This week, we will be joined by the folks from Resilient Neighborhoods. 

Resilient Neighborhoods is a superb program of Sustainable Marin. It offers free, bite-sized advice for helping every one of us to reduce our carbon footprint, and improve out ability to manage our way through the environmental crises that will become ever more frequent as the climate continues to change. 

I just completed my training, and what was really wonderful about it was the camaraderie that the team of people developed over the course of the time we spent together. At the end, many of the meeting participants talked about how inspired they were to have been a part of this group, showing me the power of community to get things done. 

I promise you, you will benefit from participating in this program, if for no other reason than meeting other great people, and providing inspiration and support. 

Wednesday night - come see us!

A couple of the commenters suggested that we provide access to everyone of ALL comments made by ALL commenters during this process. 

As with so many of the comments, we agree with this one. We are doing a number of things, here. 

First, we have posted all of the comments on the website. You can get to them HERE. When you push that link, it will take you to the page shown in the photo above. I have circled the location of the comments, and you can click on that and see all of the comments. 

Second, we are trying to go through all of the comments, grouping similar ones, and trying to talk through the thinking on them here, in this blog. We haven't finished this job, yet, but we are working our way through them!

Third, we have public meetings, and we strongly invite anybody to join us and to share your ideas with us. We are just a small group of volunteers, trying to figure out the best way to encourage, incentivize, and help all of us to do our parts to get to zero by 2030. 

We need you. 

We need you to join us, if you can. We promise, its fun and exciting and it makes a difference. 

Most of all, we need you to join us in swearing off the narcotic of burning things. We all need to stop buying things that require the burning of methane, gasoline, etc. Buy things that require only electricity. We can do this. On the CAC, we will be working hard to find ways to bring resources to our beloved Town to help us all to get there. 

​Thank you for caring. 

A number of comments suggested that the town should do everything possible to encourage telecommuting. Suggestions included allowing informal office spaces in garages and sheds; trying to get better internet and cellular service in town; streamlining the permit process for home offices; and ensuring power during PSPS events. 

Great ideas! Like many of you, I have spent the past year working from an impromptu office in my bedroom, and, as these commenters suggest, it has greatly reduced my carbon footprint. 

The issues of permitting seem straightforward, and we will definitely explore them. 

For one thing, it will be interesting to see how companies evolve. In my case, my company is NOT requiring employees to go back to the offices, so I plan to work from home almost all of the time, now, which will definitely help to keep my carbon footprint low. 

The issues better internet and cellular service are real, and we get that. I am not sure what the Town can do about this, but we can try. The issue of "last mile" is a problem in so many domains of life. I know that I had to install a signal booster at my house to get better wireless internet coverage. I suspect that there are different issues for each home, and the Town can try to encourage the cable companies to install improved infrastructure. Indeed, much of the proposed funding from the Federal Government is currently aimed at precisely this issue, so lets support our Federal electeds in their efforts to help us with this. 

The issue of backup power is similarly real. I have addressed this issue in several previous posts, and I hope you will reread these. We will continue to write about new solutions, and we will continue to work to find ways to eliminate these issues. 

Remember, though, that the root cause of the PSPS events is climate change. If we do not all come together and tackle this underlying cause, our problems will inevitably INCREASE, not ease.

Let's all try to avoid commuting for sure, and, let's never buy another gas car again. 

Together, we can do this. 

Yesterday, we were fortunate to have Larry Bragman, our elected representative to Marin Water, join us our Farmers Market table. 

Larry was terrific. He was able to talk with so many people about the challenges that we are facing, and the tough choices we face. 

I learned something from Larry. He told me that last year was a very high water use year for Marin. This year, we are in the middle of the worst drought in at least the last 140 years. We all know this, and Marin Water is trying to tell us to pay attention. The result; our water consumption this year is UP from last year! 

