheric temperature change is speeding up. Increased atmospheric warming creates two opposing physics in the Great Lakes region. Greater heat causes increases in evaporation. Yet, warmer air also causes increases in precipitation during the summer (and decreased amounts of snow in the winter). The competing occurrences of increased evaporation and summer rainfall are currently tipping the lakes toward record levels of lake water, although many scientists believe water levels will eventually drop as atmospheric heat increases and evaporation wins out over precipitation.
Either way, the result won’t be as pleasant now as predictable as weather was before the Anthropocene began (the geological epoch when human activity began to change the atmosphere, ending the Holocene). In the meantime, the average temperatures of lake water everywhere are warmer than they used to be. Perhaps you’ve noticed an increase in algae blooms on fresh water near you, which is driven by a combination of increasing temperatures on still water and fertilizer runoff. Consider them another version of a canary in a coal mine.
In fact, some of the surfaces of the world's largest lakes are warming faster than ocean and air temperatures. Lake Michigan surface temperatures are estimated to be warming at a rate of as much as a third of a degree Celsius per decade. The overall warming, ice loss and shrinking winters could lead to long-term shifts, altering the lake's food web and sending fisheries into uncharted territory.
It’s July and the Michigan countryside is quite verdant. Some of the beauty around us is the result of the largest single land protection project in Michigan state history.
In addition to seeing references to numerous land use projects, we are also seeing very little exposed soil. This is notable to my fledging eye as we bike along at about 15 miles an hour. Only in the last year have I learned how to identify the more obvious signs of carbon-poor soil. I’ve seen little of it this trip, and find myself wondering what we would notice if we were biking in Michigan in the Spring or Fall. Would we see the cover crops and evidence of reduced tilling that characterizes regenerative farming?
Or would we see the more common large tracts of exposed soil that are common to industrial farming? I suspect the latter, even though every square inch of soil that is not covered by buildings, concrete, algae blooms, water, gravel pits and human waste is green. Deep green. The Midwest in a hot and wet July is an experience in intensity; the green poetry of explosive photosynthesis is everywhere, it literally sticks to one’s skin and gets up one’s nose. You can smell things growing. And just as the earth keeps reminding me it’s not about to give up on life even if the human race fails itself, I see hopeful things every day as citizens from both political parties take on troublesome issues to protect their local environments. Here are some of the many examples we encountered.
On a happier note, this past June the US Senate passed the Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021 by a vote of 92-8, a remarkable bipartisan achievement for our divided Congress. Currently, there is a companion bill awaiting a hearing by the House Committee on Agriculture. If passed by the House, this legislation will make it easier for landowners to participate in the voluntary marketplace to sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This bill tasks the USDA with ensuring that third-party verification of projects is accessible and affordable by providing technical assistance and creating a certification program.
Basically this means farmers, ranchers and foresters will be able to sell carbon credits as offsets to others in the voluntary carbon market in exchange for the carbon they sequester in their soil by using regenerative agriculture practices. They can then sell those credits (as offsets) to others who are looking to lower their overall carbon emissions as a form of trade. With this legislation, projects can also sequester carbon through afforestation (tree planting), cover cropping, low or no till farming, conservation and wetland easements and numerous other “healthy soil growing” applications.
Carbon offsets allows individuals, companies or even governments to pay to reduce their global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions total instead of making radical or impossible reductions of their own. GHG emissions mix quickly with the air and, unlike other pollutants, spread around the entire planet. Because of this, it doesn't really matter where GHG reductions take place if fewer emissions enter the atmosphere. It’s important to note that to date, voluntary carbon markets have failed to lower the steady global rise in carbon emissions, although they probably have slowed the rise to a small degree. As the voluntary carbon market increases in size (which this bill will accelerate) it may help to decrease the global rise in carbon emissions more significantly. For a more in depth look at the voluntary carbon market, take a look at my 2018 blog post: Thinking about Carbon. You can also check out this excellent post from the University of Kentucky: Carbon Markets 101.
