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Action Alert, August 8, 2008
Santa Barbara County Action Network
INFORMATION & ACTION ALERT
Greetings SB CAN members and friends! Please take a few moments to review the upcoming events and news. Here they are in brief:
1. Special BOS Meeting on Gaviota Coast Issues, August 18, Santa Barbara
2. BOS Hearing on Energy Crisis / Oppose lifting off-shore oil drilling ban, August 26, Santa Maria
3. “Save Cuyama Valley” opposes trucking project along HWY 166, August 26, Santa Maria
4. SB CAN Column – “Hypermiling toward Fuel Efficiency”
Now the Details:
1. Special BOS Meeting on Gaviota Coast Issues
WHAT: Board of Supervisors Meeting on Gaviota Coast Issues
WHEN: Monday, August 18 - 9:00 a.m.
WHERE: The County Administration Building - 105 East Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara (fourth floor hearing room)
(North County remote viewing and testimony: Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria)
The Board of Supervisors, at the request of 5th district supervisor Centeno, will hold a special meeting devoted exclusively to Gaviota Coast issues. This extraordinary session reflects the importance of Gaviota Coast issues and the necessity to formulate a comprehensive plan for the preservation of the Gaviota Coast.
Several community organizations including the Gaviota Coast Conservancy, the Naples Coalition, and the Gaviota Coast Study Group will make presentations. SB CAN is a member of the Naples Coalition. This is a unique and extraordinary opportunity to bring our message of environmental and cultural integrity to the Board in an open and positive manner. Please join us!
2. BOS Hearing on Energy Crisis / Oppose Lifting Off-shore Oil Drilling Ban
WHAT: Board of Supervisors Hearing on State and National Energy Crisis
WHEN: Tuesday, August 26, TBA
WHERE: Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria
(South Coast remote viewing and testimony: The County Administration Building - 105 East Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara, fourth floor hearing room)
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will be addressing the nation’s energy crisis and its short- and long-term local effects. The hearing will give the Board an opportunity to set forth a policy position on offshore oil resources and communicate the position to appropriate state and federal officials.
Some local groups want to lift the ban on off-shore oil drilling, and they are expected to show up in full force at this hearing. They’ve been arguing that lifting the ban will reduce the cost of fuel and stop natural oil seepage along the coast. However, evidence shows that off-shore oil drilling will have NO immediate impact on fuel prices now and insignificant impact in 2030 when the oil would finally hit the global market. In addition, drilling could increase natural seepage rather than reduce it, according to the Venoco Environmental Impact Report.
It is VITALLY important that people who want to protect to our coast attend the hearing and oppose lifting the ban. Please join us at this important hearing!
NOTE: We will be sending another alert giving further details, including the scheduled time of the meeting, as soon as more information is available.
3. “Save Cuyama Valley” Appeals Diamond Rock Mining Project
WHAT: BOS Hearing on Diamond Rock and Gravel Mining Project
WHEN: Tuesday, August 26
WHERE: Betteravia Government Center,511 E. Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria
Residents of Cuyama Valley have banded together to oppose a proposal to operate a rock and gravel mine in that area. This project will increase truck traffic by 138-288 trips per day along notoriously dangerous Hwy 166. This road has narrow shoulders, no passing lanes, and accommodates 58 school bus stops. Both Cuyama Elementary and Cuyama High Schools are located along Hwy 166. Cuyama Valley residents are also concerned about project’s impacts on groundwater, biological resources, air quality, and the hydrology of the Cuyama River.
“Save Cuyama Valley” is appealing the approval of this project by the County Planning Commission last month. SB CAN is urging County Supervisors to take a close look at this project that could impact the quality of life for people in a remote, often-neglected part of our county.
4. SB CAN Column – “Hypermiling toward Fuel Efficiency”
Every second and fourth Friday, an SB CAN column appears in the Looking Forward column in the Santa Maria Times. Our columns also appear in the Lompoc Record and at Noozhawk.com. You can read recent columns posted on our website www.sbcan.org under "SB CAN Editorials."
The following column was printed in the Santa Maria Times, Lompoc Record, and at Noozhawk.com. It is the second of two columns on peak oil and the Tri-County Energy Summit.
Hypermiling toward Fuel Efficiency
By Deborah Brasket, SB CAN Executive Director
Peaking oil supplies and climate change have arrived simultaneously, creating a global crisis in which “massive disruptions of the status quo” thinking will be needed, according to Robbie Diamond, president of Securing America’s Future Energy, or SAFE. But with that disruption comes the opportunity for this planet’s inhabitants to pull together as a global community and rethink how we relate to each other and to the earth that sustains us.
Diamond was one of the participants at a recent Tri-County Energy Summit sponsored by the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara. While several speakers painted a gloomy perspective on the challenges facing us, some local experts pointed out practical ways communities can plan for a fossil fuel-free future.
Ventura City Manager Rick Cole described his city’s effort to practice smart-growth principles. City planners are moving away from “zoning for cars,” which he calls the “DNA of sprawl,” toward a new policy of “coding for people.” This includes creating walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods, using green building practices, funding alternative forms of transportation, preserving farm land and open spaces, and developing infill rather than expanding the city’s waistline. It also calls for establishing a “coherent public participation process for determining overall form and character.”
Tam Hunt, the CEC’s energy program director, outlined a community-based plan to help Santa Barbara County become ”Fossil-Free by 2033.” (fossilfreeby33.org). This plan, in line with recent proposals by former Vice President Al Gore, could reduce petroleum use by 42 percent and “save the county about $238 million each year by 2020.” Topping the action plan is increased funding for alternative transportation, such as “ride sharing, buses, trains, telecommuting, biking, walking and other modes.”
Smart-growth principles in creating communities that reduce commutes and unnecessary driving are also encouraged. In addition, CEC supports “electrifying the transportation sector by accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles,” since electric motors “are three times more efficient than internal combustion engines, can be powered by renewable energy and produce zero tailpipe emissions.”
Pete Schwartz, a dynamic Cal Poly physics professor, seconded the preference for electric transportation. The vast majority of people in the United States drive fewer than 100 miles a day, which an electric vehicle could easily handle. For longer trips, Schwartz advised, ride a bus, take a train or rent a car.
Saving our environment begins on the personal level. While my husband and I haven’t ditched our gas-powered vehicles for electric yet, we have been trying to find others ways to save fuel. Recently we’ve been practicing “hypermiling,” a major shift in driving behavior that employs many subtle as well as common-sense changes that save fuel. Hypermiling means becoming hyper-conscious of how and where we drive. It’s noticing how often we accelerate or brake, and training ourselves to drive smoothly and economically. It means paying attention to the local terrain and using gravity and momentum rather than fuel to negotiate the slopes and curves. It’s coasting toward stop signs, down hills and around corners.
While so far we haven’t been able to double our fuel economy rating, as some hypermilers have claimed, we have already made modest fuel savings. More important, we’re developing the same kind of hyper-awareness toward energy conservation while on the road as we do at home, where we switch off lights, unplug unused appliances, wash clothes in cold water — all the little ways we all can practice conserving rather than squandering energy.
In the end, peak oil and climate change are creating the kind of energy hyper-consciousness needed to break free from the status-quo gridlock of oil dependence. Community-based planning and personal responsibility go hand in hand.