This was a small well done event. Promoted by San Diego Loves Green, the event let the running for congress Lt. Governor, John Garamendi, give some insight into how California Legislators, and himself, feel about sustainability in California.
The Venue
The event was held at the newly built conference center, Scripps Seaside Forum adjacent to the Scripps Pier. It was a unique complex and the main hall is where we heard Garamendi speak. The building is very modern and unique. As the sun set, it came right through the front windows and into our eyes. It was a little difficult at times to see Garamendi up at the podium. The hall isn’t that big, but the acoustics were great. We could hear him speak clearly with and without the mic. Another cool thing I liked about this complex is that they published how the complex was built green by creating a green fact sheet right on their website. It gives you a glimpse as to the extent they went through to make the building green. It was a great venue, but I wish I could have spent some more time there looking around.
The Speech
The title of the speech was Future of Sustainability in California. Renewable Energy was largely the most talked about topic. California, as a whole, has the unique opportunity to take advantage of many renewable energy technologies, besides the obvious, Solar and Wind. Geothermal, Tidal Power and Wave Power are additional technologies that California can take advantage of because of our close proximity to the ocean. There is no doubt that the future of California is the use of conservation and Renewable Energy.
Other highlights in his speech that I found interesting were small discussions around, Feed-in Tariff , Government Oil Subsidies and Title 24, California’s Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings.
Feed-in Tariff is essentially a new tax that would raise everyones energy bill by pennies so that we can subsidize the growth of renewable energy in California. Basically the state of California would make it obligatory for power companies to buy renewable energy instead of old carbon based energy. This would help finance the renewable energy growth and scale it rapidly. The U.S. has used this method before in the 80′s, but several countries in Europe have had great success implementing similar programs, increasing renewable energy use by 20%. Everyone tends to shy away from any sort of new tax, but in the end, it’s all the same thing, whether we are subsidized or not. The Feed-in Tariff is more policy based and would have more chances of success, because it moves a large population towards sustainability faster than volunteer rebates, which is what we have now.
Right now California is the largest producer of oil in the country, providing up to 15% compared to other states. Oil and California have a long history. As our energy consumption continues to grow and fossil fuels get more difficult to produce, the oil and gas industries have seen record profits in the realm of hundreds of billions. Subsidies were set in place a long time ago to help these energy producers grow and flourish. The movement now is that these subsidies should be given to the renewable energy companies to do the same thing. It just doesn’t make sense to still subsidize an industry that is turning out hundreds of billions in profits. It is obvious that they don’t need our help anymore.
Title 24 is one of 28 titles of the California Code of Regulations that was established in 1978 to reduce California’s energy consumption. The last update was made in 2005 and the most recent update is set to go live January 1, 2010. Looking at the most recent changes to the Standards, it seems there is much more emphasis on insulation. Basically, retaining the energy that you already have. This means putting into law, the installation of more efficient windows, water systems and heating and cooling methods.
The Take-Away
For a short period, energy is going to continue being expensive. This is good, because we need to use less. Many of the buildings in our infrastructure are not energy efficient, so keeping the costs high allow for the subsidized growth of the renewable energy sector while at the same time keeping everyone in check to use less. As our buildings, habits and technologies improve, these sources will get cheaper. Feed-in Tariff lays the foundation for growth, Title 24 allows for more efficient energy use in our buildings and restructuring oil subsidies provides more money to the renewable energy sector while making the fossil fuel industry more responsible for its sustainability.
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