We had a scare earlier this week. A report from KPBS indicated that SANDAG Board Chairman Terry Sinnott was a climate change denier. When reporter asked him about climate change this is what he had to say:
"I don't get into that situation. It's a debatable issue that the board talks about. We have representatives from all 18 cities and the county of San Diego, and they bring their political thoughts in when they make decisions. My job is to facilitate and make sure we make progress and stick to the mission of our agency." Facing a backlash, Sinnott issued a statement today that "clarifies" his position on global warming: Dear Council, Yesterday I was elected to the chair position at SANDAG. It was a unanimous vote representing support from all 19 agencies. It was a vote that was made by elected officials who support climate action efforts and those who do not After the meeting, a KPBS reporter interviewed me on the goals of SANDAG for the coming year. At the end of the interview he asked me if I accepted the conclusion that climate change is occurring and that it is caused by human activity. I answered the question from the standpoint of my new role as chair of the SANDAG Board of Directors, which includes elected officials with a wide variety of perspectives on the issue. Rather than answer the question directly, I focused on my role in working with the Board to achieve our overall goals, which include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As I see it, my role as chair is to foster discussion and the development of consensus – not to make statements that may alienate some members of the Board and make consensus more difficult to achieve. The Board as a whole sets policy, not the chair. I would also note that, regardless of what opinions individual members may have about the issue, the SANDAG Board as a whole and the agency staff are dedicated to achieving the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets as required by state law and state regulators. SANDAG also supports the efforts of individual cities to develop climate action plans. And, as you all know, I have always supported Del Mar’s climate action plan, and I will continue to represent the Council in its environmental concerns at SANDAG. I whole-heartedly support all of these efforts. Hope this clarifies what you are hearing. Thanks, Terry While I would have been happier if Sinnott has been more straightforward with a statement that climate change is a problem that we certainly have to work on, it's good to know that hi is not giving the out and out corporate line that has been developed for national politics. While the state of politics and power in Washington D.C. impossible, we can have hope that much of the heavy lifting can be done on the state and local level. We need people in San Diego, SANDAG, California, and elsewhere committed to making our climate a top priority.
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County Supervisor Ron Roberts has been tossing this idea around for a while. He wants to build gondolas in San Diego as public transportation options. Besides the bus and trolley and driving yourself, getting from here to there could entail boarding a cable sky transport, if Roberts has his way. Roberts says that he got his idea from the gondola rides at the San Diego Zoo. Most people think of gondolas as being frivolous or having very specific purposes. They're used for ski lifts or to delight tourists. Nicole Capretz of the Climate Action Plan dismisses the idea of gondolas used for public transportation as being, "kind of a fancy new bright and shiny object." But to such critics Roberts cites some of the advantages of moving people around with gondolas. The estimated cost of a gondola route is a fraction of installing a trolley. With a smaller footprint, the environmental ramifications are less and there is less use of eminent domain. And other obstacles are dealt with easier. "Wherever you've got grade, and you've got freeways and other things you've got to cross or you've got traffic, just fly over it!" says Roberts.
This idea is not entirely new. Portland (Of course it would be Portland!) has a gondola that is used by 10,000 riders a day. Thoughts? Pie in the sky? Boondoggle? Or an innovative approach to transportation and climate change? A big battery in the backcountry. Before you start getting an image of a huge AA Eveready stuck somewhere between Alpine and Dulzura, there are more than one way to make a battery. Batteries simply store energy. That energy can be stored chemically, as it is with the AA's and AAA's we have in radios and other devices, but it can also be stored physically.
The city of San Diego and the local Water Authority are considering using the San Vicente reservoir and damming another reservoir as the batteries. The plan would be to use solar energy to pump water into the reservoirs during the day, when the sun is shining and also when energy use is off-peak. Then in the evening, when electricity demand goes up, the water would drain out and drive hydro-turbines. Pretty clever. Although there is a price to pay. There would be open space that would be flooded. And, though it seems to be a shining example of green energy, reservoirs for hydropower are a major source of greenhouse gasses. This plan would nonetheless be considered green energy, which the city has as part of its Climate Action Plan. There is more information in Ry Rivard's Environmental Report at Voice of San Diego. Thoughts? Is this a good solution to lowering our greenhouse gas emissions? Or are we fooling ourselves? Please comment below. |
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorPaul Hormick is the founder of South Park Climate Solutions. He sees climate change as one of our central concerns, for ecologies as well as societies. He holds a master's degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University |