SUSTAINABLE BENICIA

Earth Systems in Rapid Decline

2011-08-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Data Shows All of Earth's Systems in Rapid Decline
By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jul 29, 2011 (IPS) - Protecting bits of nature here and there will not prevent humanity from losing our life support system. Even if areas dedicated to conserving plants, animals, and other species that provide Earth's life support system increased tenfold, it would not be enough without dealing with the big issues of the 21st century: population, overconsumption and inefficient resource use.

Without dealing with those big issues, humanity will need 27 planet Earths by 2050, a new study estimates.

The size and number of protected areas on land and sea has increased dramatically since the 1980s, now totaling over 100,000 in number and covering 17 million square kilometres of land and two million square kilometres of oceans, a new study reported Thursday.

But impressive as those numbers look, all indicators reveal species going extinct faster than ever before, despite all the additions of new parks, reserves and other conservation measures, according to the study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

"It is amazing to me that we haven't dealt with this failure of protected areas to slow biodiversity losses," said lead author Camilo Mora of University of Hawaii at Manoa.

"We were surprised the evidence from the past 30 years was so clear," Mora told IPS.

The ability of protected areas to address the problem of biodiversity loss - the decline in diversity and numbers of all living species - has long been overestimated, the study reported. The reality is that most protected areas are not truly protected. Many are "paper parks", protected in name only. Up to 70 percent of marine protected areas are paper parks, Mora said.

The study shows global expenditures on protected areas today are estimated at six billion dollars per year, and many areas are insufficiently funded for effective management. Effectively managing existing protected areas requires an estimated 24 billion dollars per year - four times the current expenditure.

"Ongoing biodiversity loss and its consequences for humanity's welfare are of great concern and have prompted strong calls for expanding the use of protected areas as a remedy," said co-author Peter Sale, a marine biologist and assistant director of the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

"Protected areas are a false hope in terms of preventing the loss of biodiversity," Sale told IPS.

The authors based their study on existing literature and global data on human threats and biodiversity loss.

When asked about the 2010 global biodiversity protection agreement in Nagoya, Japan to put 17 percent of land and 10 percent of oceans on the planet under protection by 2020, Sale said it was "very unlikely those targets will be reached" due to conflicts between growing needs for food and other resources.

"Even if those targets were achieved, it is not going to stop the decline in biodiversity," he said.

One reason for this is "leakage". Fence off one forest and the logging pressure increases in another. Make one coral reef off limits to fishing and the fishing boats go the next reef.

Another reason protected areas aren't the answer is that fences or patrol boats can't keep out the impacts of pollution or climate change.

Finally, the pressures on the planet's resources are escalating so quickly that "the problem is running away from the solution", he said.

The loss of biodiversity is a major issue because it is humanity's only life-support system, delivering everything from food, to clean water and air, to recreation and tourism, to novel chemicals that drive our advanced civilization, said Mora. Right now the dominant strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity is with protected areas.

"That's putting all our eggs in one basket," he said. "A major shift is needed to deal with the roots of the problem."

The ever-expanding footprint of humanity is the primary cause of global biodiversity loss. When the world's population was five billion people in 1985, the amount of nature's resources being used or impacted became more than the planet could sustain indefinitely according to many estimates, said Mora.

The world population, currently at seven billion, is well beyond Earth's ability to sustain. By 2050, with a projected population of 10 billion people and without a change in consumption patterns, the cumulative use of natural resources will amount to the productivity of up to 27 planet Earths, the study found.

Sustaining the current seven billion people on the planet requires a major shift in resource use. At present, the average U.S. citizen's ecological footprint is about 10 hectares, while a Haitian's is less than one. The planet could sustain us if everyone's footprint averaged two ha, Mora said.

If there are more people, then there are simply fewer resources available for everyone, so population control will be needed along the lines of "one child per woman", he said.

"I'm from Colombia, it blows my mind that some governments in the developing world pay women to have more children," he added.

Hardly anyone is focused on the pressing need for a major shift, said Sale.

"The awareness of the public about this is shockingly low," he noted. What is needed is for humanity as a mass to change direction, he said.

"But can we find the hook, the lever that's needed to make that happen?" Sale asked.

Awakening the Dreamer Symposium

2011-07-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

THE SYMPOSIUM THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR VIEW OF THE WORLD

Awakening the Dreamer,Changing the Dream

Sunday, July 17, 2011 -- 1:-5:30pm, FREE (Register now)
Heritage Presbyterian Church, 1400 E. 2nd St., Benicia, CA (MAP)
Download Get Into Action Resource List

PLEASE READ MORE...

UN Rept says Green Tech Now or Catastrophe

2011-07-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

UN: Only Green Technology Can Avert 'Planetary Catastrophe'
Published on Tuesday, July 5, 2011 by Environment News Service

Humanity is near to breaching the sustainability of Earth, and needs a technological revolution greater and faster than the industrial revolution to avoid "a major planetary catastrophe," warns a new United Nations report.

"The World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation," published today by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs calls for investments of at least $1.9 trillion per year to avert this catastrophe.

"It is rapidly expanding energy use, mainly driven by fossil fuels, that explains why humanity is on the verge of breaching planetary sustainability boundaries through global warming, biodiversity loss, and disturbance of the nitrogen-cycle balance and other measures of the sustainability of the Earth"s ecosystem," the report says.

"A comprehensive global energy transition is urgently needed in order to avert a major planetary catastrophe," the report warns.

In his preface to the report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes that "rather than viewing growth and sustainability as competing goals on a collision course, we must see them as complementary and mutually supportive imperatives. This becomes possible when we embrace a low-carbon, resource-efficient, pro-poor economic model."

About half of the forests that once covered the Earth are gone, groundwater resources are being depleted and contaminated, enormous reductions in biodiversity have already taken place," according to the report, and, "through increased burning of fossil fuels, the stability of the planet's climate is being threatened by global warming."

"In order for populations in developing countries to achieve a decent living standard, especially the billions who currently still live in conditions of abject poverty, and the additional 2 billion people who will have been added to the world's population by mid-century - much greater economic progress will be needed," the survey advises.

"Business as usual is not an option," said Rob Vos, the survey's lead author. "Even if we stop the global engines of growth now, resource depletion and pollution of our natural environment would continue because of existing production methods and consumption habits. Without drastic improvements in and diffusion of green technologies, we will not reverse the ongoing ecological destruction and secure a decent livelihood for all of humankind, now and in the future."

To meet both the objectives of conquering poverty and protecting the environment, the World Economic and Social Survey 2011 calls for a complete transformation of technology on which human economic activity is based.

Major investments will be needed worldwide in the developing and scaling up clean energy technologies, sustainable farming and forestry techniques, climate-proofing of infrastructure, and in waste-reduction technologies, the report advises.

