December 2007 - Sustainability

Re: [Sustain] CO2 Cap & Trade?
by Eric Brooks 21 Jul '08

21 Jul '08

Well, the idea is that you put a top limit or 'cap' on how much each county/state/corporations can emit. Concurrently with that, you create a market for trading reductions in CO2 emissions such that corporations get 'credits' (which are worth real money) and sometimes (but not always) corporations receive financial penalties or taxes for exceeding limits. The idea is that you make reducing CO2 emissions desirable by making it valuable. Then, you set up a market in which the CO2 credits get turned into electronic trading notes (a lot like stocks). So, one company, say, a carpet maker, figures out ways to greatly reduce it emissions, and its trading exchange issues that company a given amount of credits for free. Then, another company, say, a cement manufacturer, knowing that it is going to exceed its limits, buys the credits created by the carpet company so that, on paper, the cement company has bought enough credits to -not- exceed its limits; and so, it can therefore avoid emissions penalties (if there are any) or the cost of installing pollution controls (if their state requires any). Depending on the current or future cost of pollution control requirements, and taxes and penalties on fuel use or CO2 production, some companies may see the credits as even more valuable and pay more for them than their set value, and this makes the credits rise in value on the trading 'floor'. Now, as we all know, from any quick glance at the stock market, and especially at markets trading currency values, speculators over the last many decades have developed incredibly clever and complex ways of making money from trading even though they aren't creating any value or production whatsoever. Add this to the fact that corporations have high incentives to use tricks to pretend on paper that they are reducing their emissions when they are not, that corporations will continue to get laws passed to reduce pollution controls and penalties and even to change the way CO2 trading systems work, and it is easy to see that such cap and trade systems are doomed to failure. Indeed, the cap and trade system adopted a few years ago in Europe is already failing dismally. See http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=21202 cheers Eric Anne Garrison wrote: I can't even figure out how this cap and trade business is supposed to work. Somebody told me that carbon offsetting meant something fairly simple like paying to plant a tree in exchange for some sort of excess energy use, but I can't even tell how this is supposed to work. If I'm around and anyone can enlighten me at the next meeting, I'd appreciate it. I know it's crap, and don't much feel like sorting it out, but feel like I should.

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[Sustain] Urgent Public Comment Needed Against Yucca Mt Nuke Storage
by Eric Brooks 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/news_in_brief/pr_infoshop_news_yucca_mtn_0712… Dept of Energy moves to turn Yucca Mountain into nuclear waste repository - Native Shoshone tribe in imminent danger - Public comment period deadline January 10 */From Infoshop News <http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20071227155057650>/* December 31, 2007 Public hearings have not been well attended, statements mostly in favor of the plan to put all of the nuclear waste in the country in this one sacred place. Activists were told that if we do not go on record with a statement, we will have no legal recourse later on. Local papers & media spin have recently stated that opposition to the nuke dump had dropped of since the passing of Corbin Harney. The nuclear reps are confident to the point of acting like it's a done deal. WE KNOW THAT'S NOT TRUE! LETS PROVE THEM WRONG! TAKE ACTION & MAKE YOUR COMMENT NOW!! Yucca Mountain is sacred to the Shoshone as an herb gathering site, for rituals, and as a part of their stories. Yucca Mountain is known in Shoshone language as Snake Mountain. Indeed it looks like a snake. It is said that the snake was headed north when it froze where it is. Further more it is said that it will move again and "flip around". Geologists say that there are thirteen different fault lines running through it. Citizens can make an oral statement at the scheduled public hearings or fill out a form and mail it in to EIS Office U.S. Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Mgmt, 1551 Hillshire dr. Las Vegas, NV, 89195-7308 or by e-mail at EIS_Office(a)ymp.gov <mailto:EIS_Office@ymp.gov>. EIS_Office(a)ymp.gov <mailto:EIS_Office@ymp.gov> HERE ARE TALKING POINTS: http://www.h-o-m-e.org/Yucca/index.htm "The eyes of the elders are on us. The fate of the unborn is rolling toward the cliff, the voice of Corbin Harney is ringing in my ears: It's on your shoulders now...". Request info from Bear Dyken: mdyken(a)goldrush.com <mailto:mdyken@goldrush.com>.

