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Bay Localize News #14: Local to Global Climate Solutions (Fall '09)

Earth to Obama ... it's go time.

The best time for strong action on climate change was decades ago, and the second best time is now. As world leaders, business lobbyists, and grassroots advocates gather in Copenhagen for the U.N. climate talks, Obama has an historic opportunity to commit the United States to deep cuts in carbon emissions — or risk the very future of our species by caving in to the planet's polluters.

Even mainstream analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers now say that industrial countries need to quadruple our efforts to cut carbon emissions in the next ten years to stand a chance of stabilizing our climate. This will require nothing less than wholesale economic transformation, backed by strong local to global policies that mandate carbon cuts and empower the most impacted communities.

Who is holding up the progress we need? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which spends millions attacking strong climate policy. Many of its members have real skin in the game. For example, Bank of America is the world's third largest financier of oil, gas, and coal.

Can we be louder and politically stronger than the Chamber? Join tens of thousands by sending a message via BarackandMe.com. Let him know you support strong climate action — and voice that message as publicly as you can, in the streets and in the news. For a quick primer on the current climate change debate, check out this excellent new video, The Story of Cap and Trade.

Here in the Bay Area, we have a critical role to play by advancing on-the-ground solutions. While we desperately need strong high-level policies to mandate deep cuts in carbon emissions, actual reductions happen at the local and regional level. The Bay Area is a dynamic incubator and powerful proving ground for the policies and projects we'll need nationally to cut our addiction to fossil fuels and build resilient communities. In this edition of Bay Localize News, we've got exciting updates on how these changes are happening right here.

And this holiday season, remember that localization is about building strong communities that leave no one behind. Reach out to someone who may be isolated or could use a helping hand. And don't forget to bask in the warm glow of eggnog and friends at our Holiday Party on 12/17!

Happy holidays,

—Aaron, Dave, Emily, Francesca, Jenni, Leah, Linda, Kirsten, Nile, and Tad


Help Us Raise $10,000 to Build a Stronger Bay Area!

Bay Localize has a lot to celebrate this year: we helped pass landmark climate protection targets in Oakland, launched the Community Resilience Toolkit, and built two flourishing rooftop gardens in our urban core. But we need your support to keep building a vibrant resilient future for all our region!

» Become a resilience leader — donate today!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Bay Area 2020 Program:

Local Clean Energy Campaign:

Use Your Roof! Project:

Special Features:


Bay Area 2020 Program:
Community Toolkit Launched, Events Promote Resilience for All

On September 16, 2009, over 100 local advocates and concerned residents came together for "Growing Resilience," Bay Localize's launch party for our Community Resilience Toolkit! Participants heard dynamic speakers, saw live performances, took part in interactive Toolkit sessions, and enjoyed ice cream, organic produce, and other delicious local offerings. See video at left or click here for photo highlights!

Bay Localize is proud to announce our newest, most comprehensive resource for local organizers, community builders, and the public sector: the Community Resilience Toolkit! The Toolkit is designed for groups to prepare their communities to weather tough times. It places a special emphasis on economic and climate instability, provides resources to evaluate your community's strengths and vulnerabilities, and offers practical ideas for building local resilience. It covers Food, Water, Energy, Transportation and Housing, Jobs and Economy, and Civic Preparedness and Social Services. Click here to download your FREE Toolkit!

Already, several hundred organizers from around the country (and in several other countries!) are assessing how to use the Toolkit in their own communities. In 2010, we plan to host Toolkit trainings and workshops in partnership with grassroots organizations around the Bay Area. Contact Kirsten Schwind if your group is interested in working with us to host a Toolkit workshop in your community!

Event Reportbacks: Resilience for All Panel and Anti-Oppression Workshop

As part of this fall's San Francisco Green Festival, Bay Localize hosted a panel entitled "Resilience for All" featuring a broad cross-section of Bay Area community leaders. The event showcased organizers from CommuniTree, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Movement Generation, and Transition US who are collaborating across race and class to prepare our communities for a post-carbon world. See video at left, or click here for photos.

On October 17, nearly 40 white activists representing at least 20 environmental and social justice organizations took part in a day-long anti-oppression workshop hosted by Bay Localize. The workshop was facilitated by trainers from The Catalyst Project, who believe that anti-racism can be a catalyst for building powerful, effective multiracial movements that can create real justice in this country.

