Energy, global warming, and the Bay Area

Energy issues are not new to the Sierra Club. Even the campaign almost a century ago to prevent erection of the O'Shaughnessy Dam in the Hetch Hetchy had an energy component, since San Francisco uses the water in part for power generation.

What is new is that energy is now at the center of the greatest issue ever to face the Club or perhaps even the human species: global warming. If we - as a species all over this planet - do not change our ways of extracting energy, every ecosystem on the entire planet - every cherished wild place and every place of human habitation - is threatened with potential disaster. If we as individuals and local communities do not begin to take responsibility, our global community will surely be unable to act. The Sierra Club's decision to make energy and global warming our central priority is a direct extension of our original commitment to protect the earth.

Dramatic reductions of CO₂ and other greenhouse-gas emissions are needed to avert enormous risks for the future. Luckily, by switching to renewable sources of energy such as wind, solar, and biofuels, we not only eliminate CO₂ releases and so avert global warming, but we also cut pollution and reduce the likelihood of oil wars and economically crippling energy-price increases. For a clear overview of Smart Energy Solutions visit the Sierra Club's Energy pages.

A superficial look at California's energy future might suggest that the sixth-largest economy on the planet is in the midst of an ecological revolution. Gov. Schwarzenegger last year signed a law to dramatically reduce the state's greenhouse-gas emissions, another law promises that one-third of the state's electricity will come from renewable sources by 2020, and residents of San Francisco can't help but notice PG&E's bold "Let's Green This City" campaign on billboards all over the city. Are these promises credible?

The articles in this Yodeler contain a mix of optimism and skepticism. Some tell of visionary plans - with the details on why they are perfectly practical. Others tell about current actions by the state's utilities - with the details on why they are perfectly impractical, at least if we want to prevent global warming (and several other more local environmental insults). As always, the Yodeler tries to focus on California and especially the Bay Area, and here we have concrete hopes of setting a model for the nation and world on ways to cut back our emissions of greenhouse gases.

From this local perspective, the heart of this Yodeler is a set of articles on Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) - California's legal framework for enabling local communities to take control of their energy sources. In San Francisco we're inches from the legislative decisions needed to allow creation of the world's largest renewable-energy network. Marin County has begun concrete planning for CCA. Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville are just beginning a planning process. (We've sprinkled in some snippets about CCA elsewhere in the state also.) CCA takes time to implement, but the plans we lay locally today can be the foundation for great advances in energy use in coming years. Our Priority Campaign Update asks you readers to write to San Francisco's mayor and Board of Supervisors, urging them finally to take action on CCA - an action valuable for cutting the city's greenhouse-gas emissions - and as a galvanizing example for our other counties and for the whole nation.

Another set of articles highlights other Bay Area efforts. The Oakland Apollo Alliance (with its state and national counterparts) works to share the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy among the whole community, especially through the development of good "green-collar" jobs in the clean-energy industry. Melissa Capria of San Francisco's Department of Environment points out how many of the solutions to global warming are continuations of cities' existing environmental efforts - only now with greater urgency. The Energy Committees of the Sierra Club's Loma Prieta and Bay Chapters have performed a survey of the inspection fees charged by cities and counties for inspecting residential solar installations - with the result that many jurisdictions have deeply cut their charges. In other words, the committees have directly lowered the cost of installing solar systems in people's homes.

Three articles focus on water. MacArthur fellow Peter Gleick explains the impacts of rising sea levels on the Bay Area. East Bay Municipal Utility District director (and Bay Chapter leader) Andy Katz writes of the effects of global warming on water supply, especially at EBMUD. Ed Mainland explains how water conservation is an important means of conserving energy as well.

A less optimistic set of articles concerns the actions of our state's utilities. PG&E is supporting some legislation to reduce global warming, but it is investing heavily in nuclear power and natural gas and spent $11.3 million to defeat ballot measures for public power in Yolo County. Another article on that page tells of planning for PG&E watershed lands. PG&E is trying to build a terminal in Oregon to import Liquefied Natural Gas. Not only does LNG represent a commitment to fossil fuels, but the terminals are a threat to California's coastline. In the realm of electrical transmission, too, Bill Powers tells how utilities are building new power lines, ostensibly for renewable energy, but mainly, if the state lets them, to carry coal- and gas-fired electricity. Jim Metropulos, who lobbies on energy issues in the Club's Sacramento office, writes on our efforts to eliminate the tremendous impacts of power-plants' once-through-cooling systems on shoreline life.

Bill Magavern, who works on air quality and climate change in the Club's Sacramento office, writes about the efforts under way to implement AB 32, the state's new law to cap our state's emissions of global-warming pollution.

The Yodeler often talks about transportation in the context of land-use issues, but of course, transportation is one of the greatest consumers of energy and generators of CO₂. John Holtzclaw writes about how to build a transit system really designed for energy savings, and Bruce Riordan suggests a set of steps for reducing energy consumption throughout transportation. Sherry Boschert tells about the remarkable synergies that plug-in-hybrid vehicles can bring to both transportation and energy systems; she will also be speaking at a free event sponsored by our Chapter Energy Committee on Thu., March 8.

We tell about a number of other events you can attend to learn about and start working to stop global warming. These include the National Day of Climate Action, the annual summit of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition - focused this year on "Bay Area Solutions to Global Warming", a new Future Sea Level installation at Aquarium of the Bay, and a slide show on global warming to be presented by the Bay Chapter Energy Committee. We also provide a guide to a number of Sierra Club web sites that help you understand and reduce your own energy consumption.

Are you ready to get involved yourself? Start out by writing a letter in support of CCA (see Priority Campaign Update). Many of the other articles give you additional ways to get involved.

And you can join the Bay Chapter Energy Committee. It needs volunteers to help us keep abreast of the whole range of energy issues affecting the Bay Area and to work with other Sierra Club entities to encourage renewable energy and energy conservation. Current needs include:

• following local efforts and clean technologies;
• implementing a plan to educate local communities about energy efficiency and conservation;
• exploring ways locally to move towards sustainability and to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The committee meets once a month, on the fourth Wednesday, 7 - 9 pm at Sierra Club Headquarters in San Francisco (85 Second St., near the Montgomery BART/Muni station), to discuss these and other local energy issues, and to hear presentations from energy experts. Experience in the energy field is helpful, but more important is an interest in learning the details of specific technologies and legislation. To get connected with our Energy Committee and sign up for e-mail for meeting and event announcements.

Our Chapter Transportation and Compact Growth Committee is also involved in lots of efforts to conserve energy. For more information on these committees and to get involved, contact or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 316

Donald Forman