The Bottom Line
Ruth Sandven | Published on 9/30/2023
The Bottom Line
Welcome!
Before we get to the bottom line and what we learned from Adam Aron about the climate crisis, I want to welcome Mary Lou Lindegren as co-chair for SEAC! Mary Lou and I will be working together to deepen SEAC’s commitment and advocacy to Heat and Human Health, the Transboundary Pollution Crisis and the bottom line of addressing climate change.
New Meeting Time
SEAC has a new meeting time! Of the three choices presented, 4:00 pm on the third Tuesday of the month was voted as the most popular time to meet. Hopefully this new time will make it easier for students and working people to attend. Please mark your calendars!
"The Essential Role of Social Mobilization in Confronting the Climate Crisis."
Professor Aron, in his sobering presentation, says that the bottom line in addressing the climate crisis, is that we have to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Greenhouse gasses surrounding the earth, created by intense use of fossil fuels, trap huge amounts of heat. Surface temperatures have already risen 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1980. If heating continues forward at this rate, it will have a life-changing effect on the planet. Weather patterns have already changed affecting ocean currents, creating droughts, changing farming and land use patterns and raising the sea level.
Whereas mitigation is import- increasing wind, solar, all-electric buildings, carbon sequestration, electric vehicles, sustainable agriculture, etc. directing us towards net zero, it’s not enough. What we need to be is zero carbon. Professor Aron says that the best way to get to zero carbon is through non-profit, publicly owned utilities which power the state and nation from renewable energy. We must take action together and work collectively to let our public officials know that they must follow through on all climate action plans.
Power San Diego
To follow up with The Bottom Line, our October SEAC speaker will be Bill Powers of Power San Diego. Power San Diego is a coalition of San Diegans who are committed to creating a non-profit utility for reliable, affordable and sustainable energy solutions. Power San Diego is launching a campaign for a 2024 ballot measure for the creation of a non-profit public utility for the City of San Diego.
Mr. Powers is the author of the 2020 strategic energy plan, Roadmap to 100 Percent Local Solar Build-Out by 2030, for the San Diego region. The plan relies on rooftop and parking lot solar power, combined wih battery storage and accelerated energy efficiency measures, as the template to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from power consumption in the San Diego area by 2030.
Please join this important conversation from the LWVSD website calendar on October 17th at 4:00 pm.
Transborder Pollution Crisis
The LWVSD and the LWVSDNC signed the Surfrider petition to Governor Newsom asking him to declare a state of emergency along the Tijuana River boundary and shoreline of Imperial beach. A small committee is working on a follow up letter to the Coastal Commission and Congressional Representatives regarding a more comprehensive, long term, sustainable engineering solution to the upgrade and expansion of the South Bay IBWC wastewater treatment and collection facilities. Please let me know if you would like to join this group.