July 2008 - Sustainability - list.sfgreens.org

[Sustain] Call Mayor To -Demand- Permanent Victory Garden
by Eric Brooks 13 Jul '08

13 Jul '08

Hi all, Gavin Newsom is about to get the most hypocritical, fake enviro photo op of his entire term in office and we must challenge him -hard- on it this time. Please read the Guardian blog below and then call the Mayor's office of neighborhood services at 415-544-7111 to express your outrage at this sham, and demand that the City Hall local organic Victory Garden be made permanent, not ridiculously ripped out two months after it is put in! Please forward this alert widely! peace, Eric http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2008/07/a_hollow_victory_for_urban_gar.h… A hollow victory for urban gardening movement When I first heard about current plans to build a "Victory Garden" in Civic Center Plaza -- which will be officially planted tomorrow at 10 a.m. in a ceremony featuring Mayor Gavin Newsom and Alice Waters, the pioneering restaurateur who founded Slow Food Nation <http://slowfoodnation.org/> -- I thought it was a really cool idea. Here was the city of San Francisco giving some of its most prime and high profile real estate over to the urban gardening movement, which seeks alternatives to the fossil fuel dependent industrialized food system. And the Victory Garden concept is great, conjuring up the collective commitment to our national interests that inspired patriotic citizens to plant gardens during the two world wars. Sure, the logistics of tending and securing the garden might be tough, but Newsom seemed to be making a commitment to put city resources behind this important symbolic statement. Then I heard that they're going to rip out the garden in a couple months, in my mind reducing the garden to a mere photo op for our jolly green would-be governor. Ick. Just what this country needs, another hollow gesture toward environmental sustainability rather than the bold collective action that we actually need to tackle serious problems like climate change, resource depletion, and a wasteful, polluting, and ineffective global food system. "While we would love for the garden to be permanent,it is true that the Victory Garden is temporary, and is being used as a demonstration and educational centerpiece for Slow Food Nation, taking place over Labor Day Weekend," event spokesperson Naomi Starkman wrote to me when I asked about the temporary garden (the mayor's press office still hasn't responded to my inquiry). She said the Victory Garden project will seek out about 15 diverse households to plant more permanent gardens, something that it will be incorporate into the event in August. And she sees value to even having a temporary garden in Civic Center Plaza, for which her group is covering the roughly $180,000 in costs. "The goal and mission of the Victory Garden is to spur to action the future of urban food production. By having the support of the City, and presenting a garden in City Hall's backyard, we intend to inform, educate and inspire citizens to learn to grow their own food and to get involved with local organizations doing just that. It is a huge civic statement that we hope translates into city-wide programs, indeed, into a national trend for cities to support this type of agriculture," Starkman wrote. Indeed, if Newsom and other city officials wanted to make a real commitment to support this effort, they would pursue a citywide program of supporting community gardens (which keep getting ripped up <http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=3337> these days) and doing a survey of what surplus city properties could be turned into gardens that might still be there after the television crews have gone. By *Steven T. Jones*: July 11, 2008 12:16 PM Comments (1) Eric Brooks: Right On! We should all contact Alice Waters through Slow Food Nation http://slowfoodnation.org/contact-us and ask her to insist that the garden be situated in a permanent location. This absurd and typically hollow Gavin Greenwash moment should be challenged vociferously! -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

3 2

[Sustain] Final Language SF 100% Clean Energy Act!
by Eric Brooks 13 Jul '08

13 Jul '08

Hi again all, Attached is the final language of the San Francisco Clean Energy Act charter amendment which is headed for the November 2008 ballot. It will give the City community owed and managed clean energy at the rate of 51% by 2017, 75% by 2030, ad 100% by 2040. It also expressly bars nuclear power from being defined as 'clean' energy under the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco. This Wednesday I will seek consensus from the General Membership for the SF Green party to support and campaign for this crucial measure so please read it ahead of time if you can. The sections in italics are the parts that represent the new language that will be placed into the City charter. This is huge folks. This measure will finally end PG&E's monopoly control of San Francisco's electricity supply once and for all, will therefore need -strong- SF Greens' support, and will also provide us with an excellent cause around which to register new Green voters. peace Eric Brooks -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

1 0

[Sustain] Final Language SF 100% Clean Energy Act!
by Eric Brooks 13 Jul '08

13 Jul '08

Hi again all, Attached is the final language of the San Francisco Clean Energy Act charter amendment which is headed for the November 2008 ballot. It will give the City community owed and managed clean energy at the rate of 51% by 2017, 75% by 2030, ad 100% by 2040. It also expressly bars nuclear power from being defined as 'clean' energy under the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco. This Wednesday I will seek consensus from the General Membership for the SF Green party to support and campaign for this crucial measure so please read it ahead of time if you can. The sections in italics are the parts that represent the new language that will be placed into the City charter. This is huge folks. This measure will finally end PG&E's monopoly control of San Francisco's electricity supply once and for all, will therefore need -strong- SF Greens' support, and will also provide us with an excellent cause around which to register new Green voters. peace Eric Brooks -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