Over the course of six hours, we took a close look at historical and present-day institutional racism and how white privilege impacts activist work — while exploring anti-racist organizing principles that can help build a healthy, sustainable, and just society. Every participant committed themselves to incorporating these strategies into their own lives, and to infuse them into their organizing work. Stay tuned for additional workshops and forums in 2010!

The Green Pill Inquiry: Mining Pop Culture for Compelling Metaphors

The Green Pill workshop at the San Francisco Green Festival explored the power of metaphors to shape how we see the world. Several members of the Bay Localize team participated in a Wizard of Oz skit to start it out. In breakout groups, participants brainstormed about metaphors and pop culture references that could be used in redefining several key relationships (e.g., indigenous culture and modern society, humans and nature, etc.), yielding a wide range of interesting ideas (click here to learn more).

Localization News from Around the Bay

Innovators around the Bay are pioneering new ways to live within our local ecological means, while building community resilience. Here are some highlights:

East Bay: Organizers Step Up Campaigns for Green Jobs and Healthy School Food

The East Bay is cooking up some great community organizing! Richmond faith communities working with CCISCO (Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organizing) recently convened hundreds of concerned residents together in a Baptist church to ask the city to take action on a list of demands, especially expanding green job opportunities. In Oakland, parents are organizing to get healthier school breakfasts and lunches in the Oakland Unified School District, in which 87% of students qualify for free meals.

North Bay: Solano Goes Solar, Benicia Activists Stand Up to Chevron as Climate Consultant

In Solano County, the Asera Group is working to install a 6.7 megawatt solar installation on the American Canyon capped landfill. The landfill's methane emissions are already used to run turbines to produce electricity. Also, Benicia passed its climate action plan ... and then contracted Chevron Energy Solutions as the city's energy consultant to implement it, leading disappointed local activists to protest to Mayor Elizabeth Patterson.

San Francisco: Bicycling, Local Food, and Recycling/Composting Make Strides

Thanks to the great work of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, our city by the Bay is finally moving ahead in implementing its Bicycle Plan! On November 25 the Superior Court partially lifted an injunction that has since 2006 prevented almost all physical improvements to San Francisco's bicycle network. The city is already trying out new green boxes painted on the sidewalk to grant bikes priority loading on MUNI. In other San Francisco news, the city is implementing a new regional food policy to address hunger and food system sustainability, and its mandatory recycling and composting law just went into effect.

South Bay and Peninsula: Be The Change Program Equips Local Leaders

Palo Alto-based Acterra is training business leaders, educators, scientists, and social activists to "Be the Change" by equipping them with skills to bring about significant changes in how their organizations relate to the natural world. Recent speakers in this series included Bay Localize's Aaron Lehmer, who gave a presentation on building an inclusive green economy through regional self-reliance.

Statewide: Water Resources Dept. Plans for Drought Years Ahead

The California Department of Water Resources has issued their lowest-ever estimate on the amount of water they will be able to deliver — only 5 percent of the total volume of water requested by California cities and farms next year. That's the smallest water allocation the agency has released since its creation in 1967. The estimate, based on current water conditions, is preliminary and is almost certain to rise as the rainy season wears on. Still, officials expect a multiyear drought, low reservoirs and environmental restrictions on water pumping to keep supplies well below average in 2010.



Local Clean Energy Campaign:
Climate Justice Movement Grows, Momentum Builds for Local Green Power

The highlight of the past three months was the amazing Community Convergence for Climate Action event on November 18. Over 400 people celebrated the work of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition (OCAC), reflecting the full diversity of Oakland. The Alliance is also preparing for a major conference in February focused on creating a regional alliance for strong climate action and local clean energy jobs. We continue to advocate for comprehensive energy financing programs and Community Choice Energy, and are helping to counter PG&E's attempts to squelch local clean power initiatives.

