Despite its devotion to Bioregionalism, the Foundation for Global Sustainability's (FGS) philosophy of "Global Vision /Local Action" does at times really connect far corners of our globe with Appalachian fly fisher(wo)men and Knoxville developers. FGS's recent Earth Day forum on Global Warming/Local Solutions  is a good example of this connective phenomenon, as well as an illustration of the importance of linking global to local.

Co-sponsored by the UT Graduate School of Planning, FGS participated in a Washington D.C. satellite downlink exposing 25,000 viewers to “win-win” solutions to global warming. Panelists from, among others, the Virginia School of Architecture and the Rocky Mountains Institute in Boulder, introduced design, technology, and planning tools which could increase business efficiency and profitability, enhance the quality of life in our communities, and reduce greenhouse gases. It became clear in the local panel discussion that followed the downlink that the message delivered could definitely hit its target if only received by some of the main sources of our region’s “greenhouse polluters.”

Good candidates for example would be TVA’s three man-powered Board of coal-burning aristocrats (they call them “Directors”), responsible for nearly 0.4 percent of the world’s total emission of carbon dioxides. And what about Knoxville’s not-so-visionary leadership, which continues to sponsor giga-mall development access roads 11 miles west from downtown (atop unique wetlands: “no problem”), while pondering why downtown Knoxville is flailing. Unfortunately, and expected, none of them were there to listen. Instead the panel had to deal with some Christian extemists, claiming that global warming is “propaganda that the government is selling to our children so that they can legally steal our land and automobile.” They definitely missed the point, by far.

Global warming can arguably be seen as the most influential and devastating environmental problem human kind has ever faced: shifting ecological patterns that threaten the world’s major productive agricultural areas and alter the composition of our forests; rising sea level that could drown thousands of miles of coastal areas; spreading diseases formerly limited to the tropics; increasing ground air pollution due to accelerated chemical reactions; increasing in extreme weather events such as tropical storms, heat waves, droughts and floods; and other events that our scientific models could not predict.

Yet the recent Kyoto Summit seems to have become another Rio, showing the world again the lack of moral responsibility of some of its biggest polluters. So I suspect we’ll just have to try it again in another four years. In the meantime we can possibly come up with some scientific models that explaining why some people prefer today’s dollars over their grandchildren’s future. “Good for the economy,” I suppose.

Speaking to a crowd of fifty environmentalists at the Foundation for Global Sustainability’s annual Global Dinner, Karen Wade, Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, announced that the science community and Park Service have begun the largest biodiversity inventory project in the history of the world. Over one hundred scientists, resource managers, educators, and many more will join in the effort in the next ten to fifteen years. “We expect that this study will document the existence of more than 100,000 species of plants, animals, and others forms of life in the park,” she said, “and discover many hundreds, if not thousands, of species new to science.”

The massive amounts of new information generated by this “All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory” (ATBI) will begin to identify the complex relationships among these species and their environment, giving park managers the best available scientific data on which to base future management decisions. New techniques will be developed and invaluable lessons will be learned that can be exported to other parks and natural areas in this and other countries.

The National Park Service sees the Smokies Inventory as an important milestone for the agency as a whole in moving toward a new era of managing parks, relying more on scientific knowledge and extensive public involvement. Critical to this process is to eliminate the idea that the park is an independent island, cut off from its surrounding area. Therefore, participation with the outside scientific and educational community, as well as partnerships in bioregional efforts for integrated research are encouraged.

“It is apparent that any measure we might hope to implement to reduce environmental problems will depend very heavily upon cooperation with Park neighbors from the earliest stage of planning,” Wade said. A vivid example of this is the traffic congestion in the Smokies which is taking on urban proportions and is increasing by an average of 3-4 percent per year. “To look seriously into this problem, we need to consider how the Park’s traffic problems fit into
the transportation system in the two state region. The Great Smoky Mountains Alliance of Communities will host a design charrette associated with Cades Cove on May 18. We believe this is an important first step in addressing our transportation issue.”

At the end of March, the Foundation for Global Sustainability co-sponsored together with the Tennessee Clean Water Network and Tennessee Environmental Council a successful statewide conference on Clean Water Issues in Nashville, TN. Representatives from over 25 organizations attended the conference, in which a State Wide Tennessee Clean Water Network was proposed to the audience.

With Earth Day falling on April 22nd, many events were organized by the Foundation for Global Sustainability in April. As part of the 10th year speakerserries, presentations were given on EcoVillages and toxic mining drainage on the Cumberland Plateau. On Earth Day, FGS sponsored the Renew America Global Warming / Local Solutions teleconference, introducing design, technology and planning tools which can reduce greenhouse gases, contribute to community development, and increase business profitability and efficiency. A local panel debated what needed to be done in the Greater Knoxville Metropolitan Area to reduce greenhouse gases. FGS also participated in an Earth Day Interfaith Service at the Universalist Unitarian Church, presenting on the state of the East Tennessee bioregion.

Finally, FGS held its annual Global Dinner, where Karen Wade, Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, spoke about the relationship between the Park and the region. Ms. Wade announced that the Park had started the largest biodiversity inventory project in the history of the world, and emphasized the role of collaboration between the outside science and educational community and the Park, as well as citizen participation in the park’s planning process. Good food, good music and good spirits altogether.