Yesterday, we met so many great people, who were doing the right things to try to be part of the solution. We also heard alll kinds of stories from people about how hard it is. One person talked about the expensive landscaping they had just put in. Its time to let it go. One person told us about a neighbor who used water to wash the rocks on his property, and how hard it was to confront this person to suggest that maybe dirty rocks are ok. 

Larry did a great job handing out free Water Marin provided water saving devices. He did a great job at helping us learn about what is going, and how we must all help. 

Larry told a story to one person. This person was concerned about the beuatufi lakes in Marin. He was worried about whether the hiking will be as good. Larry told him that we had to pay $1M to buy DIESEL fuel to pump water from one lake to another to try to balance the water needs of the environment and of all of us. This is a great example of the financial and environmental impacts and feedback loops we create when we do not deal effectively with the environmental challenges we face. 

I put in a bunch of new plants last year. It is painful, but I feel like I have to let them wilt. 

It is painful.

​It is also time. 

Thank you Larry. 

Please come see us at the Farmer's Market, and lets learn together, lets work together, lets figure it out together. 

Many of us here in Fairfax know and love Larry Bragman. Among his many other accomplishments, Larry now represents us to the
Marin Water District. 

Larry has agreed to join us at the Fairfax Farmer's Market Next Wednesday to meet you, and to talk with all of us about the water crisis that is facing our Town, and what the District is trying to do about it, and what each of us can do to help. 

We are starting to try to bring various "celebrities" like Larry to be available to answer your most important questions about the environment, what's going on, and how you can help. Larry is our first person; please come and meet him, and do your part to become a part of the solution. 

See you there!

​

I do not have an electric car. 

So, I bought an electric bike, and I use it now as my default mode of transportation; I ONLY use a gas-powered car when I have no other choice. This has dropped my miles driven per year (and my costs) very much. 

I still do have a gas-powered SUV (this is kind of embarrassing, for a tree-hugger, but gosh, I have to have a way to get to the trees, right?)

Just today, I filled out my final papers for the Resilient Neighborhoods course (more that that HERE). For that exercise, I got credit for my intention. And, my intention is that my next vehicle purchase will be to replace my gasoline SUV with an electric SUV. 

But, I have never even driven an all-electric car, and I know very little about them. 

BUT . . . . .

Help is on the way!

On Tuesday, May 27 from 5-6 pm, Electrify Your Ride, a non-profit organization trying to help people learn about this critical next investment for all of us, will host a free Zoom to talk about how to make this switch, and how to collect the incentives out there to make it affordable. 

Sign up HERE. 

Our very own Vice-Mayor Stephanie Hellman will be speaking at the event, and I, for one, will be there. I hope you will too. 

As President Biden said yesterday in Michigan, "I'm a car guy . . . And the future of the auto industry is electric - there's no turning back." 

Let's commit that every vehicle purchased by a person in Fairfax, from this moment forward, will be electric. 

There's no going back. 

​

One thing that several people commented on was the issue of gas-powered lawn equipment. Several people told us the Town should ban such equipment. Nobody told us NOT to do this (it is in the plan to do it), but at least one person has spoken to me individually suggesting that this will be a problem. 

So, here are some perspectives on this issue. 

First, gas-powered lawn equipment is not a large item of concern when it comes to total emissions. In our inventory, it is about 2% of total emissions. This category is oddly named - "off-road vehicles." It includes every kind of thing that is not transportation or a building. So, it includes lawn equipment, construction equipment, and agricultural equipment. We don't have a lot of this in Fairfax. Still, if we are going to get to zero emissions, we are going to need to eliminate these emissions. 

The biggest issue with gas-powered equipment is that it is more powerful than electric equipment. I understand that many manufacturers, seeing the writing on the wall, are developing high powered electric equipment. I hope they are successful soon. 

For most of us, though, we do not need so much power, and we are easily able to make do with the electric devices. 