This "great green technological transformation" will have to be completed in the next 30 to 40 years - twice as fast as it took to accomplish previous major technological transitions.

Because of the limited time frame, governments will need to play a much more active and stimulating role to accelerate the green energy transformation, the report advises.

The survey says $1.9 trillion per year will be needed over the next 40 years for incremental investments in green technologies. At least $1.1 trillion of that will need to be made in developing countries to meet increasing food and energy demands.

The report finds the commitment set out in the Copenhagen Accord to mobilize $30 billion between 2010 and 2012 and $100 billion per year by 2020 in transfers to help developing countries cope with climate change as a step in the right direction. But delivery on these commitments will need to be accelerated and resources scaled up to ensure developing countries meet the challenge.

The report proposes to build a global public technology-sharing regime and networks of international technology research and application centers.

To rapidly spread green technology, the report says, more multilateral intellectual property rights modalities must be used than presently allowed under the World Trade Organization.

"The need for a technological revolution is both a development and existential imperative for civilization," Vos said. "This is why sustainable development is so important now, because it is not only about making improvements for life today, but also for future generations."

"Technological transformation, greater in scale and achievable within a much shorter time frame than the first industrial revolution, is required," the report states. "The necessary set of new technologies must enable today's poor to attain decent living standards, while reducing emissions and waste and ending the unrestrained drawdown of the Earth's non-renewable resources."

"Staging a new technological revolution at a faster pace and on a global scale will call for proactive government intervention and greater international cooperation," the report urges, adding, "Sweeping technological change will require sweeping societal transformation, with changed settlement and consumption patterns and better social values."

Click here to read the report, "The World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation."

The World Economic and Social Survey comes out annually. Last year's survey called for a major overhaul of the machinery for international finance, aid and trade.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2011

Climate Change Health and Social Impacts

2011-06-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

Climate Change: It's Bad and Getting Worse
Severe weather events are wracking the planet, and experts warn of even greater consequences to come.
by Dahr Jamail
Published June 23, 2011 by Al-Jazeera-English

The rate of ice loss in two of Greenland's largest glaciers has increased so much in the last 10 years that the amount of melted water would be enough to completely fill Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes in North America.

West Texas is currently undergoing its worst drought since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, leaving wheat and cotton crops in the state in an extremely dire situation due to lack of soil moisture, as wildfires continue to burn.

Central China recently experienced its worst drought in more than 50 years. Regional authorities have declared more than 1,300 lakes "dead", meaning they are out of use for both irrigation and drinking water supply.

Floods have struck Eastern and Southern China, killing at least 52 and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands, followed by severe flooding that again hit Eastern China, displacing or otherwise affecting five million people.

Meanwhile in Europe, crops in the northwest are suffering the driest weather in decades.

Scientific research confirms that, so far, humankind has raised the Earth's temperature, and the aforementioned events are a sign of what is to come.

"If you had a satellite view of the planet in the summer, there is about 40 per cent less ice in the Arctic than when Apollo 8 [in 1968] first sent back those photos [of Earth]," Bill McKibben, world renowned environmentalist and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences told Al Jazeera, "Oceans are 30 per cent more acidic than they were 40 years ago. The atmosphere is four per cent more wet than 40 years ago because warm air holds more water than cold air. That means more deluge and downpour in wet areas and more dryness in dry areas. So we're seeing more destructive mega floods and storms, increasing thunderstorms, and increasing lightning strikes."

So far human greenhouse gas emissions have raised the temperature of the planet by one degree Celsius.

"Climatologists tell us unless we get off gas, coal, and oil, that number will be four to five degrees before the end of this century," said McKibben, "If one degree is enough to melt the Arctic, we'd be best not to hit four degrees."

Climate change is bad for you
Brian Schwartz is a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"Increasing temperatures cause direct health effects related to heat; there will be more common events like the 30,000 to 50,000 persons who died in Europe in 2003 due to the heat wave there," Professor Schwartz told Al Jazeera, "Increasing temperatures also cause more air pollution, due to photochemical reactions that increase with higher temperatures. This will cause more morbidity and mortality from pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases."

Schwartz, who is also the co-director of the Program on Global Sustainability and Health, said that lack of clean water, a phenomenon that is also a product of climate change, will lead to increases in morbidity and mortality from a variety of water-borne diseases.

In addition, vector-borne diseases, diseases in which the pathogenic microorganism is transmitted from an infected individual to another individual by an arthropod or other agent, will change in their distribution as the climate changes.

"Populations will be on the move as food and water production is threatened; these so-called environmental refugees, that the world has already seen, suffer a variety of increased health risks," added Schwartz, "How climate change affects economies and sociopolitical systems will contribute to other physical and mental health stresses for populations."

Professor Cindy Parker co-directs the Program on Global Environmental Sustainability and Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and is the Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Environment, Energy, Sustainability, and Health Institute.

Like Professor Schwartz, she also sees an increase in vector-borne diseases as climate change progresses.

"Infectious diseases carried by insects, like malaria, Lyme disease, Dengue fever, these are all expected to worsen," Parker told Al Jazeera, "These diseases will likely worsen, like malaria, at higher elevations in virgin populations who've not developed resistance to these diseases, so there will be greater effect on these populations."

She believes that diseases that have yet to arise will begin to develop as the planet continues warming. "The biggest threat is the disease we're not yet expecting, but that will develop and we'll be ill equipped to handle."

Parker fears other far-reaching health impacts resulting from our heating up of the planet.

"Everything that affects our environment affects our health," Parker said, "As fancy as our technology is, we still cannot live without clean water, air, and food, and we rely on our environment for these."

This fact is primarily why she believes that climate change is the most health-damaging problem humanity has ever faced.

Parker cited Hurricane Katrina that struck New Orleans in 2005, killing nearly 2,000 and pegged as the costliest natural disaster in US history, as a weather warning example.

"If you look at the health impacts on the Gulf of Mexico's population that was impacted by the storm, mental health illnesses are much worse than the rest of country, chronic illnesses are greater, mostly because trauma has great effects on our psyches and physical bodies," she explained, "But also because prior to Katrina there were seven hospitals in New Orleans, and now there are 2.5 hospitals operating. Those that were lost didn't come back. They are gone."

Hurricane Katrina also caused job loss, which led to loss of health insurance, which led to peoples' health indicators worsening.

"Homelessness is a big contributor, and these problems are still going on, people have not recovered," Parker continued, "And with extreme weather events around the world, there are these huge health effects which persist."

Parker is concerned about what the future has in store for us if climate change continues unabated, as it currently appears to be doing, given that most governments continue to fail to implement an actionable plan to avert it.

"People think technology is going to save us from climate change, but there is no technology on the horizon that will allow us to adapt ourselves out of this mess," Parker said, "We can physiologically adapt to higher temperatures, but all that adaptation is not going to save us unless we also get the climate stabilized."

