Can We Talk About This? --> "Greensumption"

Watch this video called "Greensumption". This is something that needs to be discussed. We think we have it all figured out, don't we???

William McDonough: Visions for a New Paradigm

This is an amazing video of William McDonough (www.mcdonough.com) from the Bioneers conference in 2000. Another visionary that is willing to challenge the capitalism paradigm is Annie Leonard of the Story of Stuff. These two individuals are really the most interesting speakers on the subject of sustainability that I have heard recently.

A Refreshing Idea: Cap-and-Dividend Proposal

Imagine if you could own a share (think Wall Street) of the air?

The idea is called cap-and-dividend (as opposed to cap-and-trade) and everyone in the United States - every single person young or old - would own a right to one share of the air which would pay a yearly dividend. This is an idea proposed by Peter Barnes, - solar entrepreneur and author of Who Owns the Sky? (2001) and Capitalism 3.0 (2006) - who is shopping the idea around to Congress with very positive initial response.

Here is an excerpt from an article The Energy Daily summing up the program.

New Greenhouse Plan Targets
Carbon Suppliers, Not Emitters
BY CHRIS HOLLY
The Energy Daily
www.TheEnergyDaily.com
Thursday, September 18, 2008
ED Vol. 36, No. 180

As senior members of Congress lay the groundwork for a new legislative debate on climate change next year, a new proposal making the rounds of Capitol Hill offices would replace the cap-and-trade approach now in vogue with one in which all carbon permits are auctioned and all auction revenues are returned to consumers.

This “cap-and-dividend” approach, being shopped on the Hill by California entrepreneur Peter Barnes, also would shift the cap from carbon emitters such as electric utilities to carbon suppliers—coal, oil and natural gas producers. Barnes will outline his plan today at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing.

Under the proposal, fossil fuel providers would have to surrender permits or allowances for each ton of carbon contained in the fuels they sell into the economy, and they could obtain the permits only from a government auction. All the revenues from the auction would be redistributed to consumers in monthly dividends.

The proposal’s elegant simplicity is at the core of its attraction, supporters say. Shifting the point of regulation upstream to fuel providers would reduce the number of regulated entities to a few hundred oil, gas and coal companies.

By comparison, an emissions cap-and-trade scheme, such as that contemplated in legislation by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), would affect thousands of power plants and industrial facilities. Under the cap-and-dividend plan, there would be no emissions trading to monitor and no emissions offsets to verify, obviating the need for a massive new government bureaucracy. Distributing the monthly dividends to consumers could be done electronically, by wire transfer to banks or directly to debit cards, Barnes said last week.

“You could manage the whole program with two or three guys and a computer,” Barnes told The Energy Daily in a September 11 interview.

The dividends would be taxable, and Barnes estimates that the federal government would receive through taxation about 25 percent of the auction revenues, which it could use to fund clean energy research; reduce taxes or the national debt; or assist energy-intensive industries
or low-income consumers hit hardest by the carbon cap.

A co-founder of Working Assets, a non-profit that provides credit card and telephone services and donates a portion of its revenues to support progressive causes, Barnes said that the distribution of the auction revenues to consumers is a crucial element of the proposal. Capping carbon will increase the cost of energy and other economic goods and services, but the monthly dividend will help cushion the impact for all consumers, Barnes said. If consumers reduce their energy use through increased efficiency, they effectively increase the value of their dividends. And every time the carbon cap is tightened, each consumer’s monthly check will increase proportionately, he said.

“Getting the psychological benefit of a monthly dividend check is very important,” Barnes said. “To the extent you can sell a carbon cap to the American people, this is the only way you can sell it and keep it sold.”

Critics of the proposal suggest that, while attractive theoretically, it ignores political realities in Washington and the power of oil, coal, gas and utility lobbies. A utility attorney said Friday that if the proposal were enacted into law, power companies would be faced with sharply higher fuel costs and worry that they might not be able to pass on all the cost increases to consumers. At the same time, the attorney said, the shape of the climate change debate so far has led energy-intensive industries to conclude that they will be getting government assistance—in the form of free emission allowances—to help them cope with higher energy prices resulting from a carbon cap.

“Any new proposal that doesn’t involve cost relief for some of these companies is going to attract their organized opposition,” the utility lawyer said.

A veteran politico who now works on energy policy issues was bluntly dismissive of the proposal: “The notion that electric utilities, the oil and gas industry, the automotive industry and others are just going to lie down while all this occurs is simply absurd.”

