I am writing to you today, sitting on the beach in South Carolina. I am here for a family event. I am acutely conscious of the carbon footprint it took for me to get here, and even more aware of the importance of the leadership we, in Fairfax, have the opportunity to show. 

I remember when California became the first state in the country to legalize marijuana for medical use. People around the country thought we were crazy Californians. Marin County and the Town of Fairfax were among the leaders in this effort. And now, sitting here on a South Carolina beach, I read about South Carolina Republicans getting ready to make marijuana legal even here. (HERE). California led the way. Maybe we were not perfect in how we did it, but we did it. 

Now, humanity faces its greatest crisis - the rapidly accelerating changes from our changing climate. (HERE). 

In California, we have always been leaders. In Fairfax, we have always been leaders. 

We adopted our first Climate Action Plan in 2014. We aimed at a 20% reduction in Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs) by 2020. We achieved a 25% reduction by 2018. We showed the leadership our county, our state, our country, our world needed. Our goal seemed unreachable when we adopted it; and look what we did. 

Today, scientists tell us the Climate Crisis is ramping up and that the needs for more dramatic action are becoming ever more urgent. (HERE). Today, economists tell us that it is far less expensive to do the work to prevent the looming crisis than it will be to deal with the crisis. (HERE). 

And, in Fairfax, we continue to lead. 

As we sit here today, we are finishing our next Climate Action Plan, building on the success of the last half-decade, and aiming at another seemingly unreachable, but even more important goal - elimination of all GHGs by 2030 in our Town. 

As a first step, we are trying to help the people of this Town by not making it harder for ourselves - by adopting a requirement for all new buildings to be All-Electric. We all know how difficult it will be to de-carbonize our existing buildings. Not making the problem worse will save the people who buy these homes money in first cost, money in operating these new homes, and money in fighting the climate crisis. The urgency of this decision is huge, as we face mandates for additional housing in our Town. 

Fairfax has always been a leader in this country, and we have always been a leader on the climate. (HERE). The world needs us to do it again. 

Please:
1. Review and comment on, and support our next Climate Action Plan (HERE). Understand, we cannot get to zero without working together to overcome the obstacles in our way; but we cannot do that without determining that we will. 
2. Support the move towards all-electric buildings and transportation in this Town. If you want more on how to do this, let us know. 
3. We need help on the CAC. Tackling the challenge in front of us is going to take the best that we all have to give. We have several spots on our committee, and the climate needs your energy. Be in touch and we will help you find a way to contribute. 

The challenge we confront is bigger than any that has come before. But the people of this town have always risen to, and overcome difficult challenges in ways that provide a vision to others for how they, too, can follow. 

I am sitting on the beach of South Carolina, listening to people talking, now, about driving electric cars. We Californians are leaders, and it makes a difference. Let's do it again. 

Some of us may have qualms about the motives of big business. 

Nonetheless, yesterday, a long list of large investors and investment companies sent an open letter to President Biden encouraging him to establish "a bold U.S. 2030 target." 

(Letter HERE.) 

We have been studying the comments that are coming in with respect to the Climate Action Plan. We are deeply grateful for all of the thinking from all of you, and we are looking at ways we can implement the plan in ways that will address some of the challenges that you are raising. 

What is encouraging is that all of us seem to be aligned that, like business, we too, need to do our part. It is equally encouraging that businesses are equally aligned around the urgency of this moment. It is further encouraging that both our state and Federal governments are aligning around the same urgency. 

The people of Fairfax have always been leaders in protecting our world; it is wonderful to be part of this community in search of climate solutions. 

As the business leaders say, "The urgency could not be clearer: climate change poses an existential threat to society and to business. Addressing the climate crisis requires rapid action at an econmywide scale." 

Yes.  

Last week, I wrote about the emerging Hydrogen-fueled, fuel-cell vehicles as an alternative to all-battery powered cars. I want to talk, here about some of the challenges with this technology. 

1. Hydrogen is expensive. This is true. Today, it is the equivalent, as a commenter noted to my last post, of about $16/gallon of gasoline. BUT, the state of California is investing tons of money into this technology, and predicts that hydrogen fuel will be less expensive than gasoline cars by 2025. And, I don't know about Honda and Hyundai (I would love to hear from folks who have bought one of these), but Toyota is providing three- or six- years of prepaid fuel for dealer-sold cars. HERE. 

2. Hydrogen is hard to find. Also true! Today, there is ONE station in Marin (the Valero in Mill Valley). But, the state is investing a ton of money into developing new stations - the goal is 200 by 2025, and there is state funding to do it. I want to explore how to get some of that money for a station in FFX! There are also few stations around the country, anywhere, now. More HERE. 