"If this continues unabated this planet will not be habitable by the species that are on it, including humans," she concluded, "It will be a very different planet. One that is not very conducive to human life."

Global overpopulation

"The rule of thumb is that every degree increase in temperature decreases the wheat harvest by 10 per cent," said McKibben, speaking about the effect climate change has on global food production, "Food cost has increased between 70 and 80 per cent in the last year for basic grains. For millions around the world, they are already affected by not having enough."

Another important factor that contributes to climate change is global overpopulation. The UN has set October 31 of this year as the date the Earth's population is expected to surpass seven billion people.

The world's population is growing by roughly 80 million people per year, and at the current rates of birth and death, the world's population is on a trajectory to double in 49 years.

William Ryerson is the president of the Population Institute, a non-profit organization that works to educate policymakers and the public about population, and the need to achieve a world population that is in balance with a healthy global environment and resource base.

"The projected growth rate is 9.3 billion by 2050," Ryerson told Al Jazeera, "The additional 2.5 billion [onto our current 6.8 billion] is the climate equivalent to adding two USA's to the planet. Even though most of those people are in low greenhouse gas emitting countries, the sheer number of people adds to a huge impact on the environment."

Ryerson pointed out that countries like China and the US have higher consumption and emissions, and as their populations grow, their impacts are even greater than in less developed countries.

Overpopulation also strains already overstretched water resources.

"We have 225,000 people at the dinner table tonight who weren't there last night, so to maintain our current population we're already over-pumping underground aquifers," added Ryerson, "India is over-pumping, and we have over 100 million people in India dependent on over-pumping, so this can't be sustained. And climate change is making this all even more untenable, as the glaciers in the Himalayas that provide water for India and China are melting rapidly."

Unpublished estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently revealed that greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year to the highest carbon output in history, despite the most serious economic recession in 80 years.

This means that the aim of holding global temperatures to safe levels are now all but out of reach. The goal of preventing a temperature rise of more than two degrees Celsius, which scientists say is the threshold for potentially "dangerous climate change" is now most likely just "a nice Utopia", according to Fatih Birol, a chief economist of the IEA.

"Population is the multiplier of everything else," explained Ryerson, who believes climate change cannot adequately be addressed until the overpopulation problem is solved.

"Clearly the current number of people and per capita behavior is unsustainable and this is obvious in what has happened to the climate already," he said, "There are severe consequences already. And the cost of solving this problem of overpopulation is small compared to the cost of solving climate change as it progresses."

Long Road Ahead

McKibben is deeply concerned about what he sees when he looks into the future of what we should expect with climate change.

"We're going to keep seeing increased amounts of these extreme kinds of droughts, floods, and storms," he said, "Everything that happens that isn't volcanic or tectonic draws its power from the sun and we are getting more of everything by amping up the sun's power in the atmosphere by adding more CO2."

Ryerson sees a bleak future for water-starved countries like Saudi Arabia.

"Saudi Arabia has announced that the water they've been depending on, their underground aquifer for crops and drinking, will be gone by 2020," he explained, "They are dependent on imports, and can pay for it now, but in the future when oil declines, that country faces a serious issue of sustainability."

He is also concerned about increasing biodiversity loss.

"The key issue is the large populations of plants and animals that make the planet inhabitable," Ryerson explained, "We need oxygen to breathe and water to drink. A three billion year evolution of plants and animals have made the planet habitable, and we are systematically destroying this biodiversity by plowing, cutting, and burning areas."

Ryerson believes ongoing demand for products and the encroachment on wilderness areas this causes "will make life on the planet much more difficult. All of this together means the future of humanity, even with assumed innovation, has some very serious concerns. None of these problems are made easier by adding more people. The only way to achieve sustainability is to hold population growth, and have it decline."

McKibben says everybody should be adopting an emergency response geared towards ending our reliance on fossil fuels.

"This will only be done if we charge carbon for the damage it does in the atmosphere," he said, "The power of the fossil fuel companies is the power to keep us from doing that. As long as our governments won't stand up to that industry, I'm afraid we've got a long road ahead of us."

Lecture 5 Green Jobs

2011-06-07T23:58:00.000-07:00

Steward of our children's future... Sustainability Lecture Series
Sponsored by Benicia Community Sustainability Commission and Solano Community College
Lecture 5 - Where Are the Green Jobs
June 7, 2011, Paul Fair

Lecture 4 Conservation of Energy Water Waste

2011-05-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Steward of our children's future... Sustainability Lecture Series
Sponsored by Benicia Community Sustainability Commission and Solano Community College
Lecture 4 - Conservation of Energy, Water and Waste
May 24, 2011, Dr. Pam Muink

Lecture 3 Benicia Climate Action Plan

2011-05-10T23:42:00.000-07:00

Steward of our children's future... Sustainability Lecture Series
Sponsored by Benicia Community Sustainability Commission and Solano Community CollegeLecture 3 - Benicia Climate Action Plan

May 10, 2011, Benicia Community Sustainability Commissioners

Lecture 2 Understanding Climate Change

2011-04-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

Steward of our children's future... Sustainability Lecture Series
Sponsored by Benicia Community Sustainability Commission and Solano Community College
Lecture 2 - Understanding Climate Change
April 26, 2011, Dr. Betsy Julian

Lecture 1 Sustainability

2011-04-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

Steward of our children's future... Sustainability Lecture Series
Sponsored by Benicia Community Sustainability Commission and Solano Community College
Lecture 1 - Sustainability
April 12, 2011, Dr. Betsy Julian

Benicia Sustainability Lecture Series

2011-04-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Stewards of Our Children’s Future: 2011. . .For Ecologic & Economic Health + Community Resilience
Free Public Lecture–Workshop Series
What are we doing now to secure our ecologic & economic future?
Why do we need to act now?
Here’s the chance to learn more & participate!
Five workshops, April 12 through June 7, 2011

April 12, 7-9PM, Dona Benicia Room, Benicia Public Library150 E. L St
Local, Regional, National, Global Sustainability, Multiple SCC FacultyWhat does Sustainability really mean? This term is used in many different ways and its meaning varies depending on context and culture. We will discuss this concept and its social, political, economic and environmental implications

April 26, 7-9PM, Heritage Presbyterian Church, 1400 E 2nd St
Understanding Climate Change: An Overview, Dr Betsy Julian, Dean, Math and Sciences, SCC:
We will examine how greenhouse gases are warming the Earth’s atmosphere and explore some of the possible consequences of this change in global temperature. Alterations in precipitation, wind, and temperature patterns, as well as changes in sea level will be discussed.

