Cool it Down! Climate Change, Local Action, and You

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Technology Thursday

I've been in a few meetings and conversations recently about sustainability. A big word and a broad topic that covers everything from swapping out your incandescent lightbulbs to international treaties and setting targets for greenhouse gas emissions on a country-by-country basis. How do we get to a smart electric grid? How can we extend commuter rail? To what extent do individual behaviors really matter? How bad, really, are those plastic water bottles? Does my comparatively small house offset the fact that I drive a minivan? I don't know the answer to any of these questions. But my impression, from recent conversations, is that there are a lot of super passionate, engaged, and smart people who are thinking about these things. But they're not just thinking, they're going out and getting stuff done.

It's clear that the federal government is completely dysfunctional when it comes to tackling climate change. It's also clear that a large driver of most of these challenges is population, but discussions in the United States about population control are strictly truncated. Just try it sometime. I'm not even talking about coercive policies, just noting it as an issue will get you a raised eyebrow or people squirreling away from the conversation as fast as they can. But, setting that aside, one of the most interesting things I've learned recently is the extent to which businesses (small, medium, large, and global) are grappling with sustainability issues. The corporate world is not in denial about the need for action. And, even more interesting to me, the extent to which local governments and municipalities are working on sustainability challenges is somewhat heartening.

Arlington County in Virginia, for example, is working on Green Building -

Green building is a collection of land-use, building design, and construction strategies that reduce the environmental impacts that buildings have on their surroundings. Arlington County has adopted the US Green Building Council's LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design™) Green Building Rating System as a way to measure the energy and environmental performance of buildings in the County.

They also offer guidance to residential builders and homeowners to move toward more green facilities. And, while I (constantly) am frustrated with the dysfunctional federal government, in truth the General Services Administration (which owns/manages a huge portion of the property and real estate the federal government owns) is working hard to move toward a greener and more sustainable future. In May of this year the GSA administrator said:

we at GSA are embracing a zero environmental footprint goal. We are setting our sights on eliminating the impact of the federal government on our natural environment. Yes, you heard it correctly. The word is “eliminate” not “limit.” I’m not kidding. Zero environmental footprint.

She went on to call zero-impact a moonshot type of goal. It's ambitious, but it's great to see ambition on these sorts of issues! While certain folks see an advantage in wailing and bemoaning hideous and inefficient bloated bureaucracies (a different complaint, I contend, than mine about dysfunction up above), the feds actually do better than private sector in this area. Administrator Johnson said, "Compared with the private sector we have 22 percent higher occupant satisfaction and 16 percent lower operating costs."

In California, a non-profit organization Cool California whose founding partners include state agencies and local universities is offering advice to businesses, local governments, individuals, and schools on how to stay cool as the earth warms, offering information on

* Actions you can take to improve energy efficiency, reduce your fuel usage, recycle, conserve water, buy green, save money, etc.
* Rebates, grants, and financial incentives offered by local utilities, state programs, and private institutions.
* Tools to measure your carbon footprint and how to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
* Case studies that describe actions taken by others, their cost savings, and emission reductions.
* Climate Action Planning.
* Educational resources, sustainable business programs, on line communities, social networking sites, and much, much more.

Start googling around and you find lots more. I end up simultaneously outraged (at what we've let happened), inspired (by so many working so hard), discouraged (at how much work there is to be done), and motivated (to do some medium-term planning of my own). Every time I end up talking or reading about this sort of thing I tell my husband that night "That's it, we're for sure staying in this house - which is not too unreasonable to heat and cool." (But then I also suggested to him recently that he find a way to block HomesDatabase.com from my web browsers! Foolish consistency is the hobglobin, right?) I'm also contemplating starting the process of getting our HOA to change their policies on solar panels (and maybe clotheslines) in light of coming energy costs. <br><br>Lots of things to think about, as things heat up around here! (Here, being, um, the planet.)