Coalition presses Oakland for strong climate action
Sierra Club sponsors workshop on Thursday, October 27
These targets were largely the result of efforts by the Oakland Climate Action Coalition, which was formed to make sure that Oakland's Energy and Climate Action plan, now being developed by the city, contains strong policies to promote sustainability. The coalition, pulled together by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, includes about 30 local organizations, including advocates for labor, the environment, green business, sustainable development, environmental justice, and green-job development. The Sierra Club's Northern Alameda County Group has been working closely with the coalition.
"It's vitally important that Oakland has taken this step, putting itself at the forefront of cities across the nation that have been struggling with this issue," says Aaron Lehmer of Bay Localize, one of the organizations in the coalition. "Oakland is going to be leading the charge."
The coalition seeks greenhouse-gas reductions as a way of developing a vibrant local economy and improving the quality of life.
The city's Public Works Department is expected to place a draft climate plan before the City Council, probably in December. The coalition is pushing for the plan to include policies for transportation and land use; building and energy use; consumption and solid waste; food, water, and urban agriculture; community engagement; and adapting to climate change.
A big emphasis for the coalition is creating local green-collar jobs - jobs in fields such as energy-efficiency retrofits, home weatherization, green construction, public transportation, recycling and materials reuse, and urban agriculture. The idea is to ensure full access to such jobs for communities facing the highest unemployment and poverty rates, and to provide job training and other community benefits. "We don't need any more pathways into prison for Oakland's youth," says Emily Kirsch of the Ella Baker Center. "What we do need are pathways into green-collar jobs."
Similarly, the coalition emphasizes improved health and lower costs for low-income families and communities of color - those most impacted by the rising costs and health hazards brought on by global warming. The integration of energy, food, transportation, air and water quality, and new jobs is meant to create a livable community and sustainable economy that will benefit all Oakland residents.
The coalition is reaching out to involve Oakland's neighborhoods and constituencies in defining and supporting sustainable policies for reducing greenhouse-gases. Neighborhood-based workshops this fall will culminate in a large citywide public event on Wed., Nov. 18, to demonstrate community support. At press time we do not know time and place.
While climate legislation at the state and national levels is very important for addressing global warming, local greenhouse-gas reductions are key to generating the political will, expertise, and job development for a sustainable future.
WhatYouCanDo
To work with the Sierra Club and the coalition on community outreach and on lobbying the Oakland City Council for strong action to meet its reduction targets, please attend the Workshop on Oakland's Energy and Climate Action Plan on Tue., Oct. 27 at 6:30 pm at the Temescal branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5205 Telegraph Ave. (at 52nd Street, about a 15-minute walk from MacArthur BART). Also feel free to contact Bay Chapter conservation organizer or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 312 or Al Weinrub at (510)531-0720 or email al.weinrub -at- comcast.net
For further information on Oakland's planning process, including dates of public meetings, see www.sustainableoakland.com