Some of you may have heard me address the Town Council over the past several months. One of the things I have been talking about is Building Electrification. 

As you may know, the State of California is aggressively "Greening" the electrical grid for the State. Some people have objected to me that they can't afford $50,000 for a new set of solar panels on their roof, and I totally get that (I can't afford panels on my roof, either), but the good news is, greening the grid means you don't NEED to put solar panels on your roof. 

What we do need to do, though, as a community, is to start to eliminate all combustion of natural gas in our homes. If we are able to eliminate all natural gas combustion, and if the state is successful in transitioning the grid to renewables (you can accelerate this by opting for MCE Deep Green - see here for how to), we will go a LONG way towards doing our part to reducing our emissions to Zero. 

This is a tall order, I know. 

But it is not impossible, and, if we get started now, and each of us works steadily towards this goal, we can get it done. 

This is something the state is heavily focused on. I am on so many mailing lists from the state, and today, I got the attached Powerpoint from them on this topic. I thought I would share it with everyone, and I hope it provides either (a) new perspectives for you, or (b) a reminder of the need to continue to steadily move towards this goal. 

The Town of Fairfax has declared a Climate Emergency. The Town of Fairfax has said that we will be carbon neutral by 2030. We are going to need to do this to get the job done - and we can, and not only will it not be so bad; it will actually be a good thing for us. 

Let's talk about how we can, because we are Fairfax; we can do anything, when we come together and make good things happen. 

I am sitting under my garage on the side of a hill in Fairfax, working, while I shelter at home. 

When I do this, I have the pleasure of listening to the two finches who have built a nest in the rafters under the garage. I can also listen to the chatter on the small road that fronts our house. I just heard one of our neighbors, out walking her dog, exclaim, "its a hot one today." 

Indeed. 

The US NOAA tells us that this year is on track to be the warmest year in recorded history. 

Scientific American tells us that we are approaching the limits, already, of heat and humidity that humanity can tolerate. 

I attended a meeting of the Town Council this week, and a person commented that it is really hard to reduce your carbon footprint; hard and expensive. I agree on both counts. I do not have solar panels on my roof because I cant afford them. I don't drive an electric car because I can't afford one. 

I get that its not easy and its not cheap, I think we all do. But I also get that it is NECESSARY. As the UN Secretary General said last week, the virus is bad, but Global Warming will be - in some cases already is - far worse. 

My wife and I hang our laundry out to dry every day, because it eliminates natural gas and saves energy and money. We boil water using an electric kettle because it is electric and we get our electricity from Deep Green. We are slowly replacing our light fixtures with LEDs because they save us energy and money. We drive a ten-year old Prius because it so cheap, compared to a gas-guzzling car. We ride our bikes whenever we can because it keeps us healthy, it saves burning fossil fuels, and it saves us money. 

And, there are so many great people in Fairfax who do so much more. 

It is hard, and it does take work. But the alternative will be harder and will cost a LOT more in so many ways. 

We are Fairfax, we can come together and find common solutions, and we will. We will try not to focus on why we can't; let's try to focus on how we can. 

Thank you. Switch to Deep Green. Send this email to a friend. 

We are recruiting! Join us if you can. asd;lfkjasd;lksdf;l

The other day, I read a really interesting article about the countries around the world who are most effectively dealing with the Coronvirus. By and large, the article observed, the most successful countries were led by women. I find that fascinating. 

And, as I reflected on this, I realized that six of our ten CAC members were women, and that it is to them that owe much of the success of our Town thus far, in this critical effort. (Note, this is not to slight the efforts of the amazing men on the CAC - more on them another time!) 

Anyway, as we all head into yet another weekend of social distancing, I wanted to celebrate our good fortune in having such wonderful leadership here. 

Thank you all, and, by the way, we are looking for new energy for the committee. 

So, the minute you get this, please forward it to a Fairfax friend and ask them to sign up to the blog; ask them to sign up for Deep Green; and ask them if they know another good person - all genders welcome - who is interested in joining us. 

Stay safe, stay well, stay green.