3. Hydrogen is not as "Green" as electricity generated by renewable electricity and stored in batteries. This is a LITTLE bit true, especially today. Today, most hydrogen is generated from natural gas, and transported to stations using gasoline. As such is it LESS green than all-renewable electricity stored in batteries. BUT, technology is advancing quickly. The aim is to produce hydrogen from 100% renewable electricity, too; it will make hydrogen a kind of energy storage in itself. And, there is work being done by California and others to be able to use natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen, which will be a great use of these piping systems as we move away from BURNING natural gas.  HERE. 

Hydrogen is going to be an extremely important part of our Energy Future. It has a number of advantages over other potential fuels for many important applications. The technology is being heavily supported by the state and federal authorities. It is an important part of our collective success in moving away from fossil fuels. 

Next time - fuel cells for HOMES - 

Here's another idea for close to zero emission transportation; HYDROGEN. There is a bit of controversy over this solution, as, today, hydrogen is produced using some amount of natural gas. I will address that point in a later post. Today, I simply want to alert people to an opportunity that is considered to be net zero emission by the state, and that might be relatively affordable. 

Today, I will simply talk about the affordability issue. 

There may have been others, but for sure, Toyota made a hydrogen car in 2017. Many of these were leased, and have now been returned. Toyota is now selling Certified used Mirai cars. I went to San Francisco and looked at them, and they are priced in the $10-12k range, which is not bad. But, even better, (a) they give you $15,000 card for prepaid hydrogen fuel, and (b) you can get an HOV sticker for them. So, they are basically paying you to take the cars. Also, they are offering 0% interest, so you can pay for it over time, at no interest. Its a pretty sweet deal - IF you can tolerate the hydrogen difficulties. 

(I will mention the big one, since I want to be as responsible and transparent as possible - there is only ONE hydrogen fueling station in all of Marin; the Valero in Mill Valley; but, there are 49-ish around the state, and the state is investing a ton of money to get the number up to at least 200 by 2025. More on hydrogen next time). 

There are also, for those who can afford them, new hydrogen cars, now. Toyota has a new one, as does Honda. Hyuandai has an SUV. I think you can only lease the Honda and Hyuandai, You can either buy the Toyota or lease it. When you buy or lease a new hydrogen car, you get (a) $8,000 Federal Tax Credit; (b) $4,500 California rebate; and (c) HOV sticker. If you get it from Toyota, you also get the $15,000 prepaid fuel, and three years of free service. Sometimes the dealers offer incentives on top of that. 

Full disclosure - I just bought one of these things, and I hoping that others will too, so we can convince somebody to put a hydrogen station in Fairfax. That will be great; Novato gets Costco, we can get hydrogen (and EV charging). 

One last thing about this. The original Mirai was planned to have a feature that allowed you to run your fuel cell car and plug it into your house to power it. They ultimately did not do that, but it can be done. Believe me, as the owner of one of these things now, I have a vested interest in figuring it out!

Whatever you do, Walk, Bike, ride the bus (after vaccination), telecommute instead of going to the office, and, when you are able to buy your next car; make it EV or Hydrogen; they are cheaper than gas cars and they will make you feel better!

• 4/7, 7:30pm - Health Issues Related to Climate Change, Making the Switch to Electric, and more, hosted by the 350 Palo Alto team’s “Switch to Electric” Community Engagement Campaign. Zoom Meeting, Meeting ID: 899 4008 6223, Passcode: 643410

• 4/8, 10am - Electric kitchens have arrived! Join Rachelle Boucher of Kitchens To Life, hosted by the CA Building Decarbonization Coalition. Register here: https://bit.ly/31iFelc

 

• 4/19 – Air District Stationary Source & Climate Protection Committee, where the appliance standards will get discussed with detailed cost analysis - a make or break moment for the rules to move forward or die over cost & equity concerns.

 

• 4/28 - Electrification of Buildings: Climate, Health, Justice. Panel sponsored by SF Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibilty, https://sfbaypsr.org/take-action/events/…

 

• VERGE Electrify, May 25-26, Register here

 

• Green Home Tour (East Bay), June 6 & 13 — Register here 

 
News: 

• Going all-electric may seem daunting. Here's how to start the process. (Green Building News)
• How your gas stove sparked a battle over climate change

 
Resources:

1. Cost memo on Electrification for Existing Homes, drafted in support of the appliance standards to phase out gas heaters and water heaters under consideration at the Air District.

​AND, most of all, 

Review the Fairfax CAP and JOIN US!

Last time, I wrote about ways to afford new, renewable fuel vehicles. 

Here is an opportunity to virtually kick the tires of some of these, and learn more about what's possible. 

Join the DriveClean Earth Day Drive-Clean-a-thon. Its April 24, and it will help you learn more. 

Make your next car zero emissions. We can do this.