1 0

[Sustain] Turn Out Tomorrow! For 100% Clean Electricity In SF!
by Eric Brooks 08 Jul '08

08 Jul '08

Hi all, The final ballot language for the San Francisco Clean Energy Act (for the November ballot) is nearly complete, and the matter will be taken up in a special Rules Committee hearing tomorrow at around 2pm. For those of you who wanted it clarified in the measure that nuclear energy is -not- clean, it looks like we have prevailed and that this clarification -will- be in the language. (Attached is an older version of the ballot draft which doesn't contain this change but will give you a general idea of what the measure will do.) PG&E and the Chamber of Commerce will be turning out their troops to attack this measure, and so it will be vital for as many of us to show up tomorrow to speak in favor as possible. The hearing is in Rules Committee, in City Hall Room 263, beginning at 1pm (but the Clean Energy Act is item 8 and probably won't come up for at least an hour - so be there by 2pm if you can). For full hearing details see http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=83910 **Talking Points** - The latest science shows that an 80% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050 is NO LONGER either close or fast enough of a reduction to avoid a major climate and sea level catastrophe. We need 100% clean electricity as soon as possible! - The ice caps are melting and polar bears are drowning and PG&E still only has 13% renewable electricity - and PG&E has admitted it will not even meet the minimal State requirement of 20% renewables by 2010. So the only way to get high percentages of clean energy fast enough, is for us, the people of San Francisco, to take ownership and control of our own electricity system. - PG&E has sought permission to build 9 new polluting natural gas power plants in California and is also trying to build a dangerous, methane emitting, 200 mile natural gas pipeline from Oregon to California. With global warming and the price of natural gas skyrocketing just as the price of oil is doing; it is critical that we dump PG&E and switch immediately to stable priced and clean, renewables and efficiency, to meet our energy needs. - Other California cities that have taken community control of their electricity systems have far lower rates and can dedicate far more funds to improving and greening those systems. - Our utility bills are going -up- because PG&E continues to rely on volatile priced, polluting natural gas as its energy base. In recent arguments against clean energy in Marin County, PG&E actual made the ridiculous claim that natural gas rates will go down, even though economic indicators are clearly showing that the price of natural gas is going up! We -must- dump PG&E now and switch to stable priced renewables. Hope to see you all at the hearing! peace Eric -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

1 0

[Sustain] FW: Independent Science Board To Develop Science Recommendation
by Mato Ska 07 Jul '08

