Wednesday, June 11, 2008
John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins on Green Tech
Here's a great speech by John Doerr on the challenges of Climate Change.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Carl Pope and Van Jones
Here's an interesting video discussion between Carl Pope, the Sierra Club's National Director, and Van Jones of the Ella Baker Center and Green for All.
Dr. Donald Aitken Video on Renewable Energy
I came across this slightly dated but excellent video on renewable energy potential in the U.S., and though the quality of the film leaves a bit to be desired, the quality of the information and the speaker, Dr. Donald Aitken of the Union of Concerned Scientists, is first rate. If anyone ever tells you that we can't replace fossil fuels with renewables, give them this link.
North Bay Clean Energy Alliance
In spite of all the recent press about record gas prices, increasing home foreclosures, troubling unemployment figures, food price increases and the credit squeeze, the overarching issue of global climate change is still the 1000 pound elephant in the room. If we don’t start turning the corner on reducing GHG’s, and soon, all of these other concerns will pale in comparison as our civilization starts to face much more extreme challenges just for its very survival. But we, the people, simply don’t seem ready to believe what we’re being told by our best scientists, as well as many of our most knowledgeable and respected government, religious and business leaders. Or if we do understand the severity of the situation, we simply don’t know what to do to help. It seems too large a problem, and too remote in many ways, for us to act on it.
If we did really feel that we were in a climate crisis, then wouldn’t even the average person on the street be demanding that our leaders find solutions, and wouldn’t there be huge demonstrations on campuses? If we really believed there was a sense of urgency about needing to mitigate the root causes of climate change, wouldn’t most of us be willing to pitch in and help?
While there is a growing awareness about the issue, and many fine efforts are underway to educate and engage the public about the seriousness of the problem, the fact is most of us are continuing to go about our everyday lives as if the most profound natural disaster any of us will ever experience is NOT ACTUALLY HAPPENING—mainly, I believe, because it’s occurring so (relatively) slowly that it’s hard for us to discern or grasp except when we see melting ice caps or other more dramatic signals that things are changing.
The Sonoma Climate Protection Campaign recently released a graph showing that, despite all of the laudable efforts in recent years by residents, businesses and municipalities to install renewable energy and become more energy efficient, greenhouse gas emissions actually INCREASED last yeast year in the county. Clearly, we need to make much bolder, more significant steps and on a much broader scale than we have so far. But where’s the political will? Where is the public outcry?
With this as a backdrop, what if you were told that a means does exist not only to reduce GHG emissions to meet the necessary goals we have in our area, but that employing this solution could also spark an economic “Green Rush” in the North Bay employing hundreds of people as well as act as an inspiration to other communities across the nation?
This, I believe, is the potential created by forming a North Bay Clean Energy Alliance (or Community Choice Aggregation—CCA and Joint Powers Authority—JPA) to give Sonoma County residents a choice of getting their electricity from much greener sources than is currently offered by P. G & E. Marin County is already several years into this process and city and town councils there will be deciding by November whether to form just such a JPA. If it passes, Sonoma cities (or the County of Sonoma) could choose to join it, thereby giving those communities the choice of purchasing electricity produced either partially or 100% from renewable sources.
In addition to allowing us to meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets, here are a few additional benefits of the program:
Energy Independence and Jobs: Originally, the JPA would contract with renewable energy suppliers from across the western US. Over time, this Power Authority could invest in local power generation, thereby creating jobs in the local economy. Eventually (and this is my dream), with a large base of installed Solar generating capacity we could convert a lot of our local vehicle miles driven to electric vehicles, and charge them using locally produced, renewable power. Since transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Sonoma County, this would go a long way towards reducing our local carbon footprint.
Price Stability: Publicly-financed power costs less than private power. There are already many successful, municipally-owned utilities in California and ALL of them offer power at less than current P G & E rates. By investing in renewable technologies we can sign long-term contracts for power at guaranteed rates and eliminate the severe price fluctuations and uncertainty such as we're experiencing today in the energy markets.
Local Control: Unlike investor-owned utilities such as P G & E, local governments are accountable to their residents. The decision-making process of a North Bay Clean Energy Alliance would be accessible and accountable to the community because it would be overseen by our local elected representatives.