May 10, 7-9PM, Dona Benicia Room, Benicia Public Library,150 E. L St
Climate Action Plan and Benicia, Community Sustainability Commissioners, Paul Fair, SCC*An overview of Climate Action Planning; What greenhouse gases (GHG) are measured; The Emission Reduction Focus Areas and the objectives and strategies to reduce GHG.

May 24, 7-9PM, Heritage Presbyterian Church, 1400 E 2nd St
You don't have to suffer to be green: Conservation of energy, water and waste, Pam Muick, the Environmental Science:
Our Conservation topic will address the top free and low-cost actions to reduce PG&E and water bills and minimize landfill space. Making specific small changes in your daily or weekly routine can reduce your carbon footprint and increase your environmental sustainability within weeks! This evening’s presentation will include case histories from the SCC Environmental Science class.

June 7, 7-9PM, Heritage Presbyterian Church, 1400 E 2nd St.
Where are the Green Jobs? Paul Fair, SCCOverview of the current opportunities that exist across a wide range of industries and the expected future or growth of the various careers. In addition, we will discuss the educational, and experiential requirements of the differing career fields along with the job responsibilities that are expected.
The final major topic will be to investigate the educational opportunities that exist for educating and training our future Sustainable or Green professionals for participation in a rapidly evolving and transitioning "Green" economy

Clean Power Healthy Communities

2011-03-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

Clean Power, Healthy Communities Conference Highlights Decentralized Renewable Energy
March 17 - 18, 2011, Oakland

The Local Clean Energy Alliance’s second annual Clean Power, Healthy Communities conference drew 150 people on March 18 to a day of intense deliberations about the potential benefits of local renewable power to Bay Area Communities and how to build a movement to realize those benefits.

The conference provided compelling evidence that the only way out of our fossil fuel-dependent, planet-destroying energy system is to reduce local energy consumption and transition to renewable energy generated right in our communities. A decentralized energy system not only addresses the impact of climate change, but provides an economic engine for clean energy jobs, equitable development, and healthy communities.
Read full story....

The Local Clean Energy Alliance is attempting to capture this momentum through three campaign areas:

•Claim our Cash to encourage cities to petition the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for control of energy efficiency surcharges collected on utility bills

•Solutions in Our Back Yard campaign to encourage cities to urge the CPUC to favor local decentralized power in California’s energy future

•Supporting Community Choice Energy to defend and expand Community Choice initiatives throughout the Bay Area.

Check out the presentations, videos, and photos from the Second Annual Clean Power, Healthy Communities Conference, March 17-18, 2011!!

Click here for the Conference presentations and videos.

Decentralized renewable energy for community resilience

2011-02-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

Community Power: Decentralized Renewable Energy in California
by Al Weinrub
A new policy paper, a project of the Local Clean Energy Alliance, is now available!
Get Free Download.

Community Power argues that local, decentralized generation of electricity offers many benefits to California’s communities relative to large central-station solar or wind power plants in remote areas.

It identifies the factors that favor local decentralized generation of electricity: its economic benefits to local communities, its cost-effectiveness, its minimization of environmental impacts, its potential to rapidly meet renewable energy targets, and its increased system security. The paper also identifies obstacles to local renewable power and outlines policies that can promote its development. Get the full story....

Community Power reveals the potential of local renewable power to revitalize communities. It is a backgrounder for the ongoing work of the Local Clean Energy Alliance, which calls for uniting a broad spectrum of groups to advocate for local renewable power as key to economic development and clean energy jobs.

Report 1 Benicia Climate Action Plan

2011-02-07T23:35:00.000-08:00

by Constance M. Beutel, EdD, Feb. 7, 2011
Published in The Benicia Herald

Crew member report, Benicia, CA: Space Ship Earth
Climate Action Plan: Part I, What I've learned so far that has surprised me.

First a little background. The contemporary research and discussion into conservation, environmental sustainability and climate change has been on-going for many years. In the summer of 1943 the ‘first recognized episodes of smog’ occurred in Los Angeles. Smog cut visibility to 3 blocks and people reported ‘smarting eyes, respiratory discomfort, nausea and vomiting.’ By 1947, with population on the rise in California and along with it, more pollution, Governor Earl Warren signed the Air Pollution and Control Act that established Air Pollution Districts in every County. In fact, if you go to the California Air Resources Board website, http://www.arb.ca.gov/html/brochure/history.htm , you can find an extensive list of “Key Events in the History of Air Quality in California.

The urgency for continued and urgent efforts to reduce Carbon (CO2) emissions relates to the exponential severity of climate change that range from sea level rise to severe weather changes. These are climate events that we’ve been experiencing on a local and global level: the hotter California summers, the flooding in Europe and Pakistan, the severe droughts (and flooding too) in Australia and Russia, the decline in the Sierra snow pack, and so on.

Our own City efforts that specifically focused on creating a Climate Action Plan began in 2007 when Benicia joined ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability). ICLEI is a consortium of over 1200 local government members in over 70 countries with a focus that embraces both climate action and the issues of sustainability. ICLEI created the reporting software and the protocols for inventorying Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and in setting goals for reducing them. The Air District awarded a grant to Benicia for conducting the inventory and in setting emission reduction targets. In 2008-2009 Cal Poly students conducted public workshops here and developed the Climate Action Plan. With Public comment and additional work to refine it, the Climate Action Plan was adopted by City Council in September 2009.

The Benicia Climate Action Plan is an impressive document and I urge you to become familiar with it (http://www.BeniciaClimateActionPlan.com/images/pdfs/finalcap.pdf.) It contains detailed guidelines, over 120 strategies, to reduce our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Our 2020 goals are reduce by 10% the 2000 GHG Emission levels Community-wide and a 33% reduction for City Government. In 2000 the levels were “9,202 carbon dioxide equivalent metric tones” for City Offices. We in the Benicia Community (Residential, Commercial and Industrial) produced over 4 million tonnes of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2000 and 4.25 million in 2005!

Oversight of the Benicia Climate Action Plan is one of the main responsibilities of the Community Sustainability Commission. By mid-year 2011, the Commission is charged with reporting status to City Council on how well we did in meeting our 2010 targets. For the City of Benicia, the target was a reduction of 25% (2,300 tonnes) of GHG emissions below the year 2000. For those of us in the Community, we were to hold steady with 2005’s 4.25 million tonnes of GHG emissions.

Now, what has so surprised me is the complexity of data gathering. I naively thought that with the long history of the U.S. and California Environmental Protection Agencies, the California Air Resources Board and Integrated Waste Management Board, the Departments of Water Resources, Conservation, Toxic Substances Control and Conservation et. al., that the data would be readily available, easy to aggregate and would be available on a nearly real time basis. But that is not the case at all. We cannot just enter our zip, 94510, and get comprehensive data on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Benicia.

And as I’ve learned from a long corporate career, to lead and manage successfully you need accurate and timely analytics. Obviously, without them we are operating blindly. I believe that the metrics established by ICLEI are sound but it remains amazing to me that the data is so cumbersome and time intensive to collect especially after so many years and efforts to address environmental issues.

