Sky photography from John Day Photo: ForSpaciousSkies.com

Sept. 9, 2001 -- Weekend All Things Considered profiles three men who have devoted their careers to thinking about the sky. Peter Barnes, author of Who Owns the Sky, proposes the idea of a Sky Trust, a market-based approach to protecting the ecosystem. Richard Hamblyn brings us the story of Luke Howard, a 19th-century Quaker meteorologist who devised the nomenclature we still use to classify various types of clouds. Finally, there's Jack Borden, the founder of the organization For Spacious Skies. Their mission? Simply to encourage people to look up and appreciate the sky.

Who Owns the Sky?
An Interview with Entrepreneur and Writer Peter Barnes

Assigning ownership rights to the sky would seem at first to be an ethical quaguire, and even a bit crass. But entrepreneur Peter Barnes thinks that air rights have the potential to save the ecosystem.

Under Barnes' plan, the sky would become everyone's property. He envisions a market-based institution called a Sky Trust, in which a non-governmental agency would set limits on carbon emissions.

 Listen to the interview with Peter Barnes

Polluters would be required to pay for the right to emit waste, and the resulting dividends would be paid to everyone. Barnes likens his model to the system in which Alaskan residents receive monetary benefits from oil companies who drill in that state.


The Invention of Clouds
The Story of Luke Howard, the Man Who Gave Clouds Their Names

Your local meteorologist owes his or her career to Luke Howard.

Up until his groundbreaking December 1802 lecture, On the Modifications of Clouds, there were no names for the various types of clouds that dot the sky. In fact, before Howard, there were few significant advances in the field of meterology. But in the space of one hour, Luke Howard gave birth to a field of study -- and transformed himself from a shy young chemist to a scientific and Romantic Era celebrity.

 Listen to the interview with Richard Hambyln

Look Up!
Former Television Reporter Jack Borden Promotes Sky Awareness

Jack Borden and a student explore Emerson's theory that the sky is "the ultimate art gallery." Photo: Jerry Howard, ForSpaciousSkies.com

When public schools began to cut music education programs for budgetary reasons, the non-profit organization Save the Music fought back, citing the comparatively strong standardized test scores of children who studied music.

Former television reporter Jack Borden uses the same tactic to encourage schools to incorporate more sky awareness into their lesson plans. He cites a 1986 Harvard study in which "sky-aware" students surpassed "non-sky" students in other fields of study, including visual arts, music appreciation and reading and writing.

His organization, For Spacious Skies, has already made its way into more than 50,000 classrooms -- and will reach an even larger audience with Look Up!, the Weather Channel's sky exploration initiative.

Borden cites English philosopher John Moffitt, who said: "To know a thing well we must look at it a long time."

"So it is with the sky," Borden says. "Look at it often and long and you will grow to appreciate it more and more."

 Listen to the interview with Jack Borden

Resources

Who Owns the Sky? -- Book Web site
For Spacious Skies -- Jack Borden's Web site
Scienceclass.com -- contains cloud chart
Luke Howard -- "The Godfather of Clouds"
Who's Who In Weather -- profile of Luke Howard