Sustainable Shift

Sonoma Biochar Initiative

2012-01-06T15:31:00.001-08:00

It's been a LONG time since I have blogged here, but I will start posting updates more regularly this year. In 2011 I finished graduate school, earning a Masters degree in Sustainable Enterprise (a Green MBA) from Dominican University of California. This is why I stopped blogging. From January through May I was totally focused on my Capstone project—co-writing a business and financial plan for a proposed renewable energy/biochar project in Sonoma County called Sonoma Green Energy—and every other activity ground to a halt. After the big presentation and graduation my photography worked picked up again and I was able to enjoy a few weeks off before starting up the High School Senior shooting season in June, which brought me out of the heavily cerebral space I was in and put me right back into the visual space I've loved for all these years.

During this time I also ramped up my involvement with the Sonoma Biochar Initiative, a non-profit whose mission is to educate people about and promote the local use of this potentially game-changing organic material. I currently serve as Director. In October we submitted a proposal to plan and host the 2012 USBI National Conference and we won the bid—a huge undertaking for our small group. I have been heavily involved in the coordination of this project ever since and will be reporting on our progress as we go. The Conference will be attracting 300 + of the top biochar scientists, academics, technologists, entrepreneurs, and media from all around North America and the world to Sonoma County, and you can find out more about it here: USBI Conference.

Biochar

2010-12-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I've become very interested in Biochar, a particularly promising soil amendment that can increase productivity and build soil health while sequestering carbon for hundreds or thousands of years. As a short primer on the subject I offer the following video.

Raymond

Plastics from Mushrooms

2010-10-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

Instead of trying to lure the same old Big Box stores to Petaluma or Santa Rosa in the (short sighted and mostly incorrect) belief that they will increase the tax base (they really just help destroy the local small-business economy), our leaders should be looking for businesses like this to invigorate our local economic fortunes. Wake up folks! There are SO MANY business opportunities like this that actually help restore the planet and provide employment instead of encouraging wasteful and unsustainable consumption.

Eben Bayer, co-inventor of MycoBond, an organic adhesive that turns agriwaste into a foam-like material for packaging and insulation, reveals his recipe for a new, fungus-based packaging material that protects fragile stuff like furniture and plasma screens.

Chris Jordan's Awesome Imagery

2010-09-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

I just watched this powerful TED talk from photographer/artist Chris Jordan and was moved to share it. His work is brilliant and very effective at helping us gain insights into our wasteful and self-destructive practices. He's also a very engaging speaker. Chris shows how photography can be used to educate and inform, and his illustrations are breathtaking.

Reinventing Fire: Amory Lovins Makes the Case

2010-06-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Skin Deep Toxics Database

2010-05-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best sites I've found that enables folks to check out the products they use daily and rate them by their toxicity.

I think you'll be surprised by what you find.

Skin Deep Database

The Oceans are in Trouble

2010-05-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

I urge you to watch this short presentation by coral reef ecologist Jeremy Jackson.

Raymond Baltar

Interview with James Hansen post-Copenhagen

2010-02-21T12:39:00.001-08:00

Here is an important post-Copenhagen interview with James Hansen, Director the Goddard Space Science Institute.

Ross Gelbspan on Climate Change Adaptation

2010-02-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here's an important message from journalist and climate change writer Ross Gelbapan.

Move your Money

2010-01-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

Help send the megabanks that contributed to the financial meltdown a strong message: Move Your Money out of them and into community banks and credit unions. Help build your local economy.

I strongly urge you to check out this web site and view the short video. Take this simple yet powerful action. And write to your City and County representatives about shifting public monies into local banks if they are not deposited there already.

Move Your Money

Very Interesting Documentary on Social Networking

2009-05-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here is an amazing documentary highlighting an enormous shift in our culture, driven by the internet, that may one day transform the way we govern ourselves, own corporations and businesses, and inspire more participation in politics. It's an hour long and takes awhile to develop, but by the end my mind was fired up with the many possibilities generated by the film.

Us Now from Banyak Films on Vimeo.

Shai Agassi's plan for electric cars

2009-05-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a bold plan to convert our transportation model from one based on fossil fuels to one based on electrons created with renewable energy. And this energy is estimated to cost just 2 cents per mile (not including infrastructure costs, of course) by 2020. Yes, we also need to invest in effective and large-scale mass transit systems to make owning a car less of a necessity. But we need to scale electric car use as quickly as we can if we're going to blunt the worst effects of global climate change.

It's bold visions like this that offer the kind of hope we need. Yes, we will have to find a way to recycle all the materials from the cars we replace, but what an opportunity for jobs, eh?

Brain Magic

2009-04-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

OK. We can't be serious Greenheads ALL of the time, can we?

Check out this wonderful magician on TED. Yes, TED.

He's very, very good.

Paul Hawken

2009-03-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

I recently had the profound opportunity to interview and photograph writer/businessman/visionary Paul Hawken at his new offices in Sausalito. Here are a few images from that shoot. I will write more about the experience in a subsequent post but the main takeaway I got was that "there are no insignificant actions" when it comes to working towards a more sustainable world. Sometimes the overwhelming vastness of the challenges before us seem to be insurmountable, but Paul remains bullish on sustainable enterprises and an optimist nonetheless. He's now focused on several exciting new ventures in the field of biomimicry.

Helping create sustainable communities in hard times

2009-03-06T08:39:00.001-08:00

Here is a great, heartwarming story about how those doing well in today's economy can help their community and get great PR at the same time.

From the Press Register in Alabama

Brewton pharmacist launches homegrown economic stimulus with $2 bills
Posted by Connie Baggett, Staff Reporter March 04, 2009 6:50 AM

BREWTON -- A small-town pharmacist intrigued by the government's economic stimulus plan decided to launch his own version with $16,000 in $2 bills, and area stores have already felt the impact.

