[Sustain] Community Choice press conference

[Eric Brooks]

civillib at cwnet.com wrote:
> Hey folks,
>
> I'm trying to put together a basic release re: below. HOWEVER, I do need a
> few things...
>
> 1. An update on what is going on tomorrow (news conference w/ammiano, ross,
> etc. right?).
>   
Tomorrow, at 1pm, Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Ross Mirkarimi, will be 
introducing 1) The Implementation Ordinance for San Francisco's 
Community Choice renewable energy project, which will provide San 
Francisco with 50% solar and wind electricity by the end of the next 
decade, and 2) a Statement of Intent Ordinance to the California Public 
Utilities Commission announcing that San Francisco is moving forward 
with the project.
The ordinances will be introduced during Board of Supervisors 'Roll Call 
For Introductions'.

> 2. When is the legislation due for a vote?
>   
The legislation will go to the Board's Budget and Finance Committee 
either tomorrow, or Tuesday, April 24, and should reach the full Board 
of Supervisors for a final vote by mid to late May.
> 3. What's the very brief (1 paragraph or 2) history of it...introduced, etc.
>   
The Implementation Ordinance has gone through a three year process of 
hearings before the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), and the 
Budget and Finance Committee, during which the implementation plan was 
continuously debated and re-written until it reached its current form, 
which Ammiano and Mirkarimi have decided is now ready to be introduced 
as final legislation. So technically, these ordinances are brand new and 
will not have been introduced until tomorrow (Tuesday, Apr 17)
> 4. Summary of the legislation?
>   
The Implementation Ordinance will make use of a new state law passed in 
2002, which allows individual California communities to withdraw from 
purchasing power from their private electricity providers (in our case 
PG&E) and become a buying co-op known as a Community Choice Aggregator, 
which is empowered to make its own electricity purchasing contracts. The 
City and County of San Francisco will use this new Community Choice 
status to contract with an energy provider which will make electricity 
purchases for the community as directed by the City, and most 
importantly, will construct sufficient wind, solar and efficiency 
projects such that, by 2020, the City will be meeting over 50% of its 
overall electricity demands through local renewable electricity production.
> 5. Couple of quotes (Ann already sent one).
>   
Eric Brooks, Co-Chair of the San Francisco Green Party Sustainability 
Working Group said "With the newest science on global warming showing 
that all industrial countries like the U.S. will need to cut our CO2 
emissions 90% by the year 2030 in order to avoid a global catastrophic 
climate collapse, it is absolutely vital that the Board of Supervisors 
pass the Community Choice renewable energy project immediately. The 
looming crisis also makes clear that no City on Earth should be planning 
to build any new fossil fuel power plants, and the Supervisors should 
immediately move to cancel the San Francisco Public Utilities 
Commission's plans to spend over 140 million dollars in public money to 
install a polluting, CO2 belching, natural gas power plant, in the 
Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood. That money should be dedicated to 
San Francisco's solar, wind and other renewable energy projects instead."


cheers

Eric
> It's a new subject to me, and frankly, I've just spent an hour researching
> it and most of the info is years old...I also can't anything about it on
> the upcoming Sup agenda, at least for Tuesday.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Cres
>
>
> At 01:28 PM 4/10/2007 -0700, Don Eichelberger wrote:
>   
>> All-
>>
>> It looks like we have a week to put together a press statement for 
>> the event, and I can help.  One focus can be on how local action can 
>> make a statement against the exploitation of Native Lands for any 
>> industrial purpose, which is in line with the Social Justice Plank on 
>> Native Americans of the State Party. 
>> http://www.cagreens.org/platform/platform_justice.shtml#native
>>
>> I don't think it would be hard to argue that the city greens would 
>> agree to oppose any energy put in to the SF grid by any source that 
>> violates environmental justice, but I do not believe anything 
>> specific to the subject has passed through general membership 
>> consideration.  Should it be a release from the Green Party of SF or 
>> the Sustainability WG?
>>
>> I look forward to tonight's event.
>>
>> See you there,
>>
>> Don
>>
>> At 08:41 AM 4/10/2007, ErikaSF at aol.com wrote:
>>     
>>> Hi Ann,
>>> Thanks for your thoughts on this, and for an attempt at a release.
>>> If no one responded to your thought about writing a release, it is 
>>> because we did not think we needed to.  I have written many releases 
>>> for the SF Green Party, and I just write it, send it to the County 
>>> Council for approval, and then distribute it to the media.  There is 
>>> no need for the extra step of telling people you might write a release.
>>> I wish I could help you expand these words into a release, but I 
>>> have to work all day and will not have time.  I also know nothing 
>>> about the press conference today.  I don't know when it will be, or 
>>> who may be speaking.  This is knowledge I would need anyway if I 
>>> were to write a release.
>>>
>>> Anyway, thanks for your efforts nevertheless.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Erika
>>> In a message dated 4/9/2007 11:54:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
>>> anniegarrison at mac.com writes:
>>> I think I not only aimed this at the list but at most everyone else 
>>> in the susainability group, plus Erika (the SF Greens sole 
>>> publicist?), though I know there's at least one more gal in the 
>>> working group, who just moved over here from the East Bay.  I really 
>>> wanted an answer 'cause I was still plannin' to try and get myself 
>>> down to City Hall by noon tomorrow.
>>>
>>> Has it been postponed?  And could someone please remind me of the 
>>> Howard Street address of the Peak Oil Education event tomorrow 
>>> night?  7:30, right?  I was planning to try to make both events---on 
>>> time, which, as you know, would be a small miracle, for me.
>>>
>>> Please don't make me go racing off to City Hall if this thing has 
>>> been postponed.  I'd expect Mary R. to get an announcement of a 
>>> postponement before I would.
>>>
>>> This came up because I offered to write a paragraph or so saying 
>>> this means we won't be needing any gas turbine peaker power in 
>>> Bayview Hunters Point or Lakeview-Oceanside-Merced, or any 
>>> coal-fired power from the native Southwest and nobody took me up on 
>>> it, so I hoped that meant somebody had it covered 'cause I don't 
>>> care if I do it; I just hope it's included in the press 
>>> conference.   Actually, I'd just as soon see somebody else do it, 
>>> but I will if no one else steps forward.  Or maybe I already did:
>>>
>>> This legislation means that the CIty and County of San Francisco 
>>> won't be needing any gas turbine peaker power in Bayview Hunters 
>>> Point or Lakeview-Oceanside-Merced, or any coal-fired power from the 
>>> native Four Corners.
>>>
>>> There.  Done.  Can anyone try and get that into the press release?
>>>
>>>   R&R, for one'n all---A.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----------
>>> See what's free at <http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503>AOL.com.
>>>       
>>