Walt Vernon- Chair
I have lived in Marin for almost thirty years, including 5 in Fairfax. I came to my home in Fairfax because of the spirit that this town exemplifies, and because I wanted to live in the trees.
I have degrees in Math, Philosophy, Engineering, Business, and Law. As the CEO for Mazzetti, a San Francisco based engineering company, I spend my days trying to make the world a better place, by creating better environments. That means, I am constantly driving research and policy and projects into ways to eliminate environmental destruction, but in ways that bring people together in shared celebration.
I decided that I could not sit on the sidelines and worry about the environment; I decided that I owed it to my children and to theirs to use whatever small ability I have to help, and so, I joined the CAC a year ago. I hope that, as people of a very special community, we can come together to find common solutions to the enormous challenges this world faces, and, in so doing, become a beacon of hope that others may follow. Let's try to be the change we wish to see.
I have degrees in Math, Philosophy, Engineering, Business, and Law. As the CEO for Mazzetti, a San Francisco based engineering company, I spend my days trying to make the world a better place, by creating better environments. That means, I am constantly driving research and policy and projects into ways to eliminate environmental destruction, but in ways that bring people together in shared celebration.
I decided that I could not sit on the sidelines and worry about the environment; I decided that I owed it to my children and to theirs to use whatever small ability I have to help, and so, I joined the CAC a year ago. I hope that, as people of a very special community, we can come together to find common solutions to the enormous challenges this world faces, and, in so doing, become a beacon of hope that others may follow. Let's try to be the change we wish to see.
TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs:
1) My beloved wife Laura and I work extremely hard to reduce our waste footprint. I carry camping plates and spoons and cups and water bottles when I travel so I can eliminate the incredible amounts of trash I see in airports and restaurants.
2) I do everything I can to reduce my own environmental footprint, but, in truth, I have to fly a lot for my work, so I am constantly struggling with balancing the good I can do against the toll that doing it imposes.
Joanne Lasnier- Secretary
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I have been a Marin resident since 1963 and chose Fairfax as my home in 2013 because I wanted to live in a town with a strong sense of community and shared values.
I am a passionate advocate for our oceans. I have been an active Marine Mammal Center volunteer since 1998, caring for our seal, sea lion, and sea otter patients. In my other role as docent, I hope to inspire new ocean stewards as I share with visitors how human activities affect our oceans, marine life and all life on earth, while offering actions they take can take to help restore ocean health. I joined the Climate Action Committee after completing the Environmental Forum of Marin Master Class 45 to learn more about climate change and how to take action at an individual, local, and regional level to address this global crisis. |
TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs:
1) Taking the Resilient Neighborhoods training to learn myriad ways to save energy and water, and reduce individual GHG emissions.
2) Carpool, take public transportation, bike, or walk whenever possible to reduce the amount of miles I drive.
Bruce Ackerman- Fairfax Town Council Member
Our family has lived in Fairfax for over 20 years now, having fallen in love with the land, the creative people, the community spirit, the local food and our vibrant democracy. We are all deeply involved, and for myself I’ve served on GPAC, GPIC, and now the Climate Action Committee and the Planning Commission. My earlier life has included much work in solar energy and conservation, instrumentation and computer software, epidemiology, and political organizing. And some fine travels into wilderness and long distance bicycling.
TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs:
1) Insulating our house and plugging the leaks
2) Charging our Volt electric car in the driveway
Stephanie Hellman - Fairfax Town Council Member
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Stephanie Hellman is a purpose-driven leader. She was elected to the Fairfax Town Council in November 2019. A former financial services exec of 22 years, she is committed to advancing gender equality as critical drawdown initiative and treating Climate Change as the emergency that it is. She considers these as the most important global and social change initiatives of our time. During her tenure at Wells Fargo she was awarded Volunteer Service Leave for designing a social impact program with clean water non-profit that brought her to India. Her commitment to extends to teaching her 3 kids how to be a good global citizen with family service trips to Dominican Republic and Tanzania.
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Jennifer Hammond- Community
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Jennifer is Executive Director of Sustainable Fairfax, a local non-profit that builds community through educates and action on sustainability practices and policies. Jennifer’s focus is to foster positive change by building strong partnerships and collaborations, and providing the means for Ross Valley residents to work together to create a resilient community and a healthy environment. Jen received her MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School in 2010. She enjoys the strong sense of community here in Fairfax and wants to encourage and support its progressive values and commitment to sustainability principles.
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TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs:
1) Using my cargo bike for grocery shopping, commuting and other short trips
2) Disposing of of my food waste (including meat, bones and dairy) in the curbside GREEN bin provided by Marin Sanitary Service to reduce methane released from food in the landfill.
David Haskell- Community
David Haskell is a fifth-generation native Californian - Born in Lassen County - Raised in Pleasanton - Graduated from UC Berkeley. David lived most of his adult life in New Zealand where his three children and 7 grandchildren reside. David presently works as the Solar Project Manager for Cooperative Community Energy of San Rafael. (www.ccenergy.com)
While working in NZ he held a number of positions including CEO, Pacific Plastic Recyclers; Group Manager of the NZ Ministry of Energy’s Conservation Directorate; and Senior Partner of Mountain Valley Resources. Queen Elizabeth honored David for his service to the New Zealand in the field of resource conversation. David is the California & Nevada State Chair of the Sierra Club’s Zero Waste Committee. He is an officer of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the Board of Sustainable Marin.
