First Name | Edward |
---|---|
Last Name | Mainland |
Email Address | emainland@comcast.net |
Affiliation | Sierra Club California |
Subject | Sierra Club Comment on Implementation, Personal Action, Outreach |
Comment | COMMENTS ON AB 32 PROPOSED SCOPING PLAN, SUBMITTED BY SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA, November 19, 2008 IV. IMPLEMENTATION: Putting the Plan into Action (p. 99) A. Personal Action (p. 100) Sierra Club is pleased that the Proposed Scoping Plan includes Personal Action as an important strategy for curbing GHG emissions. It calls for the “active participation of the people of California” including “the voluntary commitment and involvement of millions of individuals and households.” To encourage this voluntary commitment and involvement, we propose that CARB track on the Internet the effect of individual and family actions on lowering greenhouse gas emissions. A statewide electronic registry could record the results of their actions and report back via graphics and numbers the mounting total of emissions curbed. Without such a measurement, individuals and families will lower their carbon footprint alone, receiving little or no feedback. However, if they anticipate positive feedback, people will be much more likely to act. They will know for sure that their actions are having a positive effect. Knowing they’ve made a concrete contribution will motivate them to do even more, and to urge their friends and family to participate. This approach would also utilize the latest motivational research, which indicates that if people believe “everybody is doing it,” they are much more likely to do it. By providing evidence of the effectiveness of individual actions, a public electronic measurement would furnish a way to turn fear of the effects of global warming into positive action. It will help eliminate feelings of helplessness in the face of a global problem. Public measurement of voluntary actions would also draw individuals and families into the overall effort that CARB proposes in the Scoping Plan. Their experience will give them the feeling of “buying in.” That will build their interest in learning about and supporting CARB’s efforts and those of industry, transportation, agriculture, and other sectors. By feeling part of a community statewide effort, they would become interested in and supportive of the steps being taken in other sectors – for example, government land use changes to reduce vehicle travel, etc. Technology exists that would allow individuals and families who choose some of the actions recommended by CARB to receive positive feedback on their actions. CARB should create a website where individuals and families could record the changes they’re making in home insulation, windows, appliances, roof color, shading, compact fluorescents, recycling, reducing vehicle travel, and other emissions-curbing activities. Statewide tallies exist of some of these measures taken by large commercial installations. A tally of personal individual and family measures taken could also be created. A mountain of data on individual solar (PV and DHW) installations already exists. Lucid Design Group for example, a California company, provides buildings with an interactive website and touch-screen kiosk display that makes resource use of energy, saving of money, and offset of emissions visible and easily understandable. That technology might be adapted for use in tracking individual and family contributions. Furthermore, tracking progress in curbing individual or family emissions would be fun, like following a sports team. It will be like checking the stock market, except that this measure will always go up. It will give families a game to play CARB should put in staff time to develop this project. Private partners might be interested in developing appropriate technology and a business model. Watching the numbers or a thermometer-like graphic rise by logging on to a public website would create a sense of the community pulling together. We shouldn’t underestimate the power of such feelings. People have yearnings to take part in idealistic national efforts and the feelings of solidarity such efforts create can be strong. Think of everyone pulling together in World War II and the public enthusiasm for and interest in the 2008 presidential election. Surely there’s no statewide effort healthier or more universally beneficial than saving energy, switching to renewables and reducing vehicle travel. We would feel like we’re all in this together – which we are. B. Public Outreach and Education (p. 100) • All four strategies are excellent. • Funding is needed for training teachers in the climate change curriculum. • The Plan should include detailed public awareness campaigns, with budgets (funded by carbon fees), that will be used to involve the public in all aspects of the Plan. • Successful implementation of California’s historic global warming law will require a program that is open and transparent to the public, including performance and compliance tracking information of all components accessible via the Internet. |
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2008-11-19 19:25:46 |
If you have any questions or comments please contact Clerk of the Board at (916) 322-5594.