I attended a conference on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace. It was interesting, but not very much. They talked about things I knew about already. But what I really didn’t like was the lack of diversity. There were NGO people and officials, who disagreed about whether using international funds to preserve forests was just very good or great.
I like the spirit of saving forests very much, but I don’t think that making international payments for conservation is a long term solution, even if we overcome the problems of measurement and corruption (which is a big if). In the long run, we need to make a sustainable forestry system that allows for change and development. I think that the panel members understood this. A guy from the Nature Conservancy talked about the need to integrate human needs.
But I think they should have had the diversity of someone who had different interests, i.e. loggers, farmers etc. I bet there would be a lot of common ground, but it would make for a more interesting discussion. I mentioned this to one of the organizers. She seemed open to the idea, but seemed to think that such a person would not be well received by the audience. Maybe.
I walked back down to the Metro along Massachusetts Avenue. When I first joined the FS, I stayed at a Hotel called the General Scott, near Scott Circle. This is a nice part of town and it was a good introduction to Washington and our American heritage to live there. The General Scott hotel is gone. I remember the name so well because I accidentally stole one of their hangers. I suppose the statute of limitations is run out.I didn’t do it on purpose and didn’t notice the crime until much later. Anyway, I probably left one of my own hangers, but since it was more than a quarter century ago, I don’t really recall. I know I took one of their hangers because I still have it, stamped with the hotel name, too late now to give it back, sorry.
I took a couple pictures near the circle. The top is General Scott’s statue at the circle. Next is Daniel Webster. The first contact I had with Daniel Webster was when I read “the Devil & Daniel Webster” in junior HS. I chose it because it was a short book. The real Webster was more interesting. Speaking of interesting, the next picture is a monument to Samuel Hahnemann. I didn’t know who that was, so I looked him up. He was the “father of homeopathy” and he once thought that coffee made you sick. I don’t know why he gets such a nice monument in Washington.
The last two picture are trees I like. The yellow ones are ginkgo trees; the red one is a red oak, with its beautiful fall colors. The oak, BTW, is not near the circle. I took that yesterday.