Aggregating the purchasing power of thousands of residents and businesses would enable power to be obtained and offered at or below current P.G & E prices for the partially green option, and would require nothing from residents other than to encourage their leaders to adopt the program. Residents would have the OPTION of going 100% green right away, for a premium. The exact premium would depend on the number of participants, but is expected to be between 5% and 10% over current rates.
For more information on the Marin Clean Energy campaign, go here:
Marin Clean Energy Website
If we did really feel that we were in a climate crisis, then wouldn’t even the average person on the street be demanding that our leaders find solutions, and wouldn’t there be huge demonstrations on campuses? If we really believed there was a sense of urgency about needing to mitigate the root causes of climate change, wouldn’t most of us be willing to pitch in and help?
While there is a growing awareness about the issue, and many fine efforts are underway to educate and engage the public about the seriousness of the problem, the fact is most of us are continuing to go about our everyday lives as if the most profound natural disaster any of us will ever experience is NOT ACTUALLY HAPPENING—mainly, I believe, because it’s occurring so (relatively) slowly that it’s hard for us to discern or grasp except when we see melting ice caps or other more dramatic signals that things are changing.
The Sonoma Climate Protection Campaign recently released a graph showing that, despite all of the laudable efforts in recent years by residents, businesses and municipalities to install renewable energy and become more energy efficient, greenhouse gas emissions actually INCREASED last yeast year in the county. Clearly, we need to make much bolder, more significant steps and on a much broader scale than we have so far. But where’s the political will? Where is the public outcry?
With this as a backdrop, what if you were told that a means does exist not only to reduce GHG emissions to meet the necessary goals we have in our area, but that employing this solution could also spark an economic “Green Rush” in the North Bay employing hundreds of people as well as act as an inspiration to other communities across the nation?
This, I believe, is the potential created by forming a North Bay Clean Energy Alliance (or Community Choice Aggregation—CCA and Joint Powers Authority—JPA) to give Sonoma County residents a choice of getting their electricity from much greener sources than is currently offered by P. G & E. Marin County is already several years into this process and city and town councils there will be deciding by November whether to form just such a JPA. If it passes, Sonoma cities (or the County of Sonoma) could choose to join it, thereby giving those communities the choice of purchasing electricity produced either partially or 100% from renewable sources.
In addition to allowing us to meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets, here are a few additional benefits of the program:
Energy Independence and Jobs: Originally, the JPA would contract with renewable energy suppliers from across the western US. Over time, this Power Authority could invest in local power generation, thereby creating jobs in the local economy. Eventually (and this is my dream), with a large base of installed Solar generating capacity we could convert a lot of our local vehicle miles driven to electric vehicles, and charge them using locally produced, renewable power. Since transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Sonoma County, this would go a long way towards reducing our local carbon footprint.
Price Stability: Publicly-financed power costs less than private power. There are already many successful, municipally-owned utilities in California and ALL of them offer power at less than current P G & E rates. By investing in renewable technologies we can sign long-term contracts for power at guaranteed rates and eliminate the severe price fluctuations and uncertainty such as we're experiencing today in the energy markets.
Local Control: Unlike investor-owned utilities such as P G & E, local governments are accountable to their residents. The decision-making process of a North Bay Clean Energy Alliance would be accessible and accountable to the community because it would be overseen by our local elected representatives.
Aggregating the purchasing power of thousands of residents and businesses would enable power to be obtained and offered at or below current P.G & E prices for the partially green option, and would require nothing from residents other than to encourage their leaders to adopt the program. Residents would have the OPTION of going 100% green right away, for a premium. The exact premium would depend on the number of participants, but is expected to be between 5% and 10% over current rates.
For more information on the Marin Clean Energy campaign, go here:
Marin Clean Energy Website
Sunday, May 18, 2008
An Era of Unmatched Opportunity
Without question, we are witnessing one of the most profound changes in the political, environmental, business and social climate of my lifetime. Over the last several weeks I've attended several conferences and meetings in Sonoma County (Everybody Profits IV and the Sustainable Enterprise Conference to name two) and I am heartened at the emerging awareness about sustainability that is becoming evident across all age groups, socio-economic groups, and within the business community. Whatever the motivation, be it saving money, making a living or altruism, going green is starting to work its way into all sectors of the community. As I have mentioned before, Author Paul Hawken feels this transition era is one of unmatched opportunity since so much about our business culture and personal lifestyles needs to be redesigned, retooled and changed through innovation. I completely agree.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
70,000,000 Tons of C02 Per day
I just heard Al Gore say in an interview on PBS that worldwide "we pour 70 million tons of CO2 into the thin belt of atmosphere surrounding our planet EACH AND EVERY DAY as if it were a sewer." Think about that a moment.
