Participating in A Local Sustainability Effort

Recently I wrote a blog about how to get involved in the fight against climate change. Today, I thought, I should write about a nifty city program I am involved with along this front -- my contribution to the challenge, if you will -- that has been quite an eye-opening experience. You see, the city where I live (which shall remain anonymous to maintain some privacy) recently commenced a citizens task force to work on sustainability issues. Its stated goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to make it a more sustainable place to live. As a student of sustainability, when I saw the announcement in the paper, I figure I should apply, since it provides a very concrete way to make a difference right where I live. Giving back is very important to me, as I have received much over the years... and doing something locally, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to contribute energy in the cause I care about.

The thing is, my town will be partially flooded if the sea-level rises as expected by 2050. And my children will be the ones who will suffer the effects most in the future. I can imagine them asking me what I did to help address the problem, ten, twenty years, down the road. Having a negative answer is not an option to me. Plus, somewhere in the back of my mind, is something someone said to me once. That if you see a problem -- "don't just complain about it, do something. If smart people like you don't contribute to solving it, it is such a waste."

So I was pleasantly surprised, when I was selected to be on the steering committee, along with 14 other highly qualified individuals from all walks of life in the community. The commitment, voluntary and unpaid as it is, has been taking a lot of my time, but has been such an eye-opening experience. This is my first government experience, so that's always interesting. I've worked in corporations, and in non-profits, but the government is a whole different ball game. But as I always say, life is an adventure. New experiences keep it interesting.

We have six months to come up with a list of proposals for City Council to vote on. The city council had previously voted unanimously to sign the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and appointed a new Sustainability Coordinator person. Now it is the citizens turn to come up with a list of actionable items that they like to see implemented. Obviously, being a small city, and in times of budget constraint, low-hanging fruits that are easy to implement and don't cost a lot, are best. Focusing on the issue of GHG is also key, as sustainability is such a big topic and different members of the community have different pet topics. And so it started...

Some of the meetings have been a little tedious, though necessary. Being an officially appointed committee means we are saddled with the overhead of public notification, official agenda, and official minutes, not to mention the Brown Act -- a well-meaning state law to prevent secret meetings by government, but also a big handcuff in what we can and cannot do. It took a while to get adjusted to.

The fun really came once we split into little groups to work on specific issues. Each steering committee member chairs a sub-group on a topic that the community wants to work on. For example, there is a Transit and Transportation group, that may work on electric/biodiesel cars incentives, walkability, and bikeability around town. There is a Land Use group that is looking into zoning and sprawl issues, a Built Environment group that is looking into green building code and incentives, a Green Business group that is looking into how our city can extend the county's program and encourage more businesses to get certified.

It has been educational for me to see how very different people from all walks of life come together in a loosely-organized fashion. One challenge that is pretty obvious so far is a lack of common communication protocol. Whereas in a corporate-setting, or in any institutional setting, there is usually a clear culture already established -- hence unspoken guidelines on communication styles -- we are simply interested citizens who do not know each other, and an informal working group not bound by any clear rules. It really takes a lot of leadership and negotiation to keep everyone happy. After all, people are volunteering their time and don't get paid for it...

A definite bonus from this is getting to know folks sharing the same interest within the community. I have made many a new friends and look forward to many more. I have met many kindred souls whom I would be happy to continue working with to make the community a better place in future years.

Right now, this volunteer work is taking a whole lot of my time, but I am quite happy to do as much as possible to make my city a better place to live in. It is also good for my conscience. In recent years I found that it has become harder and harder for me to justify leaving problem-solving on public goods issues to others. Perhaps I am getting older... but it sure feels darn good to be a more responsible citizen.

2008 Energy Update -- Reducing Oil Dependency

As published on AskPatty in Jan 2008.

Here is an update to the 2008 Energy Bill blog that I wrote in early December. On December 19th, President Bush finally signed this bill into law, although it is a much weaker version than what Democrats had wanted. The initial goals were ambitious: energy efficient vehicles, less dependence on foreign oil, cleaner fuels, and punishment for price gouging by oil companies. In the end, the bill mainly address “oil independence” only.

Given that energy usage for transportation and electricity are the biggest contributor to the greenhouse gas, and climate change is such an urgent problem, it is a big disappointment that our government has (once again) missed a major opportunity for effecting significant change in the arena. The victories should definitely be celebrated, but they are nowhere near the decisive steps we need to address climate crisis as a country. It would have been a historic opportunity for Congress and Senate to create incentives that encourage growth of new industries (i.e. renewable energy in wind, solar, electric cars), which, in turn, creates new jobs in America. Alas, it is not to be. I supposed we will need to wait another year.