But Barnes said that as he has shopped the cap-and-dividend proposal on the Hill, no one has raised any significant objections or identified fatal flaws. “I have to say that this is probably no one’s first choice for a climate change program, but I think it’s a lot of people’s second choice,” he said.

The Senate debate on the Lieberman-Warner legislation this year revealed some of the political pitfalls that a cap-and-trade system must overcome to be enacted into law. There is sharp disagreement in Congress and among utilities and other affected industries over whether to auction allowances or give them to emitters, and how to use auction revenues. A failure to resolve these disputes was a key reason the bill died on the Senate floor.

Dallas Burtraw, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future who has done extensive research on the architecture of cap-and-trade programs, said last week that the cap-and-dividend approach may emerge as the preferred fall-back option if lawmakers cannot resolve the numerous cap-and-trade design disputes.

It may sound far-fetched, but it is a refreshing alternative to cap-and-trade and I hope it catches on. Spread the word!

Brushing My Teeth in Two Ounces of Water

Today, the plumber came and turned off our water. There was a leak in the pipes and the plumber couldn't fix it for three days. "Three days!!!", I exclaimed.

It is amazing how helpless you are suddenly when there is no ready supply of water.

I quickly filled a few buckets and some other receptacles and then that was that - the water was off. I washed my hands with just a few cups of water. The process went like this: get the hands wet, apply soap, scrub, then add more water until there were no suds left. Brushing teeth was extremely economical. I was able to brush my teeth AND rinse with just one cup of water.

I realized that most of our water usage habits are based on laziness.

I am not as bad these days as I used to be back before Al Gore was a Nobel Peace Prize winner. I used to leave the tap running in many situations, including when I was brushing my teeth. Even though I have much better habits nowadays, having NO water made me think just how far I could push this conservation thing. I became a super-efficient "water hero" who only used exactly what he needed. Actually, in the third world, most everyone consumes water like this, and much less I'm sure.

It was annoying having to use the neighbor's shower, but having to shape my consumption habits was really no more time-consuming than my regular routines - once I adjusted, that is. We really don't appreciate how lucky we are to have limitless clean water flowing out of our taps on command and we certainly have no idea about the true value of water until there is none!

So CONSERVE it!!!

All Foods at Anytime

Consumers expect all types of food, with no concession to season or geography. This used to be mainly a habit of the richer countries, but now the developing world is taking our example. This seems so ridiculous, and I have been doing it my whole life. But I forgive myself, because I didn't know better! Until now.

Why is this like this? Well part of the reason is that there was a little-known international treaty signed in Chicago in 1944 called the Convention on International Civil Aviation to help the (then) fledgling airline industry. This was basically a tax exemption on fuel for international transport of goods, unlike what we pay for cars and trucks. Also, the exemption extended to ocean freighters.

This is only part of the reason, the other part is that the labor in the developing world is so cheap.

There is much debate about the carbon footprint of a good versus the distance it traveled. They are not always the same. Sometimes, people argue, that the locally produced good has a higher carbon footprint than an imported good. I would think this is a rarity, and if this is the case, I think that we can find ways to minimize the locally produced footprint much easier than the one from across the world.

I would prefer to just reinstate the tax on all of this transported food from all over the world. We need the cost of food to reflect the distances covered and energy used to get the food to us. Firstly, we should have labels about where everything comes from, which I am starting to see more and more although you really have to have good eyes! Secondly, we should have a carbon footprint label on the item. Maybe they could be the same label.

Meanwhile, as a food shopper, I would suggest to buy as locally as you can and to buy in bulk as much as you can to minimize packaging. Now that I know better, I will change my much-ingrained habits. Or do my best...that's about all any of us can do.

Zero Waste for San Francisco

"San Francisco is the first jurisdiction in the country to adopt the ambitious goals of 75% landfill diversion by 2010 and zero waste by 2020. To accomplish these goals we must promote producer and consumer responsibility to prevent waste and take full advantage of our nation-leading recycling and composting programs." - Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco

San Francisco is not alone. Many cities around the world are committing to zero waste. Wal-Mart is even working to achieve zero waste. Yes, Wal-Mart.