So, our continuing critical tasks are to:

insure the identification and smooth flow of data from the multiple data providers (PG&;E, Allied Waste, the Water District, the new Benicia Air Quality Monitoring Station, to name a few.)
translate the data into articulate and usable performance reporting
take action appropriate to the information provided
link the efforts of the Community Sustainability Commission to the status of our City’s targets to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions.

The good news is that we do know what generates Greenhouse Gas Emissions and that by reducing their use and increasing efficiency, many addressed through our Climate Action Plan strategies, we will affect the amount of GHG emissions produced. The continuing news is that we need to be aggressively tracking and reporting on those emissions.

Now the task is to get to work in collecting, aggregating and reporting the data to you. If you’re interested in this work, please contact me. We need all able-bodied hands on deck for our success!

Transition leads to smarter future

2010-09-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Leading the Way to a Smarter Future
By Janet Redman
Published in Other Words, Sept. 28, 2010

People living in "transition" cities and towns are working together to make their communities more resilient to economic and environmental uncertainty

Moments of crisis offer two options: You can respond out of fear by hunkering down, arming yourself, and planning to shoot anyone that comes near your end-of-days outpost. Or you can embrace a smarter option by banding together and taking creative action toward a positive transition.

As our nation grapples with chronic unemployment and the growing negative effects of climate change, the good news is that the transition approach is taking off in more and more places. People living in cities and heartland towns are starting to work together, to make their communities more resilient to economic and environmental uncertainty by moving to end their oil addiction.

There's a growing network of neighborhoods, cities, and states exchanging methods for weathering economic, energy, and climate shocks--and creating a better quality of life in the process.

Much of the transition movement is about "re-skilling," or gaining expertise in areas that help families and communities meet more of their own needs.

For example in Anderson, Ohio, locally organized workshops teach everything from how to raise chickens in your backyard to composting.

Participants have fun and strengthen relationships with their neighbors as they learn these skills. Community garden plots offer a way to not only eat healthier and potentially shrink food expenses, but also to reduce your carbon footprint, since you're not buying lettuce shipped across the country. Learn how to pickle cucumbers from a neighbor and you'll help save the planet at the same time.

These initiatives are also about building collective power. Employees of the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry in Cleveland, for example, are taking business into their own hands. With the support of Kent State University and other local institutions, the facility's 50 workers have turned the laundry into a cooperative that will be Northeast Ohio's greenest commercial-scale laundry and provide its worker-owners with fair wages.

And building local power also means engaging locally elected officials and state governments. To help shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources on a community-wide scale, Sustainable Tucson has assembled information on relevant local government offices. Together, stakeholders have developed concrete plans for a sustainable future, in everything from food and water to cultural expression and green building.

Similarly, the residents of Keene, New Hampshire recognized the impacts of climate change on their city--and did something about it. Keene has added an adaptation and climate resiliency action plan to its existing program for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent from 1995 levels by 2015.

Americans are coming together to prepare for the inevitable changes in the coming century with imagination. It's time that the federal government did the same. President Barack Obama has many opportunities to shape the transition in a positive way.

The United States should join together with other nations that are investing in renewable energy, protecting forests and rolling out low-carbon technology to slow climate change. Obama should also support proposals endorsed by several European governments to ensure that the worldwide costs of this economic transition are paid for equitably, including through a tax on Wall Street speculation.

Coming together as a global community to face the transition needed to survive climate change also simply offers a better way to live--one that's more peaceful and fair.

When Obama meets with other world leaders at the end of this year, he should push hard for a global deal to combat climate change. And afterwards, wouldn't it just be nice if he invited them all to the White House dining room to share canned tomatoes from the First Lady's garden?

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Janet Redman is co-director of the Sustainable Energy & Economy Network (SEEN) project at the Institute for Policy Studies. IPS is a community of scholars and organizers linking peace, justice, and the environment in the U.S. and globally. www.ips-dc.org

Green tech jobs in China

2010-09-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

Aren't We Clever
excerpts from Op-Ed "Aren't We Clever", by Thomas Friedman
The New York Times, Sept. 18, 2010

While American Republicans were turning climate change into a wedge issue, the Chinese Communists were turning it into a work issue.

“There is really no debate about climate change in China,” said Peggy Liu, chairwoman of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, a nonprofit group working to accelerate the greening of China. “China’s leaders are mostly engineers and scientists, so they don’t waste time questioning scientific data.” The push for green in China, she added, “is a practical discussion on health and wealth. There is no need to emphasize future consequences when people already see, eat and breathe pollution every day.”

And because runaway pollution in China means wasted lives, air, water, ecosystems and money — and wasted money means fewer jobs and more political instability — China’s leaders would never go a year (like we will) without energy legislation mandating new ways to do more with less. It’s a three-for-one shot for them. By becoming more energy efficient per unit of G.D.P., China saves money, takes the lead in the next great global industry and earns credit with the world for mitigating climate change.

So while America’s Republicans turned “climate change” into a four-letter word — J-O-K-E — China’s Communists also turned it into a four-letter word — J-O-B-S.

“China is changing from the factory of the world to the clean-tech laboratory of the world,” said Liu. “It has the unique ability to pit low-cost capital with large-scale experiments to find models that work.” China has designated and invested in pilot cities for electric vehicles, smart grids, LED lighting, rural biomass and low-carbon communities. “They’re able to quickly throw spaghetti on the wall to see what clean-tech models stick, and then have the political will to scale them quickly across the country,” Liu added. “This allows China to create jobs and learn quickly.”

Americans recycle about 25 percent of their plastic bottles. Most of the rest ends up in landfills or gets shipped to China to be recycled here. Getting people to recycle regularly is a hassle. To overcome that, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea — and next year, China — have enacted producer-responsibility laws requiring that anything with a cord or battery — from an electric toothbrush to a laptop to a washing machine — has to be collected and recycled at the manufacturers’ cost.     Read full article at New York Times

Community Resilience Toolkit designed for Bay Area

2010-03-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

Bay Localize has announced their newest resource for local organizers, community builders, and the public sector: the Community Resilience Toolkit! The Toolkit is designed for groups, particularly those in the San Francisco Bay Area, to prepare their communities to weather tough times. It places a special emphasis on economic and climate instability. The Toolkit provides resources to evaluate a community's relative strengths and vulnerabilities, and take action to build resilience.

It covers the topics of:

•Food
•Water
•Energy
•Transportation and Housing
•Jobs and Economy
•Civic Preparedness and Social Services

GET YOUR TOOLKIT TODAY! Free Download.

UPDATE: This popular online resource is currently used by community leaders in 46 of the 50 states and in 16 countries to strengthen their communities in the face of worsening climate change, rising food and energy prices, and lingering economic recession.