Danny Cottrell gave each of his full-time employees $700 and part-timers $300. He asked them to donate 15 percent to charity and spend the rest locally, particularly downtown, where store owners say that business has been lean.

"I wanted to do something for my employees, let them know our business is not in jeopardy, and for the local merchants," said Danny Cottrell, owner of The Medical Center Pharmacy with its main store in Brewton and a second in Atmore. "This seemed like a good way to do it."

Cottrell said he paid his employees with $2 bills so he and the rest of the Escambia County business community could see how the money circulates.

Before he explained the plan to his employees last week, Cottrell said, he couldn't resist creating a little suspense.

"Times are hard," he said, "and the downturn has hit us some. Employees start to worry if they will even have a job. So I called a meeting of the staff. One employee broke out in hives from the nerves. My partner, Tom Henderson, said he heard some employees talking about the meeting. They were scared to death."

Cottrell said he began the meeting as usual, encouraging workers to answer phones faster and serve customers better. Then he began passing out envelopes.

When workers saw the cash, some were so excited that they wept, he said.

"I was so worried, I made myself physically sick," said Lana Jackson. "But spending it has been fun. It feels like you are doing a good deed."

Carolyn Kennedy said she was so shocked she couldn't speak at first.

Workers are keeping a log of the stores that they visit, more than 65 at last count. Some have stopped in at stores they never tried before.

From the Winn-Dixie to the Peebles department store, merchants said the $2 bills have been noticed.

"I've had three customers this week come in and pay with $2 bills," said Candy Smith, owner of a clothing boutique downtown.

Sammy Weaver, owner of Weaver's in Brewton, said he appreciates Cottrell and his commitment to the town.

"The $2 bills make it easy to see where it's going, see how it turns over and generates tax revenue that helps our town and schools," said Weaver, whose store sells jewelry and clothing. "I plan to save up the bills that come in here and pay Danny my bill with them."

Some of the $2 bills have even circulated back to the pharmacy.

"It's not a huge amount of money," Cottrell said of his hometown stimulus package. "It would have a more noticeable impact if someone with more resources came up with a huge amount of money, but the times are tough."

Still, for the workers with the windfall, this is just more of their boss' big heart shining through, they said.

"I tell you, I love him like cooked food," said Bobbie Edwards.

Environmental Working Group Presentation on Toxins

2009-03-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

The Environmental Working Group unexpectedly found 287 chemicals in the blood of 10 Americans - and you won't believe who they are. EWG found toxins linked to cancer, birth defects, hormone disruption, reproductive problems, immune disorders and other serious health problems. Who are these 10 people and how were their bodies contaminated? What can you do to protect yourself and those who depend on you?

Join us as we discuss this stunning story and learn what you can do to promote healthy families, homes and communities.

The event is free (donations are welcome), and light food and beverages will be provided.

Secure your spot today by signing up at http://www.ewg.org/marin

The details are listed below:

What: EWG Presents "10 Americans"

When: 6:30PM on Tuesday, March 17th

Where: Cavallo Point
601 Murray Circle, Fort Baker
Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 339-4700

How: Save your spot at http://www.ewg.org/marin or call 202.667.6982
Hosted by: Carol McDonnell, Claudia Lewis, Christine Gardner, ECOMOM, Eleanor Bigelow, Eva Craig, Frank Gerber, Gabrielle Bravo, Gabrielle Layton, Inger Dewey-Golob, Jennifer Emerson, Karina Houghton, Lisa Labon, Leigh Matthes, Marie McGlashan, Mothers of Marin Against the Spray (MOMAS), Sandie Schmaier, Sandra Schubert, The Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary

Environmental Working Group
1436 U St NW, Ste 100 / Washington, DC 20009 / 202.667.6982
http://www.ewg.org

Dmitry Orlov - On financial and social collapse in America

2009-02-23T10:15:00.001-08:00

I attended this speech last week at Ft. Mason in San Francisco, sponsored by Stewart Brand's Long Now Foundation, and found it fascinating as well as timely and valuable food for thought. Whether or not the level of collapse is as severe as Mr. Orlov predicts is less important than his perspective, and I believe his insights should be publicized to a wider audience to stimulate debate on the subject.

The video of the speech will be available at some point on the Long Now website. But, in the meantime, you can view the text of the speech here:

Club Orlov

Huey Johnson: Green Planning at Nation Scale

2009-02-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

This is a very informative and inspirational talk about existing Green Plans around the world (such as from New Zealand, Singapore and The Netherlands), and it is well worth the time investment. Sponsored by the LongNow Foundation, it is moderated by Stewart Brand.

John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins on Green Tech

2008-06-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a great speech by John Doerr on the challenges of Climate Change.

Carl Pope and Van Jones

2008-06-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Click To Play

North Bay Clean Energy Alliance

2008-06-01T16:08:00.000-07:00

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

An Era of Unmatched Opportunity

2008-05-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

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.

70,000,000 Tons of C02 Per day

2008-05-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

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.

Altamonte Pass Wind Farms

2008-03-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Sustainable Photography Initiative

2008-03-21T18:02:00.001-07:00

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

Carbon Capping

2008-02-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

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.

Coop America, Green Printer, Clean Energy

2008-02-23T13:01:00.001-08:00

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.

Solar, Green Collar Jobs, and the IBEW

2008-01-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

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!

Just a regular guy...who "woke up"

2007-12-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

No one who knows me would describe me as a radical. Liberal, for sure, particularly on social issues. And to be honest I DID grow up in Berkeley—participating fully in the counterculture of the 60’s (and the 70’s too!). But those days are long gone and for years I’ve been pretty happy helping to raise my wonderful son, growing my photography business, poking around in the vegetable garden and trying like hell to be a good husband/partner. As Berkeley boys go I’m a lightweight when it comes to radical politics, conspiracy theories, or having a massive distrust of our government. Of course I did (and still do) vehemently disagree with and question many policies and information being fed to us by our fearless leaders at the national (and to a lesser degree the state) level, but I’ve frankly been “too busy” most of the time to do much else but follow the news, vote my conscience, and swear on occasion at the TV or newspaper. I've pretty much considered myself a regular guy just trying to make a living.