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[Sustain] Fwd: Renewable Energy Powering European Towns/Economies
by Eric Brooks 20 Dec '07

20 Dec '07

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/printstory;jsessionid=1B72DEF… Europeans believe that renewable energy will bring economic benefits. But in Varese, Italy that prosperity has already arrived. by Jane Burgermeister, European Correspondent Varese, Italy has added 140 jobs in the past ten years. That's pretty good for a town with a population of only 2,400. The town, which is located in Liguria in the northern part of Italy, is experiencing an economic boom fueled by renewable energy. The town has seen a six-fold increase in tourists in the last ten years, many coming just to see its renewable energy network. Varese became the first municipality in Europe to get 100 percent of its power from renewable energy sources six years ago. It now generates three times more electricity than the people living in Varese need and there are plans in the pipeline for even more renewables. For this pioneering role, the town won a prize from the European Union (EU) in 2004. What has happened in Varese is unusual. On a national level, Italy is set to fall short of its EU objective of generating 25 percent of its gross electrical consumption from renewable energy sources by 2010. Italy's share of renewables was just 13.93 in 2005. But the mayor of Varese, Michaela Marone, and her predecessor, Maurizio Caranza, turned their vision of a town driven by renewable energy into reality by leveraging funds from the EU and using their authority to cut through red tape. The town uses wind, solar and small-scale hydropower, a mix best adapted to its hilly terrain covering a total of 140 square km --- and it has plans for more hydropower. Today, renewables bring not only environmental benefits but also improved living standards to a town that had suffered from years of steady decline. An additional 350,000 euros [US $514,000] in tax revenues is handed over to the council each year by the private company that owns the renewable energy network. "We fulfill all the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol and are non profit. We use all of our profits towards paying the electricity bills of the people in the town," Michaele Marone, the town mayor, told RenewableEnergyAccess.com. Four wind turbines located on a ridge 1100 meters above sea level --- where the average annual wind speed is 7.2 meters per second --- generate 8 million kWh of electricity a year that is fed into the local grid managed by Acam <http://www.acamspa.com/>, a power company in La Spezia. The electricity from the wind turbines alone reduce carbon emissions by 8,000 tons, representing 0.05 percent of the region's total annual carbon emissions. Photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed on the town hall and the local school. The town hall has 102 PV panels covering 95 square meters and generating 12,700 kWh a year, which supplies 98 percent of the total energy consumption of the building. Varese's secondary school has 39 PV panels covering 36 square meters and producing 4,600 kWh a year, which supplies 62 percent of the energy used. In addition to that, the town's swimming pool is heated by solar power and a program to promote the use of wood pellet stoves is in the works. In conjunction with the development of a renewable energy infrastructure, the town has also launched initiatives to make Varese 100 percent sustainable. A total of 108 organic farms now supply 98 percent of the town's food; water is purified using environmentally friendly technology and waste has been significantly reduced. The town has seen a six-fold increase in tourists in the last ten years, many coming just to see its renewable energy network. *Varese Not Alone* Although certainly a pioneer in Renewable Energy, Varese is not the only town in Europe to adopt such measures. The same thing is happening in many towns across Europe. Güssing in Austria with 27,000 inhabitants has also switched to renewable energy sources --- and has also moved from poverty to prosperity, underlining the potential of renewable energy for creating new jobs and new investment. And it's not only rural towns that are forging ahead with renewable energy projects. There has been a marked increase in the numbers of cities across Europe adopting initiatives to cut carbon emissions and develop green energy. Following Rome and London, Paris launched a new "Plan Climat" or climate plan on October 1st 2007 to reduce carbon emissions. Munich, Germany has also developed a strategy for cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030. Beatrice Alcaraz from Energie-Cités <http://www.energie-cites.org/>, an association of European local authorities for the promotion of local sustainable energy policies that represents more than 500 towns and cities, told RenewableEnergyAccess.com that the driving force behind all of this expansion was EU policy. "Municipalities have to adapt their national policies to the European directives, that is the European directive of public building. They also have to develop the renewables to achieve the EU energy and climate objectives," she said. The EU is targeting urban areas because more than 80 percent of the European population lives there, and the energy consumption of cities is growing. The latest figures from French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie (Ademe)) show that the energy consumption of French cities grew by 14.5 percent between 1990 and 2005 from 27 billion KWh in 1990 to 31 billion kWh in 2005. "The rapid development of renewable energy in so many towns and cities across Europe augurs well," said Beatrice Alcatraz, speaking about how cities are combating this increase in energy consumption while keeping down carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Though cities cover only 0.4 percent of the world's total area, they consume 75 percent of the energy and generate about 80 percent of the carbon emissions according to a study by the Münchener Rück. /Jane Burgermeister is a RenewableEnergyAccess.com European Correspondent based in Vienna, Austria. / -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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[Sustain] Interview: Why IPCC Warming Reports Are Too Optimistic
by Eric Brooks 18 Dec '07