Some environmentalists doubt the validity and effectiveness of carbon offsets. Because the commercial carbon trade is an emerging market, it's difficult to judge the quality of offset providers and projects. For example, trees don't always live a full life, sequestration projects for long-term containment of emissions sometimes fail to deliver genuine results, and offset companies occasionally deceive their customers with less than transparent measurement practices. Most importantly, voluntary offsets can easily become an excuse for doing the real work to decarbonize our economy. And finally, some environmentalists worry that soil-based carbon sequestration measurement capacities are sill more of an art than a science. Others say that doesn’t matter because it works regardless, and measurement accuracy is a secondary concern. Because we have no time to waste, I lean toward the latter view. Regenerative farming is an important solution for the climate crisis. It improves water quality, soil erosion and microbial health, and reduces reliance on harmful fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides, creating a win-win for both farmers and consumers regardless of the successes of soil-based carbon sequestration. Converting is a smart move for many reasons, not the least of which is lower input costs for fertilizers and chemicals, resulting in increased profits. Perhaps that’s why 92 Senators in our very partisan Congress voted for the new bill.
The Verdant Hollow farm has received some attention from the press as managers Molly and Brett Muchow pioneer farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restores degraded soil biodiversity. Consequently, Molly and Brett are well situated to take advantage of the USDA’s certified carbon credit program once it is established (assuming the Growing Climate Solutions Act makes it through the House and becomes law). Although Molly and Brett took over management of the farm without a background in conventional agriculture (Brett was a teacher and Molly was a chef in Chicago), they both knew that they wanted to restore the soils, forests, and wetlands at Verdant Hollow. The previous owner of the farm had raised livestock for many years on the property and, at some point, began leasing “tillable” acreage to someone who grew conventional soy and corn, which depleted the soil. After working with a permaculture design team, Molly and Brett realized the best way to create a functional business model that reflected their values and would restore the farm was to utilize multi-species livestock rotation and organically grown flowers and vegetables largely through permaculture methods.
An interesting feature of the approach at Verdant Hollow is a willingness to experiment. When we first talked with Molly about the general shape of the operation there, it was clear she and Brett were still exploring what kinds of cover crops they wanted for different needs, as well as how to repurpose storage buildings and other out-buildings. Because Michigan winters are long and cold, Molly and Brett wanted to extend their growing season so they had more crops to offer customers. In addition to conventional “hoop houses” which are common in northern climates, they went a step further and constructed a “climate battery” greenhouse to create an indoor forest garden. Brett was kind enough to give us a tour, and we were delighted to see lemon and avocado trees among numerous other warm weather plants.
A Colorado farmer named Jerome Osentowski is the inspiration behind revolutionary greenhouses that use a “climate battery.” This is a subterranean air-circulation system that takes the hot, moist, ambient air from the greenhouse during the day, stores it in the soil, and discharges it at night. Brett and Molly’s version works similarly. They intend to add a wood-fired sauna that will allow warm water to circulate through a wall constructed against a hillside that will increase humidity along with the passive solar and air circulation attributes of the “climate battery.”
Whether or not the Growing Climate Solutions Act becomes law, it is already evident that the USDA (especially through the Natural Resources Conservation Service), recognizes the very important contribution regenerative agriculture can make. By adopting climate-friendly agricultural practices more widely, agriculture can transition from a greenhouse gas source to a carbon sink. Just as important, soil scientists report that at current rates of soil destruction (i.e. decarbonization, erosion, desertification and chemical pollution), we have about 50 years before we will suffer serious damage to public health due to a qualitatively degraded food supply characterized by diminished nutrition and loss of important trace minerals. Even more frightening is the very real prospect that we will literally no longer have enough arable topsoil to feed ourselves. If we fail to protect and restore the soil on our 4 billion acres of cultivated farmland, 8 billion acres of pastureland, and 10 billion acres of forest land, it will be impossible to feed the world, keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, and halt the loss of biodiversity.
The time for change is now, and farmers like Gabe Brown and Molly and Brett Muchow are blazing a trail. There are many more farmers like them, and we hope to feature them in in future blog posts.
Stay vigilant! Thanks for reading. More to come. Follow our next biking trip from mid September to mid October.
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