While working in NZ he held a number of positions including CEO, Pacific Plastic Recyclers; Group Manager of the NZ Ministry of Energy’s Conservation Directorate; and Senior Partner of Mountain Valley Resources. Queen Elizabeth honored David for his service to the New Zealand in the field of resource conversation. David is the California & Nevada State Chair of the Sierra Club’s Zero Waste Committee. He is an officer of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the Board of Sustainable Marin.
TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs:
1) Sign up for MCE Deep Green!
2) Carpool if possible, or bike, walk or ride public transit for commuting when possible.
Kiki La Porta- Community
Kiki La Porta’s agency, Descom Studios, has provided branding, advertising, communications, and graphic design for businesses and agencies such as MCE Clean Energy, MMWD, Marin General Hospital, Marin Workforce Housing Trust, League of Women Voters, and many others since 1995. She is a leading advocate with Sustainable Marin, Coalition for a Livable Marin (CALM), Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (MEHC), and others, and worked on San Rafael’s Climate Change Action Plan and the MMWD Water Rates Advisory Committee.
Kiki’s personal and professional focus is promoting environmental and economic sustainability, social justice, and climate morality, and addressing social problems through wise public policy, socially responsible business, and conscious everyday decision-making.
Kiki’s personal and professional focus is promoting environmental and economic sustainability, social justice, and climate morality, and addressing social problems through wise public policy, socially responsible business, and conscious everyday decision-making.
TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs:
1) I take my Clipper card and use public transportation every time I can. Bus or Ferry, BART between destinations in the East Bay… it’s easy and stress free. Even though Marin’s public transit systems leave a lot to be desired in terms of frequency and convenience especially on weekends, it’s an intention to reduce my own contributions to GHGs.
2) I adore our postage-stamp sized food garden that produces most of the year. All our food waste goes to our worms and the leafy matter from trees and bushes gets composted in the drum or stacker. So we are closing the loop between our waste being food for the earth, and the earth producing food for us. It’s so wonderful to step outside and harvest! We don’t eat meat, and have poultry or fish only a few times a week, so our garden really sustains us.
Jody D. Timms- Community
Jody began her life’s work as a community activist and environmentalist in her teens. She bought a used electric car in 2008, added solar panels, a rainwater catchment system, a greywater system, chickens, bees, organic gardening and a lot of composting. Jody is active as a founding member of 350Marin.
TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs: |
Christopher Lang - Community
Beth Verdekal - Community
Entrepreneur who teaches how to live your best life and help restore the planet at the same time!
She looks to bring her fierce dedication to the Earth, her fellow Earthlings, and the love of working within a political system to effectuate change to the Climate Action Coalition. Her goal is to help align the Earth’s health with a better-than-present lifestyle for Fairfaxians. Here’s to the next four years and beyond!
She looks to bring her fierce dedication to the Earth, her fellow Earthlings, and the love of working within a political system to effectuate change to the Climate Action Coalition. Her goal is to help align the Earth’s health with a better-than-present lifestyle for Fairfaxians. Here’s to the next four years and beyond!
TOP TWO FAVORITE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GHGs:
1) I have minimized my footprint down to the essentials so my home is tiny and uses little energy, I eat food grown within 150 miles, and my transportation is mostly human powered (bonus: these adjustments have meant I have way more free time to do the things I love). Despite all these changes, I can never go below a zero footprint. A study showed a homeless person in the U.S. still has an 8.5 tonne footprint per year due to infrastructure.
2) I "Own" my stuff, which means I go beyond merely purchasing things, I pay for all the hidden costs never captured at the register (which is why the world has its ills like global warming, plastics in oceans, and poverty to slavery) and then I go beyond to Legacy Zero—a phrase I've coined that means to wipe out one's footprint back to one's ancestral beginnings with the tech: 1850 for carbon, 1960 for plastics, and forever with poverty to slavery. I do this by donating to cover all the embedded carbon in everything I purchase, what my lifestyle causes (utilities, travel), what I've computed my ancestors "left for me" and more. At an annual minimum, I invest in sequestering at least 113 tonnes a year. I do this with programs that restore ecosystems, distribute technology (like cookstoves in villages across the world that use livestock methane for cooking and heating homes), and send poor girls to school (#7 on the Drawdown list). My goal to reach before I die is to make the planet and her people's healthier because I've been alive, rather than what would have been had I never existed.
1) I have minimized my footprint down to the essentials so my home is tiny and uses little energy, I eat food grown within 150 miles, and my transportation is mostly human powered (bonus: these adjustments have meant I have way more free time to do the things I love). Despite all these changes, I can never go below a zero footprint. A study showed a homeless person in the U.S. still has an 8.5 tonne footprint per year due to infrastructure.
2) I "Own" my stuff, which means I go beyond merely purchasing things, I pay for all the hidden costs never captured at the register (which is why the world has its ills like global warming, plastics in oceans, and poverty to slavery) and then I go beyond to Legacy Zero—a phrase I've coined that means to wipe out one's footprint back to one's ancestral beginnings with the tech: 1850 for carbon, 1960 for plastics, and forever with poverty to slavery. I do this by donating to cover all the embedded carbon in everything I purchase, what my lifestyle causes (utilities, travel), what I've computed my ancestors "left for me" and more. At an annual minimum, I invest in sequestering at least 113 tonnes a year. I do this with programs that restore ecosystems, distribute technology (like cookstoves in villages across the world that use livestock methane for cooking and heating homes), and send poor girls to school (#7 on the Drawdown list). My goal to reach before I die is to make the planet and her people's healthier because I've been alive, rather than what would have been had I never existed.