But about a year and a half ago this started to change. After watching Al Gore’s landmark film “An Inconvenient Truth,” I started a process of reading everything I could find on the subject of climate change and environmental degradation to decide if the information was accurate, truthful and really as dire as depicted. I read books, articles, White Papers, technical reports, and Blogs. I watched other documentaries. I attended over 25 large and small-scale symposiums, conferences, seminars, classes and talks. I joined my local Sierra Club Chapter’s Climate and Energy Committee, joined the steering committee of a grassroots effort to promote renewable solar energy use in Sonoma County called Solar Sonoma County, and was asked if I'd be interested in running for a position on the Executive Committee of Sonoma Group of the Sierra Club—which I am doing.

During my research I even became a Vegan (OK, I admit my friends did think this was somewhat radical!) after reading the U.N’s 2006 report on Animal Agriculture and a book called “The China Study,” which provide ample evidence of the massively negative effects that consumption of animals and animal-based products have both on our health and on our environment.

In short, I plugged in and learned. And learned. And am still learning.

So what conclusion have I come to in my research thus far?

While I am no scientist I am relatively intelligent, diligent, and reasoned. My research has convinced me that we are facing the biggest challenge we humans have ever faced, but I also believe we have the power to lessen the worst impacts (at least for most of the world’s population) by implementing and integrating sustainable thinking and strategies into our energy infrastructure, businesses, and personal lives as quickly as possible. Climate change is real, substantially caused by human activities, massively documented across the globe by thousands of scientists, and happening faster than anyone predicted. While little, if anything in climate forecasting is absolutely certain, and there is certainly room for disagreement and dissenting opinions on certain aspects of the global warming debate, it would be absolutely foolish and irresponsible to not act on the scientific consensus we now have, worldwide, on this subject.

We’re in serious trouble, folks, and we need to address it NOW and in a huge way over the next 10 to 20 years or we may lose the ability to effect any change at all.

I would urge you NOT to believe the many industry-paid or connected deniers and naysayers who, in well-documented cases reminiscent of the tactics used by scientists on the payroll of big tobacco to deny the negative health effects of cigarettes, have been shown to be unconscionably fomenting doubt in the public's mind simply to delay the expensive reforms which will be required to fully account for the industry-caused pollution (which has up to now been externalized—paid for by the public— instead of factored into the cost of doing business).

But don’t just take my word for it. Start reading up on it yourself and take the time to go to a meeting on climate change if you see one.

Here are just a few interesting links to get you started:

UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment

National Climate Data Center

California Attorney General’s Office Global Warming Website

In spite of my findings on this somewhat gloomy topic I have at the same time been heartened by what I have learned about the massive response to the building environmental crises that have been rising up across the planet over the last 5 decades. This “movement” is well documented in Paul Hawken’s newest book Blessed Unrest, which I highly recommend.

Environmental Activism's Paradox by Rick Bass

2007-12-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a superb, erudite, thought-provoking article by Rick Bass on the paradox and challenges of environmental activism in our modern society:

Activism’s Paradox Mountain

Thanks to Leslie Sheridan for sending me this link. She’s a poet, activist, and consultant who publishes a free Peace and Justice newsletter which I just subscribed to. To get a free copy of The Carpe Diem Voice, send an email with “P&J” in the subject line along with the name of the state in which you live to CarpeDiemVoice@aol.com.

Awakening The Dreamer

2007-11-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

I spent the afternoon today listening to a symposium on sustainability at the Sonoma Community Center, presented by volunteers from the Pachamama Alliance. The presentation was powerful, heartfelt, interactive and extremely alarming. But it was also fact-filled, positive and solution oriented. The problems we face are daunting, but absolutely within our reach to solve—if we can collectively muster the will to make the needed changes.

I highly recommend that you look up this fine organization and attend their next symposium. While I have attended many environmental presentations in the past year, this one stands out. You can visit their web site and see a short movie which explains their views on the crisis that is here, and how we need to engage everyone to solve it.

Odds and Ends

2007-10-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Thomas Friedman.
Check out his October 21st OP-ED piece in the New York Times.

Also, go to Ecospot to vote on your favorite Climate Crisis Ecospot video.

To view some very encouraging videos about Solar Power from the huge San Diego convention in September, go here.

Solar Berkeley

2007-10-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Chronicle carried a story on Berkeley's proposed new solar model which would pay for the upfront costs of installing a solar PV system on homes and letting the homeowner pay the City back through an assessment on property tax bills over twenty years. According to the article, the cost of this assessment would be more than offset by energy savings, meaning that the homeowner could install solar at no cost (especially no upfront cost!).

This clever approach is a variation on the CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) model for increasing renewable, decentralized energy. It would still require a municipality to handle the administrative duties of the program but wouldn't require as much additional bureaucracy or costs for upfront feasibility studies. Plus it could happen a LOT quicker than CCA, which is critical. The program would still rely on bond money, which would mean the financing costs would be as cheap as possible.

I'm still in favor of pursuing a CCA model too, but Berkeley's approach (and I have heard San Jose is doing something similar) could really ramp up the installation of residential and commercial solar and/or small wind in the shortest amount of time, thereby reducing GHG emissions while a CCA group is still being pursued.

More information can be obtained about Berkeley's great sustainability programs and initiatives here:

Sustainable Berkeley

Bioneers

2007-10-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the three-day Bioneers Conference and my head is swimming with ideas, emotions and hope for our society and our planet. There was so much positive information, so many success stories from people on the front lines of the new sustainable paradigm, that it was impossible for anyone who witnessed it to come away unchanged, or unmotivated.

