Page 18 - Sonoma County Gazette January 2016

© Tish Levee, 2016
The Paris Accords. Leaders from nearly 200 countries met in Paris in December and hammered out what many see as a defining climate agreement, but which others feel falls far short of what’s needed.
As we enter the new year, it’s appropriate to reflect on the very significant impact of community volunteers. Sonoma County is known statewide as a hotbed of civic volunteerism. The Volunteer Center
of Sonoma County is partly responsible for that, but it seems like
Warmest November on record! November was so hot globally it’s now over 99.999 percent certain 2015 will be the hottest year on record—driven overwhelmingly by record levels of carbon pollution in the air plus a super El Niño in the Pacific.
every week another citizen steps forward to provide a solution to a societal or environmental problem on their own initiative.
According to NASA, November’s global average temperature was 1.05o
C, or 1.89o F, above the 20th-century average, the second straight month to average above the 1o threshold. NASA’s records, dating back to 1880, show no comparable rise. This is significant, since the global goal established in Paris is to hold global warming to “well below 2o C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5o C.”
These past few months, we’ve seen incredible efforts coordinated by Chris Brokate – a River area resident and business person (Brokate Janitorial) – to clean up our river banks before the rain strikes. Chris’s Clean River Alliance has worked with local volunteers, the Russian Riverkeeper, and other local organizations to coordinate weekly cleanups of garbage and debris left on the banks of the River. He has also effectively reached out to some who are responsible for the garbage related to encampments, and asked for their participation in the effort.
Mixed News for Energy. In the just passed Federal spending bill, lawmakers lifted the four-decade-old ban on crude oil exports in exchange
for an extension of expired or expiring renewable energy tax breaks. Both the wind production tax credit and the solar investment tax credit won five-year extensions. Meanwhile analysts say leading renewable-energy technologies will add the equivalent of 6.2 million barrels of oil a day to the global energy mix, exceeding the 5.7 million barrels a day pumped from U.S. shale oil wells since 2010. Solar and wind energy are saving a gigaton of carbon dioxide emissions— LEDs, solar PV, onshore wind, and hybrid and electric vehicles are the front- runners in the emerging low-carbon economy; the market for them is worth more than $600 billion annually.
Bad news for Sonoma Clean Power customers. The CPUC just voted 4-1 in favor of doubling the “exit fee” (Power Cost Indifference Adjustment) charged to customers who join SCP or other CCAs, despite hundreds of protesters and petitioners. For the average residence this will increase the bill by $6.61. With roughly 196,000 SCP customers this will give PG&E nearly $1.3 million a month, in perpetuity! This is a blow to all the new CCAs coming online soon. But SCP is still cheaper than PG&E and a lot more renewable!
Microbeads are a real problem! While California banned products containing microbeads this fall, they’re still polluting our water. A study from Oregon State estimated that about eight billion microbeads (so small they go right through filters in waste-water facilities) make it into aquatic habitats daily just in the US—that’s 2.9 trillion beads annually, enough that if placed end to end they wrap around the Earth more than seven times. Congress just sent a
bill banning microbeads in beauty products to the President’s desk for signing. Because it doesn’t phase out their manufacture until July 1, 2017 and doesn’t ban their sale till July 1, 2018, keep checking products and voting with your wallet!! Avoid purchasing products with microbeads by companies like Aveeno, Crest, Clean & Clear, and Neutrogena, whose soaps and toothpastes can contain up to 2.8 million plastic beads per 5-ounce bottle.
New way to upcycle ocean trash! Adidas is working on a a sneaker woven entirely out of ocean trash. The sample shoe is made from illegal gill nets dredged up from the ocean. ”...fishing net that was spanning the bottom of the sea like a wall, and killing pretty much every fish passing by,” says the founder of a new Adidas-supported nonprofit that’s helping the company develop a larger strategy for fighting ocean waste. “They confiscated this net, and we’re bringing it back to life.” See more at tinyurl.com/pn8d53h.
In 2016, a new technology will be placed in the ocean. A lot of that pollution is plastic—8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every single year. Right now, about 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic are floating around the ocean. Ocean Cleanup, ”the longest floating structure in world history,” a 1.2-mile-long system, designed to collect and remove plastic from the ocean, will hang out in the ocean near Tsushima, an island between Japan and South Korea. The plan is to use all the plastic junk it collects as an alternate energy source. See more at theoceancleanup.com.
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Over the past few months, Chris has organized large and small events,
and received support from the Water Agency, Public Works, and Probation Department for supplies, disposal fees, and manpower. Our office has been proud to help support the work of the Clean River Alliance, and looks forward to a long-term effort – which is sorely needed. This effort started with one person, and has swept up an entire community to participate. To join the effort by volunteering, contact Chris online at the Clean River Alliance Facebook page. Thank you, Chris!
The POWER of ONE
Fire Service System
At the beginning of December, our Board took significant steps on the multi-year path toward a more efficient, effective, and sustainable fire service system for Sonoma County. After 21 months, outreach with 31 fire agencies, 19 meetings with other affected organizations, cities, and community members, and many meetings with an advisory group from the fire service community, Assistant County Administrator Chris Thomas brought forward an interim fire services report and request for supplemental funding of dispatch fees for the unincorporated fire agencies. The report also requested the establishment of an Advisory Body, and instituting a Regional approach to fire services.
If you live in the unincorporated area, you probably attend your local fire department’s pancake breakfast or other robust fundraiser while marveling
that in this day and age these services are still mostly provided by fellow community members who volunteer to get up in the middle of the night when someone needs help. As a County, volunteers make up over 60% of the firefighting workforce, and are the backbone of the rural system. In fact, in the unincorporated area, there are three times as many volunteer firefighters as paid staff.
Fire Departments in Sonoma County do much more than fight fires. They are the first responders for traffic accidents and medical calls as well. While response times are currently well within targets, we are also facing an aging volunteer force and difficulties in recruiting new volunteers. While community identity and pride drive volunteer fire efforts, all departments provide mutual
OUR COUNTY cont’d on page 19