San Francisco's environment department and its waste contractor, a $500-million year employee-owned company called Norcal Waste Systems, is using a three-bin system to collect refuse from homes and businesses. Garbage goes in a black bin. Traditional recyclables, including bottles, cans and paper, go in a blue bin. Food waste and yard trimmings go into a green bin.

The food and yard waste of the green bin are trucked to a factory 50 miles away in Vacaville, turned into a rich compost called "Four Course Compost" and sold to Napa Valley wineries and farms, among other uses.

In order to make urban composting more manageable and more pleasant, there are mini compost bins that can make all the difference in getting people to actually use the bigger city-supplied green bin. These mini-compost collectors live in your kitchen and allow a once-a-day "dump" to the bigger, official green bins provided by Norcal Waste Systems. They also minimize any smells! Although simple, this little stepping stone could allow the mass adoption and use of urban composting.

You still have to buy these bins, but they are a nice green addition to your kitchen. Spread the word. You can buy them here:

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/ceramic-compost-crock.html

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=187529

Alternatively, if you live outside of the city or have more open space, you can start your own worm composting factory!!! It's addictive to see your worms break down your food waste into rich soil for your garden!

To make one:

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm

To buy one:

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/worcomverbin.html

Edible Education - A Reader Responds!

A strong community grows one person at a time, one family at a time. Sometimes all it takes is a reminder of the values that people grew up cherishing, but have forgotten in the busy-ness of life. Here's one reader's response to my previous post about edible education (teaching kids to grow and cook their own food at school):

Your blog about the sustainable gardens has come to fruit. My wife got wind of it when I told her about your blog so she started a sustainable garden at her Pre-School. We are starting with tomatoes, summer squash, and watermelons. The little ones get to help with every step. We can already see the different sprouts starting to break through at each row. We taught the little kids that they have to water with a watering can that gives out just a soft easy supply of water to the new plants. They can't wait to be able to harvest their vegetables that we will use for snack time. The parents are also excited about this project. We have encouraged them to start gardens at their homes.

This is a great family thing to do. I remember my Dad teaching us these same things when I was a kid back in the 50's. Back then everyone in the neighborhood had a garden (and plenty of fruit tress). I loved every minute of it when I was a kid. Especially the part about eating what we grew or sharing it with other neighbors. My Mom made the best Rubarb pie. It also seemed like all of it tasted so much better. I think the big part of it was that all of the family was involved and so were all of our neighbors. Here in the 21st century (2008) it just might take off again.

I just talked to my neighbor who has two little girls about starting a garden. She is actually clearing an area and borrowed my rake to get out all of the rocks. It's so cute to see her little girls so excited about having a garden. Who's next?

Indeed, who's next? This is an idea that can spread like wildfire if we only give it a chance. Many thanks to Chuck H. of Fairfax, California for sharing his thoughts and experiences with us!

Edible Education: Food for Thought

Last week, I attended a lively panel discussion in San Francisco titled "How We Eat and the Slow Food Nation." The panel featured Alice Waters, one of the most famous chefs in America and founder of the Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California. Her talk highlighted the ways in which we can strengthen and revitalize our sense of community through a more mindful approach to food. She recounted that when she was a teenager in the 1960s, she visited France and observed that the people there visited the market every morning, buying only the freshest ingredients available that day. No processed food, no food shipped from far away. She noticed how food connected family and friends together in the "rituals of the table," making life so much more enjoyable and vibrant. Thus inspired, she returned to America with a mission: to bring back that same sense of community, enlivened through delicious food bought directly from farmers and cooked with an emphasis on letting the simple, natural flavors predominate. Eventually, this approach became known as California cuisine, and history was made.

These days, Alice is promoting edible education in the schools. Her program, called the "Edible Schoolyard," provides urban schoolchildren with a hands-on, concrete learning experience in growing their own organic food and cooking it in a kitchen classroom. In the process, the kids learn about ecology, biology, and nutrition, while also enjoying the tangible fruits of their own labors. As described on the "Edible Schoolyard" website, the program's mission is two-fold:

Children learn about the connection between what they eat and where it comes from, with the goal of fostering environmental stewardship and revolutionizing the school lunch program.

In this way, not only do kids learn important lessons about taking care of themselves and the larger world through a more direct experience of food, but they also eat more nutritiously. Sounds like a win-win to me!

If edible education sounds like a good idea to you, I urge you to take action. Discuss this idea with others in your community and persuade your local school to establish its own "Edible Schoolyard." The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Start now and you can make a difference, too!