I like to think I’m somewhat in tune with the goings on in today’s world. I catch the news when I can, I read the newspaper online each day, and I’m moderately certain that I can carry a conversation about most of today’s hot topics (you know, like Charlie Sheen). But one topic in particular hasn’t ever received my full attention: global warming. I mean, I know the basics — greenhouse gases bad, recycling good. But start talking about carbon footprints and emission regulations and offsets, and my contributions to the conversation will be nothing more than subtle nods and grunts. Weak, I know.
But then there are people out there like Dennis Randall and Cameron P Wake. Randall, CEO of EARTHTEC, and Wake, a research associate professor with the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire, are true experts in things like climate control, renewable energy, and global warming.
If you had any exposure to the New England Pond Hockey Classic, you know about Randall and his company. The official apparel sponsor of the event, EARTHTEC’s business model revolves around creating items from recycled or renewable fabrics like plastics, organic cotton, and natural wool, all in an attempt to protect the planet.
According to his page on the UNH website, Wake “directs an active research program investigating regional climate and environmental change through the analysis of ice cores and instrumental records.” In addition, “he is leading research programs to assess the impact of climate change in New England and to reconstruct climate change from ice cores recovered from glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Arctic.” Translation? The dude is wicked smahhht when it comes to the climate.
Randall and Wake have been friends for more than twenty years. So why are you reading about them on this site? Because, as it just so happens, they’re both pond hockey fanatics.
See that? Carbon offsets — yawn. Talking pond hockey with guys who know about things like ice core analysis and sustainable products — I’m listening.
And you should, too.
Below is the first in what we hope will become a series of videos that looks at the pond hockey culture and how it could potentially be affected by climate change over time. I may not have given climate change much of a chance prior to viewing this, but when you tell me that my grandchildren might not be able to participate in the purist forms of the sport I love, well, that changes things a bit. Call me ignorant up until now — you might be right. But sometimes it just takes a little threat against something you love before you feel the need to take action.
Consider me sufficiently prodded.
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