'Carbon Nation' Demystifies Alternative Energy, Offers Climate Solutions

Climate change is deadly. Scientists predict thousands of people may die due to droughts, food shortages and natural disasters in the decades ahead. The recent catastrophic tsunami in Japan is an example of the devastating effects of climate change. While Palo Alto citizens may be aware that climate change exists, many need more information before deciding when and how to change bad habits.

The newly released documentary 'Carbon Nation' provides just that: solutions, inspiration and action toward alternatives to a fossil fuels. The documentary explored some of the most popular alternative energy sources, such as wind power, solar, algae, and geothermal power.

By documenting struggling farmers who have have gotten rich from wind farming or CEOs who have realized that making their companies more energy efficient has saved them huge energy costs, the film suggests that simple economics can be a great incentive to go green.

Over 25 different local environmental action groups joined forces to present the screening a the last Wednesday. Lisa Van Dusen thought that while films such as "An Inconvenient Truth" have helped  frame the problem, this film really helped frame solutions. Dusen used the screening to bring together many different environmental groups in Palo Alto. 

"There are a lot of undercover solution makers around town," Van Dusen said. "I wanted to get people to connect. It's like when you read something in the paper and there is a web address, but it's a too big of a leap to go to the web address. You need online-to-online.  I wanted something that was immediate."

After the event, audience members were gently prodded (forced) to go to different tables, where organization leaders would discuss ways that they could get involved. Van Dusen called it an "environmental buffet".

also spoke at the event, focusing on the city's goals and projects for transportation, recycling and compost management and also energy and water conservation.

"The work that we are doing really set us as a leader for the nation," Espinosa said. "We really need your engagement. None can be done alone."

Next week, Espinosa will be biking to city elementary schools during their earth-week activities in order to highlight their work to the to the community. Almost every elementary school campus has some type of Green Team and are working on recycling and biking programs, helping district facilities, and encouraging their family to take on a green mission. Currently, school students are working on lobbying the city to receive solar panels for some of their buildings.

"We need to help kids on an elementary school level focus on the crisis that our planet is in and what they can do to help it," Espinosa said. "Then by the time they get to college they can really be thinking about careers that can help the environment."

The City

A few main goals of the city right now are to improve facilities, businesses and homes. The city currently operates 70 facilities and is looking at better energy efficiency across all of them, according to  Espinosa. The city is trying to be aggressive in  "greening" old buildings, such as the current City Hall project and building new environmentally friendly buildings. 

The City is also working with over 240 businesses in Palo Alto to upgrade their buildings' to make them more efficient. The city wants to encourage and incentivize buildings to use alternative energy sources. Similarly, the city wants standardized green building practices to help home owners who are building and renovating their homes.

"Solar is an area where we have not been as good in the past,"  Espinosa said. "The city is is focusing how we can streamline the process and incentivize citizens to put on solar. We want to get to the point where it is not hard to do but is actually easy to do and there are incentives to do it."

Debra van Duynhoven, Assistant to the City Manager for Sustainability in Palo Alto, is tasked with monitoring the carbon footprint of the City.

“Our Climate Protection Plan reduction goals are 5% for 2012 and 15% for 2020," she said.

C.E.A.P 

The City of Palo Alto and community groups created the Community Environmental Action Partnership (CEAP) to help neighborhoods discuss environmental issues. CEAP is currently working on the "Drive Less Challenge". They want to encourage families to reduce school commute related greenhouse gas emissions by reducing car trips and using alternative modes of transportation like walking, bicycling, riding the bus, or carpooling more often. Students can take the Drive Less Challenge online and track their greener mileage April 22- May 5 to become eligible to win prizes at http://drivelesschallenge.com .

"The Drive is a social media approach to behavior change," Bret Anderson, the coordinator the the driveless challenge said. "It's a competition between your friends to reduce your carbon footprint. Basically a little facebook for driving less."

, a 41-year-old organization, is about giving people hands-on activities they can to do help the environment. Some of their main projects are giving citizens free home energy audits and habitat restoration. They also have a leadership program called "Be the Change", which trains people how to become environmental leaders in their communities.

"Action is not insignificant when it is aggregated when hundreds and thousands of people take action than we can change the world," said Micheal Closson, Executive Director of Acterra. 

Canopy

is non-profit organization that grows and plants trees in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto. Currently, the 30,000 street trees in Palo Alto reduce 3.5 tons of carbon, the equivalent of taking 2,000 cars off the road every year. Join Canopy for a tree walk around Palo Alto.  On Earth Week every "Canopy" cupcake you buy at will plant one tree.

Transition Palo Alto

An organization in Palo Alto dedicated to reducing carbon emissions, the Transition Palo Alto group offers meetings and discussions where citizens can learn how to reduce their carbon footprint.  Another discussion group, the "Transition Handbook" asks citizens to explore what may happen in the future with climate change and what we can do as a community to prepare for some of the effects of climate change, according to Paul Heft. The next Palo Alto group will meet April 27. 

Common Ground

Located in Palo Alto, is a garden supply school that offers plant starts and tools, classes and advice on growing food in your own garden.