The Local Clean Energy Alliance was proud to participate in the Community Convergence, which attracted a broad and diverse assembly of people throughout Oakland. We gathered to celebrate the work of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition (OCAC), and to support policies that will bring real solutions our communities. Alliance Coordinator Dave Room gave shout outs to the many elected officials present and then introduced Oakland City Councilor Nancy Nadel. At the end of her talk, Nadel mentioned Community Choice Energy as a key way for Oakland to reduce greenhouse emissions and create local clean energy jobs. To see this video and other Alliance videos, visit: http://localcleanenergy.blip.tv

Alliance Grows to Nearly 50 Members, Builds Regional Momentum

Capping off an incredible year of growth, the Local Clean Energy Alliance now boasts just under 50 member organizations and businesses! Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), a long-standing environmental justice organization working throughout California, just joined the Alliance. CBE organizes in working class communities of color because those communities suffer the most from environmental pollution and toxics. CBE works in urban communities in Northern and Southern California among low-income African Americans, Latinos and other nationalities who are bombarded by pollution from freeways, power plants, oil refineries, seaports, airports, and chemical manufacturers.

They are joined by an Asian American-owned green architecture and design firm, Sightworks Architecture + Interior Design. Based in Oakland, the firm provides expertise in green building and disabled accessibility for residential and commercial projects and offers sustainable business consulting as well. Larry Chang, architect and company founder, is a clean energy advocate with a keen interest in public policy, business, and workforce development. He recently co-authored the San Francisco Urban Wind Power Task Force Report and also serves as chair of the Oakland Small Business Task Force. For more info or to join the Alliance, please visit http://www.localcleanenergy.org/join

The October meeting of the Local Clean Energy Alliance featured Ellen Choy and Ananda Lee Tan from the Mobilization for Climate Justice, Kriss Worthington on PG&E "Power Grab" ballot initiative, and a short presentation on the Oakland Climate Action Coalition from Bay Localize's Aaron Lehmer and Dave Room. Check out the videos here. Our next meeting, December 10th, will be on slowing California's rush to natural gas.

In the last several months, the Alliance has also been exploring the possibility of building a stronger, more coordinated network of organizations to focus on greening the entire Bay Area electrical grid. This would entail regional advocacy with agencies such as the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), as well as deeper collaboration with area groups.

Marin Clean Energy, Clean Power SF Advance Community Choice

There has been some incredible progress in Marin and San Francisco around Community Choice Energy. Perhaps most notably, Marin Clean Energy has passed some very important milestones:

  • They have selected a first-position bidder to provide electricity to their customers: Shell Energy North America (see below for commentary)

  • Their "light green" option (offering 25% renewables now, and 50% in five years) will be priced at or less than PG&E's rates
  • Marin intends to achieve a 100% renewable energy mix by 2020
  • The county expects to save $50 million to meet AB 32 requirements (California's Global Warming Solutions Act)

For further details on these ground-breaking developments, visit http://www.localcleanenergy.org/node/192

On November 9, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to implement that city's Community Choice Aggregation Program, known as Clean Power SF. The RFP invites bids to provide a new electricity service to San Franciscans that consists of 51% renewable energy by 2017, and provides municipal financing to develop at least 360 Megawatts of new solar photovoltaics, smart grid, local wind, cogeneration, energy efficiency technologies and other local green power options. For more info, go to http://www.localcleanenergy.org/node/207

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco and Marin County may jump into the public power business together. Both have been developing plans to buy electricity in bulk for their residents, taking over a role long played by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. Now San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said he plans to talk with some of his counterparts in Marin about possibly combining efforts.

There have been a number of articles lately focused on the Marin Energy Authority's potential selection of Shell Energy North America as its initial supplier for its Marin Clean Energy program. Not surprisingly, these communications contain a mix of genuine inquiry, valid points and, in some cases, innuendo and misinformation. For more, visit http://www.localcleanenergy.org/node/215

The Local Clean Energy Alliance is also providing input to the Oakland Public Works department about a public workshop in 2010 that will cover the Energy and Climate Action Plan and Community Choice Energy. The Alliance is working to analyze the clean energy jobs and GHG reduction potential for a Community Choice Energy program that includes local renewable generation and aggressive energy efficiency.

Comprehensive Energy Efficiency and Solar Financing Update

It is with great disappointment that we report that Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 279, a bill that would have facilitated programs to enable home owners to finance clean energy installations and energy efficiency retrofits on their property taxes. Senator Hancock, who authored the bill, would like to thank everyone for their support and efforts on this bill, which may be reintroduced in 2010.

