“Soil and Survival” Boston Forum Videos Released

“Soil and Survival” Boston Forum Videos Released
Soil’s Role as Climate Solution Highlighted

THETFORD, Vermont — May 19, 2016 — Soil4Climate today announced videos of its recent first-of-a-kind forum uniting leaders in the movement to cut fossil fuel emissions with climate activists promoting the role of soil to help reverse global warming, “Soil and Survival: Soil Restoration to Help Reverse Climate Change,” are now available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiUvc4BbU6pzycJWYa65-rvJscobQuAhh

This event, hosted by the Jamaica Plain Forum on April 28th, featured talks by Seth Itzkan, cofounder of Soil4Climate, Quinton Zondervan, president of the Climate Action Business Association (CABA), Kannan Thiruvengadam, manager of “Eastie Farm,” a permaculture-based community farm in East Boston, and Dr. Jean-Jacques Yarmoff, attaché for science and technology in the Consulate General of France in Boston.

Seth Itzkan spoke on the enormous potential to capture atmospheric carbon through reforestation and improved methods of cropping and grazing. “There is hope for the future. As we transition from fossil fuels, we can also, through the action of plants and trees, safely remove heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and draw it into soil, where it benefits people and the environment.”

Quinton Zondervan stated that there are three pillars to the climate movement: “The first is mitigation, the second is adaptation, and the third, but not least, is sequestration.” Zondervan continued, “We don’t have any technology that can pull down the quantity of carbon dioxide that we’ve put up there, other than through restoring nature.”

Kannan Thiruvengadam addressed the need to bring farming practices and soil awareness into urban areas. The fact that we can help reverse global warming by building soil is “great news,” said Thiruvengadam, continuing, “It’s something we can all get into.”

Dr. Jean-Jacques Yarmoff discussed France’s “4 per 1000” initiative, the first state-sponsored program calling on nations to increase soil carbon. “‘4 per 1000’ is a type of action that brings together two very important goals: increasing food security and trying to sequester some of the [atmospheric] carbon into the soil. This will help mitigate the effects of climate change.”

This event was cosponsored by CABA and by 350 Massachusetts for a Better Future, an affiliate of the international 350.org climate activist movement. According to 350 Massachusetts senior advisor, Craig Altemose, this was the first time his organization co-sponsored an event promoting the role of soil. “As climate impacts get increasingly worrisome, we need to find safe, responsible ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. We were very happy to call attention to this important topic,” said Altemose.

Commenting on the program, Chuck Collins, founder of the Jamaica Plain Forum, said, ”The Jamaica Plain Forum series, with its tradition of leadership in organizing community-based conversations on the great issues shaping our neighborhood and planet, was pleased to host an event focused on soil carbon sequestration as an essential component of an overall climate mitigation strategy. Attendees were hungry for this information and I sensed a tremendous spark of learning.” The Jamaica Plain Forum is a free public speaker, workshop, and film series bringing together neighbors, scholars, and organizers around issues of peace, justice, the environment and civic engagement.

Karl Thidemann, cofounder of Soil4Climate, closed the event with a recitation of his poem, “Climate Farming”:
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Climate Farming
By Karl Thidemann
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So, what’s the future?
Is there no hope?
Healing the land
Can help us cope
And grow better food
With less flooding, too
Put carbon in soil
Is what we must do

Draw down the heat
Slow the sea rise
Let birds and bees
Thrive in the skies
Good farming is how
We deal with this mess
Now the climate’s fixed
What’s next to address?

Video services for this event were generously provided by Werner Grundl and Julie O’Neil of Videosphere, a video documentary company based in Cambridge, Mass. https://www.youtube.com/videosphere

Soil4Climate advocates for soil carbon drawdown as a climate mitigation solution. It promotes ecological restoration of all biomes as well as the implementation of innovative cropping and grazing practices to heal land, improve soil fertility, return flow to dried-up rivers, prevent flooding, restore wildlife habitat, and revitalize rural economies while sequestering excess atmospheric carbon.

Press Contact:

Karl Thidemann
Soil4Climate, Inc.
karl.thidemann@gmail.com