Here are the components of the bill.

	Passed?
Raise CAFÉ standard for minimum miles-per-gallon for cars and light truck from 25mph to 35mph (first time in 30 years) by 2020	Yes
Requirement to increase biofuel production to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022. 21 billion gallons must come from non- corn-based ethanol – which is better for the environment. For comparison, we currently use 140 billion gallons of fuel per year, with 6B gallon coming from ethanol.	Yes
Phasing out incandenscent light bulbs in favor of CFL light bulbs which are more energy efficient – by 2012	Yes
Tax on fossil-fuel companies, e.g. Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Shell, which would have raised $20B to finance investment and production of wind and solar power.	No
Requiring utilities to get 15% of their electricity from renewable source	No
8-year extension of the 30% investment tax credit for solar installations in businesses 6-year extension of the investment tax credit for residential solar systems, with a $4000 cap Note: The existing solar investment tax credits will expire in 2008, which will reduce demand for solar panels. This spells trouble for the nascent solar industry. Also, note that the current residential cap is $2000.	No

Compared to the 2005 energy bill, where the emphasis was to boost oil production, this bill is such a sea change and reflects the new world we live in today. Let’s hope that we continue making progress on legislations that increases energy efficiency and alternative energy adoption. We owe it to the future generations to meet our needs today, without sacrificing their ability to meet their needs in the future. Continuing our dependence on fossil fuel and continuing to emit increasing amount of greenhouse gas is the surest way we squander our responsibility. That, in essence, is the definition of sustainability.

Another interesting concept: "Ecological Debt Day"

As originally published on AskPatty.com, with the title, "What is Your Ecological Footprint?"

The Footprint Network tells us that this year, we have finished consuming all the natural resources the world produces for the year, on Oct 18. Globally we humans now requires 1.3 planets to support us. In other words, we are not living sustainably. We are borrowing resources from future generation in order to cover all our consumption needs today. This calculation is made by calculating humanity’s Ecological Footprint (its demand on cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries) and compares it with global biocapacity (the ability of these ecosystems to generate resources and absorb wastes).

The Ecological Debt Day has been creeping earlier on the calendar. According to current calculations, humanity’s first Ecological Debt Day was December 19, 1987 - the first time we spend more than earth can replenish. Since then, our eco-footprint has continued to grow, and we are exhausting the world's natural supply earlier and earlier each year.







This reminds me of the glaciers I saw in Alaska. According to the park ranger, the melting of these glaciers are significantly faster each year in the past few years. The amount that used to melt in 3 months is now melting in a week. Apparently, within a decade, most of the glaciers up north will be gone. This very visible impact of our increasing demand on earth’s capacity to support life is scary stuff. However, since each of us contributes to the problem, we can each do something about it. We pretty much owe it to our grandchildren, don’t we? Borrowing against their bank of future natural resources just to satisfy our own personal needs today for more stuffs, is pretty irresponsible of us.

Since we are spending a deficit of 30% in natural resources this year, let's see what that means closer to home. Say you are spending 30% more money than you earn each month, and you keep on with it, you will need to constantly borrow against those credit cards to finance yourself. The lifestyle may seems good in the short-run because you can keep buying the things you want soooo much to have, but what are you doing to yourself in the long run? You will need to work forever, just to pay the interest and minimum payments. You will never get out of debt. Is the short-term worth doing? Definitely not. The only solution then is to immediately start spending below your earnings so that you can make a dent on already accumulated debt.

Now the forests, oceans, soil, climate, and air around us do revive themselves so we have been taking them for granted somewhat. They provide services necessary for our lives, such as oxygen, food sources, medicinal sources, and various cleaning services that keep our water supply potable and available. There is no “Ecological Debt” credit card statement in our mailbox to remind us. However, there are plenty of evidences of them suffering. Scientists are most worried about ecological overshoot, when a natural system is so taxed that it cannot recover by itself. Remember the collapse of the Great Banks fisheries off the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia in 1992, forcing its closure? The Atlantic cod fish stock was decimated.

I found an intriguing competition by Planet2025.tv, called the Ecological Debt Day video competition ending Jan 31st, 2008. They, along with Footprint Network, are trying to get the word out on the concept of ecological overshoot. Perhaps you can think of an innovative way to describe overshoot by tying the concept into your daily life -- e.g. commute, home, or work.

While the footprint concept seems to be related to the renewable capability of planet earth, I think it is relevant to an automotive blog, since our cars are the biggest contributors to GHG emissions, which taxes our atmosphere's capability to regulate earth's temperature and air quality properly.