Tom Osborne’s latest Green Light column in the Jan. 19 edition of the Indy touched upon roles individuals and city councils can play when battling climate change. As individuals, Mr. Osborne and family are doing what I hope more people would consider.
They have found ways to reduce their carbon footprints without sacrificing their modern conveniences. Mr. Osborne discusses the city council’s decision to join Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) and bring more clean energy to the city. I hope more city councils, such as mine in Laguna Niguel, find ways to reduce the use of dirty fossil fuel sources. A good start would be to make sure their city’s climate action plans are up to date. If none exists, creating one in today’s environment is a must, as planning sustainable and resilient strategies are economically sound. Mr. Osborne’s column also discusses a national policy of putting a price on carbon. I agree this would go a long way to transition our energy economy and reduce those harmful emissions.
All the measures the author discusses will require additional electrical transmissions from energy producers to energy users. Therefore, we must build out our grid and transmission lines to accommodate the large, expected growth. Those long-distance transmission line projects can take over a decade to approve, especially when moving electricity from one state to another. Electricity should be seen as an important commodity going forward; therefore, the outdated permitting process must be revisited. Congress should work on permitting reform to quicken the process. Two bills recently introduced in Congress are The Big Wires Act and the Clean Energy Transmission Acceleration (CETA). If either one of them or something similar, can be enacted, OCPA would have more choices to acquire electricity from cheaper, reliable sources. Opening up supplies from other states allows a sound free market approach, driving down energy prices, reducing utility monopolies, and allowing smaller producers to participate in the new energy economy.
Jonathan Light, Laguna Niguel
As we break ground next week to build our new home in Laguna I want to mention that we are going all electric. We had to remove the natural gas line for demolition and will not be installing a new one. It’s been surprising to me over these past four years of work with the city of Laguna Beach in getting my architectural plans reviewed and approved the amount of times I had to point out that this construction project will be all electric, so I agree, not only do we need the new infrastructure to provide electricity, but the mindset has to be changed too.
Why for instance, didn’t the LB planning department propose to me to go all electric??? Why in Laguna’s newly created Climate Action & Adaptation (CAAP) draft language, is there no mention of incentives for new homes or major remodels to convert to all electric?
The Southern California gas company obviously has no interest in electric homes. Furthermore, to call it natural gas is absurd. It’s called associated gas, and it is commonly flared off in the production of oil. No wonder it’s advised to open your windows when using your gas stove. Admittedly, I’ve benefited from years of using “natural” gas but with this opportunity to build a new home in Laguna I’m looking forward to only needing to open windows for Laguna’s fresh air!