To Architects who are concerned about our planet,
I hear all this talk back and forth about climate change. It is happening. We are already starting to see the changes in the oceans and the weather systems.
The Green New Deal Framework is a way to get the country going to become more sustainable. If HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, gets legislation moving along in a bipartisan approach, then let us get moving. Other legislation is also needed.
When climate change really hits the planet, we will be dead and gone, but our grand children will not. Greta Thurnberg of Sweden is one of those grand children. She is 15 years old and spoke at the UN Climate Change Conference COP 24 in December 2018. We need to act now and figure out how to greatly reduce our consumption of carbon fuels.
Please read the transcript of her speech.
Thank you
David Dye, AIA, LEED AP
DFD Architecture, LLC
Spring Lake, Michigan
dfdarchitecture@gmail.com
"My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 15 years old. I am from Sweden. I speak on behalf of Climate Justice Now. Many people say that Sweden is just a small country and it doesn't matter what we do. But I've learned you are never too small to make a difference. And if a few children can get headlines all over the world just by not going to school, then imagine what we could all do together if we really wanted to.
But to do that, we have to speak clearly, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. You only speak of green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular. You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess, even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. You are not mature enough to tell it like is. Even that burden you leave to us children. But I don't care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet. Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few.
The year 2078, I will celebrate my 75th birthday. If I have children maybe they will spend that day with me. Maybe they will ask me about you. Maybe they will ask why you didn't do anything while there still was time to act. You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.
Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. We can't solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, maybe we should change the system itself. We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past and you will ignore us again. We have run out of excuses and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people. Thank you".
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David Dye AIA
DFD Architecture, LLC
Spring Lake, MIchigan
dfdarchitecture@gmail.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2019 13:59
From: David Del Vecchio
Subject: AIA supports Green New Deal Framework
I'll allow you the last word on this. I will not be responding as I have no time nor inclination to engage in this type of conversation further if all it produces is more personal attacks and ad hominem arguments and not a shred of evidence to support your untenable position. It's pointless.
David Del Vecchio, AIA, CID, NCARB, LEEDap, RCS
2010 AIA New Jersey Architect of the Year
2007 AIA New Jersey Distinguished Service Award
david del vecchio, architect
a limited liability company
architecture - interior design - sustainable design
expert witness - building code consultations
design-build - construction management
4 Alden Street
Cranford, NJ 07016
t. 908-272-6000
c. 908-670-8162
CT Registered Architect No.13928
PA Registered Architect No. RA408241
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NJ Certified Interior Designer No. 74
RCS Building Inspector No. 7256
NCARB Certificate No. 123540
LEEDap No. 10240914
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Original Message------
David,
Please read the House Resolution. That is my "proof." Just read it. You'll clearly see it for what it is…
Human activity has exacerbated climate change, not caused it. 100% of scientists agree. The GND's first sentence is "human activity is the dominant cause of observed climate change over the past century." That is a false premise. It goes on to invent several dire consequences of climate change, all of which can be refuted by science and logical thinking.
After several more paragraphs of alarmist dribble it states: "…climate change, pollution, and environmental destruction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, and economic injustices (referred to in this preamble as ''systemic injustices'') by disproportionately affecting indigenous communities, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth (referred to in this preamble as ''frontline and vulnerable communities'')…"
This is their preamble for counteracting "systemic injustices," and improving America's democracy, which clearly is the main purpose of the resolution. If you don't recognize that as socialist dogma, then the AIA is in much worse shape than I thought.
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Dennis Wells AIA
Oklahoma City OK
Original Message:
Sent: 02-19-2019 17:33
From: David Del Vecchio
Subject: AIA supports <g class="gr_ gr_99 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="99" data-gr-id="99">Green</g> New Deal Framework
Dennis,
I still haven't seen you provide any credible evidence of a "false premise" in the Green New Deal. Saying it is so doesn't make it true. I suppose you can be of an opinion that is contrary to 99% of the scientists in the world who study climate change, but to engage in ad hominem attacks, calling it a "socialist Trojan horse", and branding anyone who doesn't agree with your tenuous opinion a "leftist", all while citing no specifics and providing no proof of your position is an absurd argument.
David Del Vecchio, AIA, CID, NCARB, LEEDap, RCS
2010 AIA New Jersey Architect of the Year
2007 AIA New Jersey Distinguished Service Award
david del <g class="gr_ gr_89 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="89" data-gr-id="89">vecchio</g>, architect
a limited liability company
architecture - interior design - sustainable design
expert witness - building code consultations
design-build - construction management
4 Alden Street
Cranford, NJ 07016
t. 908-272-6000
c. 908-670-8162
CT Registered Architect No.13928
PA Registered Architect No. RA408241
FL Registered Architect No. AR99489
<g class="gr_ gr_88 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="88" data-gr-id="88">MA</g> Registered Architect No. 951755
NJ Certified Interior Designer No. 74
RCS Building Inspector No. 7256
NCARB Certificate No. 123540
LEEDap No. 10240914
NJ Cert. of Authorization No. AC00082900
Original Message------
I couldn't have stated my position much more clearly David. I didn't insinuate that being green is being leftist. I did say the Green New Deal is primarily a socialist document, and secondarily a green plan. And that both components of the plan are equally infeasible. Where am I wrong?
I fully support and promote sustainability, resilience, and good stewardship of Earth's resources. I can't support ridiculous, pie-in-the-sky socialist manifestos. And the AIA shouldn't either.
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Dennis Wells AIA
Oklahoma City OK
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