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK AND HOST A WORKSHOP! Once you've put the Toolkit to use, please let us know how you are using it, what is working for you, and what you'd like to see changed or added in future editions. Bay Localize is also available to assist your group in facilitating workshops based on the Community Resilience Toolkit. Contact us at toolkit@baylocalize.org

Towns make low-carbon transition

2009-12-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

Towns Rush to Make Low-Carbon Transition
More and more neighborhoods are making the transition to a climate-friendly community. Has yours?
by Tara Lohan
Published in Yes Magazine, Dec. 1, 2009

The coastal town of Lincoln City, Oregon, has a lot to lose if nothing is done about climate change. The town sits 11 feet above sea level, and unchecked climate change could erode its beaches or flood the town.

Residents are taking matters into their own hands. “We could ignore it, let the federal government deal with it,” Mayor Lori Hollingsworth says. “We’re not willing to do that.” Last year Lincoln City committed to becoming carbon neutral through renewable energy, energy efficiency, and offsets.

Communities like Lincoln City have long been ahead of Congress and the White House on climate commitments. Cities first began committing to Kyoto goals in 2005 through the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Now more than 1,000 cities have signed on. But the community climate movement goes beyond local government initiatives. It’s a cultural shift involving people at all levels of the community, from tiny rural towns in red states to major metropolitan areas.

The Heart of Climate Action

The college town of Berea, Kentucky, one of the fastest growing communities in the state, is seeing its subdivisions expand and its farmland disappear. But one group of residents is making plans to help the community end its reliance on fossil fuels.

“We want to increase the resilience of our community in the face of all the threats—peak oil, climate change, economic contraction, ecosystem decline, population growth—the whole list,” says Richard Olson, head of the Berea College Sustainability and Environmental Studies Program.

Berea locals have a goal they’re calling “50 x 25.” By 2025, they aim to have the town using 50 percent less energy, deriving 50 percent of the energy it does use from local sources, getting 50 percent of its food from farms and processors within 100 miles of town, and generating 50 percent of its gross domestic product from locally owned, independent businesses.

Berea is one of more than 40 U.S. communities that have become Transition Towns, a movement that started when British communities began looking for ways to move to low-carbon economies. Transition Towns have formed a diffuse, grassroots network led by the individuals who are working to transform their own communities.

“What’s important, and I think different about the transition movement is that it pays attention to the inner transition as well as the outer,” says Carolyn Stayton, executive director of Transition U.S. and a member of Transition Sebastopol in Northern California. Many Transition Towns have formed “Heart and Soul” working groups to “keep the community sensitive to the difficulty of making change,” says Stayton.

The Transition Town Berea group holds monthly “reskilling” workshops to help locals acquire the know-how to grow their own food, weatherize their houses, and install solar panels. Their projects help neighbors replant lawns with edibles and build raised vegetable beds. They’ve also auctioned rain barrels hand-painted by local artists and organized a “100 Mile Potluck” to celebrate local food and farmers.

From the Ground Up

The Transition Towns movement in the United States is less than two years old, but it came from the seeds of earlier relocalization efforts and other community climate groups and nonprofits. The Towns have become successful by sharing training resources and experiences with existing groups and other communities, and reaching out to local government.

The key is to raise public awareness. “What we try to focus on is developing a positive vision of our preferred future,” says Olson.

A lecture on climate change may not appeal to everyone, but you can interest people in things like gardening, Olson says. “We talk to them about heirloom seeds and what their grandparents grew and if they’d like to learn canning. We get them involved without even mentioning transition or sustainability.”

Transition Towns across the United States engage people in a variety of community projects—including a local currency project in south Whidbey Island, Washington; a car share program in Louisville, Colorado; a reskilling festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and local energy initiatives in West Marin, California.

Interest in climate-readiness is growing as more communities of all kinds realize they are vulnerable to climate change impacts. Austin, Texas, has an ambitious plan to make city facilities, vehicles, and operations carbon-neutral by 2020. Charlottesville, Virginia, is creating a trail system for walking and biking to connect schools, parks, and other public spaces. Chicago initiated a grant program to encourage the construction of green roofs.

Greensburg, Kansas, a city of fewer than 2,000, was leveled by a tornado in May 2007. Residents have decided to rebuild as green as they can. They’re requiring all city buildings to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum rating for top-level environmentally friendly construction. They’ve also formed the group Greensburg GreenTown to increase public education about green living, make resources available at the local library, and distribute educational materials through online and telephone classes and community events.

Green building initiatives are also spreading, thanks in part to Architecture 2030, a nonprofit based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The group sponsors the 2030 Challenge, which calls for an immediate 50 percent reduction in fossil-¬fuel consumption in new buildings and renovations, and sets a goal of carbon-neutral design by 2030. The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted the 2030 Challenge in 2006.

These communities hope they can lead the way toward the big changes we’ll need nationally and internationally to respond to climate change. “Working at the community level to build resilience is the strategy that has the most chance of success,” says Olson. “It’s not going to take until our grandchildren’s generation to see if we’ve succeeded. I think in 10 years we’ll see if we’re going to have a chance.”
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Tara Lohan wrote this article for Climate Action, the Winter 2010 issue of YES! Magazine. Tara is a senior editor at AlterNet and editor of the book Water Consciousness

Vegetarian diet best for planet

2009-08-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Eco-Eating: Your Food Choices Matter
–Hope Bohanec
(Reprinted from “Redwood Needles”, a newsletter of Redwood Chapter of Sierra Club, Aug/Sept 2009)

I have some awesome news for the planet. The food and drinks the average person consumes are the single largest determining factor of their overall ecological footprint. Why is this good news? Because knowing this, it’s easy and affordable to make important improvements in one’s global impact. You don’t need to buy a hybrid or get solar panels to make the biggest impact. It’s all in your reusable grocery bags. But what are the most ecological choices?

Local eating is the latest environmental buzz. People want to know how “green” their tomato is. Is it an island hopper with pages of stamps in it’s passport or is it a down home local from the farmer’s market?

I appreciate the efforts of Locavores to buy and eat regionally. Changing one’s diet is a noble, and often difficult pursuit. However, what few people realize is that in terms of eating carbon consciously, choosing a tomato is always a better option than choosing an animal product, regardless of the proximity in which it was produced. A closer look at production and distribution mechanisms behind local animal products reveals that they are far from being the “green superstars” many in the local food movement think they are.

While buying regionally grown and produced food is usually good for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, choosing a plant-based product over an animal product reduces our environmental impact significantly more.

A 2008 study in the Journal Environmental Science and Technology found that shifting less than one day per week’s calories from meat and dairy products to a vegetable-based diet achieves more green house gas reduction than buying all locally sourced food.