Yes, it's easy to get caught up in the doom and gloom scenarios we face because of global climate chaos, but I heard the stories of so many incredible people doing the most amazing things that it truly made my heart sing. From Van Jones' work training the disenfranchised youth of Oakland for green jobs to the incredible inventor Jay Harmon's use of BioMimicry in industrial design; from food expert Jeffrey Smith's lecture on the documented health risks of genetically engineered foods to Paul Anastas' amazing tour of the emerging field of green chemistry; and from Vagina Monologues' author Eve Ensler's inspiring talk on her V-Day project to Native Movement chairman Evon Peter's wise guidance, this conference presented a wealth of information about solutions to climate change challenges as well as social justice, farming, and spiritual topics. I have come away profoundly affected by this eclectic yet interrelated community of doers, creative thinkers, and problem solvers. I don't mind saying I was affected emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. And I came away very heartened at the potential for cooperation in the coming months and years.

I will be writing more on some of these talks in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out some of the links above for some interesting reading.

Raymond

Green Investing

2007-10-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

Opportunities abound to profit from the greening of America, and the world.

Here are 3 interesting companies poised to make lots of money helping turn our wasteful, polluting economy in a sustainable one:

Greenfuel Technologies Corp.
GreenShift
Nanosolar

I personally believe the sustainable living/green revolution will serve as one of the greatest economic engines this country has ever seen, and as soon as the business world understands that there's just as much money to be made saving the environment as there was in poisoning it, with much better PR to boot, we'll see an economic "greenrush" of epic proportions.

The True Cost of Food

2007-10-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

The Sierra Club has a new campaign to promote sustainable food choices called "The True Cost of Food" and it's worth checking out their web site to see a movie packed with fascinating information about how our food is produced.

The web site is: The True Cost of Food.

Also, check out the Free Range Graphics website for more great films on food production.

The 11th Hour

2007-08-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to see this new film on the looming environmental crisis and we found it powerful, effective and very well done. While the film at times presented facts and figures at a breakneck clip, it kept your attention and never became over-preachy. Relying on a series of short interviews with scientists, business leaders and philosophers interspersed with footage of the beauty and degradation of the biosphere, and punctuated with occasional narration by co-producer Leonardo DiCaprio, the film makes a clear, convincing case that we need adapt our economic and social systems to include the Earth as a partner, rather than treating it as an object of profit-motivated exploitation. If we don't, we risk mass starvation, millions of environmental refugees and possibly even extinction.

One interesting concept in the film is that humans have been able to live and thrive beyond the planet's natural ability to support us because of our use of "ancient sunlight" stored in non-regenerative fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. According to the film, the earth's natural systems (particularly the dawn-to-dusk cycle of daily sunlight) can only support about a billion people. And since we are at or nearing the time when oil and gas supplies will start dwindling (called Peak Oil) it could become increasingly difficult to support the 6 billion already on the planet, not to mention the additional 3 billion expected in the next 30 to 50 years. Our population has doubled (from 3 billion to 6 billion) since 1960 and is still growing at an alarming rate.

The film also makes the point that if we don't start making major changes soon (on the scale of a World War 2 buildup) then we risk losing control over how our society can affect the weather, if indeed it isn't already too late.

But the film doesn't just lay out a doom and gloom scenario. The last third of the film focuses on what can be done, and is being done, to mitigate climate change. There are existing technologies and many emerging ones that, if adopted widely, could make huge reductions in our pollution rates NOW. But while converting our energy supply to renewable sources over the next 50 years is doable, the political will, vision and leadership needed to do so is sorely lacking on the federal, state and local levels. Worse yet, the current administration in Washington has done more to thwart sound environmental policy, and has so badly mismanaged our natural resources in favor of short term corporate profits, that it will take nothing less than a clean sweep in '08 to start to turn the corner towards a sustainable future. I am very hopeful that we are well on our way to making this a reality.

I urge you to see this film and to spread the word to others about it. This is an important educational source about global warming, and it's a great starting point for discussions with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers about the problems we are all facing and what we might do to help. It's real strength lies in its willingness to address the philosophical as well as scientific issues before us. And it will take all of us, together, through the ballot box, our buying decisions and our attitudes to make the changes we need to make.

Power from Poop

2007-08-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, I thought that would get your attention!

As a wonderful example of what can be done to mitigate damage being done to the environment by animal agriculture, here is a story about anaerobic digesters, a renewable energy technology which coverts the greenhouse gas methane found in manure and other organic waste products into electricity. Technologies like this, which take the "waste" products produced by industry and convert them into additional profit generators while lessening their impact on the environment offer solid proof that going green can also make good business sense. Widespread use of these digesters would make a huge difference both in cutting water pollution caused by overflowing and leaking slurry ponds while also powering pig and dairy operations which use vast amounts of energy now being generated by coal, natural gas or other fossil fuels.

Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL's)

2007-08-13T13:13:00.002-07:00

Just a short on one today.

Fox News published another environmental hit piece in April questioning the energy-saving practice of replacing regular light bulbs with Compact Fluorescents (CFL’s). While most of us know Fox News regularly publishes misinformation regarding the environment and is a shill for anti-environmentalist interests, the fact is that CFL’s do contain small amounts of Mercury, a very toxic substance. These bulbs need to be handled properly, recycled properly (not just thrown in the trash) and if broken extra care does need to be taken to prevent contamination.

The Sierra Club recently ran an informative article on the subject of Mercury in CFL's which is very good reading. I urge you to tell all your friends about the proper handling of CFL's (but PLEASE keep using them!)

EnviroVegans / EcoVegans / Ecotarians / EcoVeggies...