Sobering at best. Terrifying at the worst.
Isn't that exactly what we're doing? Treating our sky as a big sewer?
And each and every day we keep hoping someone else will solve the problem. While I do see progress and a widening awareness, particularly in the Bay Area, it is quite frustrating at times.
Sobering at best. Terrifying at the worst.
Isn't that exactly what we're doing? Treating our sky as a big sewer?
And each and every day we keep hoping someone else will solve the problem. While I do see progress and a widening awareness, particularly in the Bay Area, it is quite frustrating at times.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Altamonte Pass Wind Farms
A videographer friend (Gerry Wilson of Take 2 Video) and I toured some solar and wind installations yesterday. It was a beautiful spring day to be out shooting. Here are a few images.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sustainable Photography Initiative
This year marks my 30th as a professional photographer. Much of that time I’ve owned and operated my own studio, but I also worked for 8 years as a staff photojournalist for a local paper, collaboratively managed a colleague’s studio for several years and spent two incredible years in the mid 90’s immersed in the early days of the web—helping to design and launch a wedding-specific search engine. This varied experience has given me a fairly good grasp on what it takes to run a studio—not just as a creative image-maker but all the other aspects too: from graphic design to marketing, from computer retouching to managing media assets, from business analysis to bookkeeping, and from salesmanship to client psychology. We really do have a lot to manage in our Studios and it rarely gets boring, that’s for sure.
Over the last few years, as we’ve all been hearing more and more about global climate change, I’ve devoted a great deal of time to researching the issue. Because of this I’ve also been thinking more than ever about my business and its effects on, and interconnectedness with, the environment. Like many of you I’ve been conscious and careful of energy use—mostly, to be honest, because of its high cost—and have dutifully recycled things like paper, cardboard, cans and bottles for most of my life. More recently I’ve added used batteries to the list and prefer to use rechargeables whenever possible instead of single use products. And of course I’ve switched to CFL’s from regular incandescent light bulbs.
But the research I’ve been doing has brought me to a concept much deeper and more profound than simple recycling: that of sustainability. Although the elements required to fully describe and facilitate sustainability are almost unimaginably complex, a simple definition that covers all of them is:
“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
In other words, being a sustainable society requires not only that we consider the needs of our own families, livelihoods, and the commons that we all share today (air, water, raw materials, public lands, etc.) but that we also consider the needs of future generations. Sustainability encompasses not just environmental issues but economic and social justice aspects of our culture as well.
It has become painfully clear that for many reasons, including population growth and our highly successful economic system, we are burning through many of our natural resources at a completely unsustainable rate. Crude oil, for example, is not just the source for the energy that runs our cars but also the petrochemicals used in everything from plastics to fertilizers, from food additives to pharmaceuticals. While there is a debate about just when Peak Oil—the point at which half of all the oil available (and a majority of the "cheap" or easy to extract oil has been pumped out and used up) will occur, most sources I have read estimate it will happen sometime in the next 10 to 20 years. Some feel we are already past this threshold. When we do hit Peak Oil it, and all the products derived from it, will become increasingly expensive. Oil is a finite resource that took millions of years for the earth to create and just about 200 ears for humans to blow through—by any measure an unsustainable practice that the vast majority of scientists worldwide agree has also been a major contributor to global climate change. We’ve over-cut our forests, over-fished the seas, and have repeated the same short-sighted behavior with almost every other resource we have.
(For a GREAT little primer on sustainability and our culture check out The Story of Stuff.)
Many of the challenges we’re now facing worldwide in the natural environment (as well as in the economic and social environments) are, I believe, a direct result of our inattention to the concept of sustainability. Up until the industrial revolution we just weren’t technologically advanced enough to be able to affect the commons in the ways we have since, and humans are now awesomely adept at plundering and altering these community assets at an ever-increasing rate.
It’s understandable how we got here: our societies and industries developed in a much different time—in a world with drastically lower population, seemingly unlimited resources and natural assets that appeared too vast to be adversely affected by our human activities. But the world we live in now has changed and we’re beginning to understand the true interconnectedness of our biosphere and its limits.