In a recent meeting with the Association of Bay Area Governments, we learned that their emerging region-wide energy efficiency financing program is focused on making it easy for the consumer. With Schwarzenegger's veto of SB 279, ABAG is now looking at another way to structure the financing (along the lines allowed for under AB 811). While this option may work, it still leaves open the possibility of legal challenges. No agency has done large-scale bond financing for one of these programs yet. Getting interest rates low enough will be a major challenge. Yet ABAG expects that these uncertainties will be resolved and the programs will ultimately offer both lower-cost and higher-cost options.

Meanwhile, home and business owners have submitted 375 applications for more than $17 million worth of loans for solar power projects from Sonoma County's Energy Independence Program. The program, launched in March 2009 and the first of its kind in the state, allows property owners to borrow a minimum of $2,500 for energy and water efficiency improvements. Loans are repaid as part of the borrowers' twice-yearly property tax payments over five to 20 years at about 7 percent interest. Solar projects account for 63 percent of the $29 million total in loans sought for energy conservation measures. For more information, please go to http://www.localcleanenergy.org/node/218

Stop PG&E's "Power Grab" Ballot Initiative

At the October Local Clean Energy Alliance meeting, Berkeley City Councilor Kriss Worthington spoke about the PG&E Power Grab (see video at right). PG&E is financing a ballot initiative that will require local governments to get a 2/3 vote before they can use their revenue bonding authority to finance local electricity generation. This would affect Community Choice Energy as well as public power authorities. Worthington calls the initiative an undemocratic move to protect and expand PG&E's energy monopoly. But he also sees the campaign as a way for local clean energy advocates to get free media by countering PG&E's message, and for building a grassroots movement that could beat the initiative. As of early December 2009, it appears that PG&E's initiative will qualify for the June 2010 ballot.

PG&E wants to kill their clean energy competition for once and for all. By squashing honest competition from municipal utilities and Community Choice Energy programs, PG&E will have a free hand to raise rates and hamper the adoption of clean energy produced here in California. PG&E’s initiative is nothing short of the largest ratepayer rip-off since the deregulation disaster.

Rather than moving away from expensive and dirty power, PG&E wrote their initiative to put the kabosh on competitively-priced, community-based energy that is significantly cleaner than PG&E's. Rather than break its addiction to fossil fuels, PG&E is attempting to lock ratepayers into its already high rates as well as future rate increases.

The PG&E Power Grab, in short, will use money and political clout to jam through a ballot initiative that creates an undemocratic 2/3 vote barrier to local governments' efforts to provide renewable energy choices to their communities. Consumer and environmental groups are mobilizing against the PG&E Power Grab, but we need your help.

Help Fight PG&E's Power Grab - Donate Today!

» Click here to give $25, $100, or more to defeat this initiative

SAVE THE DATE! Clean Power, Healthy Communities Conference

The Local Clean Energy Alliance is hosting a major regional conference, "Clean Power, Healthy Communities," to be held at the California Endowment at 1111 Broadway, 7th Floor in Oakland on February 10-11, 2010. The conference will gather Bay Area grassroots activists, community leaders, and business people interested in creating a healthy, clean energy future for the San Francisco Bay Area.

At this conference, we will discuss the benefits and potential of increased regional coordination around local clean energy, including a proposal to create a Bay Area-wide Alliance with expanded membership and scope. Topics will include:

  • Climate Action Plans
  • Power Plants & Public Health
  • Green Collar Job Creation
  • Community Choice Energy
  • Renewable Energy & Efficiency Financing
  • Creating a Regional Clean Power Grid

Green Faith In Action Makes Headway in Richmond and Marin

Bay Localize is entering the next phase in our Green Faith In Action project to help faith-based communities in Richmond and Marin make their homes more energy-efficient.

This summer, participant homeowners received "green house calls" by youth working through Rising Sun Energy Center's California Youth Energy Services program. They completed questionnaires about their current home energy use so that this can later be compared to future energy use after they've implemented various energy conservation measures. In Richmond, this information will help us select several homes for additional energy upgrades to be provided by the Richmond BUILD/Green Energy Training Services (GETS) interns.

The GETS program is offered to any Richmond resident and offers 12 weeks of construction training, including energy efficiency training. Work on participating congregant homes will provide hands-on training for the interns and serve as a City of Richmond pilot project funded through Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant money. Bay Localize has also been meeting with Richmond officials and members of the Contra Costa County Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO) to create a local Residential Energy Efficiency Ordinance that would require energy upgrades on homes at the point of sale.