Local can be good. When we buy fruits and veggies grown on our area, we are eating more seasonally, supporting our local food co-ops and farmer’s markets and possibly reducing emissions. However, local is not always the more ecological option.

For example, a farmer that lives 50 miles from your house may travel many hundreds of miles throughout the week going from one farmer’s market to another to sell his veggies. In comparison, an organic farm a couple hundred miles away with a semi-truck and one route delivering directly from the farm to store can travel less miles, carrying much more produce, while producing fewer emissions. Scenarios vary, but my point is that local is not necessarily more ecological.

Upon deeper investigation into production, local animal products have far more environmental impact than a tomato with a tropical tan.

There is more to assessing the ecological consequence of a food product then the proximity in which it was grown or produced. The total production effect as well as energy and water needed to produce the product must be taken into account. When gauging the carbon footprint of food, transportation (or how “local” the food is) is only 11 percent of the equation, while production is a stunning 83 percent.

Few people ever stop to ask where the feed for local farm animals come from. Animals raised for meat, dairy and eggs are fed soy, oats, alfalfa, corn etc. Feed crops are usually not grown locally. Even “grass-fed” cows are feed imported grain the majority of the year. Grain that could be going directly to people are shipped for hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles to feed farm animals.

This is just the beginning of the ecological trounce that animal agriculture, “local” or otherwise, is inflicting on the health of our severely stressed planet.

Here’s a look at some of the numerous other environmental problems that apply to the production of “local” animal products:

Global Warming-
According to the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Committee, animal agriculture releases more greenhouse gasses than all the world’s transportation combined!* A University of Chicago study recently revealed that switching to a vegan diet is actually more effective for climate change than switching to a hybrid car.

Water Waste and Pollution-
Enormous quantities of water is wasted on the grains grown to feed livestock, then huge additional amounts are used to water the animals, clean the equipment, etc. Producing 1 lb. of animal protein requires about 100 times more water than producing 1 lb. of grain protein.**

As for waste, one dairy farm with 2,500 cows produces as much solid waste as a city with around 411,000 residents.*** This waste concentrates on the farm and runs off into our groundwater polluting our waterways. Animal feed lots create more water pollution than factories and sewage treatment.****

Wasted Resources-
For every 1kg of animal protein produced, livestock are fed about 6 kg of plant protein. At present, the US livestock population consumes more than 7 times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire American population. Enough to feed the entire human population of the country 5 times.****

Energy Use-
Massive amounts of energy is wasted in the artificial environment of the factory farm, slaughterhouse and processing plant. Indoor environments, conveyer belts, milking machines, lighting, heating, mechanized slaughter process all require excessive energy. In fact, it takes 8 times as much fossil fuel to produce animal products as it takes to produce plant food.*****

Sadly, this is just a small taste of animal agriculture’s devastating ecological impact. So please, the next time you’re assessing a food’s ecological footprint, be sure to remember: organic is important, local is good, but vegan is best.

A plant-based diet is by far the most ecological dietary choice we can make.

For more information on animal agriculture’s environmental impact, check out: www.farmanimalprotection.org/fapp/environment.htm and http://www.earthsave.org/

Footnotes

*Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2006, pg. 272

** Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000, U.S. Geological Survey, Hutson, Barber, Kenny, Linsey, Lumia and Maupin, 2005

***US Environmental Protection Agency. “”Risk Management Evaluation for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.” US EPA National Risk Management Laboratory. May 2004: 7

****Profile of the Agricultural Livestock Production Industry United States Enforcement and EPA 310-R-00-002 Environmental Protection Compliance Assurance September 2000 Agency (2221-A) pg. 35

*****Sustainability of Meat-Based and Plant Based Diets and the Environment, Pimentel and Pimentel From the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 78, No. 3, 660S-663S, © 2003, pg. 661, 662

******Energy Costs of Intensive Livestock Production, Roller, American Society of Agriculture Engineers, Cited in Diet For a New America, Robbins, pg. 376
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Also see:
http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/save_the_animals_save_the_planet_blog_action_day_09_climate_change

Findings of Portland Peak Oil Task Force

2008-10-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

John Kaufmann testimony on Portland Peak Oil Task Force

Kaufmann's presentation outlines the process and findings of the Portland (Ore.) Peak Oil Task Force, which completed its work in March 2007.

View video at this link:
http://www.energychallenge.tv/index.php/archives/124
(wait about 45 seconds for it to download and it will start playing automatically)

(1 Nov 2007) presentation of John Kaufmann, former lead staffer for the groundbreaking Portland (Ore.) Peak Oil Task Force, to the Connecticut Legislative Peak Oil and Natural Gas Caucus. Kaufmann is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Oregon Department of Energy.

Notes from video:
First, the Task Force must establish paramaters - how to tackle the problem:
--agree upon key assumptions - peak oil is innevitable, we must prepare for it
--cant count on magic supply bullet to come along that will solve this for us
--fully explore impacts first, then suggest recommendations

Create a scenario table (speed of impact/ severity of impact)
Assume gradual slide, mod. severity, then prepare for that -how do we transition

Identify Impact pathways - multiple interrelated impacts from reduced supply of oil/energy

Understand that energy affects everything on which the community depends (not just transportation) - then, split into four subgroups to address main impact areas -
1)Land use/transportation; 2)economy; 3)public & soc.services; 4)food & agriculture

Identify Key questions for each group.
Identify Key impacts for each group.
Make Recommendations: based onTwo Pillars -- how reduce exposure; how strengthen community
Urgency: Need to start NOW, while we still have some resources. Need lead time - some of these things will take 10-15 yrs to get into place.

Recommendations:
1. reduce oil & gas use 50% in 25 yrs
2. Inform, educate, build awareness, unite people around a vision, mobilize people's creativity, engagement.
3. educate civic leadership, decision makers, opinion leaders, spur govt planning & action
4.Land use patterns, reduce transportation needs, walkability, infill, mixed use, neighborhood centers
5. electrified transportation, mass transit, intermodal transportation for freight
6. get people out of cars-- variety of efficient renewable transportation choices, walk, bike, rideshare, mass transit - alternatives must be safe and convenient
7. Dramatically ramp up energy efficiency programs - buildings, residential, commercial
8. preserve local food production capability - farmland, processessing, urban gardens, CSA's, educate citizens in food growing, preserving, nutrition
9. Promote sustainable businesses, EE-RE (cleantech), help biz assess impacts, identify opportunities, workforce re-training
10. preserve community safety net, protect vulnerable populations - health, hunger, shelter options, maintain a sense of community
11. emergency planning: prepare for sudden shocks - emergency care, food, transportation

Links:
Slideshow: Peak oil causes and prospects
Peak Oil Briefing Book: issues, impacts, vulnerabilities
Resolution establishing Portland Peak Oil Task Force to assess vulnerability
Resolution accepting POTF final report, goals, and recommendations
Peak Oil Task Force final report
Portland Office of Sustainable Development

California Global Warming Impacts

2008-09-17T20:57:00.001-07:00

Union of Concerned Scientists

(See other videos on California Impacts of Global Warming : Overview, Health, Water, Agriculture, Wildfires, Energy, Coastlines http://www.climatechoices.org/impacts_overview/index.html )
Global warming is under way, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels for energy. Some effects on public health and the environment are now unavoidable. However, the most devastating consequences can be avoided if we act swiftly and decisively to reduce global warming emissions.

