Opinion: Green Light

For Many Lagunans Earth Day is Everyday

Since the first Earth Day, 51 years ago on April 22, 1970, the planet’s condition has become more dire. Oil spills have become larger and more destructive; droughts, hurricanes, and wildfires have become longer lasting and more devastating; and carbon pollution in the atmosphere has pretty steadily worsened. Faced with today’s daunting environmental challenges and Earth Day as an inspiring backdrop, I think what H.G. Wells said nearly 100 years ago seems even more true today: “Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.”

This Earth Day, which occurred the day before this column appeared, I picked up trash at Table Rock Beach and I’m confident that school kids and others did likewise in parks and open spaces near where they live. This is a good thing. Our environment will be healthier and will look nicer. And we’ll feel better for having done something good.

But if this activity is only a one-off annual community service ritual, are we not simply rearranging the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic? To avoid the worst consequences of a warming climate we must have governmental policies at all levels that dramatically reduce the carbon emissions in the atmosphere. We’ll need updated energy grids nationwide that move our cities toward non-fossil fuels, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. We need government-based incentives to install solar panels on homes and buildings and tax structures to encourage the purchase of electric and hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles. We need to support businesses whose policies and products move us toward a post-carbon economy future of better public health, through cleaner air and water.

With Earth Day in mind, we have real solutions and achievements. To dramatically reduce carbon emissions nationwide, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) has reintroduced, with 41 cosponsors, The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, HR 2307, which would reduce emissions 30 percent in the first five years. Laguna Beach’s City Council officially endorsed the earlier iteration of this measure. Dozens of California cities have entered Community Choice Energy agreements to obtain a higher and usually cheaper mix of clean electricity to power buildings and homes. I urge Laguna Beach to join with Irvine, Huntington Beach, Buena Park, and Fullerton which have chosen to run on cleaner electricity. Likewise, local governments are increasingly installing charging stations for electric vehicles. Our city has nine of these.  Judging by the vastly increased recent sightings of electric and hybrid vehicles in Laguna Beach, I would guess numerous homes here have charging stations. For the third year in a row our municipality has been honored as a Tree City USA Community by the Arbor Day Foundation. Laguna Bluebelt folks have sponsored prominent photo competitions/exhibitions aimed at protecting our marine ecosystem. We have that gem of public spaces, the Laguna Art Museum, which through its Art & Nature program and numerous exhibitions showcases a physical environment of sublimity that is deserving of our daily stewardship. We can support through our purchases companies like Patagonia (outdoor clothing/equipment) and Allbirds (shoes) that donate to green causes and take effective steps to reduce their carbon footprints.

So thank you to readers who pick up trash on our beaches or take some other action in celebration of Earth Day, and who regularly throughout the year mobilize friends and neighbors and lobby our City Council to keep taking the next steps to ensure a livable and environmentally sustainable Laguna Beach. For many here, Earth Day is every day.

Tom is co-leader with his wife, Ginger, of the Laguna chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. He is writing an account of California’s rise as an environmental leader nationally and internationally. Email: [email protected].