Posted by Andrea Barnetche

Four years ago, California passed the state’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law –AB 32– mandating a 25 percent reduction in industrial greenhouse gases by 2020. This law made California a leader in clean air and energy policy, and a leader in clean tech businesses in the nation. The law, which has earned support from businesses, labor, environmental and health organizations, demands polluter accountability by requiring polluting industries to reduce toxic emissions that will threaten our health and contribute to global climate change.

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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…)

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…)

The 40^th anniversary of Earth Day provides a great opportunity to look back at the progress of the environmental movement – and how we are doing meeting the growing environmental challenges of the day.

As luck would have it, I am spending the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day in Moscow.  Since I have spent a significant amount of time the last 20 years working with grassroots environmental groups throughout Siberia and the Russian Far East, reflecting from Moscow seems somehow appropriate.

What have we learned in the last 40 years?  First, the environment is about people.  To protect the environment, we have to work with people.  We have found that building an effective, widespread environmental movement is critical to our success.  The environmental movement has been criticized for not reaching out broadly enough.  Time and again, we have proven that the environmental movement is not narrow.  The environmental movement is not limited to scientists and bird-watchers.  The environmental movement is made up of poor people, rich people, everyday people, people from labor unions, journalists, teachers, kids, parents, and many more. (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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On the first day of climate talks in Copenhagen, I have been thinking a lot about rhetoric vs. reality.  The last few days have been abuzz with rumors that the climate talks will result in a deal.  Obama changed his plans to attend the final day of the conference, befitting his role as a major world leader.  The pressure will be on U.S. negotiators to make sure that Obama’s trip is not in vain.

I hope that they are right and that we will get a real, enforceable, meaningful international agreement that leads to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.  Our planet is crying out for this.  Kudos to the newspapers around the world that banded together to prove that an international agreement is, in fact, possible (at least among newspapers) by printing the same editorial calling for a meaningful agreement:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/06/copenhagen-editorial

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CBS 5 KPIX’s Green Beat reporter Jeffrey Schaub talked to Pacific Environment and residents of Antioch yesterday about PG&E’s plans to build two new high capacity natural gas power plants in Eastern Contra Costa County.

However, KPIX’s account yesterday is overly simplistic and implies that a power plant is the panacea to economic woes faced by residents in the far eastern corner of Contra Costa.

In reporting, KPIX inaccurately led viewers to assume the following:

1) That a power plant creates long term economic development and jobs when in actuality the construction of a power plant requires a few hundred temporary employees for a few years. And after that, only a few dozen highly specialized employees are needed for its on-going operation. This is not a long term solution for the region’s economy.

2) That this is the only option for Antioch’s development. Ironically, a day after the KPIX piece appeared, an article appeared in the East Bay Express “Activists Try to Block Green Tech in Berkeley” . It would certainly behoove Antioch to roll out the red carpet for these new industries that actually will employ people for the long term. Let Berkeley’s loss be Antioch’s gain!

These points were missing from the report:

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