Consider this statistic:
“Industry moves, mines, extracts, shovels, burns, wastes, pumps and disposes of four million pounds of material in order to provide one average, middle-class American family their needs for a year.”
This sobering information, taken from visionary carpet industry leader Ray Anderson’s company website (http://www.interfaceinc.com/), highlights the crux of the problem. While the United States only has about 5% of the world’s population it consumes about 25% of the resources extracted worldwide each year. China, India and other developing nations are catching up quickly, however, and they crave the same creature comforts we have: flush toilets, central heating and cooling, reliable transportation, a plentiful variety of food—all part of a lifestyle we in America take for granted. But unfortunately there just aren’t enough resources to go around at this point in our history and as these 21st century economic powerhouses expand we’re going to start to see shortages of many resources (such as oil, wood, concrete, steel, food and water) in the west, and dramatically rising prices. We already have. And our resource depleting industries are polluting the commons for everyone in the bargain.
In spite of this gloomy forecast there are many (myself included) who feel there is a huge economic opportunity offered by this crisis. By creating products and processes that “reduce, reuse and recycle” our resources and waste we can move towards a much more sustainable business model while also rewarding the entrepreneurs. In addition, necessity will spawn whole new industries and marketing models (such as leasing, rather than selling carpet—then returning it to the factory for re-manufacture).
I recently came across this wonderful quote from the website www.worldchanging.com:
“Business doesn't have to be destructive. At its core, business is about livelihoods and service: providing for our needs by providing what others need. Increasingly, all sorts of people, from CEO's and economists to consumers and small investors, are realizing that we can remake business to truly serve the public good - and make a lot of money in the process. We can build businesses that embrace sustainability, openness, and fairness not as a sideline ethical consideration, but as the path to profits. Indeed, millions of people are involved in efforts to capture the profit that's available through healing the planet.”
This last point was confirmed for me personally at the Bioneers (www.bioneers.com) convention last Fall when speaker after speaker spoke eloquently of the successes (financial and otherwise) they had realized by working in emerging sustainable fields (such as renewable energy, organic food production and restaurants, green chemistry or biomimicry) or by integrating sustainable practices into their businesses. The inspiring message came across loud and clear: by discovering what positive new models and practices can and are being developed or achieved, integrating what we learn into our personal lives and businesses, and sharing these with others, needed changes will take place. Eventually a paradigm shift hopefully will occur and the sustainable ethic will be the rule, rather than the exception, in our culture.
So, what does all this have to do with my photography business, or your studio? I’ve come to the conclusion that you and I CAN make a difference, that we hold the keys as business owners, employees and/or consumers to begin shifting our small section of the economy (the imaging industry) towards a more sustainable ethic by carefully choosing what we buy and who we do business with.
This will be done first by educating ourselves about the many products we use and how their manufacture, use, and disposal affect the environment. Becoming aware of the existing green options and alternatives will then allow us to make purchasing choices supporting companies offering the alternatives or practices we want to encourage, driving the market as a whole in the right direction. Some companies are already well on their way to green awareness, others are just starting the process. (We do need to beware of greenwashing—the practice of companies making token green efforts as marketing ploys—but the journey towards sustainability will be made one step at a time. We all have to start somewhere.)
Right now it’s true that many green alternatives are more “expensive” when compared in the traditional sense to existing products—without taking into consideration the environmental externalities (google the term for lots of information) paid by the public and the economic subsidies that give many entrenched industries an unfair advantage. Some green alternatives are very competitive even today, but the reality is many of us just won’t be able to afford go totally green until economies of scale in production drive costs down to make them competitive. This is starting to happen, but it will take time. There are still many things we can do today, however, and that’s why I have chosen to start this Initiative, and forum.
So I am hereby challenging everyone in the photographic industry who is interested in sustainability to help move this idea forward. If you want to help, get in touch with me at sustainablephoto@gmail.com.
In the next post I’ll start outlining things I have learned that we can do as photographers, or those involved in the imaging industry, which I hope will facilitate an ongoing discussion regarding sustainability and green alternatives. I certainly do not have all the answers and am not 100% green by any means. I don’t think that’s possible in today’s developed society anyway. But I’m working on it, and what I’ve learned, as well as what I will learn from others, might be helpful to the larger community.