18 Dec '07

Hi all, I just discovered a really good audio interview with coral reef scientist Thomas Goreau on reefs and global warming, in which he also details why the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) reports on the predicted severity of human caused global warming are far too optimistic and that the problem will be much worse, more quickly, than the IPCC predicts. The entire two hour interview is important and I recommend listening to the entire program; however if you just want to hear the section critiquing the IPCC go to the 32 minute mark of the first hour of the program. The first hour is at: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=25824&nav=& The second hour is at: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=25825&nav=& cheers Eric -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

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Re: [Sustain] [Transpo] Meetings December?
by John-Marc Chandonia 15 Dec '07

15 Dec '07

We should also review Prop 91 and make a recommendation before the endorsement GM on Jan 7. If people won't be around on Dec 26, how about this coming Thursday (the 20th?). Can everybody who's interested in coming let us know if either of those days works for them? JMC -- John-Marc Chandonia (jmc(a)sfgreens.org) http://sfgreens.org/

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[Sustain] Fwd: Call City Hall To Support Nurses & Stop Hospital Closing!
by Eric Brooks 13 Dec '07

13 Dec '07

Call City Hall To Support Nurses & Stop Hospital Closing! Hi all, San Francisco nurses have just started a two day strike against Sutter Health Corporation in order to demand better treatment of patients, better work conditions, and to stop Sutter from shutting down St. Luke's Hospital (on the city's South side) which is vital to community and citywide health security. You can help San Francisco nurses in this vital effort by taking a moment right now to call the Mayor and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin with the following message: "Please strongly support the nurses' strike and take immediate action to stop Sutter Health from closing St. Luke's Hospital." Use the following numbers: Mayor Newsom (Office of Neighborhood Services): 554-7111 (or call 311 and ask to leave a comment for the Mayor) Supervisor Aaron Peskin: 554-7450 Background On The Strike (From the CNA/NNOC): Sutter Health has a management contract to run St. Luke's. Sutter is a "not for profit" corporation that owns or manages 13 hospitals in Northern California. The strike is being led by nurses who have been without a contract since 5/07. The nurses of CPMC and St. Luke's are part of CNA/NNOC which represents over 5000 RN's in Northern California as their union. The issues at the bargaining table are: 1) Safe-staffing for RN's who are forced to skip lunches and breaks because Sutter will not hire enough RN's to meet basic staffing ratios now in place. 2) A change in health care benefits and a severe reduction in pension plans for nurses retiring after 20 years. 3) The reported Sutter master plan to close three community hospitals as acute care facilities. These are: - St. Luke's in SF - Sutter Santa Rosa - Sutter San Leandro(Old doctor's hospital) These hospitals draw their reimbursement largely from state or federal programs for low income patients like MediCal. This is likely why Sutter has decided to close them and open, in their master plan for the next two years, a larger cardiac hospital in Burlingame, in order to seek reimbursement from more lucrative forms of health insurance. There are rumors of a merger with San Jose Medical Group which almost destroyed Good Samaritan in San Jose a few years back. The community didn't let that happen. All CNA/NNOC nurses in the other facilities are walking out Thursday in solidarity with the nurses who will see their hospital close. If St. Luke's closes, the public sector cannot absorb the patients who will flow to the next closest hospital, which is not CPMC in the Fillmore District, but SF General Hospital. Sutter is making vague promises of shifting hundreds of patient's to their CPMC campus, and saying that they will up-grade the old Jack Tar hotel on Van Ness, to make it a hospital. However traffic on Van Ness at rush hour would make ambulance access to this proposed facility extremely problematic. -end- Thanks for taking action! Eric Brooks Campaign Coordinator Our City //This alert posted by: Our City 1028-A Howard St. San Francisco, CA 94103 415-756-8844 For more information about Our City campaigns go to: http://www.our-city.org info(a)our-city.org <mailto:info@our-city.org> //