07 Jul '08

> From: m_zehr(a)hotmail.com > To: cal-forum(a)cagreens.org > Subject: FW: Independent Science Board To Develop Science Recommendation > Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:22:28 -0600 > > > -Meeting Notice- > CALFED Independent Science Board Workshop > July 14-15, 2008 > Delta Room > CALFED Bay-Delta Program > 650 Capitol Mall, 5th Floor > Sacramento, CA 95814 > * This meeting will not be Webcast * > ________________________________________________________________________ > Workshop Purpose: To develop a recommendation for science in future Delta management and governance. > Workshop Product: The Independent Science Board will produce a memo to the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force. > AGENDA > Order of agenda items and listed times are subject to change. > Monday, July 14, 2008 > 8:30 a.m. 1. Welcome/Introductions > 2. Delta Vision Strategic Plan > 3. Current Structure of Science Program > 4. Essential Functions of Delta Science > 5. Essential Functions of a Science Program > Lunch > 6. Science Governance Structure > 7. Review Progress/Next Steps > 8. Public Comment > 5:00 p.m. Adjourn > Tuesday, July 15, 2008 > 8:30 a.m. 1. Welcome/Progress on Draft Recommendation > 2. Discussion and Revision of Draft Recommendation > Lunch > 3. Approval of Final Draft Recommendation > 4. Director’s Report > 5. Update on Board Activities > 6. Lead Scientist’s Report > 7. Public Comment > 4:00 p.m. Adjourn > _______________________________________________________________________ > • > Members of the public shall be provided an opportunity to address the Independent Science Board on any agenda items except closed session items and those items for which the public has already been afforded such as opportunity at an earlier meeting. In addition, comments during the Public Comment period shall be limited to matters within the ISB’s jurisdiction and not on the agenda. Reasonable time limits may be established for public comments (Government Code Section 11125.7). > • > Members of the public are encouraged to visit the ISB website at http://www.science.calwater.ca.gov/isb/isb_index.html to print the background meeting materials. A limited number of copies of these materials will be available at the meeting. If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Marcotte at marcotte(a)calwater.ca.gov or (916) 445-5196. > • > Additional information can be found on the CALFED Bay-Delta Program web site at http://www.calwater.ca.gov . > • > If you need reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact Debbie Mininfield, CALFED Bay-Delta Program at (916) 445-5511, TDD (800) 735-2929. > • > Please allow extra time for parking and federal building security screening procedures. Current photo identification is required for building access. Visitors may bring cameras and cell phones with camera capability into the building ONLY with the prior approval of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program and the Federal Protective Service, and their use in the building will be subject to federal restrictions. Please contact Terry Smith, Security Coordinator for the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, cell (916) 716-1904, office (916) 445-5345 or tsmith(a)calwater.ca.gov for building access information and camera guidelines. > > Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 09:24:28 -0700 > From: Pat.Rogers(a)CALWATER.CA.GOV > Subject: Independent Science Board To Develop Science Recommendation > To: DELTA_VISION(a)LISTSERV.CAHWNET.GOV > > > > Dear Delta Vision Listserve Subscribers: > The CALFED Independent Science Board (ISB) will meet Monday and Tuesday, July 14-15 to develop a recommendation for science in future Delta management and governance. The ISB science recommendation will be transmitted as a memorandum to the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force. > > > The meeting will not be webcast. > > ________________________________ > > > > You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to the CALFED Listserv. > You can unsubscribe or update your information at any time by visiting the CALFED Subscription page at: http://www.calwater.ca.gov/ListServe/EmailSubscriptions.htm. > Thank you. > > > > [http://www.calwater.ca.gov/ListServe/Graphics/listserve_bottom.JPG] > > > > > > Pat Rogers > Communications and Public Outreach > CALFED Bay-Delta Program > 650 Capitol Mall, Fifth Floor > Sacramento, CA 95814 > progers(a)calwater.ca.gov > ph: (916) 445-5593 > fax: (916) 445-7297 > > > > > >

1 0

[Sustain] FW: Independent Science Board To Develop Science Recommendation
by Mato Ska 07 Jul '08

07 Jul '08

-Meeting Notice- CALFED Independent Science Board Workshop July 14-15, 2008 Delta Room CALFED Bay-Delta Program 650 Capitol Mall, 5th Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 * This meeting will not be Webcast * ________________________________________________________________________ Workshop Purpose: To develop a recommendation for science in future Delta management and governance. Workshop Product: The Independent Science Board will produce a memo to the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force. AGENDA Order of agenda items and listed times are subject to change. Monday, July 14, 2008 8:30 a.m. 1. Welcome/Introductions 2. Delta Vision Strategic Plan 3. Current Structure of Science Program 4. Essential Functions of Delta Science 5. Essential Functions of a Science Program Lunch 6. Science Governance Structure 7. Review Progress/Next Steps 8. Public Comment 5:00 p.m. Adjourn Tuesday, July 15, 2008 8:30 a.m. 1. Welcome/Progress on Draft Recommendation 2. Discussion and Revision of Draft Recommendation Lunch 3. Approval of Final Draft Recommendation 4. Director’s Report 5. Update on Board Activities 6. Lead Scientist’s Report 7. Public Comment 4:00 p.m. Adjourn _______________________________________________________________________ • Members of the public shall be provided an opportunity to address the Independent Science Board on any agenda items except closed session items and those items for which the public has already been afforded such as opportunity at an earlier meeting. In addition, comments during the Public Comment period shall be limited to matters within the ISB’s jurisdiction and not on the agenda. Reasonable time limits may be established for public comments (Government Code Section 11125.7). • Members of the public are encouraged to visit the ISB website at http://www.science.calwater.ca.gov/isb/isb_index.html to print the background meeting materials. A limited number of copies of these materials will be available at the meeting. If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Marcotte at marcotte(a)calwater.ca.gov or (916) 445-5196. • Additional information can be found on the CALFED Bay-Delta Program web site at http://www.calwater.ca.gov . • If you need reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact Debbie Mininfield, CALFED Bay-Delta Program at (916) 445-5511, TDD (800) 735-2929. • Please allow extra time for parking and federal building security screening procedures. Current photo identification is required for building access. Visitors may bring cameras and cell phones with camera capability into the building ONLY with the prior approval of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program and the Federal Protective Service, and their use in the building will be subject to federal restrictions. Please contact Terry Smith, Security Coordinator for the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, cell (916) 716-1904, office (916) 445-5345 or tsmith(a)calwater.ca.gov for building access information and camera guidelines. Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 09:24:28 -0700 From: Pat.Rogers(a)CALWATER.CA.GOV Subject: Independent Science Board To Develop Science Recommendation To: DELTA_VISION(a)LISTSERV.CAHWNET.GOV Dear Delta Vision Listserve Subscribers: The CALFED Independent Science Board (ISB) will meet Monday and Tuesday, July 14-15 to develop a recommendation for science in future Delta management and governance. The ISB science recommendation will be transmitted as a memorandum to the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force. The meeting will not be webcast. ________________________________ You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to the CALFED Listserv. You can unsubscribe or update your information at any time by visiting the CALFED Subscription page at: http://www.calwater.ca.gov/ListServe/EmailSubscriptions.htm. Thank you. [http://www.calwater.ca.gov/ListServe/Graphics/listserve_bottom.JPG] Pat Rogers Communications and Public Outreach CALFED Bay-Delta Program 650 Capitol Mall, Fifth Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 progers(a)calwater.ca.gov ph: (916) 445-5593 fax: (916) 445-7297