Items for future discussion will be:
Renewable energy (solar and small wind) at your home or commercial location
Products from sustainably managed forests (frames, copy paper, building materials)
Sources for recycled bags, print folders and packaging
Sources for shipping containers and shipping materials made from recycled materials
Computer and electronics recycling
Print cartridge recycling programs
Carbon offsets
Letter campaigns to our vendors
Global climate change information
For more information about sustainability, go here:
Natural Step Network
Wikipedia Definition
Sustainability Institute
Earth Charter
ZeroFootprint Calculator
Raymond Baltar
Over the last few years, as we’ve all been hearing more and more about global climate change, I’ve devoted a great deal of time to researching the issue. Because of this I’ve also been thinking more than ever about my business and its effects on, and interconnectedness with, the environment. Like many of you I’ve been conscious and careful of energy use—mostly, to be honest, because of its high cost—and have dutifully recycled things like paper, cardboard, cans and bottles for most of my life. More recently I’ve added used batteries to the list and prefer to use rechargeables whenever possible instead of single use products. And of course I’ve switched to CFL’s from regular incandescent light bulbs.
But the research I’ve been doing has brought me to a concept much deeper and more profound than simple recycling: that of sustainability. Although the elements required to fully describe and facilitate sustainability are almost unimaginably complex, a simple definition that covers all of them is:
“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
In other words, being a sustainable society requires not only that we consider the needs of our own families, livelihoods, and the commons that we all share today (air, water, raw materials, public lands, etc.) but that we also consider the needs of future generations. Sustainability encompasses not just environmental issues but economic and social justice aspects of our culture as well.
It has become painfully clear that for many reasons, including population growth and our highly successful economic system, we are burning through many of our natural resources at a completely unsustainable rate. Crude oil, for example, is not just the source for the energy that runs our cars but also the petrochemicals used in everything from plastics to fertilizers, from food additives to pharmaceuticals. While there is a debate about just when Peak Oil—the point at which half of all the oil available (and a majority of the "cheap" or easy to extract oil has been pumped out and used up) will occur, most sources I have read estimate it will happen sometime in the next 10 to 20 years. Some feel we are already past this threshold. When we do hit Peak Oil it, and all the products derived from it, will become increasingly expensive. Oil is a finite resource that took millions of years for the earth to create and just about 200 ears for humans to blow through—by any measure an unsustainable practice that the vast majority of scientists worldwide agree has also been a major contributor to global climate change. We’ve over-cut our forests, over-fished the seas, and have repeated the same short-sighted behavior with almost every other resource we have.
(For a GREAT little primer on sustainability and our culture check out The Story of Stuff.)
Many of the challenges we’re now facing worldwide in the natural environment (as well as in the economic and social environments) are, I believe, a direct result of our inattention to the concept of sustainability. Up until the industrial revolution we just weren’t technologically advanced enough to be able to affect the commons in the ways we have since, and humans are now awesomely adept at plundering and altering these community assets at an ever-increasing rate.
It’s understandable how we got here: our societies and industries developed in a much different time—in a world with drastically lower population, seemingly unlimited resources and natural assets that appeared too vast to be adversely affected by our human activities. But the world we live in now has changed and we’re beginning to understand the true interconnectedness of our biosphere and its limits.
Consider this statistic:
“Industry moves, mines, extracts, shovels, burns, wastes, pumps and disposes of four million pounds of material in order to provide one average, middle-class American family their needs for a year.”
This sobering information, taken from visionary carpet industry leader Ray Anderson’s company website (http://www.interfaceinc.com/), highlights the crux of the problem. While the United States only has about 5% of the world’s population it consumes about 25% of the resources extracted worldwide each year. China, India and other developing nations are catching up quickly, however, and they crave the same creature comforts we have: flush toilets, central heating and cooling, reliable transportation, a plentiful variety of food—all part of a lifestyle we in America take for granted. But unfortunately there just aren’t enough resources to go around at this point in our history and as these 21st century economic powerhouses expand we’re going to start to see shortages of many resources (such as oil, wood, concrete, steel, food and water) in the west, and dramatically rising prices. We already have. And our resource depleting industries are polluting the commons for everyone in the bargain.