2007-07-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sure I'm not coining any new words today, but there sure is a good case to be made for working on the climate protection issue on a personal level—by becoming vegetarian or Vegan. If you've already changed out your light bulbs with compact fluorescent's and maybe even purchased a solar PV system, there is ample evidence that cutting back on your meat consumption (even just one or two days a week) could also make a contribution to further cutting your family's ecological footprint and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Even if you can't identify with more "militant" Vegans who are opposed to eating meat for animal cruelty reasons, there are a number of important environmental reasons to do so. If you love eating meat as much as I once did, you will probably stop reading here because, frankly, you don't want to know anything that might make you feel guilty about enjoying it. You purchase meat in nice, shrink-wrapped packages that just kind of "show up" at the store, you take it home, you cook and you eat it. But if we're really concerned about the environment, about social justice, and about supporting sustainable food production practices, we also need to consider the following:

Animal agriculture is highly wasteful of precious resources (especially water), is highly polluting and damaging to our entire ecosystem, (air, land, fresh water and the sea), is a highly inefficient use of land for producing food, is a principal cause of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest and elsewhere around the world, and is a major contributor to biodiversity loss. Go here for a short review of the many environmental problems associated with raising livestock. If you really want to understand the enormity of the issues, go here.

The following is good "food" for thought:

"Many of the impacts associated with eating animal products stem from the very basic process of digestion. Each time an animal consumes energy in the form of calories, it assimilates about 10 percent of the total energy available from its food. Roughly 90 percent of the energy is lost as heat and undigested material. This 90 percent loss occurs at each trophic level, so when humans eat animal products, they receive only one percent of the total energy available from the same amount of vegetation originally eaten by the animal (10% of 10% = 1%). Stated another way, if humans eat only vegetable matter, the total plant mass consumed at all trophic levels is 90 percent less than if they eat only animal products. Because omnivores require the consumption of so many more total calories than animals with pure vegetarian diets, they also require more resources to produce their food..." (and many of these resources are currently non-renewable). "It is this relationship between food and non-renewable resources that causes many environmental problems associated with eating animal products."

From "Environmental Implications of Modern Animal Agriculture: Save the Planet with your Fork" by Lacey Gaechter, University of Colorado

And the following adds some good points too:

"The 4.8 pounds of grain fed to cattle to produce one pound of beef for human beings represents a colossal waste of resources in a world still teeming with people who suffer from profound hunger and malnutrition.

According to the British group Vegfam, a 10-acre farm can support 60 people growing soybeans, 24 people growing wheat, 10 people growing corn and only two producing cattle. Britain—with 56 million people—could support a population of 250 million on an all-vegetable diet. Because 90 percent of U.S. and European meat eaters’ grain consumption is indirect (first being fed to animals), westerners each consume 2,000 pounds of grain a year. Most grain in underdeveloped countries is consumed directly.

While it is true that many animals graze on land that would be unsuitable for cultivation, the demand for meat has taken millions of productive acres away from farm inventories. The cost of that is incalculable. As Diet For a Small Planet author Frances Moore Lappé writes, imagine sitting down to an eight-ounce steak. “Then imagine the room filled with 45 to 50 people with empty bowls in front of them. For the ‘feed cost’ of your steak, each of their bowls could be filled with a full cup of cooked cereal grains.”

Harvard nutritionist Jean Mayer estimates that reducing meat production by just 10 percent in the U.S. would free enough grain to feed 60 million people. Authors Paul and Anne Ehrlich note that a pound of wheat can be grown with 60 pounds of water, whereas a pound of meat requires 2,500 to 6,000 pounds."

From The Case Against Meat by Jim Motavalli

With water predicted to become the new "oil" and even more wars being fought over water rights than access to oil in the century ahead, the massive amounts of water needed for animal agriculture just isn't sustainable.

Perhaps the way to go in the short term is simply to aim for a 10% to 20% reduction in meat consumption in this country. Most people, I think, could go meatless one or two days a week and barely notice it, but it could make a big difference for the environment and towards alleviating world hunger.

And check out Leonardo DiCaprio's new movie on the looming climate crisis:

Renewable Energy Projects

2007-07-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Great news for the CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) movement and those wanting to see real progress in climate protection! First, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently signed off on a local (CCA) power plan that is designed to achieve a 51% renewable energy portfolio for the city within 10 years—at rates that will meet or beat rates charged by PG & E. Using money from a “Solar Bonds” measure that was approved by voters in 2001, as well as funds from the SFPUC, the city will finance construction of a 360 MW solar power network and invest in a large-scale energy conservation effort. Many other communities around California and the nation are considering similar proposals and San Francisco’s leadership in this area will make a huge difference in legitimizing and vetting the concept and process for other municipalities. I urge you to find out more about the innovative CCA movement and to support it in your area. You can find out more about it here and here. Look for the Slide Show on the local.org web site. It has a lot of good information and is easy to understand. There's also a video available here.

In addition, the Kings River Conservation District and the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority (a CCA group) recently announced a multi-year agreement with Cleantech America LLC to build what will ultimately be the largest utility-scale photovoltaic facility in the United States. Located near Fresno, California, the Kings River project will be built in phases over the next 4 years: 10 MW in 2009, 30 MW in 2010 and 40 MW in 2011, for a total of 80 MW. This is yet another important success for the CCA concept and an important step towards energy independence and climate protection. For more information about this and other great things happening in the Solar industry, go here.

SICKO

2007-07-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

I saw Michael Moore's new documentary "Sicko" last night and I would highly encourage you (and all of your family and friends) to see it as well. While I have always found Moore's movies entertaining, this one left such a powerful sense of injustice and made such a strong statement about the pathetic morals and application of our present health care system that I believe it will give rise to a long-needed groundswell of righteous indignation about who and what we are as a nation. At least that is my hope. I personally have Kaiser (Santa Rosa, CA) and my doctors and their assistants have always been professional and attentive. The problem does not lie with the caregivers, but rather with a system that puts money and profits above care and compassion. This system denied coverage and care to my otherwise healthy 21 year old son because of a minor pre-existing condition, and denied insurance payments to my mother-in--law for assisted living, even though she fell three times (injuring herself badly the last time), because she wasn't quite frail enough to meet their standards. I would wager that most, if not all, of you reading this know of someone who was similarly denied. Our system is sick and unjust, alright, yet we just sit back and take it.

