Lifestyles: Going Green with Peter Christman
Excerpts of the following interview appear in the May issue of Lacrosse Magazine. As promised, here's the full-run interview with Notre Dame's Peter Christman, plus photos from his time South Africa.
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by Matt DaSilva | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
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Notre Dame midfielder Peter Christman has spent parts of two summers in South Africa researching the economic viability of the nuclear option in energy reform. He's also a founder of the campus sustainability and conservation initiative, GreeND. © Anne Ryan |
Peter Christman should run for president. He could be the first
whose campaign ads consist of ESPN highlights - like the no-angle
rope that beat Colgate in the NCAA tournament last year - and a
conservation quarterback in the same take.
Notre Dame's senior midfielder has a reputation among lacrosse
junkies for sticking big shots. In South Bend, however, Christman's
most significant contributions have come off the field - as one of
the founders of GreeND, a student initiative focusing on energy
sustainability and environmental issues, and as a political science
major who has spent parts of the last two summers in South Africa
researching the economic viability of the nuclear option in energy
reform.
And you thought extra-man offense was complex.
What piqued your interest in global
energy issues?
After my sophomore year I was in Durbin, South Africa. It's the
largest port on Africa's east coast. We were living in both urban
and rural settings below the poverty level with home stays. There
really was no classroom. It was strictly based on independent
research projects. The initial experience was highly personal. It
gave you a perspective you're not ever going to get in South
Bend.
One of my research projects was on the energy poverty in
Amacambini. They had rolling blackouts through 2007 and 2008. It
really served as an impediment to economic growth. It was mostly
primary sources - talking with local residents, what the
transitions are to this life, etcetera.
I had done sustainability stuff on campus, but my real interest in
founding GreeND was to learn more about energy issues, and how they
related to economic growth in the development world. I had done
some research on carbon emissions trading schemes. The energy
picture is so complex. Whether you're talking about technologies in
coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power or the renewables, it's
really tough to get your head wrapped around it. That's why I was
attracted to it. It's also in my blood. My dad's in the natural gas
business.
What kind of research did you do in
South Africa?
To curb climate change, you're going to have to sacrifice
economic growth. It's going to cost money. My research was on what
methods there are to reconcile those conflicting factors. Are there
ways to carbonize energy resources? Are there ways to save money
and save economic growth?
It's funny talking with my dad now. He's like "Pete, It's fine. I
don't care. I've got other stuff to worry about." C'mon dad!
What did you find?
Initially, I started focusing on wind power. South Africa is in
many ways similar to the United States in that there's a lot of
opportunity for wind power to be deployed, but problems with
transition issues and scaling that there's not enough power.
Then I came across nuclear power. I found out that the South
African government planned to double its energy output, and half of
that is on nuclear power. We're one of the highest-producing coal
nations, and 40 percent of our energy relies upon coal - they were
100 percent. They said, "Nuclear power. This is it. Zero emissions.
Won't affect climate change."
There are huge issues with nuclear waste and proliferation.
Today's environmentalists say climate change is a larger issue than
nuclear proliferation. And then there's cost - quadruple what it
would cost to develop a coal plant.
The sentiment in America is really, actually shifting. In the
election, McCain was like, "We're doing nuclear." Obama was like,
"We have to figure out the waste problem." Five years ago, nobody
was talking nuclear. It wasn't even on the agenda.
Let's deploy it, put a cost on carbon and start working towards
this thing in the future. My senior thesis is on the nuclear
option, specifically in South Africa. It's been a struggle to get
down. My thesis advisor is pulling her hair out.
How did GreeND form?
There were five kids that were all interested in energy issues.
We sat around a table and asked, "What can we do at Notre Dame?"
Obviously, climate change has come to the forefront of public
sentiment. We've got to do something about this. We founded GreeND
and all of a sudden found a lot of kids wanted to join and get
involved. They didn't have an outlet before.
We're still trying to figure out what our role is. We have an
unbelievable leadership core. Our president went on to work on the
National Commission of Energy Policy.
