Re/Action on Climate Protection

How to solve global warming

Stopping "dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate" is the most important problem facing humanity today. Significant action at the local level is one of the major keys.

NHK Climate Program

Here is a link to a Japan NHK radio presentation on California climate related activities. My wife and I play a modest role. The broadcast is in Japanese.

Kyoto; CAFE; RGGI; YourTown?

Recently, my favorite pastime has been looking at "What MUST be done locally" vs "What CAN be done locally" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What MUST be done is coming into starker and starker relief. What CAN and WILL be done is very much murkier.

County General Plan

It might be useful to put the need for a framework for greenhouse gas emissions reduction in the County General Plan into a scientific context.

Community Climate Action Plan

In 2006, all the city councils and the Board of Supervisors in Sonoma County, CA, endorsed a community (county)-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 25% below 1990 levels by 2015. An effort is now underway to develop an action plan to reach that target...and beyond.

Example of S-cluster

An American friend living in Japan pointed out a feature of his neighborhood, near Tokyo, that highlights one of the most important aspects of the zero carbon S-cluster: Local use of locally produced goods. Local food production, of regionally appropriate foods, using sustainable farming techniques, is an integral part of a sustainable, zero-carbon community. Food production should also use local, renewable energy sources for irrigation and farm equipment.

Sustainability Cluster Defined

A sustainability cluster or "s-cluster" is a system of services that has general characteristics. It can interoperate with other s-clusters to provide the services essential to sustain life. There are seven basic types of s-clusters:

Connecting the dots - Wind, Nuclear and Local Action on Climate Protection

Is nuclear necessary? Can large-scale wind and solar "do it?" What do these important questions have to do with local action on climate change? Choices that we make at the local level CAN affect trends in large-scale power generation. Let's take a look at how that can work.

Nuclear or Wind better for Climate Protection?

Today in the media, one often sees the claim being made that "nuclear is the best power generation technology to deal with climate change, since it emits no GHGs". This is a hugely deceptive claim, since it ignores two key points: the hazardous and toxic nature of the nuclear fuel cycle, the tremendous amount of energy available from wind.

Sonoma County Biomass to Energy Workshop

Sonoma County Waste Management Agency is sponsoring a workshop in January to explore systems that produce energy from organic waste. The generic technology is known as anaerobic digestion. This is a low tech method for producing and capturing methane or biogas from decomposing organic waste. Digesters exist for many different types of waste streams, such as manure, food waste and yardwaste. The workshop will focus on several technologies such as Kompogas and Biogas Energy. Harvesting energy from the waste stream is a critical piece of the strategy for reducing GHG emissions.