In much the same way that Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" focused attention and mobilized action on the many climate change issues we now face, SICKO has the potential to do the same for the way we view and run health care in this country. In a highly entertaining and even amusing way at times—if you can laugh through your tears—Moore travels to Canada, England, France and even Cuba to compare their health care systems with ours, and the result not only pokes holes in almost everything we've been told about these other "socialized" health care systems—that they're too slow, poorly run by second and third rate doctors, and that most people are unhappy with them. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the film has an agenda, to be sure, and is laced throughout with Moore's acerbic wit, it becomes clear that it's the United States that is serving up an unfair, unjust and poorly executed health care system. And many other western countries are light years ahead of us in their view of health care as a basic right belonging to everyone, not a privilege belonging only to those who can afford it, and/or to those who don't need health services very often.

I would of course agree that we have some of the best doctors, best hospitals, and best medical technology in the world. So why is our life expectancy lower than most European countries?

I implore you....go to see Sicko and, if you feel like I did after seeing the film, let's rise up together and get things changed. Visit Michael Moore's web site to find out more about what you can do.

Eclectic Links

2007-06-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

This page will hold an eclectic and ever expanding series of links to things I find interesting. I'll do my best to delete links that no longer work, but if you happen to find one just email me and let me know.

ITunes U
Available using Apple's ITunes software, ITunes U features lectures about many diverse topics from universities around the country, including Stanford, Duke, MIT and UC Berkeley. And the best thing is they're FREE! Go to the ITunes Store and look for ITunes U. Very cool!

Worldwatch Institute
This site has tons of research (for free and for sale) for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society. I learned today that even the Vatican is going Solar! Well, part of it is, anyway...

Bioneers
This great group, which I just joined, is sponsoring a conference in Marin County, California October 19-21, 2007.

Wiser Earth
This is a fast-growing database of companies and organizations from around the world working on environmental and social justice issues. Started by Paul Hawken (see below) and with the site architecture created by many (friends, colleagues, and volunteers) it just went live in May, so it has a long way to go to list all of the potential groups—though there are 105,943 listed as of today. As a Wiki it is self-generated and self regulated and it will evolve by consensus over time. Paul estimates there are between 1 and 2 million groups (from single-person dot-coms to billion dollar non-profits) working in these areas and that combined they create the "largest movement in history." There are two more parts to the WISER (short for World Index for Social and Environmental Responsibility) concept, WiserBusiness and WiserGovernment, that will be launched in the future.

Going Local: The Movement for Community Choice Energy
A great, fast-moving 18-minute briefing on Community Choice Energy (CCE). CCE will allow people like you and me to choose how the electricity we use is generated, either from renewable sources like wind and solar or from traditional sources like natural gas or Nuclear. PG&E, for all of its press and PR about "going green," is not moving fast enough towards renewable power generation and is instead trying to build many more fossil fuel (and even Nuclear) powered plants. I urge you to take the time to watch the video and make up your own mind which direction we should take.

Extraordinary People Plus...

2007-06-16T14:32:00.001-07:00

I have come across some remarkable people, groups and activities in my research and I'll share a few with you from time to time, along with links to more information about them. For now, here are three:

PAUL HAWKEN: I consider Paul one of the great philosopher/macro thinkers of our time. Paul is an environmentalist, entrepreneur (Smith and Hawken), author (including The Next Economy (Ballantine 1983), Growing a Business (Simon and Schuster 1987), The Ecology of Commerce (HarperCollins 1993), Natural Capitalism with Hunter and Amory Lovins (Little Brown and Co., 1999), and his current Blessed Unrest (Viking Press, 2007), lecturer, teacher and idea- incubator extraordinaire. Here are just a few links to more information about his activities:

PaulHawken.com

Natural Capital Institute

Wiser Earth

AMORY LOVINS: Amory is another renaissance man, described as a "consultant experimental physicist" who is also an environmentalist, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute , author (Winning the Oil Endgame, Factor Four with Hunter Lovins and Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, and Natural Capitalism with Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken, consultant and researcher. He has enormous common sense, a folksy and approachable personal style, a seemingly boundless grasp of complex environmental issues, and a clear roadmap out of the energy morass in which we find ourselves. He's not new to the debate, having been preaching (and walking) the low-energy footprint talk for over 20 years at his home and offices in Colorado. And his ideas have garnered the respect and acceptance of many liberal and conservative stakeholders alike. In addition, he's a leading proponent of the "soft energy path", described thusly in Wikipedia: The "soft energy path" assumes that energy is but a means to social ends, and is not an end in itself. Soft energy paths involve efficient use of energy, diversity of energy production methods (matched in scale and quality to end uses), and special reliance on co-generation and "soft technologies" (i.e., alternative technology) such as solar energy, wind energy, biofuels, geothermal energy, etc.

I urge anyone who is remotely interested in energy issues to find out more about Amory. He's truly remarkable.

PAUL FENN and COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION: I saw Paul recently at an event sponsored by the Mainstreet Moms group in Mill Valley presenting the concept of Community Choice Aggregation, a somewhat complicated sounding but decidedly elegant and empowering way for local communities to control energy costs and hasten the growth of renewable energy industries such as solar and wind at the same time. You will be hearing a lot more about this in the months and years ahead, but you can find out more about it here. I would also encourage you to watch the short film about it called "Going Local: The Movement for Community Choice Energy" available on the MMOB website.

Among other things Paul is Founder & Director of Local Power and Publisher of AMERICAN LOCAL POWER NEWS, based in Oakland, California.