Use Your Roof! Project:
Rooftop Gardens Bloom, Local Advocates Call for Green Roof Incentives

Volunteers Build Out E.C. Reems Middle School Rooftop Garden!

On a recent October Saturday, 30 eager volunteers came out to build six new raised beds at the E.C. Reems Academy rooftop garden in East Oakland. The project is a collaboration between Oakland Food Connection, the E.C. Reems Academy of Arts and Technology, and Bay Localize (see photos).

Volunteers trickled in slowly, but by the time the sun was in full force, there was a formidable human force to work on the physically challenging tasks at hand: shoveling soil, hoisting it up to the garden, hammering sides and bottoms of planter beds, and then trucking them up for final assembly.

Despite the often-grueling nature of the work, the enthusiasm this volunteer group generated proved invaluable. Community members, allies, teachers and students all contributed. The day was a brief snapshot of the cross section of needs a rooftop garden can fulfill — community, education, and healthy food — and the array of people who stand to benefit.

This workday was also a reminder that the two-year-old project is a work in progress. As the first pilot project of Bay Localize's Use Your Roof! Project, the rooftop garden at E.C. Reems has grown from a seed, to a start, to a fruiting vine and then after a brief dormancy, into a delightfully robust, nutritious local oasis ready to expand with each growing season.

The new season for the project is also marked by the addition of a day-to-day Oakland Food Connection manager and instructor, Maria Cepeda, who is filling a role that is critical to its ongoing success as an educational resource. Thanks to everyone's efforts, she now has many new beds to grow with her students. To get her started, Planting Justice, an Oakland-based community garden organization, donated twenty starts of good winter greens like mustards, collards, and cabbages.

And in keeping with the collaborative spirit now permeating Oakland, other allies like the Ella Baker Center's Soul of the City Campaign also chipped in with their own workday earlier in the month, building out at least 8 additional raised beds. Bay Localize is incredibly honored to continue to partner with Oakland Food Connection on this project.

Many thanks go to all who donated, including Planting Justice, Farmer Joe's and World Ground Coffee, and especially the volunteers who turned out! To learn more or to help support the project, please visit the Oakland Food Connection website.

VIDEO: Rooftop Garden Workshop at POWER in San Francisco!

In the Summer of 2009, Bay Localize was honored to partner with People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER) and Movement Generation on a rooftop veggie garden build-out and workshop in San Francisco.

We're pleased to report that the raised beds are now flourishing with broccoli, kale, chard, and a range of other veggies and flowers. Check out the video at right to see how we transformed POWER's patio rooftop into a full-on veggie garden!

Green Roof Symposium Brings Together Advocates in SF

Bay Localize recently attended the the Green Roof Symposium in San Francisco, sponsored by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, where enthusiasts from around the Bay Area gathered to hear from local and national leaders in green roof design. Regional case studies featured a wide range of projects underway in San Francisco and beyond, and attendees discussed current obstacles and opportunities for implementing green roofs in the Bay Area.

As a follow-up to the symposium, green roof advocates are gathering at the offices of Bay Localize on Monday, December 14 at 2 pm to assess current and future policies and incentives that could help jump-start the installation of green roofs in our region. If you're interested, please contact our Use Your Roof Intern, Leah Fessenden, at leah@baylocalize.org.

Available Online and at Bookstores: Use Your Roof Guidebook!

Rooftop revolutionaries rejoice! Check out Bay Localize's popular publication, Use Your Roof Guidebook: Resources and Considerations for Rainwater Catchment, Living Roofs and Solar Power. The booklet draws from the groundbreaking research of Tapping the Potential of Urban Rooftops, as well as other research findings from the field, and offers guidelines for selecting an appropriate rooftop system and embarking on the design and implementation process.

