Blogs

On October 17th, 2013, 170 community leaders and renewable energy advocates representing 90 organizations convened at the California Endowment’s Conference Center in downtown Oakland for the fourth annual Clean Power, Healthy Communities Conference, hosted by the Local Clean Energy Alliance. Photographs of the Conference as well as videos of the sessions are available on the Local Clean Energy Alliance’s Conference website.

The extraction and burning of California's Monterrey/Santos oil shale deposit would set back by 80 years the targeted reduction of carbon dioxide under the state's Global Warming Solutions Act.*

This was but one of many revelations provided on February 26, 2013 by leaders of the growing opposition to fracking in California. With up to 15 billion barrels of oil estimated to be in California’s Monterey/Santos shale formation, fracking--the latest and most environmentally destructive oil extraction technology--is set to boom in our state.

* See Doing the Math....

The Local Clean Energy Alliance and twenty-six other organizations throughout California have signed on to a letter urging Governor Brown to oppose California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) recent approval of the Oakley gas-fired power plant in Contra Costa County, and stop the pending approval of other fossil fuel-based power plants in southern California.

These projects frustrate attempts to curb greenhouse gas production in California and undercut California’s ambitious renewable energy goals; goals that have been championed by Governor Brown.

At its much-anticipated board meeting on Tuesday, December 11, East Bay MUD’s Board of Directors disappointed clean energy advocates by voting to discontinue further exploration of an East Bay Community Choice energy program. The decision came despite evident community backing for the agency to take leadership in establishing a Community Choice program.

Much of that community support was mobilized through the efforts of the Clean Energy and Jobs Oakland campaign, which will continue its efforts to establish Community Choice in the East Bay despite the vote. The campaign has been reaching out since July to Oakland community organizations and businesses, and to city council candidates and incumbent members regarding the benefits that could come from a Community Choice program. Representatives from many of these groups appeared and spoke at the Board meeting or wrote letters to the East Bay MUD directors in favor of moving forward with Community Choice.

The November general meeting of the Local Clean Energy Alliance featured Greg Pahl, author of Power from the People: How to Organize, Finance, and Launch Local Energy Projects. Greg has written numerous books and articles on energy and has been involved in environmental issues for over 30 years.

Greg gave an engaging presentation on local clean energy projects to an audience of 25 people. He emphasized the need for community involvement, given that the government is not doing enough to respond to climate change. And he noted that communities are a natural fit for these projects, because unlike corporations, whose goal is profit, communities are motivated by serving the public good.

Over a month after Super Storm Sandy, there are still parts of the East Coast that are without power. Luckily, a mobile, solar- powered generator, the Mojave-3, has been assisting rescue efforts in some of the hardest hit areas in the Rockaways, NY and Sandy Hook, NJ. The mobile solar array needs no hook up to the grid, can generate 4 kW with 100kW battery capacity and a back-up diesel-powered generator. So far it has provided electricity for a Greenpeace hot food kitchen, a medical clinic, a ranger station, and a charging station for cellphones, flashlights, and other critical equipment.

Project ME4, a member organization of the Local Clean Energy Alliance, whose mission is developing mobile energy for emergency, education and enterprise, has started a crowd-sourcing campaign at Indiegogo to raise funds to keep the Mojave-3 unit operating. If enough funds are collected, they will ba able to add a second solar-powered unit to the relief efforts.

On September 18th San Francisco took a huge step in meeting its climate action goals! The Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to approve CleanPowerSF, San Francisco's version of Community Choice Energy. The Local Clean Energy Alliance and allies have spent years shaping the program and organizing the support to move it forward.

"This vote is a big victory in the 10-year effort to bring Community Choice Energy to San Francisco," stated Al Weinrub, Coordinator of the Local Clean Energy Alliance. "It's a crucial step in transitioning off fossil fuels in a way that provides economic opportunity and clean energy jobs."

***UPDATE*** Veto Effort Succeeds !

At the end of August, shortly after passage of AB 976 in the California legislature, the Local Clean Energy Alliance rallied 15 organizations to urge Governor Brown to veto the bill.

AB 976, the stealth anti-Community Choice energy bill, would undermine new Community Choice energy programs like the ones we are working to establish in San Francisco, Sonoma, and the East Bay. In response to the bill's passage, the Local Clean Energy Alliance drafted a letter urging Governor Brown to veto the legislation, and the Alliance reached out to other organizations to sign on to that effort. The Alliance is now calling on all individuals, as well, to contact the governor and ask him to veto AB 976.