Fenn authored California's 2002 Community Choice law, Assembly Bill 117, allowing municipalities to choose alternative electricity providers for their communities. Sponsored by state Assemblywoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), the Community Choice law also removed the state's $300 million/year energy efficiency fund from monopoly utility control and made these funds available to cities to pay for their communities' local energy efficiency programs.

Fenn also wrote San Francisco's 2001 "solar bond" or H Bond authority Proposition H and the 50 MW San Francisco Solar Power Facility proposal for which the revenue bond authority was written. Sponsored by San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano, the project calls for construction of the world's largest urban solar utility on San Francisco rooftops.

Digital Earth

2007-06-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

On Friday June 8th I had the pleasure of attending the International Symposium on Digital Earth, held this year for the first time in the U.S. on the UC Berkeley campus.

A new wave of technological innovation (using GIS tools like Google Earth, Microsoft's Virtual Earth, ESRI's ArcGIS Explorer and GeoFusion) means that we can now view the complexity of our planet at any specific location on the Earth's surface. Launch ed during a speech in 1998 by former United States Vice President Al Gore (yes, THAT Al Gore!), Digital Earth is a "global initiative aimed at harnessing the world's data and information resources to develop a virtual 3-D model of Earth in order to monitor, measure, and forecast natural and human activity on the planet."

Pioneered within NASA in the late 1990's and formalized by the Beijing Declaration, the Digital Earth movement is increasingly being seen as the major scientific integration project of the 21st century. Built upon and integrated with World Wide Web technologies and protocols, the development of the Digital Earth project is "involving the grassroots efforts of many individuals, companies, university researchers and government organizations. In creating the Digital Commons, the Digital Earth initiative will provide for a vast digital marketplace where citizens can access both free and commercial information and services."

When you see the acronym GIS, short for Geographical Information Systems, these are the combined technologies used to monitor and measure the data coming from satellites as well as a host of other geographic and atmospheric measuring devices in, on and above the Earth. GPS (Geographic Positioning Systems), like those used in some cars to help you find your way around, also use GIS data. A planet-wide system of sharing GIS data, and even the computational power of thousands of computers (including some super computers) needed to process it, is already partially built and in the process of being connected.

One of the truly remarkable things about the Digital Earth movement is that most of the architecture used to serve up the information, along with the data itself, is open source, meaning that most of the GIS information being obtained and cataloged worldwide will be available to anyone. Some of this information is necessarily protected for national security reasons, but most will be available to anyone, worldwide, wishing to study and use it. And this will allow and foster endless opportunities for research and education on the university, high school and even elementary level, as well as allowing NGO's (non governmental organizations), governments and even individuals to view, repackage and market the data in exciting new ways (such as is being done with Google Earth).

Environmental organizations are also now using GIS data to track deforestation in the Amazon Rain Forest, show the amount of mountaintop removal being done by Coal companies in Tennessee, or track the loss of ice at the North and South poles. GIS is an exploding field and thousands of jobs are now going begging due to a shortage of trained GIS researchers. If you know of someone looking for a field with great, exciting opportunities that would also enable them to make a real contribution to building a more sustainable human ecosystem, tell them about GIS and the Digital Earth movement.

A Meat Lover Becomes Vegan—And Thrives!

2007-06-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

As a lifelong, confirmed meat-head I never, ever thought I'd become strictly vegetarian, much less a Vegan (no animal products whatsoever). But a less-than-stellar health report from my doctor, along with the gift from a friend of a book entitled The China Study by Dr. T Colin Campbell and his son Thomas M. Campbell II, have changed my mind, and my quality of life, forever.

If you can get past the initial rejection response most people have to the idea of living life meatless—that veganism is somehow unnatural and that choosing this lifestyle necessarily means eating the same boring vegetables over and over again—and if you're willing to become educated and listen to the facts, this book just might extend your life, and the lives of those near and dear to you, significantly. Please understand that I'm not opposed to eating animal-based products on strictly moral grounds, as long as the animals were raised in an ethical and humane way (unfortunately, though, many are not). Rather I discovered through this massive, clinically-controlled 20 year study (and others done by highly-respected, traditionally trained scientists and doctors that are cited in the book) that there is clear evidence that the western lifestyle placing a heavy emphasis on consumption of animals and animal-based foods contributes significantly to many of our "diseases of affluence."

In fact, many of the symptoms and effects of these diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity, can be minimized, controlled and even reversed without drugs—simply by changing to a whole foods, plant-based diet and increasing exercise. While this sounds shockingly simple, I can assure you there is ample evidence that it's true. We've all heard over and over that we should eat more vegetables, exercise more, and eat less crap. What isn't made clear, however, is the degree to which our animal-eating lifestyle is literally killing us and how relatively easy it is to mitigate and reverse the damage being done.

Lest you think this is yet another quack diet book by some fringe nutritional "guru" out to make a quick buck, or some militant vegan with an agenda, believe me it is far from it. Dr. Campbell grew up on a dairy in the Midwest and did his Ph.D. dissertation on methods of increasing dairy production, so he was decidedly pro-animal agriculture from a very young age and continued to be so until the evidence of the negative effects of our animal-based diet became overwhelming. And what is so surprising, and so powerful, about Dr. Campbell's views is that he has been a well-respected member of the medical research establishment for years, and he knows the system from the inside out.

Extensively annotated from his own research and from that of many others, it quickly becomes clear in The China Study that Dr. Campbell is uniquely positioned to serve up these facts because of his extensive 30-year career and experience in the fields of nutrition and health research. But Dr. Campbell doesn't stop there. He examines the politics of health, the dire lack of nutritional training of our health professionals, the gamed and manipulated health care system created by the cozy relationships between doctors and the pharmaceutical industries, and the huge amounts of PAC money donated to politicians by stakeholders in the animal agriculture juggernaut. His views are therefore incredibly threatening to the health care industry and he has been vilified by many whose livelihoods are based on preserving the status quo. But believe me....if the information in this book could convince a lifelong meat eater like me to so radically change my diet, there's a good chance it will influence you as well, even if you don't decide to do anything but include more fruits and vegetables in your diet. For more information about being, or becoming vegan, go here.