What does GreeND do?
GreeND provides an outlet for a lot of people interested in
sustainability issues. We promote education first - seminars on
energy issues, environmental issues, policy initiatives, the whole
gamut. Six organizations are subsidiaries of GreeND. I'm the chair
of the Energy Conservation Corps. We've got such an entrepreneurial
group.
We actually got a lot of guys on the team to do this commercial,
"Conservation Linebacker." It's a spoof of the Terry Tate "Office
Linebacker" skit, where someone will get tackled for not filling up
coffee. We shifted it - one of our guys leaves the room with the
lights on, and he's hit by our conservation linebacker. Ryan Hoff
was our conservation linebacker.
There are two ways to alleviate our dependence on fossil fuels -
conservation and alternative energy. GreeND, we've got maybe $100
in our budget. We couldn't buy a fifth of a solar panel, but we can
encourage people and tell them the facts about conservation.
We're putting education first.
Do teammates bust on you for being
the resident tree hugger?
Yes and no. We have a lot of guys in business. They see the
importance in the business world of corporate giving and
sustainability issues. They ask me, "Pete, what do I have to know
about?" One of the guys on our team had a job interview and was
asked a sustainability question. Luckily, we had talked about
it.
What I've told every underclassman, even guys in my class, is to
find a passion and gain the ability to think critically. I really
wanted to learn how to think.
To be honest, it's probably not where the conversation goes first.
But when you're traveling to Texas and Atlanta every other week,
energy efficiency comes up more than you would expect. They have an
intellectual appetite and a resident expert of energy efficiency.
Let's test him. That's the competitive spirit.
Tell me more about the second go-round in South Africa.
I wanted to go back on my own to do independent research and
immerse myself in both the public and private sectors in business,
such as BP and small NGOs (national governing organizations) in the
middle of Cape Town.
You have to look at South Africa. They're only 15 years displaced
from apartheid, which is one of the most corruptive, oppressive
governments this world has ever seen. A lot of their social
institutions have some so far, but they're still only 15 ears
displaced from apartheid. A lot of those racial tensions still
exist.
However, I think it will serve as a role model for energy uses for
other Afircan nations. Racially and socially, it's still a very
disconnected society, if you look at its historical legacy. But it
has come so far and really reconciled with itself.
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| Click here for this and other photos from Peter Christman's trips to, and research in, South Africa. |
What was it like to interact with the
people there?
I felt very accepted. People living in utter poverty were testing me to the limits of my knowledge on the American government, the inner workings of the Senate. They're intellectually curious and are very much involved in the social and the political institutions of their country, but who are still struggling with distributing the profits of economic growth they've accrued over the last decade. While they've come a long way culturally, they still have a lot of room for improvement economically.
Any impact on your lacrosse game?
The more disconnected I am from the lacrosse world, the better I seem to play. I think it's perspective. It's an honor to be on that field. You should play that way every single day. If you don't gain that perspective, in turn, you miss out on a lot.
Did you introduce lacrosse to any of the locals?
You bring gifts for your home-stay families. I brought chocolate, stuff like that. I heard one of my home-stay families had two younger boys. I brought over the lacrosse mini-sticks, and they loved it. They were intrigued by it, but the minute I started playing soccer with them, they dropped the sticks immediately. Futbol still rules.
Is this -- economic and environmental sustainability -- what you want to do for a living?
I'd like to get into energy consulting. Ultimately, I'd like to
go back to the developing world and help their public sectors
engineer energy strategy to alleviate the negative effects of
climate change while sustaining economic growth. That's going to be
a huge issue - especially for governments that really solely upon
fossil fuels.
Look at the Middle East. A lot of people are talking about how
Iraq is going to get its oil back on the line. All of a sudden,
there's a huge impact on economic growth. But 30 years down the
line, where's Iraq going to be if the oil starts to run out? Then
what?
I've got a lot of learning to do before I can get into something
like that, but I'm excited.