In spite of this gloomy forecast there are many (myself included) who feel there is a huge economic opportunity offered by this crisis. By creating products and processes that “reduce, reuse and recycle” our resources and waste we can move towards a much more sustainable business model while also rewarding the entrepreneurs. In addition, necessity will spawn whole new industries and marketing models (such as leasing, rather than selling carpet—then returning it to the factory for re-manufacture).
I recently came across this wonderful quote from the website www.worldchanging.com:
“Business doesn't have to be destructive. At its core, business is about livelihoods and service: providing for our needs by providing what others need. Increasingly, all sorts of people, from CEO's and economists to consumers and small investors, are realizing that we can remake business to truly serve the public good - and make a lot of money in the process. We can build businesses that embrace sustainability, openness, and fairness not as a sideline ethical consideration, but as the path to profits. Indeed, millions of people are involved in efforts to capture the profit that's available through healing the planet.”
This last point was confirmed for me personally at the Bioneers (www.bioneers.com) convention last Fall when speaker after speaker spoke eloquently of the successes (financial and otherwise) they had realized by working in emerging sustainable fields (such as renewable energy, organic food production and restaurants, green chemistry or biomimicry) or by integrating sustainable practices into their businesses. The inspiring message came across loud and clear: by discovering what positive new models and practices can and are being developed or achieved, integrating what we learn into our personal lives and businesses, and sharing these with others, needed changes will take place. Eventually a paradigm shift hopefully will occur and the sustainable ethic will be the rule, rather than the exception, in our culture.
So, what does all this have to do with my photography business, or your studio? I’ve come to the conclusion that you and I CAN make a difference, that we hold the keys as business owners, employees and/or consumers to begin shifting our small section of the economy (the imaging industry) towards a more sustainable ethic by carefully choosing what we buy and who we do business with.
This will be done first by educating ourselves about the many products we use and how their manufacture, use, and disposal affect the environment. Becoming aware of the existing green options and alternatives will then allow us to make purchasing choices supporting companies offering the alternatives or practices we want to encourage, driving the market as a whole in the right direction. Some companies are already well on their way to green awareness, others are just starting the process. (We do need to beware of greenwashing—the practice of companies making token green efforts as marketing ploys—but the journey towards sustainability will be made one step at a time. We all have to start somewhere.)
Right now it’s true that many green alternatives are more “expensive” when compared in the traditional sense to existing products—without taking into consideration the environmental externalities (google the term for lots of information) paid by the public and the economic subsidies that give many entrenched industries an unfair advantage. Some green alternatives are very competitive even today, but the reality is many of us just won’t be able to afford go totally green until economies of scale in production drive costs down to make them competitive. This is starting to happen, but it will take time. There are still many things we can do today, however, and that’s why I have chosen to start this Initiative, and forum.
So I am hereby challenging everyone in the photographic industry who is interested in sustainability to help move this idea forward. If you want to help, get in touch with me at sustainablephoto@gmail.com.
In the next post I’ll start outlining things I have learned that we can do as photographers, or those involved in the imaging industry, which I hope will facilitate an ongoing discussion regarding sustainability and green alternatives. I certainly do not have all the answers and am not 100% green by any means. I don’t think that’s possible in today’s developed society anyway. But I’m working on it, and what I’ve learned, as well as what I will learn from others, might be helpful to the larger community.
Items for future discussion will be:
Renewable energy (solar and small wind) at your home or commercial location
Products from sustainably managed forests (frames, copy paper, building materials)
Sources for recycled bags, print folders and packaging
Sources for shipping containers and shipping materials made from recycled materials
Computer and electronics recycling
Print cartridge recycling programs
Carbon offsets
Letter campaigns to our vendors
Global climate change information
For more information about sustainability, go here:
Natural Step Network
Wikipedia Definition
Sustainability Institute
Earth Charter
ZeroFootprint Calculator
Raymond Baltar
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Carbon Capping
One of the best ways we have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is through carbon capping, the policy of setting a limit on the amount of carbon that can be released into the atmosphere and gradually reducing that limit over time.
Here is a simple explanation of the three proposed methods of carbon capping that will help you understand the concept.
Here is a simple explanation of the three proposed methods of carbon capping that will help you understand the concept.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Coop America, Green Printer, Clean Energy
Here are a few interesting and useful Websites that some of you might not be aware of:
CoopAmerica.org Harnessing economic power to create a socially just and sustainable society. This is a fantastic site I just became aware of.