If global warming emissions continue unabated, California is expected to face poorer air quality, a sharp rise in extreme heat, a less reliable water supply, more dangerous wildfires, and expanding risks to agriculture.

The severity of global warming's impact will depend on the level of our emissions, as the following chart shows.

If the industrialized nations follow California's lead and reduce their global warming emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, and if the industrializing nations following the lower emissions path shown here, we would be on track to keep the increase in temperature within the lower warming range, thus avoiding the most severe consequences.

Conversely, if we continue to grow without taking steps to cut emissions, we are likely to see a dramatic increase in temperature, which could bring severe consequences for California and many parts of the world.

The ideas and many of the technologies needed to bring emissions down are already available. All we need is the will to use them. Being first in the world to do so could bring economic benefits to our state, while failing to do so will almost assuredly cause great hardship. The choices we make today will determine the climate our children inherit.
Download report:
Our Changing Climate: Assessing the Risks to CaliforniaA Summary Report Produced by the California Climate Change Center in Collaboration with the Union of Concerned Scientists

Peak Oil for Policy Makers

2008-09-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Richard Heinberg and Julian Darley of the Post Carbon Institute present an intro to Peak Oil for local policy makers. What is peak oil? What's the evidence? Why don't we just drill for more? How does this relate to climate change? And what can policymakers do in the face of these daunting challenges?

Peak Oil: Challenges for Local Governments

2008-09-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

Talk (excerpt) given by Daniel Lerch, Program Manager of the Post Carbon Institute, and author of Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty. (free abridged download)
From a presentation given at a 2007 lecture in Hamilton, Ontario.

He describes some of the short and long term challenges that peak oil will create for local governments, and underscores the urgent need for cities to assess community vulnerability and develop contingency plans and policy and program changes. Peak oil clearly will have very local repercussions, but prompt planning can take the edge off of some of the negative effects.

Transition Towns

2008-02-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

Communities in Transition
Less carbon - more skills and connection
By Doug Pibel
Yes Magazine, Feb. 1, 2008

Rob Hopkins was teaching permaculture in Kinsale, Ireland, when he encountered the concept of peak oil. Hopkins and his students were shocked at the looming prospect of a world without cheap energy, and at the absence of plans to deal with the repercussions. Rather than wait for someone else to act—government or otherwise—they figured out how to address the problem, one community at a time.

Hopkins says, “The idea emerged that the future with less oil could be preferable. But we need to rediscover what was actually good about life before cheap oil.”

Their work led to the Transition Towns movement, which claims 26 communities as members in the United Kingdom, with 400 more worldwide expressing interest in becoming transition communities—people taking charge of preparing their communities to make a graceful entry into a low-energy world.

The essence of the Transition Town concept is building resilience at the community level. As Hopkins points out, it is only in the last half-century that oil has become the central force in all aspects of our lives, moving people, moving food, and removing both the sense of community and the skills for local mutual support.

During World War II, Hopkins says, Victory Gardens were an important part of the food supply. At the time, growing food in the back yard was not a great challenge—most people were at most a generation away from some sort of home food production. Those who were not had ready access to the knowledge of neighbors or elders.

In the years since World War II, we’ve so absorbed the notion that food should come from trucks that a Victory Garden would be beyond the capability of most. Similarly, cheap clothing shipped across the world has made sewing a quaint thing of the past. Skills that were commonplace less than 100 years ago have disappeared. What we’ve lost, says Hopkins, is resilience.

The Transition Towns movement aims to rebuild that, from the ground up. One key to the success of the movement has been that it invites people on a journey of change, starting where they are right now, rather than using fear or guilt as motivators. The news about peak oil and climate change is still poorly understood by many; helping people adjust to what seems very bad news is part of the Transition Town program.

Equally important is an emphasis on solutions and positive possibilities. Hopkins offered a 10-week “Skilling Up for Powerdown” course in Transition Town Totnes, where he now lives. The course took participants from an introduction to peak oil and climate change through all aspects of transition life—food, housing, energy, money, and personal preparation. Transition Town Totnes has an active program of planting nut trees in private and municipal spaces, an exercise in making carbon-consuming trees a food source. They’ve introduced the Totnes pound, a local currency that has seen 10 thousand one-pound notes go into circulation in the last year.

Transition Town initiatives are purely grassroots. That is a matter of necessity, since even local governments are behind the curve on the issue. It is also a matter of preference. If a low-carbon future means reliance on community resources, no one knows those better than the locals.

The Transition Towns movement responds to the challenges of peak oil, climate change, and sustainability. Not a happy combination. But, says Hopkins, “It feels to me that one of the reasons the Transition Towns movement has grown so fast is that it is positive in a time where it is hard to find positivity, solutions-based in a time when the problems are so glaringly obvious, and fun, in a time where we’re not supposed to have time for that any more.”
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Doug Pibel wrote this article as part of Stop Global Warming Cold, the Spring 2008 issue of YES! Magazine. Doug is YES! managing editor

Sustainable Development Core of Benicia General Plan

2008-01-14T18:58:00.000-08:00

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

One of the first governing bodies in the United States to develop a definition for sustainable development that fits the vision of this Plan was the Minnesota State legislature. They define sustainable development as that which “maintains or enhances economic opportunity and community well-being while protecting and restoring the natural environment upon which people and economies depend. Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

“Sustainability” in this General Plan conveys long-term interdependent economic and environmental goals that promote efficient land use. It is a way of thinking and acting responsibly with respect to environmental, social, and economic issues at everwidening levels of awareness or “integration.” That is, what is done at the project or local level can affect all levels of the environment, including the local community, neighboring regions, the country, and the world.

Sustainable development implies urban areas that reflect a long-term economic horizon; result in efficient land use patterns that are not overly energy-intensive; have sufficient linkages to the local and regional economy to assure long-term job creation and economic vitality; support ecologically sensitive design features; and value the public realm.

The concept of creating a sustainable community in Benicia is a primary goal and objective of the General Plan. The concept affects all chapters of the Plan and all aspects of the community. While it is assumed that this Plan cannot radically change the nature of Benicia, the goal and intent is to create a more livable and sustainable community over time.

(Benicia General Plan - pg.22, Part I, chap. 2)