1 0

[Sustain] Hidden World Bank Report: Biofuels Cause 75% Rise In Food Prices
by Eric Brooks 07 Jul '08

07 Jul '08

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/03/biofuels.renewableenergy Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis Internal World Bank study delivers blow to plant energy drive Aditya Chakrabortty The Guardian (UK) Friday July 4, 2008 Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body. The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil. Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George Bush. "It would put the World Bank in a political hot-spot with the White House," said one yesterday. The news comes at a critical point in the world's negotiations on biofuels policy. Leaders of the G8 industrialised countries meet next week in Hokkaido, Japan, where they will discuss the food crisis and come under intense lobbying from campaigners calling for a moratorium on the use of plant-derived fuels. It will also put pressure on the British government, which is due to release its own report on the impact of biofuels, the Gallagher Report. The Guardian has previously reported that the British study will state that plant fuels have played a "significant" part in pushing up food prices <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/19/climatechange.biofuels> to record levels. Although it was expected last week, the report has still not been released. "Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises," said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam. "It is imperative that we have the full picture. While politicians concentrate on keeping industry lobbies happy, people in poor countries cannot afford enough to eat." Rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line, estimates the World Bank, and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt. Government ministers here have described higher food and fuel prices as "the first real economic crisis of globalisation". President Bush has linked higher food prices to higher demand from India and China, but the leaked World Bank study disputes that: "Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases." Even successive droughts in Australia, calculates the report, have had a marginal impact. Instead, it argues that the EU and US drive for biofuels has had by far the biggest impact on food supply and prices. Since April, all petrol and diesel in Britain has had to include 2.5% from biofuels. The EU has been considering raising that target to 10% by 2020, but is faced with mounting evidence that that will only push food prices higher. "Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate," says the report. The basket of food prices examined in the study rose by 140% between 2002 and this February. The report estimates that higher energy and fertiliser prices accounted for an increase of only 15%, while biofuels have been responsible for a 75% jump over that period. It argues that production of biofuels has distorted food markets in three main ways. First, it has diverted grain away from food for fuel, with over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel. Second, farmers have been encouraged to set land aside for biofuel production. Third, it has sparked financial speculation in grains, driving prices up higher. Other reviews of the food crisis looked at it over a much longer period, or have not linked these three factors, and so arrived at smaller estimates of the impact from biofuels. But the report author, Don Mitchell, is a senior economist at the Bank and has done a detailed, month-by-month analysis of the surge in food prices, which allows much closer examination of the link between biofuels and food supply. The report points out biofuels derived from sugarcane, which Brazil specializes in, have not had such a dramatic impact. Supporters of biofuels argue that they are a greener alternative to relying on oil and other fossil fuels, but even that claim has been disputed by some experts, who argue that it does not apply to US production of ethanol from plants. "It is clear that some biofuels have huge impacts on food prices," said Dr David King, the government's former chief scientific adviser, last night. "All we are doing by supporting these is subsidising higher food prices, while doing nothing to tackle climate change." ### -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

1 0

[Sustain] FW: Green Party Water Resolution
by Mato Ska 03 Jul '08

03 Jul '08

I've shared a document with you called "Green Party Water Resolution": http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dgwnc84b_0cd7d5xmb&invite=g2vd4x3 Mato Ska

1 0

[Sustain] Green Party Water Resolution
by Mato Ska 03 Jul '08

03 Jul '08

I've shared a document with you called "Green Party Water Resolution": http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dgwnc84b_0cd7d5xmb&invite=g2vd4x3 Martin

1 0