WorldChanging.com Sustainability Website Another great site chock full of ideas and solutions.
Popular Science's 50 Greenest American Cities
GreenPrinter.com Green printing services located in Berkeley, certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council. This is a model for how industries that were formerly toxic and wasteful can change and adapt to green principles—and prosper at the same time.
Clean Energy States Alliance website. A clearinghouse of great information on what states are doing to promote clean energy technologies and case studies on existing, new and emerging programs.
CoopAmerica.org Harnessing economic power to create a socially just and sustainable society. This is a fantastic site I just became aware of.
WorldChanging.com Sustainability Website Another great site chock full of ideas and solutions.
Popular Science's 50 Greenest American Cities
GreenPrinter.com Green printing services located in Berkeley, certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council. This is a model for how industries that were formerly toxic and wasteful can change and adapt to green principles—and prosper at the same time.
Clean Energy States Alliance website. A clearinghouse of great information on what states are doing to promote clean energy technologies and case studies on existing, new and emerging programs.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Solar, Green Collar Jobs, and the IBEW
I spent the weekend at an intensive two day training on solar technology given locally by the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) and NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association) and found it a valuable, fascinating experience on multiple levels. Much of it was specifically aimed at experienced electricians and therefore over my head, but I also learned a great deal about the nuts and bolts (literally) of designing, sizing, building and costing of solar systems, the CSI (California Solar Initiative) rebate system, as well as what these unions are doing to promote the technology. It was excellent quality training as well as a VERY, VERY encouraging and amazing glimpse into the emerging Green Collar economy as seen not through political and/or environmental lenses (my area of interest) but rather from the perspective of the “brothers and sisters” who will actually be rebuilding our energy infrastructure over the coming century.
They have big, big plans to become leaders in this emerging new world of renewable energy and the leadership, at least, really gets it from both the environmental and the jobs perspective. The rank and file (at least the ones I talked to) were not much interested in the environmental or sustainable aspects of solar, which were covered in the lecture portion of the training, but mostly had an attitude of “What can solar do for me economically?” -- which may not be what dedicated environmentalists want to hear but is an important thing to know. I was impressed, however, that there was a section dedicated to showing some dramatic comparisons between truck models and GHG emissions (as well as cost savings) and there were some favorable comments from the group on this information.
In my opinion, after this experience, I see the success of the Green Economy (and therefore our best chance of mitigating the worst effects of climate crisis) as being quite dependent on selling the economic aspects of Green to the millions of workers who can feed and clothe their families from it rather than on the more altruistic environmental ideas. We still need both approaches, but should expand and reformulate our message to better support and partner with the emerging efforts going on in the trades and elsewhere. Some may fear such partnerships are ripe for greenwashing, but I can assure you the IBEW/NECA efforts are anything but.
On that note, when I read last year on a flight that Carl Pope, the Sierra Club and the US Steelworkers Union had formed a friendly working relationship I was a bit incredulous ( See Article 1 and See Article 2 ). But after this personal experience I firmly believe that environmental groups should partner with labor AND business as a linchpin of the overall strategy to effect the fastest possible change away from coal, natural gas and nuclear towards renewables. This kind of strategy is certainly not without controversy, as was outlined in the recent article in the SF Chronicle on former Sierra Club president Adam Werbach’s working relationship with Wal-Mart. But I would argue working with Wal-Mart is quite different from engaging labor unions mainly because unions and union jobs HELP build local economies, whereas the Wal-Marts of the world, while admittedly beneficial to some individuals in the community, have also proven to be quite destructive to local businesses as well as the antithesis of the emerging Buy-Local movement.
A few of the amazing things I learned were: the IBEW has already flown to China and has arranged an initial purchase of a huge number of solar panels. They're going into the distribution business themselves and will continue to purchase overseas only until they can partner with companies to build more plants here in the US, which they also plan to do. They even have plans to use their pension funds, which are substantial, to start providing financing for solar installations. Think, if you will, of the potential for tapping the pension and retirement funds of this country's unions to power the growth of the Green Economy. Especially in the trades, where union membership has been falling for many years, this money would be bringing more and more young people back into the fold which would help fund the pensions of the current members. It's a Win-Win all around.
I want to thank the IBEW and NECA for this wonderful educational opportunity. I learned a great deal--and not just about electrical connections!
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