Comments kyotousa has made

grassroots solutions

Big federal public works projects that install renewables and feed-in tariffs for residential and non-residential electrcity users are two key elements in the swift transition to carbon free energy.

While Adam and Mike are working on those solutions, the rest of us who are itching to get involved, need to look no further than our local public schools. Beset by growing budget shortfalls our schools are in real jeopardy. They can, however, begin to address their fiscal problems by implementing strict conservation requirements, improving efficiencies in existing energy systems, and adding renewable systems to their rooftops and parking lots.

We've developed a model (HELiOS) for California public schools (that should work in any state that offers rebates or incentives for renewable energy systems) that demonstrates how it is possible to install a PV system without increasing a school district's operating costs. All that it requires is the modest financial support of the local community. Once installed, the district pays for the PV system from its avoided electricity costs.

California has nearly 10,000 public schools and many additional district owned buildings. It's not hard to imagine California's schools producing 500 to 1,000 MW and more while creating good paying jobs, reducing carbon emissions, and showing our children that we're serious about addressing climate change.    

You can see how HELiOS works at our in-progress, not yet released website: www.heliosproject.net And you can always contact us if you want more information.
   

Tom Kelly

Just say no

The recommendations for eating healthy and sustainable fish require a consumer to be pretty savvy about this issue. I've watched health department colleagues try to pass those messages on to the public for years with little effect. I have a simple solution - let's give the fish and the planet a break and end our consumption of fish and other aquatic animals. Get your fatty acids from vegetables. We'll reduce our exposure to mercury (especially children and women of child-bearing age), give the wild species a chance to rebound, and do away with farmed animals who are treated cruelly and end fish farming practices that affect the health of the oceans and other wild species. Problems solved!

Tom Kelly

Necessity, not luxury

Bravo to the State of California for making it possible for cities to provide financing for energy efficiencies and renewables. It will be interesting to see if it results in an upsurge in solar installations and efficiency upgrades.

It could have a remarkable effect if we would all stop wringing our hands over "payback" periods to determine if switching to renewables or more efficient technology is affordable. Ask yourself this: when you go into a car dealership (if that's still a place you're likely to visit), how often do you ask the salesperson to calculate the "payback" on the car? You don't - because a car is generally considered to be necessity. And that's the attitude we have to adopt with existing technologies like solar panels. The implementation of solutions that will help to stave off irreversible changes in the planet's finely tuned climate shouldn't be calculated on a typical cost-benefit analysis.

If you live in Berkeley, CA you can sign up its financing program which is set to kick-off this fall. Making this program work in Berkeley will give other California cities the confidence to launch their own programs. See, http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=22620 ...
 

Tom Kelly

700,000 evacuated - really?

I spoke with a colleague in San Diego this morning (Wednesday) about the size and scope of the SoCal wildfires, expressing my amazement at the number of people displaced. He indicated that the number is overstated and sent this link along (http://www.signonsandiego.com/firemap/) that indicates that the number is less than 100,000. Still a lot, but I wonder why there's such a disparity. Any ideas?On California wildfires continue to rage posted 2 years, 1 month ago 1 Response

I'm impressed!

The work that is being done on climate change by colleges and universities (and some high schools, too!) is really quite remarkable. My hat's off to all of you.

For those institutions that have built some internal capacity on this issue, I would encourage you to reach out to the cities and towns in which you are located to form partnerships that will help local government and its residents to step up their efforts to address climate change. Issues such as transportation, housing, purchasing, and community offset projects, are examples of common issues that are more effectively addressed by collective action. It's working here in Berkeley and is opening up additional opportunities that may not have been otherwise possible.On 15 Green Colleges and Universities posted 2 years, 2 months ago 62 Responses

another vote for taxing gas

A modest tax on gas, diesel, and aviation fuels will provide states and municpalities with the revenue to address the major sources of greenhouse gas emisssons - transportation and energy. A gas tax can be implemented quickly relative to a carbon tax assessed against fossil fuel producers. We tried to get a carbon tax on energy producers passed in California last year and it failed! If the measure had passed, it would assuredly have been challenged in the courts robbing us of the few remaining years we have to make real reductions in GHGs.

Over the last 7 years, Californians have consumed nearly 16 billion gallons of gas a year. At $3.25/gallon, all taxes amount to approximately $0.66. If we were to assess an additional $0.25/gallon as a gas tax for the carbon produced (assumes that carbon costs $25/ton), we would have an additional $4 billion annually to fund:

1. Better and cheaper public transportation that would benefit low and middle income earners;
   
2. Increase state subsidies for energy efficiency programs and renewable energy;
   
3. Provide incentives for more fuel efficient and lower emission vehicles including those used in agriculture.

Tom Kelly

NY solar

You'll find lots of good information on solar for all States at DSIRE (http://www.dsireusa.org/) It will give all the skinny on rebates (Rick - $3.75/watt - wow! - if you're served by the Long Island Power Authority), incentives, federal tax breaks, and more. It's a real bargain out there on the Island. Here in PG&E territory in northern California, the rebate is a paltry $2.50/watt.