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

Use Your Roof is available at select bookstores around the San Francisco Bay Area — help us keep the sales going! Purchase your own copy for as little as $7.00! It's vital that we continue demonstrating the rising interest and help the local economy and the movement grow — so let people in your network know or buy a few copies for friends and family! Our growing list of stores includes:

East Bay

  • Bookshop Benicia, 856 Southampton Road, Benicia, CA 94510
  • Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, 1310 McGee Ave., Berkeley, CA 94703
  • Berkeley Indoor Garden Hydro, 844 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94710
  • Builders Book Source, 1817 4th St., Berkeley, CA 94710
  • Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley, CA 94702
  • Mrs. Dalloway's, 2904 College Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705

San Francisco

  • Dog Eared Books, 900 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110
  • Flora Grubb Gardens, 1634 Jerold Ave., San Francisco, CA 94124
  • Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110
  • Needles and Pens, 3253 16th St. (bet. Guerrero and Dolores), San Francisco, CA 94103

Independent Online Reseller

The Fire in the Belly
A Rain-Fed Oasis in the Heart of East Oakland

"The Fire in the Belly" is a regular feature in our newsletter on what personally motivates people to work on localization. This issue's feature is written by Ingrid Severson, a partner with the Oakland-based DIG Cooperative, and rooftop systems advisor with Bay Localize.

These essays are personal statements exploring the diverse viewpoints that lead to localization as an organizing framework, and as such do not necessarily reflect the positions of Bay Localize.

Green Collar Jobs. What does the term bring to mind for you? I've found most people think solar power, wind power, green building and sometimes, landscaping.

While all these fields are crucial, in my view, there is no green without the blue. Without a progressive and sound plan for securing water resources, everything else is diminished. With the worsening drought, and the projected reduction in Sierra snowpack due to global warming, more and more people are recognizing the need to plan for water security.

Thankfully, in the past year, rainwater catchment, graywater and water efficiency have experienced a growing emergence. These decentralized solutions need further support and public investment, lest they be eclipsed by a corporate push for more destructive dams and desalination plants.

This past summer and fall, I had the opportunity to contribute to this potential and bridge water conservation and reuse with the growing green jobs movement. In July, I had just started apprenticing with DIG Cooperative Inc., an ecological design/build worker owned cooperative, when I connected with The East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), a youth empowerment organization that serves hundreds of East Oakland youth with martial arts training, academic and recreational skill building, as well as organic gardening, nutrition and cooking classes. EOBA was struggling with an astronomical $400 monthly water bill, a landscape that puddled and flooded during storms, and, to make the flooding problem worse: no gutters on their building.

When we learned about the city's new Green Works Development Program, a capital and ecological improvement project based in the Coliseum Redevelopment Project Area, EOBA staff and DIG members decided to showcase a comprehensive water conservation, harvesting and re-use system at the EOBA site. EOBA was fortunate to gain a Redevelopment Agency grant to initiate a green job-training program and install the water conservation system!

Members of DIG Cooperative consulted with EOBA staff and a team of eight youth interns to design and plan the project. Over the course of three months, we evaluated the site, trained the students in basic tool use, constructed the system, and moved massive amounts of earth, transforming the site into a rain-fed living oasis. EOBA now features water-efficient sinks, showers and dual flush toilet kits; a 3,000-gallon cistern that can capture and distribute 18,000 gallons of rainwater annually to irrigate both crops and an overflow bamboo pollution screen; a garden washbasin to irrigate fruit trees; and a series of rainwater Earthworks throughout the landscape with plenty of beautiful drought-tolerant plants.

When asked about their new system, Elizabeth Kendall, Executive Director of EOBA said, "The garden has truly become a model green space that can be replicated throughout the community. People have come to take ideas about community garden spaces, both small and large scale, to be replicated in their own backyards as well as in school gardens. It is great to have had the opportunity to work with DIG Cooperative and the City of Oakland to show that conservation is completely doable and important to sustain the community and the planet."

Find out more about the work of DIG Cooperative by visiting www.dig.coop.

Earth Island Journal: Building Resilience
A Bay Localize Project Report by Aaron Lehmer

Bay Localize co-founder Aaron Lehmer and a volunteer help build a rooftop vegetable garden at the E.C. Reems Academy of Technology and Arts in Oakland, California. Photo: David Hanks PhotographyThe current economic downturn is the worst in decades. Millions are suffering devastating losses — vanishing jobs, foreclosed homes, and soaring food and health costs. In a world with fewer resources to go around, the future of environmentalism may hinge on making it synonymous with building sustainable, resilient communities that can meet everyone's basic needs.

» Read the full article here.