Electric devices have many advantages over gas-powered devices:
1. They are quieter. Gas powered devices produce more low frequency noise, and this noise carries further. HERE. 
2. They are lighter. This makes a difference to those of us who use them somewhat occasionally. HERE. 
3. Over the life of the equipment, electric costs less. HERE. 
​4. The electric devices start much more easily and are easier and take less time to maintain. HERE. 
5. And, most important from the perspective of the climate, electric devices, especially if powered from renewable electricity, are MUCH cleaner than gas appliances. HERE. 

And many of our neighboring towns and jurisdictions are already banning these devices. HERE. 

I do not speak for the Town, or even for the Climate Action Committee. It is clear that the advantages, for most people, are overwhelmingly in favor of electric lawn equipment versus gasoline equipment. And, the CAP includes a provision for banning them at some point. 

The best thing we can all do is to not dig ourselves into a deeper hole; the next time you buy any tool, including any kind of landscape equipment, make it electric and not gas. When we start to think about actually enacting a ban, maybe it will exempt, for some years, commercial contractors, who need the power that today is mostly found in gas-powered equipment. In the long run, we need the manufacturers to help us with this issue so that the people who care for some of our landscaping needs are not burdened with loud, health-harming, heavy, hard to maintain equipment. 

​Together, we can do this. 

One of the hardest things to think about when it comes to building electrification is the idea that anything we do will trigger an upgrade to our electricity service and panels. 

This non-profit organization does a lot of interesting educational events, and this one, happening May 13, focuses on a new kind of water heater that is electric, low-wattage, and does NOT require electric service upgrades. (HERE). 

Let's all make sure that our next water heater, when our current ones wear out, will be electric. 

We can do this. 

This week, we will again be at the Farmers Market, along with Sustainable Fairfax. Together, we will:
1. Be able to talk with you about the Climate Action Plan, and any thoughts you might have; 
2. Help you sign up for MCE Deep Green; 
3. Try to answer any questions you have about things you can do to help our Town be the leaders the world needs us to be. 

Also, in case you forget to bring your reusable shopping bag, we will try to have a few to give away, so that, collectively, we can reduce waste. 

Thank you for being our neighbors!

Several commenters have noted that they had recently purchased gas appliances or a new gas car. These people are understandably concerned about the idea that they might need to replace these new devices if we want to get to zero emissions. 

We completely understand these concerns. I have to tell you, I moved to Fairfax about five years ago, and, like these folks, I had to buy a new water heater, new furnace, new stove, and new clothes dryer. I am also really unhappy that I bought appliances powered by burning natural gas, and now I learn that I need to eventually replace them with electric devices (and, an electric fireplace!).  

So, three things. 

First, no matter what your situation is, you can do things to reduce the amount of methane you burn. We can't afford to run out and buy new everything, either. So, we decided to do the following:

1. We bought an induction hot plate. It works just like an induction stove, and it's great. With this, we get all of the benefits of induction cooking without having to buy a whole new stove or upgrade our electrical service. No gas for cooking. Money saved.
2. We hang our laundry outside on a line to dry. No gas for drying. Money saved.  
3. We boil water in an electric kettle. No gas cooking. Money saved. 
4. We keep the temperature in our house as low as we can tolerate, especially when we are not home. Less gas heating. Money saved.  
5. We turn the water off when we are soaping in a shower, we take only showers, we wash our dishes and our hands in cold water. Less water used, less gas used for hot water. Money saved. 
All of us can do these things right now, even if we do have natural gas appliances. 

Second, we can all hope that, over the next ten years, the costs for these technologies will continue to decline, and the incentives to electrify will continue to be available. Over the next ten years, many cars will need to be replaced, many devices will wear out. If we are all paying attention, every time this happens, we can start to make the needed switches. 

Third, and most important, if you need to buy a new car or a new appliance or a new water heater or a new furnace - BUY ELECTRIC NOW! Every new gas appliance purchased now just digs us into a deeper hole that will be more expensive to climb up and out of later.  

We get that this is not easy. We are going to do everything we can to help everyone make the transition in the easiest, least expensive way possible. 

Thank you for caring.