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Re: [Sustain] [Transpo] Meetings December?
by Eric Brooks 13 Dec '07

13 Dec '07

There's some energy stuff around the power plants and solar energy, but it can be dealt with via email. I vote we skip December if folks are ok with that. Eric susan vaughan wrote: > What would be on the agenda besides the TALC transpo plan? > > Also, I think at some ponit we should take a look at the Transit > Effectiveness Project. Personally, I'm hoping that when I let go of > some of the things I've beebn doing organizationally for the SFGP that > I can start attending TEP meetings (if they are in the evening) and > the Western SoMa Task Force meetings. > > Sue > > */Eric Brooks <brookse32(a)aim.com>/* wrote: > > Do we want to try to have a Transpo and/or Sustainability meeting > this > month? > > I have uncertain travel plans and might be out of town. > > peace > > Eric > _______________________________________________ > Transpo mailing list > Transpo(a)sfgreens.org > https://list.sfgreens.org/mailman/listinfo/transpo > > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! > Search. > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51734/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/c…> -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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[Sustain] Meetings December?
by Eric Brooks 13 Dec '07

13 Dec '07

Do we want to try to have a Transpo and/or Sustainability meeting this month? I have uncertain travel plans and might be out of town. peace Eric

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[Sustain] [SFGP-A] party next week, endorsements in January
by Eric Brooks 13 Dec '07

13 Dec '07

Hi, The SFGP will have a holiday party next Wednesday from 7-9, instead of our GM. We'll provide some food and drinks. We'll hold a special endorsement GM for the February election on Jan 7, in place of our regular CIWG meeting. We'll still have the January GM as well, but the agenda for that won't be set until our January CC meeting. JMC -- John-Marc Chandonia (jmc(a)sfgreens.org) http://sfgreens.org/

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[Sustain] PO Task Force meets - and now we need help!
by Jeanne 10 Dec '07

10 Dec '07

The SF Peak Oil Task Force met for the first time last week. The meeting lasted three hours, though much of the time was taken up with administrative matters such as adopting the bylaws, being instructed regarding the SF Sunshine Ordinance, adopting an attendance policy, etc. I was elected chair and Bernie Meyerson agreed to be vice-chair. Ross Mirkarimi attended; he not only spoke for a few minutes, but also stayed and listened for quite some time. He has introduced legislation which would require each city department to make a plan to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by {not sure of date}. He seems open to the possibility of adding peak oil to that legislation (since the mitigations will be largely the same). Regarding the plan the TF is supposed to draw up, we divided up our work into subject areas, and each TF member volunteered to informally head up one area. Here's what we came up with: Transportation - Jeanne Rosenmeier, greengal(a)netvista.net [helpers Carl, Jason] Food - Jason Mark, jasondovemork(a)gmail.com [also Jeanne] Energy - Carl Duisberg, carlduisberg(a)hotmail.com [also Patt] Architecture, including building codes - Patt Gerber, pattgerber(a)gmail.com [Patt needs helpers!] Economic relocalization & justice - Marya Stark, maryastark(a)yahoo.com [also Jeanne, Carl] Societal Function - Jan Lundberg, jan(a)culturechange.org [also Patt, Marya, Bernie] Infrastructure, including waste and water - Bernie Meyerson, ber8832(a)aol.com [Bernie needs helpers!] Before the next meeting, the above folks - and anyone else who is interested in these areas - are tasked with assessing what information we will need, resources available and unavailable, and a basic concept of how to proceed. Unfortunately, the city is not allowing us to hold any public hearings, so we will have to do all our information gathering informally. Now that you've seen the subjects we claim to be addressing, you will see that seven people cannot do enough. One thing we need is suggestions of information bearing on these areas. Another one would be suggestions as to people we should talk to in order to get a full picture and best plan. The next meeting will be Jan 2, 2:30, Room 421, City Hall. Please contact people heading up areas in which you have an interest. Jeanne -- Jeanne Rosenmeier 415 751-0901

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