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SFGP Sustainability Working Group 4/24/08<br>
<br>
Agenda:<br><br>
I. Peak Oil Taskforce; II. Transit Effectiveness Project; III. CT’s;; IV.
CCA, V. Mayor’s Solar program<br>
<br>
I. Peak Oil
Taskforce- Jeanne - There have been problems getting
preliminary reports out due to almost 50% turn over on the
committee. First drafts of report sections are due June 3, but not
many will likely be ready.<br>
<br>
Discussion:<br>
<br>
· Energy person is
needed. Don has applied.<br>
· Ways are needed to
localize the problems<br>
· Need to identify common
units for measuring comparisons; CO2 emissions? Gallons? BTU’s?<br>
· Taskforce meetings are
First Tuesday of the month at 3 P.M., and Third Tuesday of the month at 5
P.M. in room 421 at City Hall.<br>
· Wade Crowfoot came to
one Taskforce meeting and said the mayor now :gets it” on Peak Oil.
Conjecture is that Newsom is eying higher office and needs to embrace
environmentalism more strongly.<br>
<br>
II. Transit Effectiveness
Project- Eric - We did not discuss this in detail, as no one from
the Transpo Working Group was in attendance to give us the latest. From
what he knows of it, Eric says the plan is still over dependent on
auto transit, albeit “alternative fuels”.<br>
<br>
Discussion:<br>
<ul>
<li>No way we can “drive greener” and get out of the mess we are in
<li>Environmentalists had a long-standing critique that auto transit was
destroying the planet long before the effects Peak Oil and Greenhouse
gasses also began to impact.
<li>It is still bad for land use, resource extraction, environmental
quality and other issues.
<li>We should not nibble at the edges of real social change.
<li>PG&E is touting huge “green” solar projects in the
Southwest. Centralizing solar grid energy and transporting it long
distances is inefficient and defeats the advantages of a decentralized
energy grid. Makes it so we still buy energy over PG&E wires.
<li>Some half-steps, i.e. toward plug-in hybrids may be necessary to get
people to begin to move in a right direction and begin momentum for
deeper change.
<li>Many rural areas need personal vehicles, but need to find ways to
ride-share more
<li>Where there is ready access to public transit, that option needs to
be pushed to the max.
</ul>
III.
CT’s- Eric- We have 5 supervisors who support our opposition to the
turbines. Four support the turbine project. Mayor Newsom may
be reconsidering his support for the project since PG&E opposes the
project. Some worry that, with PG&E opposed to the plan, it might
obscure the fact there is true community opposition. A letter laying out
the coalition’s opposition to the CT’s was delivered to the Mayor and
Supervisors. Ella Baker Center has signed, as did Sierra Club, Van
Jones, among others.<br><br>
(Letter is attached.)<br>
<br>
Discussion:<br>
<ul>
<li>SF Chronicle came out against the CT’s!
<li>Bay Guardian did a good analysis in last week’'s issue, although made
incorrect assertion that pollution would be less.
<li>We may be in a good position to stop the CT’'s and shut Mirant, and
have no internal fossil fuel production, in line with what is going on in
Seattle.
<li>Next CT meeting will be May 5<sup>th</sup> at Government Audits and
Oversight Committee. Eric will be sending a major alert to try to
get a large turnout there.
<li>The group letter will be released to the press that Monday.
<li>Sophie Maxwell, who is the main turbine project supporter is not
expected to take it well, and will pull out all the stops.
<li>We need a new City energy pan. The 2004 Plan is woefully out of
date.
<li>The judge threw out the Brightline suit trying to stop the CT’s based
on requirements for EPA to control CO2 emissions. The judge said
there is no time limit on EPA compliance and for that as reason threw out
the suit.
<li>The judge also ruled that since the plant has not been approved by
the Supervisors yet, his court could not rule on Brightline's assertion
that the Bayview's civil rights were violated by a process without
sufficient public input..
<li>Cal-ISO staff say they do not see an overriding need to internal
production, although higher ups will not say that and are trying to
suppress staff comments.
<li>Cal-ISO staff have been quoted in the media that they are willing to
look at alternative proposals, however Cal ISO executives are
contradicting them. (Sort of like Bush admin. denial of EPA staff
scientist statements.)
</ul>
IV.
CCA- Eric- Some good developments. While SFPUC is still
fighting it, like delaying RFQ’s, etc., LAFCO increasingly is not
supportive of delays and has moved unilaterally and begun hiring its own
CCA contractors.<br>
<br>
Discussion:<br>
<ul>
<li>Michael Bell was accepted for the position by LAFCO over Local Power
for some limited preliminary work. Bell’s bid was lower.