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In addition, if you're concerned about the problems being caused by Global Warming, another eyeopener regarding how animal agriculture affects our planet as a whole is detailed in a study published last year by the United Nations entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, available here: Livestock's Long Shadow.

I had no idea that the animal agriculture industry worldwide was responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gasses released into the environment, and how much valuable space and how many precious recources we devote to it.

And for more great information about diet as it relates to the environment, click here and here.

I really can't encourage you enough to get your hands on The China Study. It very likely could change your life, as it has mine.

City Planet: Stewart Brand's Views on Urbanization

2007-06-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended a talk given by Stewart Brand at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco exploring the concept of “City Planet,” or the urbanization of the earth's populations that is and has been occurring at an unprecedented rate. Stewart has always seemed to be at the forefront of thought provoking ideas and concepts that have interested me, starting with his stint as the publisher of the Whole Earth Catalogue (from 1968 to 1972), one of the defining publications of the environmental/back to the land movement and continuing as the founder in 1974 of the CoEvolution Quarterly, another particularly relevant and environmentally savvy magazine covering diverse topics, many with a decidedly sustainable/whole systems flavor—-WAY before sustainability was cool! So Stewart has been providing platforms for the exploration of alternative thought for years, and judging by this discussion he hasn't slowed down a bit.

My interest in renewable energy (specifically Solar) and organic gardening is traceable to the WEC and I remember rushing to the nearest bookstore to pick up a copy when a new one came out and spending hours (and days) leafing through the oversized “well” of ideas and information on new tools and technologies.

Not surprisingly, Stewart also co-founded The Well in 1985, one of the first online communities and a kind of online extension of the WEC, as well as the Global Business Network in 1987. He founded The Long Now Foundation in 1996 to “provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster/cheaper" mindset and to instead promote "slower/better" thinking, and has been involved in numerous other projects and causes over the years too numerous to mention here.

I have photographed Stewart several times over the years, first for an article in The Pacific Sun newspaper in Marin County (the subject of which escapes me), then at a reunion (I think it was for the Whole Earth Catalogue folks, but I’m not sure) that took place in the Marin Headlands sometime in the 80’s. He’s lived and worked in and around the Sausalito houseboat community for years.

I pretty much lost track of Stewart over the last 20 years, though I was aware of his participation in The Well, so I was interested in discovering what this Renaissance man has been up to. Stewart views cities as profoundly trans formative both to individuals (particularly women) and to societies in general. Outlining civilization’s drive to urbanize, he ran through a slide program heavy on facts and figures showing clearly that statistically there is no longer a back-to-the-land movement (that he catered to with the WEC), rather people are fleeing the countryside in droves and, combined with births and transplants from other areas, some 1.3 million folks are being added to urban communities worldwide each week, or almost 70 million a year. This is having, and will continue to have, profound impacts for all of us well into this century in terms of urban planning, creation of wealth, increased globalization, poverty services, education, and even creativity and innovation.

This movement represents a significant shift from the past. In 1800 just 3% of the world population lived in cities. Currently about 50% do, and projections show some 61% will be city dwellers by 2030. A huge percentage of this urban growth is going on in the east, and the southern hemisphere—both in South America and Africa. And most people moving into cities worldwide are joining the burgeoning squatter communities such as those in Kibera, Nairobi or Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro. According to Brand, 1 billion people currently live in such slums, with an estimate 2 billion more expected by 2070. Those are huge numbers which have the potential to redefine the cities themselves, strain city services and utilities, and which will no doubt add to the frictions inherent in large populations of "have-not's" bumping up to a much smaller group of "haves." According to Brand, rather than being hotbeds of crime, however, many of these squatter neighborhoods are teaming with people trying to better themselves and work their way up and out, fostering enormous “informal economies” that are not tracked by traditional economic measures but which make up about 60% of the employment in developing countries. Again according to Brand there is a surprising amount of money already circulating in these communities, and since cities give women and families better access to increased economic opportunities there is reason to believe that many will eventually be able to pull themselves up and out and into the traditional economy.

One last interesting point Brand made is that urban young people tend to delay child rearing and also have fewer children when they do have them. There is already zero population growth in many developed countries, and this will also be true of the developing countries as the trend towards urbanization continues. This will lead to a point later this century when the worldwide population will peak at 8 or 9 billion, then actually start to recede—very good news from a planetary perspective.

Stewart recommended several good books for further information:

SHADOW CITIES: A BILLION SQUATTERS, AN URBAN NEW WORLD by Robert Neuwirth
THE FORTUNE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID: ERADICATING POVERTY THROUGH PROFITS by CK Pralahad
THE EMPTY CRADLE: FALLING BIRTHRATES THREATEN WORLD PROSPERITY AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT by Phillip Longman
SHANTARAM by Gregory David Roberts and Alejando Palomas

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

2007-06-12T12:06:00.001-07:00

In early May I attended EcoLive, an event in San Francisco that featured Robert Kennedy Jr. as the keynote speaker. I have been aware over the years of his work as an environmental attorney, but I had no idea how intelligent, erudite and charismatic he is. His book, Crimes against Nature, is a MUST read for anyone who wonders what the hell happened with the election process in 2000 and 2004, and who wants to understand just how detrimental the Bush administration has been towards the environment. I HIGHLY recommend it. He would make an excellent Secretary of the Interior or Head of the EPA. I hope when the Democrats finally get the White House again in '08 they'll consider him for one of these posts! The difference Kennedy could make in reversing the damage the current administration has done to the environment, and in helping to form a sustainable mind-set at the highest levels of government, would be incalculable.