Events Roundup: Upcoming Gatherings and Conferences

  • Local Clean Energy Alliance Meeting: Halting the Rush to Natural Gas
    WHEN: Thursday, December 10, 6-8 pm
    WHERE: Central Historic Building, 436 14th St., 2nd Floor, Oakland
    SPEAKERS: Shana Lazerow, Communities for a Better Environment and Rory Cox, Pacific Environment
    PG&E is far behind on their renewable targets, while at the same time proposing new high-capacity natural gas power plants in the Bay Area. The result is an increased reliance on fossil fuels, more greenhouse gas emissions, and public health threats in disadvantaged communities. Outside of California, there is a push for more natural gas drilling in the Rockies as well as Liquefied Natural Gas import terminals in Oregon and Mexico. Communities, however, are fighting back. In the last few years, community and environmental justice organizations have used air pollution laws and energy analysis to win the rejection of several new power plants. We can do it here! To be sure we have enough food, please RSVP to Emily at emily@baylocalize.org.

  • Bay Localize 4th Annual Holiday Party!
    WHEN: Thursday, December 17, 6-11 pm
    WHERE: Central Historic Building, 436 14th St., 2nd Floor, Oakland
    Friends, family, and allies are invited to join Bay Localize in our beautiful downtown Oakland offices to celebrate this year's victories and recharge for 2010.

    Mark your calendars for one of the most happening parties of the season! Bay Localize has a lot to celebrate this year: we helped pass landmark climate protection targets in Oakland, launched the Community Resilience Toolkit, and built out two flourishing rooftop garden projects in San Francisco and Oakland. Come toast with us and mingle with the community resilience movement. RSVP Today!

  • Clean Power, Healthy Communities Conference
    WHEN: February 10-11, Times Vary

    WHERE: California Endowment, 1111 Broadway, 7th Floor, Oakland
    This conference will gather Bay Area grassroots activists, community leaders, and business people interested in creating a healthy, clean energy future for the San Francisco Bay Area. We will discuss the benefits and potential of increased regional coordination around local clean energy, including a proposal to create a Bay Area Clean Energy Alliance with expanded membership and scope. Topics will include: Climate Action Plans, Power Plants & Public Health, Green Collar Job Creation, Community Choice Energy, Renewable Energy & Efficiency Financing, Creating a Regional Clean, Greening Our Regional Power Grid

Look for announcements of other upcoming gatherings on our website.

Support Bay Localize Today!

Have a Computer to Donate?

Reuse is even better than recycling, and we can offer your old computer a good home! Pentium 4 processors and newer, receipts for tax write-offs available. Contact kirsten@baylocalize.org or call (510) 834-0420. We are interested in laser printers, LCD monitors, fax machines, and photocopiers as well. Thank you for your generosity!

Invest in Bay Localize!

We would be honored to count you among our growing range of supporters. Your contribution will help us to forward localization projects and initiatives in the Bay Area. Each donor of $35 or more receives a one-year subscription to the award-winning quarterly publication, the Earth Island Journal.

To make a tax-deductible contribution, please click on the online donation link below, or write a check or money order made payable to Earth Island Institute (our fiscal sponsor) with "Bay Localize" in the memo and mail it to:

   Bay Localize
   436 14th Street, Suite 1127
   Oakland, CA 94612

Donate online!
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Thanks for your support!

About Bay Localize News

Bay Localize News features regular news and updates from Bay Localize, a growing network of nonprofits, businesses, and municipal leaders working to build a more self-reliant, sustainable, and socially just Bay Area.

EDITORS: Aaron Lehmer, Jenni Perez

CONTRIBUTORS: Aaron Lehmer, David Room, Leah Fessenden, Ingrid Severson, Kirsten Schwind, and Linda Currie

PHOTOGRAPHY: David Hanks Photography

VIDEO PRODUCTION: "Growing Resilience," "Community Convergence for Climate Action," "Local Clean Energy Alliance - PG&E Power Grab," and "Resilience for All" by Jacob Ruff Media; "POWER Rooftop Veggie Garden Workshop" by FoRealTV.com

For more about Bay Localize, please visit our website at http://www.baylocalize.org.


Contact Us:

   Bay Localize
   436 14th Street, Suite 1127
   Oakland, CA 94612 USA
   (510) 834-0420
   Web: http://www.baylocalize.org
   Bay Localize is a project of Earth Island Institute.

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