For many who had hoped that Glasgow Summit Conference on Climate Change would see some truly meaningful measures to head off the drastic possibilities of failing to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees celsius, the final agreements were far less than hoped. For countries such as China, India, Russia and, yes!, the USA – even with our loud commitments to change – it becomes a pause, allowing a slower approach to clean energy production. (Senator Joe Manchin’s coal brokering company must be delighted.) But, for the greater part of the world’s population, the conference was either ignored or unheard of. Despite the mixed results of the summit it is now even more important that individual cities, counties and states realign their climate action plans to face the threats of global warming, and at the same time prepare for the future in a manner which adapts to the new conditions.
Mayor Meister has already sent an outline for a West Hollywood climate action plan. It is timely and absolutely necessary that we take the outline and get it fleshed out for workable solutions and get it into the ruke book ASAp. Last week I prepared a paper which includes a number of suggestions for the Council to consider. I suggest that anyone serious about the future of the planet also do so. We would not be alone in acting rapidly. Other cities are moving ahead. A town in Colorado where I have some connections is revamping its 2007 Climate Action Plan in view of changes to the city during the past fourteen years and the more urgent current need for action. West Hollywood cannot be an oasis of change in the huge urban expanse of Los Angeles county. We can be an example of how to do it but we must coordinate with our nearest neighbors at the least.
Not since the beginning of World War II will this nation be asked to make enormous sacrifices. That is, of course, if Washington puts forth a Climate Action Plan for the country. Global warming – a phrase of which not all politicians approve, preferring “climate change”, if they speak of the phenomimom at all – is causing world-wide migration of almost all species about ten degrees northward. Our own southern borders, the migrants drowning in their attempts to reach safe haven throughout the Mediterranean area and other thousands trying to stay alive in sub-Saharan Africa. An interactive web site called Analog Atlas allows one to locate the place on the planet most likely to represent the viewer’s climate in the year 2050. For West Hollywood I think it comes up as Upper Baja peninsula.
Some of the changes which may be brought about here are drastic updates to buiLding codes to allow new methods and materials in designIng and erecting all new structures, Wider requirements for roof-top solar to provide more local electricity. A weaning from gas-fired appliances to electric. (Can the grid keep up with new demands?) Use of proximity switches and motion sensor activation of indoor and outdoor lighting; a serious reduction of advertising lighting and night-time commercial building lighting, As electric demand grows, we may face rationing of power. Traffic and our urban forest and how we use water, all will be affected. Even the amount of waste we produce must be reduced. All these alterations to our daily lives will take courage and determination from all residents. ARE YOU READY?
I suggest we have a Climate Action Team (no more than five people) consisting of city residents, Council and city hall staff, one member should be the coordinator with other Climate Action agencies in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica. we cannot wait for some magic to fix things for us. We need to start ASAP. if you think I’m just another alarmist, take a look at the national weather forecast.
So, my comments about leaf blowers was discarded (most likely because I mentioned illegal aliens)
Well, one major polluter to the environment is lawn & garden equipment. Gasoline blowers spew more toxic pollution than an F-150 truck, a scientific fact. Throw in lawn mowers.
The problem is enforcement. If these FAKE environmentalists were actually concerned, they would regulate the days of operation (noise abatement and pollution control) with well staffed enforcement.
They won’t because they must protect their precious illegal aliens at all costs.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-09/documents/banks.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/opinion/leaf-blowers-california-emissions.html
I forwarded this very informative NYT article to Mayor Meister and some of City Staff. Not a single acknowledgment from them. It is but one of the simple components that sets up a base level of conservation leading to providing nutritious ground needed to protect what is left of the urban forest. Ground devoid of vegetation, resulting from lethal blowers diminished moisture, wildlife, bees and insects that all factor into the cycle of conservation. This is elementary common sense learned during childhood from knowledgeable parents that more than walked the talk about conservation The home and others in the area… Read more »
The micro particles blown into the air by leaf blowers around the city are more damaging to lungs than autos, yet, the city refuses to address the issue. Before the imported gardener invasion of the 1980s, people used the ecological method of yard work. They raked the yard and some even used manual powered mowers. I remember using ours growing up and those blades would split a blade of grass in two. Until issues like this is addressed this big talk of ecosim is all fake smoke and mirrors. They will snatch 20,000 oil jobs away from Americans, but protect… Read more »
One step the City could do in the near term is to consider requiring older apartment buildings (built before the mid-70s) to have attic insulation. Many of these buildings have no insulation, which means a lot of heat comes in through the roof in the summer and is lost in the winter. Most of the affected buildings are rent stabilized in which low income and often elderly residents suffer either very hot/cold apartments or high utility bills. Over a year ago, the City Council directed staff to study requirements for passive cooling systems, of which insulation is one type, and requiring landlords to… Read more »
Bravo Mr. Cronin! Several times you refer to the need for a coordinated approach with our neighbors–this is something that I think Mayor Meister is uniquely qualified by temperament to do (it’s too bad that a recent opportunity to be part of a regional group was squandered by the clique of politics, but that’s a separate story). We all need to make changes to the way we live, and I offer that City Hall should look at its own power use. I live nearby and have observed over and over a very brightly lit building, often late into the night.… Read more »
Stop buying anything from China.
Touche!!!
INCLUDING APPLE products!
Great idea!
The US just opened up the Gulf to more drilling and ignored Big Food and Big Agra, the largest emitters of methane, so how (tf) serious are we?
And, of course, Newsom approved oil permits.
Do you have a recommended format, Mr Cronin?
There has been an utter lack of climate chaos coverage in this publication until Mayor Meister, as far as I can tell, announced her plan.
B briefly – only a generalized idea of how to approach the future. I’m hoping that a panel can be formed to sum up priorities and engage the population. Waking uo a culture unused to much real disturbance will be the immediate chore. I am standing in a well of pessimism from which I’ll happily emerge to join with others who share my concerns. The city has to take charge – and include all residents as well as those who work here. What do you think my chances are?