If you want to know what's in the works around the country, see Vote Solar at www.votesolar.org.

And finally - a word about the question "What's the payback on the solar system"? When you buy underwear, soap, food, cars, and all of life's necessities (OK, maybe not everyone will agree on the underwear), does one ask the salesperson about the "payback period"? Of course not! And it's about time we stopped asking it about renewable energy. It's now or never! On Umbra on installing solar power posted 2 years, 5 months ago 7 Responses

no such thing as a pest

Build a healthy environment in your garden and you'll create a place where life of all sorts will want to be.

Our garden is full of life, and yes, it includes slugs, aphids, and earwigs and other critters that vendors of toxic chemicals love to portray as pests to extract millions of dollars from us that could be better spent on compost bins, bat boxes or backyard beehives. You do not need to expose yourself, your family, your neighbors, and the other equally important life forms that inhabit the planet to long-lived poisons that are unneccessary for a healthy garden.

Bugs of all sorts play an important role in achieving the type of balance that allows everything else to flourish. Do they occasionally nibble a tender shoot? Sure, but they also provide a food source for the other birds and insects that you want spending some time in your yard. Overtime, and as the balance of your yard improves (improved soil, variation in type, size, and density of plants, sources of water, places for insects to reside) you'll see a greater range of creatures taking up residence. And you'll see your garden with new eyes and find yourself thrilled that the basil has been munched, knowing that your actions have made a contribution to the health and well-being of your garden, your neighborhood, and the planet.On Umbra on fighting pests with pests posted 2 years, 6 months ago 12 Responses

It's really up to all of us

It can be discouraging to hear politicians of all stripes continue to deny humanity's role in creating the climate crisis that we are facing.  But you know what? Politicians generally only "get it" when they realize that public support for a political solution is overwhelming. It's often the only way to overcome the influence of big-money interests that continue to hold sway over both major parties.

We are experiencing a surge of grassroots activity in response to climate change in cities throughout America. We can all play a role in this effort by reducing the greenhouse gases for which we are individually responsible and urging our cities, workplaces, schools, and religious institutions to do the same. If we do (and is there any doubt that we must?), the politicians will follow. They always do.

Tom Kelly

street trees

One cautionary note before we write off tree planting entirely - the article and the comments have raised some valid issues, but run the risk of leaving the reader with the sense that tree planting is of marginal value.

Most of our cities have become "heat islands" as a result of hardscaping and the removal of open space (see, www.epa.gov/heatislands/about/index.html). Typically, a city's downtown can be 10 degrees F hotter than the outskirts. Hotter cities mean more electricy use which means more CO2 in the atmosphere. Street trees, parks, and other open spaces can have an enornous cooling effect. So while I think it's true that we should be cautious in trying to create or extend natural forested areas, we should be doing far more to create and preserve the urban forest.On Umbra on tree planting posted 2 years, 10 months ago 18 Responses

Give Dingell a chance

Dear Rep. Dingell,

I think you make a very good point about New Zealand sheep. New Zealand is home to some 43 million burping, farting, pooping sheep that are undoubtedly producing tens of thousands of tons of methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas. Our paltry herd of 6 million burping, farting, pooping sheep, given their numbers, produces much less.

But did you know, Rep. Dingell, that the US has 93 million (mostly factory farmed) bovine gas producers (107 million if you add the Canadian herd) compared to just 5 million New Zealand cows? So, when it comes to barnyard emissions, I think it's safe to say that we in America are still No. 1! Please try to get your facts straight before passing the blame for US inaction on climate change onto the shoulders of the less culpable.

In that light, I welcome the fact that you will be holding hearings on climate change in the House. The US Congress (with a few notable exceptions) may be the least informed body in the world on global warming and its impacts. The sooner you and your colleagues get to work on creating much stricter CAFE standards (did you know that we can't export American cars to China because they don't meet Chinese gas mileage requirements?), putting some real money into renewable energy tax credits and subsidies (taking them from the carbon industries' overflowing coffers), funding public transportation, taxing carbon emissions, and protecting our remaining forests and open spaces,  the more likely we Americans will be able to stand proudly with the rest of the world in the daunting effort to preserve the diversity of life that inhabits this beautiful planet.

