Local fight against global warming: Activitists
push for 'Cool Cities
Nov 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Sharon Noguchi San Jose
Mercury News, Calif.
They came with the goal of saving the planet and left Saturday with a handy
tool kit of ideas that began with how to approach City Hall. About 40 foot
soldiers in the battle against global warming got their marching orders at a
workshop in Mountain View offered by the Sierra Club and two other
environmental organizations.
Why fight at City Hall against carbon dioxide emissions? Because about 45
percent of greenhouse-gas emissions come from transportation, and 28 percent
from electricity generation and natural gas burning to heat and power
buildings, according to Bay Area air quality officials. And cities and
counties make the rules that shape that energy consumption.
"Technology alone is not enough to reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions. We
have to pay attention to how much we drive our fuel-efficient cars," said
Stephanie Reyes of Greenbelt Alliance, a workshop co-sponsor. In California,
vehicle miles traveled has increased at nearly twice the rate of population
growth.
In other words, you can't solve global warming by simply driving a Prius.
High on the list of planet-friendly ideas is more of the "right" kind of
development: high-density, walkable communities, affordable housing, retail
and commercial nestling alongside houses.
The Sierra Club's 2-year-old Cool Cities campaign aims to change the way
many people live, with less sprawl and more transit near housing.
"This is the major social movement of the early 21st
century -- fighting climate change," said Matt Vander Sluis of the statewide
Planning and Conservation League, another workshop sponsor. San Jose, a
leader among cities in the fight, aims to reduce per-capita emissions by 50
percent within 15 years. California has passed a law ordering greenhouse-gas
emissions to be rolled back to 1990 levels by 2020.
But setting goals is one thing; achieving them is another. Palo Alto, lauded
for its "green" building policies, a few years ago approved a housing
project called by some at the workshop "an abomination" -- upscale housing
at the former Rickey's Hyatt site on El Camino Real, a major transit
corridor. Neighbors fearing traffic beat back the original proposal for a
hotel and more affordable units, which was just the kind of development that
planet-protectors advocate.
Workshop organizers suggested the way to fight nimby-ism and enforce
anti-greenhouse-gas rules is to embed targets in cities' general plans and
regions' transportation plans, which are legally binding rules. If all that
sounds high on the policy-wonk scale, there was more: The eco-activist
primer is full of details on how to harness and strengthen environmental
laws. Pointers include: Get eight cities this year to pass ordinances.
Create three micro teams. Bird-dog general-plan processes.
The most effective measures will be the most difficult to achieve -- require
homeowners to install energy-saving measures such as weatherstripping and
insulation, before selling a home, said Margie Suozzo, co-chair of the Cool
Cities core team.
"I don't think cities realize how much power they have," said David Marsland,
San Jose Cool Team member. "We are solving global warming one city at a
time."
Contact Sharon Noguchi at snoguchi@mercurynews.com or (408) 271-3775.
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