Local Power feels he was an ok choice for those tasks but that CCA will
be much more viable if Local Power is hired to undertake the complete
landscape of CCA tasks comprehensively.
<li>SFPUC appears to not want to hire Local Power (or even any contractor
to get the CCA project underway) SFPUC is still throwing up
constant roadblocks and delays. The LAFCo executive officer Nancy
Miller is falling for SFPUC's nonsense far too much and deferring too
often to SFPUC requests for delay. Luckily the LAFCO commissioners are
contradicting this and moving the project forward.
<li>LAFCO is finally moving the process along, despite SFPUC sandbagging.
</ul> <br>
V.
Mayor’s Solar program- Eric- LAFCO discussed the solar
program and Jake McGoldrick had many criticisms. It went to the
Budget and Finance Committee, which has 3 LAFCO members, and is a very
good committee for us. The program is being heavily amended in Budget and
Finance to become a better program.<br>
<br>
Discussion:<br>
<ul>
<li>Green Party opposition to this program shook up city hall.
<li>At first, the project was fast tracked and did not allow public
process. Sierra Club came to an impasse on it, wanting to cultivate
relations with a strong Democratic candidate, Newsom, who seems to be
coming around to peak oil, global warming.
<li>At first, it passed a board vote when Ammiano somehow got the
mistaken idea that Sierra Club supported the project
<li>Mayor's office thought it had won and decided to take their
threatened ballot measure version of the project off of the June ballot
the Friday following the vote (that Friday was the deadline for June
ballot changes).
<li>Sierra Club sent a letter to the Board clarifying that they were
neither in support or opposed the project. Bruce Wolfe and Eric Brooks
got Sierra Club to wait to send the letter until after that Friday so
that Mayor would make the mistake of pulling the ballot measure.
<li>Bruce and Eric waited until after Mayor's office pulled the ballot
measure and then hit the Board with strong arguments against the project
the following Monday and the board vote was reversed on second reading.
(All ordinances require two votes at the Board of Supervisors.) The solar
program was remanded to Budget and Finance.
<li>McGoldrick feels it needs to be changed and given more public input,
and to include economic means testing for recipients.
<li>Because of internal pressure from members who do not understand the
negatives and dangers of the Mayor's program, Sierra Club decided to
support it, but is leaning toward support mostly toward the 1 year pilot
version of the program, instead of the full 10 year version.
<li>Solar City has threatened to pull a promised solar jobs training
center if the Mayor's program does not go through.
<li>Open ended SFPUC process needs to be changed.
<li>PG&E is still painting itself green and threatening CCA.
<li>Hearing will be May 7<sup>th</sup> for Mayo's solar program and we
will need to turn people out.
<li>We need to set up H-Bonding (renewable energy revenue bonds) through
CCA to pay for solar installations and a lease to own program with net
metering to sell excess power to the grid.
</ul><br>
<a href="file://c:\documents%20and%20settings\don\application%20data\qualcomm\eudora\attach\Anti-Plant%20Letter.pdf" eudora="attachment">
<img src="cid:.0" width=32 height=32 alt="Anti-Plant Letter.pdf"></a>
<a href="file://c:\documents%20and%20settings\don\application%20data\qualcomm\eudora\attach\Anti-Plant%20Letter.pdf" eudora="attachment">
Anti-Plant Letter.pdf <br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</a><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Don Eichelberger<br>
DJ Fix Independent Productions<br><br>
My Blog<br>
<a href="http://www.greenuprising.blogspot.com/" eudora="autourl">
www.greenuprising.blogspot.com<br><br>
</a>My You Tube<br>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/DonnyFix">
http://www.youtube.com/DonnyFix</a> <br><br>
My Space<br><br>
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/donnyfix" eudora="autourl">
http://www.myspace.com/donnyfix</a> <br><br>
Donny Fix del.icio.us book marks<br><br>
<a href="http://del.icio.us/donnyfix" eudora="autourl">
http://del.icio.us/donnyfix<br><br>
</a>The Hegelian/Marxist goal is emancipation. Marx said it best in
1843:<br><br>
"Human emancipation wll only be complete when the real, individual
man (sic) is absorbed into himself the abstract citizen; when as an
individual man, in his every day life, in his work and in his
relationships, he has become a <i>species-being</i> (<b>politically
accountabe to the whole</b>); and when he recognizes and realizes his own
power as <i>social</i> powers, so that he no longer separates this
<i>socia</i>l power from himself as <i>political </i>power."<br>
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