It’s this time of the year when the entire Russia Program team is heading out to Russia’s regions for site visits and program related activities. On June 15-28 my colleague Jon Spaulding and I are conducting a follow-up professional exchange on alternative energy and energy efficiency in Russia. This is a sister visit to our April alternative energy exchange whereby we hosted a delegation of  Russian renewable energy professionals and NGO leaders in northern California to learn about California’s latest technologies and regulatory policies for renewable energy and energy efficiency development.

Next week, we will be bringing a group of five U.S. renewable energy experts to Russia to share their knowledge about contemporary technology and legislative policies on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency in the United States.  One of the trip’s highlights will be meeting with Andrey Yalbakov, a Russian participant who was part of the Russian exchange that we hosted here in April and who recently was awarded the 2010 Young Entrepreneur of Russia Award for his work in solar, wind and mini hydro-generation in the Altai Republic.

Andrey Yalbakov, recipient of the 2010 Young Entrepreneur of Russia Award for his work in solar, wind and mini hydro-generation in the Altai Republic.

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AN OPEN LETTER TO PETER DARBEE, CEO of PG&E,

On behalf of Pacific Environment, I am writing to thank you for your generous contribution to spreading the word about public power in California. Thanks to your $45 million public education campaign, millions of Californians now know that by working with their local elected representatives, California communities can choose to buy their own energy. This can be done in partnership with your company, PG&E through a Community Choice model, or without, with public power that is owned 100 percent by the community.

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Posted by Carrie Thompson, Associate Director of Trust for Mutual Understanding and a long-term supporter of Pacific Environment.

Since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig of April 20^th, we have all been watching in horror as the disaster and its gravity slowly unfold.  An industrial accident that brings the loss of eleven lives is heartbreaking in and of itself.  That followed by the realization two days later that an untold amount of oil was spewing from a broken pipe is almost too much to bear.  And even though I now live over 1500 miles away, the tragedy strikes a deeply personal note, as I grew up on the Gulf Coast.  I have a hard time thinking about the spill without crying.

I have a complicated relationship with oil.  Growing up in Houston, both of my parents, in one way or another, worked for oil companies.  But if we are being honest, we all have a complicated relationship with oil since we live in a country where we expect to be able to walk into a room, flip a switch, and have light.  We depend on oil for our transportation, our system of distribution, for our modern conveniences, for every aspect of modern life—we are all dependent on oil, and while the ever present threat of climate change looms for our future, the oil spill in the Gulf reminds us of the immediate danger of this dependence. (more…)

In early April, 34 Chinese environmental NGOs wrote letters to 29 IT companies regarding members of their supply chains violating Chinese environmental laws and regulations. The list included suppliers for global brands like Apple, IBM, Intel, Sony and Lenova.

Ten days of mostly silence on the part of these companies led to a press conference that attracted widespread media attention and finally some responses. According to an insider source, some companies claimed that these violations took place before they became buyers; others made vague promises of investigations and redress. Hundreds of letters and phone calls are being exchanged between the parties and much work is still needed to be done. (more…)

As the world watches the urgency of oil spill response operations in the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Environment and SF Estuary Partnership hosted a local forum last week that brought this national tragedy a bit closer to home here in the Bay Area. The forum, “Oil Spills in San Francisco Bay: Preparing a Better Response,” for the first time brought together stakeholders of the Bay area community including natural resource managers, local and state agencies, environmental groups, fishing groups and the public to discuss the lessons learned from two recent oil spills in the Bay – the Cosco Busan in 2007 and the smaller Dubai Star spill in 2009 – and how to better prevent and respond in the future.

Oiled Bird

Among the speakers were Pacific Environment’s very own Jackie Dragon, Marine Sanctuaries Program Director; Mike Lynes, Conservation Director, Golden Gate Audubon Society; Scott Schaefer, Deputy Director for the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR); Zeke Grader, Executive Director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations; and Captain Gugg and Lt. Cmdr. Gus Bannan of the U.S. Coast Guard. (more…)

When I saw this article in today’s New York Times I couldn’t help but think I was reading a translated article from a Russian newspaper – but, in 2015. And, why not? Nearly all of the corrupt policies described within the U.S. government in this article are already common practice in Russia, especially on Sakhalin Island, Kamchatka, the Russian Far North, and elsewhere.

Here’s just a sample of the checklist of items:

• Suppression of scientific evidence about the danger of proposed projects? Check.
• Ignoring harmful effects on endangered species? Check.
• Cozy relations between permit-granting organizations and the oil industry? Check.
• Foreign companies blatantly disregarding safety regulations? Check

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Alexander Vrishch from Russia’s Phoenix Fund at the Rio Vista wind farm

During preparation for last month’s alternative energy exchange, and during the exchange itself, which took place in the Bay area and Sacramento, and with all the hassle and bustle that usuallyaccompanies the process of setting up meetings, finalizing itineraries, booking tickets, and taking care of other logistics, I could not but notice how individuals from all different walks of life – be it the government, businesses, or just individuals – were  genuinely interested in energy issues in Russia and incredibly willing to help out. I wondered why this was the case. What was in it for them to spend their time and energy on individuals who came halfway from around the world? (more…)

While working with communities is core to Pacific Environment, we also need to build from those efforts and strengthen our support of critical environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act — both of which are currently under threat.

The EPA, which enforces the Clean Air Act (CAA), is under attack from special interests and their representatives in Congress.  Special interests are advocating removal of the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the CAA, which they won in the Supreme Court in 2007. Currently, there are two bills in Congress that would slow or kill the EPA’s new regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Two West Virginia Democrats, Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Rep. Nick Rahall, have co-authored a bill that would freeze the agency’s move for at least two years and “protect clean coal state economies.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska introduced a bill that would undo the EPA’s ruling that greenhouse gas emissions pose public harm. The state of Texas is also challenging the EPA’s attempts to regulate greenhouse gases claiming that the agency’s finding that “gases blamed for global warming threaten public health” is “based on flawed science and would harm the state’s economy.”

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Global climate change needs to be addressed on many fronts.  Looking globally in scope, international efforts to stop or slow down global warming are essential.  Communities in Alaska and around the Arctic are being impacted by bigger storm surges, thin or no ice which is impeding seal and whale hunts and creating extremely dangerous conditions for people to practice their subsistence way of life.  Additionally, global warming threatens many species of wildlife including polar bears, Pacific walrus and seals.  We must work together to get commitments from the US and other countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 350 parts per million, meaning greenhouse gas pollution from the United States and other developed countries should be reduced by 45% or more below 1990 levels by 2020.

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The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of impressions for anyone who cares about the global climate.  As we post this blog, we still do not know the outcomes of the Copenhagen negotiations.  Will countries come to agreement on anything that can move forward?  Will that agreement be fair, ambitious, and binding?  Will the agreement help keep us within 350 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere?

I am impressed by all the people who traveled to Copenhagen to have their voices heard.  Indigenous peoples, environmental activists, and others are doing what they can to speak up.  Kudos to Faith Gemmill from REDOIL, who confronted Secretary Salazar about his decision to allow offshore drilling in the Arctic:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N49WoIecsLU.  And kudos to Brendan Cummings of Center for Biological Diversity, who as a polar bear challenged Obama’s leadership:  http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/polar-bear-warns-obama-about-climate-failure/.  Most of all, kudos to the youth who made their voices heard during the climate talks.  Check out this inspiring video documenting a youth sit-in at the Bella Center:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re11HDMdf_E

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