Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category

Santa Rosa was named as one of America’s 50 Greenest Cities in a recent article in Popular Science magazine (see article here). Ranked #23 overall, Santa Rosa also was featured for its innovative use of geothermal energy from The Geysers.

The criteria used to select and rank the cities aren’t exceedingly clear, but the method seems to be fairly subjective. In its aggressive campaign to lower greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming, I would think that Santa Rosa and Sonoma County would rather be recognized for current efforts such as setting a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2015, or for its Build it Green (BIG) program, one of the most innovative in the country.

The Geysers is not new news but nonetheless, if it helps Santa Rosa get recognition for its efforts in preserving the environment, so be it. It may, in fact, demonstrate something called the Perseverance Principle.

The Perseverance Principle essentially says that if you work consistently and persistently toward attaining a goal, you may reap benefits in unexpected ways. It may not relate directly to current activities, but somehow,  the level of effort achieves results. In other words, persistence pays.

Congratulations to Santa Rosa and congratulations to the Perseverance Principle.

I had a chance recently to see the replay of a presentation on global warming given by Dr. Stephen Schneider, a senior fellow at Stanford, and one of the world’s foremost experts on climate change. In 2007, as a member of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Dr. Schneider was part of the team that won the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. To show how much local interest there is in this subject, 700 people showed up for 400 seats for Dr. Schneider’s original presentation in January.

Dr. Schneider is outspoken and entertaining in his presentation. As much as has been written and broadcast on this subject, he brings yet another perspective to it, as sobering as it may be. He shows statistics and pictures that are startling in the magnitude of change to our planet.

From Dr. Schneider’s perspective, it’s clear that we need to get off the track we’re on. He feels that three strategies are needed:

• Personal Commitment from each and every one of us.
• Investment in Innovation in new technology.
• Setting Costs for Emissions to provide a financial incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He leaves no doubt that global warming is a fact and is happening now. What struck me most was something he said about the temperature increase on our planet. While there is frequently talk about how much increase in Earth’s temperature there can be before we reach a tipping point, or go beyond a point of no return, Dr. Schneider is unequivocal in saying that any further increase in temperature is unacceptable.

This morning, I attended the 2008 Sonoma County State of the County Breakfast Forum, where the Annual Report to the Community was presented. I received my 38 page copy of the 2008 Sonoma County Indicators, a dizzying array of graphs, charts and statistics published by the county Economic Development Board.

Ben Stone, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board, gave an overview of the Indicators report, and the overall message was that as a county, we’re healthy, but that nationally, storm clouds are gathering on the horizon.

Dr. Steve Cochrane, Senior Managing Director of Moody’s Economy.com, went through many of statistics and gave an overview of the Innovation Council, a  group tasked with developing a 10 year economic strategic plan for the county, certainly not an easy task with lots of land mines and obstacles to be encountered, for sure.

Supervisor Mike Kerns, of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, reviewed the overall State of the County and discussed some high spots as well as some of the challenges facing us. In closing Mr. Kerns said, ”we’re all in this together.” That’s quite a statement easily made and one I wish more people, not just in Sonoma County or California, but especially in other states, believed in. While sales of gargantuan SUV’s are waning and Detroit is suffering as a result, many among us continue our same bad habits despite record oil prices. Although California is setting the example for other states through existing and pending legislation, other states likewise need to adopt a philosophy of “we’re all in this together,” before it winds up being too late for all of us.

On Sunday, 1/20/08, CBS ran an hour special in the “60 Minutes” time slot on global warming called the “The Age of Warming.” Hosted by Scott Pelley, it expanded on a “60 Minutes” piece I’d seen a while back (link to original airing) . For anyone that saw this, especially combined with Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” it’s quite a compelling argument for the effect we as humans are having on our planet. It’s one thing to see Al Gore giving a slide presentation. It’s quite another to see giant sheets of ice cleave off a glacier and fall into the ocean and polar bears struggling against the environment.

The special takes a far reaching look into the topic, with spectacular footage from Patagonia, Chile, Antarctica, Greenland, and the Arctic. Included with the visual impact of the images are interviews with some of the world’s foremost scientists on the topic.

Some of the statistics cited are especially startling. On glacier O’Higgins in Patagonia for instance, it’s receded 9 miles in the last 100 years and lost 2,000 feet of thickness. It’s receded 1,000 feet in the last 3 years alone. Antarctica, where 70% of the fresh water on Earth is frozen, is also the fastest warming place on the planet, with 5 degrees of temperature gain in the last 50 years. Scientists are now estimating that 98% of the world’s glaciers are now melting.

Here in 2008, it seems that we’re still in the debate over whether global warming is naturally occurring due to normal cycles or from man-made pollution in the atmosphere.  It’s hard to refute the evidence and the resulting impact on our planet. After seeing the dramatic evidence, it amazes me that there can be anyone left on the planet who believes that “global warming” is a phrase and not a reality.

 Dr. James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic, estimates that we have 10 years to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or risk going beyond a tipping point from which there is no return.

It seems like the time for debate is over and that it’s time for all of us to do what we can to save our planet.