Berkeley gets local about global warming

In November 2006, 81% of Berkeley voters passed Measure G, calling for an 80% reduction in Berkeley's greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. In late January the city will reveal its Climate Action Plan specifying actions for achieving the Measure G goals. After a process of discussion and community review, the City Council is to adopt the plan's recommendations in February or March.

The office of Mayor Tom Bates is strongly behind implementation of Measure G, and several city departments are working together on the measure's ambitious goals. Central in developing the plan have been the city's climate-action coordinator Timothy Burroughs and Mayor Bates' chief of staff Cisco DeVries.

The plan has already been influenced by a series of community-input meetings. A key tenet that emerged, Burroughs told the Yodeler, "is that in 2050, as a community, we will be much more energy-efficient and rely much more on decentralized sources of renewable energy like solar - in private homes, in businesses, and in city government and public institutions."

The heftiest chapter in the draft plan focuses on energy use in buildings. Berkeley has already made national headlines with its announcement of an innovative financing program to help residents and small-business owners increase building energy efficiency and go solar.

Another major component focuses on transportation and land use. "By 2050, alternative forms of transportation have to be mainstream. We have to make it easier for Berkeley residents and others in the region to use alternatives to the private automobile," said Burroughs. Ways to do that will include much more efficient cars, preferably zero-carbon-producing; community-design and land-use patterns that facilitate alternatives to motor vehicles; programs already under way or planned such as car-sharing and Bus Rapid Transit; and broader implementation of the city's bicycle and pedestrian plan.

Another chapter focuses on eliminating waste. A key task is to keep food waste, yard trimmings, and wood out of the landfill by diverting them to composting facilities. Composting prevents the release from decomposing waste of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. In addition, compost-enriched soil retains water better and requires less fertilizer. In September the city began collecting food scraps and kitchen papers from residents, and increased collection of compostables to weekly. Already the organic waste in the trash has decreased dramatically, and the amount of organic waste being collected for composting has significantly increased (up by 220 tons in September, a 40% increase over the same month last year). According to the draft plan, the city will also increase its outreach to multi-unit buildings, where currently recycling is optional.

Sustainable and local consumption will be another chapter. The city has already launched a "buy local" campaign. Burroughs admitted, however, that "those emissions are a lot more difficult for us to track. It's a lot easier to track energy consumption in buildings and waste disposal than to estimate the energy consumption of food grown in Argentina."

Another key concept in addressing climate change is "adaptation" to the extensive and irreversible climate changes already under way. These include rising levels of San Francisco Bay; potential water shortages due to drought, higher temperatures, and rapid snowmelt in the Sierra; and forest fires, which are expected to increase by upwards of 50% in this century alone. The plan will outline a strategy for assessing Berkeley's vulnerability and making the community, in Burroughs' words, "more resilient to a changing climate."

The plan will include already-started actions for addressing climate change - for example, new directions in urban forestry that emphasize extensive tree planting.

The plan will also discuss preparing for "peak oil", the period when global petroleum production enters a terminal decline.

Another aspect of the plan will be the city's role working with UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Unified School District to promote effective climate action.

How to pay for all the recommended steps will be another topic. "We already have a lot of good ideas, some of which are funded, some not," said Burroughs. "We want to start discussion around additional funding mechanisms. One example would be a carbon tax or fee. We want to put it out there as an option." Boulder CO has already enacted a carbon tax, and Berkeley will be looking closely at how it works.

"Fundamentally the plan is based on behavior change," said Burroughs. "It has to be more than just city government and leadership organizations like the Sierra Club, though both are important. It has to happen at the level of individuals." One example already being promoted in Berkeley is the Low Carbon Diet. This nationally known program for reducing household carbon footprints is outlined in a popular book that has become the motivator and guide for local Low Carbon Diet teams of neighbors and community groups.

Berkeley is already one of the leading cities in the U.S. for addressing global warming and climate action, often mentioned in the same breath as other acknowledged leaders such as Seattle and Portland. Oakland and San Francisco are also in the top tier. According to Burroughs, between 2000 and 2005, Berkeley's emissions decreased by about 9% - mainly from greater efficiencies in building energy use and transportation choices. "That's impressive when emissions are going up in most cities across the country," observed Burroughs, "despite those cities having greenhouse-gas-reduction targets, goals, and plans. At best, these things are difficult to achieve."

WhatYouCanDo

The Climate Action Plan is scheduled to be published on Jan. 22 on the city's Climate Action web site

The site will then host an open forum to promote community dialog about the plan. All comments will be available for public review.

At this site you can also click on "Low Carbon Diet" to get more information about the program or to form a Low Carbon Diet team with neighbors.

Those without Internet access can obtain information about new developments with Berkeley's Climate Action Plan by calling the city's Climate Action Team at (510) 981-5437.

When the final Measure G implementation plan is released, it will be important for the public to speak out in support of critical elements, and to request any needed changes. For more information about the plan (including regular e-mail updates on the Sierra Club's role in supporting it) and how to work with the Club on local energy issues, contact conservation organizer or call (510)848-0800, ext. 316.

Hank Resnik