Filed under: Green Advisory Committee | Tags: Belmont, City Council, Green Advisory Committee, recommendations, sustainability
Tonight I presented Belmont’s Green Advisory Committee recommendations to the City Council. I have to admit: going in to the meeting, I felt prepared, but a little nervous.
I wasn’t worried about the overview part– even though I had to breeze through 30 recommendations in under 10 minutes, I knew I wouldn’t bore people because I was giving a pithy sentence or two of background about each item rather than just reading from the slides (!).
I was bracing for the next part. We were allowing for 45 minutes for Q and A with the Council and input from the public. Driving to City Hall, I could picture the Council members drilling down into the recommendations and questioning things I wasn’t sure of or that were on the controversial side. “Ban the free distribution of single-use plastic bags? Isn’t another Bay Area city getting sued for that?” or “Slow traffic to 35 mph on Ralston Avenue? Are you kidding?!” I was worried I’d forget some key piece of data and have to sheepishly say, “I’ll have to get back to you about that” the way people interrogated on Capitol Hill repeat “I don’t recall.”
But it wasn’t like that at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The Council members were very gracious in thanking the GAC for all of the hard work they did and thanked me in particular for putting together the report. With all five of them doing all that gracious thanking, it felt like a love fest.
The Council did cough up some good feedback: The importance of collaborating with businesses, residents, other cities in the region, and San Mateo County to benefit from economies of scale. The need to get more input–study sessions with the Council on “complex” a.k.a. controversial issues, a Town Hall meeting with the public, feedback from Belmont’s commissions). The importance of educating the public about why it’s important for everyone to get involved.
Speaking to the concern that we might alienate some members of the public if they think our recommendations are too heavy handed, one of our GAC members ended the discussion with this point (forgive me for paraphrasing)… We’re not suggesting things that are really radical here. In fact, some of the things we’re suggesting are just trying to catch us up to where other cities already are. The U.S. House of Representatives just passed a landmark clean energy bill…the country is ready. The Bay Area is definitely ready. Belmont is ready. Let’s not shy away from doing what we need to do. If we don’t take these steps, who will?
The GAC has a lot of work to do from here, but tonight was a great first step.
Here’s a link to the GAC draft report. Our final report will (hopefully) come out in the fall. http://belmont.gov/SubContent.asp?CatId=240001912&C_ID=240003395
Filed under: General | Tags: Acterra, Be the Change, Belmont, Green Advisory Committee, sustainability
I’ve been wanting to start a blog for awhile. Why? In March of 2006, I read an editorial in the San Jose Mercury News about global warming that stirred me to action. It made me realize that I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore. I felt compelled to wade in and see what I could do to help.
I started with something I know well: Publishing. At the time, the only people talking about global warming were environmentalists. (“An Inconvenient Truth” came out in May 2006.) The activists seemed to be complaining to each other about it, and were annoyed, often angry, and even sad that the vast majority of the population wasn’t paying attention. I knew that average Americans wouldn’t respond because of guilt or fear, though. Those things paralyze people. Instead, most people are motivated to take action when they feel encouraged and inspired, and when they have the clear information they need to make decisions. Using those ideas as a guiding principle, on nights and weekends, I conceptualized a magazine and companion website for mainstream consumers designed to inspire them to take action in their homes, workplaces, communities, and beyond. I called the magazine Cool Planet. I developed a business plan, visual mock-up, and story line-up, and shared the concept with potential publishing partners. So much has happened since then!
Jumping ahead about a year…
Knowing of my interest in sustainability, a friend let me know about an amazing environmental leadership program called “Be the Change.” It’s named after Gandhi’s quote, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” and is sponsored by Acterra, an environmental education nonprofit in Palo Alto. The program was perfect for me! I just graduated earlier this month. The thought leaders I met and the friends I made through the program have become an invaluable network. Acterra is now recruiting for the Class of 2010, which starts in September. Because it’s only one full day a month, you can probably do it in addition to a job. Here’s the information:
http://www.acterra.org/programs/bethechange/index.html#meetings
Last summer, I also started attending Belmont’s Green Advisory Committee meetings. (I found out about the group after the City Council had already made the appointments. They eventually added me to the committee officially a few months ago.) I’ll share more about that group in my next post.
At one of the GAC meetings, I met Belmont’s new Parks & Rec Director, who encouraged me to apply to be a Parks & Rec commissioner. I did, and was appointed by the City Council in March. I’ll share more about that in other posts, too.
I plan to use this blog to tell about my adventures into the world of sustainability…in local government, nonprofit organizations, and the corporate sector. I will share upcoming events, links I think are interesting, and my own perspectives.
Stay tuned!
Cool Planet 