Let's see what you're made of.
On John Dingell talks to Grist about climate change, fuel economy, and the 110th Congress posted 2 years, 11 months ago 17 Responses

Foot the Bill - another resource

The World Resources Institute offers a free how-to publication called "Working 9 to 5 on Climate Change: An Office Guide" that will walk you right through the process of creating a GHG inventory for your office and provides some good ideas for making meaningful reductions. You can download a pdf version at: http://climate.wri.org/officeguide-pub-3756.html
On Getting a toehold on your company's climate footprint posted 3 years, 3 months ago 1 Response

Climate Change and You

Each one of us has the potential to make a significant contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Umbra lists several worthy ideas, you can also get some pretty good ideas from May's "Vanity Fair" of all places. Undertaking as many of these simple lifestyle changes as possible will dramatically reduce our individual carbon footprint.

If you want to do more, you can engage your city in an effort to reduce emissions from its municipal operations. Cities are listening to their residents and are responding. Why? Because becoming more energy efficient saves them a ton of money. Energy for heating, lighting, cooling, and vehicle fleets are significant costs for all cities.

People all around the country are urging their cities take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If you want to learn about how that is being done, contact us at KyotoUSA (kyotousa@sbcglobal.net) and we'll describe what has worked for us. If you want to get your hands on some good organizing material check out the Sierra Club's Cool Cities program (http://coolcities.us/).

This is a very do-able approach to making significant reductions in greenhouse gases and raising public awarenenss. In fact, it's the one place where we can all make one hell of a difference.

Tom Kelly
KyotoUSA On Umbra on global warming and you posted 3 years, 6 months ago 5 Responses

House moderates: Little, late

The real reason that the House Republicans pulled ANWR and the coastal drilling element from the budget bill on Wednesday is because Republicans lost two gubernatorial races on Tuesday that they would have won a year ago. These guys are simply reading the tea leaves and trying to ensure their own re-election. It's as simple as that.

Tom Kelly

Paper or Drastic?

Dominick in Spokane sounds as if he is taking the first step that begins his 1,000 mile journey to a cleaner, healthier planet. Let's encourage that impulse. Neither paper nor plastic is the best choice, Dominick, get yourself a reusable bag made from organic hemp. And then start taking a look at the food you're putting in it. Organic, locally grown, seasonal, and plucked from the earth or a tree are the criteria you'll want to strive to achieve. And if you can walk to the store and back, even better. That should get you started - the big picture will soon come into view.

Your advice, Umbra - to send a check to an environemtal organization or a letter to your Representative - tends to reinforce the civic passivity that has descended upon America and has made us all believe that our salvation lies in the hands of someone else. Americans must be encouraged to recognize that they have real political influence at the local government level and within their local institutions, and that they should begin to exert that power.

The best current example of how local participation can succeed can be seen in the success of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' Climate Protection Agreement. Now at 175 US cities and counting, many of these cities were encouraged to join in setting emission reduction targets for their city operations by the advocacy of average people who petitioned their mayors and city councils to take action. Imagine how much of an impact on climate change we would have if every city in this country adopted this policy? Could the States and Feds be far behind?

And Dominick - the City of Spokane has not yet signed on to the Climate Protection Agreement. It should. Why not pull together a few family and friends and contact Mayor James E. West at 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., Spokane , WA 99201 (509) 625-6250 or the City Manager and ask that the issue be put on the City Council agenda so that you can address the City Council and request its support?

Take a look at the Seattle website on the CCA (www.ci.seattle.wa.us/mayor/climate/) for what the CCA involves, and at our website (www.kyotousa.org) for background material and talking points. And feel free to contact us if you have questions about how other advocates have fared. On Umbra on personal actions that make a real difference posted 4 years, 3 months ago 11 Responses

The Revolution Will Be Localized

Since we're unlikely to see any action from the feds on global warming any time soon, it is heartening to see that States and cities are taking global warming seriously and are beginning to take action and establish policies that reduce their production of greenhouse gases.

Congratulations to ICLEI, Redford, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels for putting this issue before the public - and all in a relatively short period of time.

Now, if we want to build on that momentum and actually get our cities and their governments to follow through on their commitments, we, the folks down here who are going to have actually make life style changes, pay the new taxes, and support these new policies, must become an active (and welcome) element in that process of change. The responsibility for making this a successful partnership - local government and its citizens - falls equally to both parties. We, the citizenry must get involved (we can't expect someone else to do it, if we won't do it ourselves) and our local governments must encourage and accept our participation in that process. A city can do that by establishing a citizen council on global warming and encouraging similar advisory groups in the business, religious and educational community. These advisory councils can look at energy consumption and renewables, water usage, waste production and disposal, purchasing, and more in their respective areas of responsibility. With the support of the citizenry, municipalities can be the real drivers of the type and degree of change that  may give us a shot at avoiding the worst impacts of global warming.
On Sundance getaway converts mayors into climate activists posted 4 years, 4 months ago 1 Response