Dear Friends,...(From Calif. EPA Secretary Linda Adams)

 

To the left of Senator Pavley, author of AB 32,  in the photo sits Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board. On the right is Linda Adams, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Linda Adams, former director of the California Department of Water Resources, was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2006 as Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency – making her the first woman to serve as head of the agency.

Immediately upon appointment, Secretary Adams was designated as Governor Schwarzenegger’s lead negotiator on AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Adams is now working closely with states, provinces and countries around the world to develop a network of climate initiatives to achieve the greatest global reductions.  More>>>

 
California Secretary EPA, Linda Adams and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell

Dear Friend,

As you probably have heard by now, there is a battle brewing to delay California’s clean energy and air pollution control standards.  And we need your support.

California’s climate change law, AB 32, the law that forever changed the rules on clean air, holds polluters accountable and requires them to reduce air pollution that threatens our health and our environment. AB 32 has moved California into the forefront of clean technology by creating opportunities for Californians to innovate and create new ways of protecting our environment and creating green jobs.

Because of leaders like you, AB 32 has created thousands of jobs, motivated an emerging economy and inspired businesses to partner with environmentalists. However, what is most important is that AB 32 has changed the way Californians think about clean energy and how we affect our environment.

We know that this is a global problem that requires a global solution. But change must start here with us, at the grassroots level. From here, it works its way up through our nations and around the world. Any signal of delay could be disastrous for a national commitment to reducing pollution.

Those who are attempting to delay our move to a clean energy economy maintain it will only “suspend” AB 32’s pollution and health requirements until the economy gets better. Well, we’re all waiting for the economy to get better, but in the meantime, suspending a law that has increased jobs, investments, innovation and public consciousness does not serve the people of California.

Join me in supporting AB 32 and the state’s commitment to growing clean energy businesses and technologies by signing up on-line today.

Your help will not only support our growing green economy, but will also help California for a better tomorrow.


Thank you,
Linda Adams
Secretary for Environmental Protection
California Environmental Protection Agency

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Dear Friends,...(From Calif. EPA Secretary Linda Adams)

Green Salon Series Presented By Breathe L.A.

By Nicole Hansen

[Blogger Bio Below]

When the Green Blog Network asked me to be a panelist for the Breathe LA Salon "AB 32.0 and the Rise of Green Digital Media" and blog about it on The Green Blog Network, I was reluctant. Ever since my son Nikos directed the global warming PSA, Save It, I’ve been thrown into a world of "green" issues. Many times I feel ill equipped to participate, as if I’m the student and everyone else around me are the experts—including my own children. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up in Boulder, Colorado! Nothing could be more "green" than the granola Disneyland of my youth. But since coming to California twenty years ago, being ecological has gone from something the "Earth Muffins" of Boulder would do to actually becoming state laws. Such is the case with California’s AB 32.

 

Nicole Hansen of Green Galaxy Enterprises spoke on behalf of The Green Blog Network at 

Breathe L.A.'s Green Salon series. Photo Courtesy Alastair Shearman.

AB 32 - Getting The Word Out

Stephanie Mullen, the Senior Field Representative to State Senator Fran Pavley made the opening remarks, stating that Senator Pavley authored AB 32 to give the California Air Resources Board authority to bring emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020. Though the law was enacted years ago, I was surprised to hear that it has not yet been implemented. She stated that we need to use resources more effectively and are looking for a strong, green economy in California. The moderator, Ray Gonzales, a former KTLA personality, brought up the fact that there is a lot of opposition to the law because of its shorthand as "the global warming law." I believe he has a point—so how does the green social media reach those who don’t believe in global warming so that they will be less opposed to something that is basically based on common sense?

Common Sense Approach To Information Dissemination

The first panelist, Jennifer Gooding, is the LA Ambassador to EcoTuesday. She brought up the point that people's initial hesitation arises from a disconnection to the world that can be remedied by social media. She believes that we need a forum to connect, and she has been described as that connector. We often get a bunch of information, are overwhelmed, but are not connected. That’s the benefit of social media when it comes to getting the message out there, since the vast majority of people did not know what AB 32 is. We're failing by not having common people understand the basics.

Panelist Siel Ju is the Green LA Girl, and has appeared on outlets including NPR and NBC, among many others. She has a Ph.D in creative writing and literature but is now devoted to blogging about environmental issues. She noted that AB 32 is not a familiar term to most people. It reminded her of the battle with rBGH, which makes cows produce more milk but also causes birth defects. We must give people more information and not just boil it down to "Ban rBGH!" (or "Save AB 32!") Whether it be eating locally produced food or riding the subway, we should connect AB 32 to things people already desire. Moreover, we must use social media for a conversation to make connections.

Breathe L.A. Green Salon Series, March 2010, photo courtesy

Alastair Shearman. Pictured: Ray Gonzales, Moderator, Green Salon Series.

Panelist Josh Tickell, director of Fuel, stressed that there is power of media in environmental issues. Stepping back from the fray, the long-term objectives of AB 32 are a breakthrough and so are its emissions cuts. The Fuel film is digital media designed to have an effect. They didn't want the result to just end in rallying efforts, but rather to "shift the energy needle" in this country. He wanted a campaign with 10 goals that people could choose from as they matched their own. A big topic for Josh is fuel made from algae, and he observed that a lot of food energy is going unused. He was able to get a meeting with the Department of Energy and to start a campaign for algae. The meeting turned into a shouting match with great disagreement on the department's side. In the end, through the social, objective based digital and social media, there is significant investment and growing, with already $100 million being spent on algae lobbying. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can order a million solar roofs, and the next campaign should be a million green cars. What we need, according to Josh, is a broad perspective.

Save It

Before I spoke, I shared my answer to the global warming messaging through digital media and showed my son’s 1Sky PSA, Save It (later endorsed by Global Green and Greenpeace). The shocker was that people wrote hate messages on YouTube where it premiered as Take Part’s first video release, calling me an uninformed hippie that has brainwashed my kids, and some who even said my son was "stupid." Ironically, my sons both have developmental disorders that I was warned by the EPA they would have, as a result of environmental toxins. With what my children have to go through to be educated in special needs schools, at the expense of the government, is why it matters to all of us. Framing the discussion as a human health issue is much less controversial than global warming and we can use social media to educate people about asthma, autism, cancer and numerous other disorders that are exacerbated by or a direct cause of the toxins we are responsible for trying to control. So Earth Muffin or not, the real cost of paying for our health will far outweigh the cost of converting to cleaner and greener technologies in the long run. That’s how we should use social media to educate the masses to the importance of actually implementing AB 32.

Bio: Nicole organized and produced the first Renewable Energy Conference and Awards Gala at the United Nations sponsored by the Honduran Permanent Mission to the UN with notable speakers and honorees such as Dr. Arthur Nozik of NREL, Dr. Daniel Nocera of MIT as well as Billionaire John Paul DeJoria. She was a featured speaker alongside producer Marshall Herskovitz for the 2009 Green Girls Holiday Event advocating publicly for the use of renewable energy technologies.   
Twitter @nikkihans

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Green Salon Series Presented By Breathe L.A.