For the past few years, talk of the planet's imminent demise
due to climate change and rising ocean levels has permeated the media to
the point where the notion is firmly in the collective consciousness of
the nation and the world.

But while documentaries on global warming have won awards and
politicians debate ways to regulate carbon emissions, there has been a
noticeable lack of progress to actually address the problem.

Although the purpose of the special energy and waste forum hosted by
the Martha's Vineyard Commission Wednesday at the Katharine
Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven was to allow the public to weigh in
various ideas presented in the Island Plan, a more stern theme seemed to
permeate the meeting.

Namely, the time for talk about climate change and renewable energy
has ended and the time for action is now.

"We don't have a lot of time. Experts estimate a seven
to 20-foot rise in ocean levels by 2050, which could mean that roughly
one-third of the Island would be under water. We're talking about
New Orleans-like floods," said Paul Pimentel, a member the Island
Plan energy work group.

Mr. Pimentel described the human race as standing in front of two
divergent paths. One path, so far the one less traveled by, leads to
energy reform and progress, while the other leads to complacency and
further harm to the planet.

"We are at a point in time where 50 years from now people will
look back and ask one of two questions. They will either ask: What were
they thinking? They saw the facts and they just kept on consuming and
going the same way they were going. Or they will ask: How did they
figure it out? How did they take their society and shift things around
and choose to live in a world of hope?" he said.

The commission is in the early stages of drafting the Island Plan,
an ambitious set of planning guidelines that will attempt to chart the
Island's course for the coming decades. The plan will seek to find
a way for the Vineyard to manage its economy and resources in a manner
that better sustains its environment, character and quality of life.

Architects of the Island Plan have been broken into six groups, each
of which focuses on specific planning concerns like water resources,
housing, development and growth, natural environment, livelihood and
commerce and energy and waste - the subject of Wednesday's
forum.

While other groups have been asked to address issues which are
largely specific to the Island, the energy group has been charged with
tackling the decidedly larger issue of climate change.

In that vein, members of the planning group invoked the familiar
refrain of think globally, act locally, but they also did more than just
offer bumper stickers and a mailing list. Instead, the group presented a
list of specific goals and action plans and then asked for feedback from
the audience.

Commission member and moderator Linda Sibley asked the audience to
hold up cards indicating whether they approved or disapproved of ideas
as they came up. A blue card signalled someone strongly agreed with the
plan, a red card indicated they strongly disagreed.

Some of the goals presented were broad in scope, such as reducing
the Island's energy needs by half over the next 50 years through
increased efficiency of energy use, as well as the pursuit of local,
large-scale generation of energy and the conversion of all the
Island's waste into resources.

But there were also more specific ideas, such as promoting the use
of hybrid vehicles, requiring energy audits and upgrades for new
development and requiring all new pools to be solar heated.

While the blue cards were the clear choice of the evening, there was
a smattering of orange and red placards. Most of the people who raised
concerns said they supported the broader concepts of renewable energy,
but questioned some of the more specific ideas about how those goals
could be reached.

Vineyard Haven resident Art Flathers said he worried that creating
energy regulations would infringe on citizens' rights.

But Mrs. Sibley argued that without some type of regulations
residents might never change their ways.

"Does that mean we should start looking to rescind some of our
building codes? I don't mean to be argumentative, but there is a
reason that building codes are regulations and not suggestions,"
she said.

When Mr. Flathers retorted that building codes help protect the
health and safety of the public, one woman picked up the theme.

"When we talk about global warming we are talking about
safety. The safety and well-being of everyone," the woman said.

The sharp exchange was the exception to the evening, as most who
attended are directly involved with the crafting of the Island Plan and
favored taking aggressive steps to curb carbon emissions and lessen the
Island's dependency on fossil fuels.

Mr. Pimentel said climate change is not the only problem associated
with a continued dependency on fossil fuels and foreign oil. The
explosive population growth around the globe is rapidly decreasing the
availability of cheap energy, he said, and reserves could dry up in the
next 20 years.

"In the best cases, Martha's Vineyard, which is at the
end of the supply line, is in for shortages and $10 a gallon for
gasoline. It will hit our tourist economy hard and our year-round
economy even harder. I cannot even imagine what it will mean for people
living in marginally sustainable parts of the world," Mr. Pimentel
said.

He said the Vineyard currently burns about 4.4 trillion Btus -
units used to measure quantity of heat equal to the amount of energy
needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water. The Vineyard also
emits 330,000 tons of carbon and sends 40,000 tons of waste off-Island,
he said.

The goal of the Island Plan calls for reducing Btus to 3.1 trillion
by 2050, cutting carbon emissions to 50,000 tons and eliminating the
export of waste from the Island altogether.

Mr. Pimentel conceded that the goals are ambitious.

"Will it be easy? No, it won't be. But is it do-able?
Yes; it's do-able, and entirely necessary. It's long past
the time to start taking about what we should do - it's time
to actually start doing," he said.

Work groups have already discussed things like replacing
incandescent bulbs with more energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs
and requiring new buildings to be 50 percent more energy efficient.

Other ideas include the creation of an energy infrastructure, making
public transit more compelling and offering incentives to motorists to
drive less while making it easier to walk and bike around the Island.
Mapping the Island's wind, solar and ocean energy sources,
establishing an Island energy utility, and developing large scale wind
or solar powered technologies are also under discussion.

At the end of the meeting, audience members offered their own ideas
for energy conservation.

One woman suggested that Islanders band together to try and purchase
a block of hybrid cars at a group discount. One man suggested that all
the Island's school and public busses be replaced by vehicles that
run on diesel fuel. Another man suggested towns adopt an energy
efficiency policy requiring future municipal buildings to be energy
efficient.

John Abrams, president of South Mountain Company in West Tisbury,
said despite the gloomy forecasts, there is reason to be optimistic
about energy reform on the Vineyard.

"As recently as two years ago a lot of people just
weren't into things like solar and wind energy systems. And now
there is this sense of urgency, there is so much more awareness. It
gives you hope," he said.