Environment & Sustainability

How does the United States measure up compared with other countries on energy production, consumption and innovation? What are we doing well? What could be improved? What are the hard questions that require innovative solutions? And how do we support innovative outcomes?

An  interactive tool from the Sightline Institute, located here in Seattle and a co-presenter of our up-coming event on July 22nd on energy innovation, helps to give some perspective on these questions.  The exciting tool compiles the information from a yearly study by BP on a variety of energy factors and variables from countries around the globe. Build your own graph and gain a better perspective on where we stand on a variety of energy issues. 

Then join us at the forum event: The Once - and Future? - Promise of Energy Innovation. We will look at ways that we in Washington State are addressing energy production, consumption, and innovation with perspectives from local corporations, small businesses, city council members, and foundations. Check out the event and panelist information here.

Register today and don't miss out on this great opportunity to join the conversation on energy production, consumption, and innovation in our state.

What promise does the future hold for energy innovation? How can we make meaningful changes to our energy systems now to incorporate cleaner and more renewable sources? What are the most effective changes to make amongst the many options? What are currently we doing right? How do we support energy innovation and further the development of this important sector of our economy to create changes that can take affect today?

There are many many choices that come to light for energy production in our region, across the nation, and around the globe. In a recent opinion piece published at Grist by Michael T. Klare, he gives a run-down of what he sees as the leading choices for energy innovation from renewable sources (see article here). What do you think the leading contenders are for energy production now and in the future?

Another article published yesterday by USA Today, Sales of Wind Turbines for Home Use are Going Strong,  highlights one of the points from the Klare article, where he suggests that smaller-scale energy projects, at the personal, neighborhood, or community level can be an effective method for renwable energy production.

Join the live conversation on this issue! We invite you to participate in the up-coming CityClub forum on the subject of energy innovation. On Friday, July 22, 2011 attend The Once - And Future? - Promise of Energy Innovation and hear from an exciting line-up of panelists, as well as, participate in the Q&A and have your questions heard.

Register for the event today and don't miss out! We look forward to seeing you there!

(Special thank you to our co-presenting organization on the energy innovation event, Sightline Insititute, for convening articles on energy innovation and other important topics via Sightline Daily. And a special thank you to Grist for great journalism on environmental issues and David Roberts of Grist  for joining us as the moderator of the July, 22nd event.)

If you missed our "Re-imagining the GDP" conversation, here are some chances to watch it on your television set! We'll link video when it's live and online. (Thank you, Seattle Channel!)

Thursday, December 02, 2010 - 5:00 a.m.
Thursday, December 02, 2010 - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, December 03, 2010 - 5:00 a.m.
Saturday, December 04, 2010 - 2:00 a.m.
Sunday, December 05, 2010 - 3:45 a.m.

On Friday, November 19, we'll be discussing the gross domestic product at CityClub, with a great panel of experts: does the GDP need re-imagining? And what other options are there?

In our description of the event, we mention three: Genuine Progress Indicator, Green Gross Domestic Product, and Gross National Happiness. To give you some idea of what these mean, I've collected a few links about each.

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)

Wikipedia has this definition: "GPI is an attempt to measure whether a country's growth, increased production of goods, and expanding services have actually resulted in the improvement of the welfare (or well-being) of the people in the country. GPI advocates claim that it can more reliably measure economic progress, as it distinguishes between worthwhile growth and uneconomic growth."

In February of this year, Maryland launched a GPI online tool to "measure how our economic progress impacts our long term prosperity". The website includes helpful background information, and a statement from the governor: "We developed Maryland's new Genuine Progress Indicator to help us ensure that our economic growth will not come at the cost of our natural resources, and that they both support our progress toward a sustainable future and a better qualify of life for all Maryland families."

Green Gross Domestic Product (Green GDP)

This "alternative" to the current GDP set-up is basically what it sounds like: in factoring the GDP, environmental issues are taken into account. Wikipedia's definition states: "Green GDP monetizes the loss of biodiversity, and accounts for costs caused by climate change."

The New York Times offers this six-minute video on China's experiment in calculating a Green GDP - "the new formula showed the soaring economy in a more sober light." An April 2010 article in Earth Magazine offers a much more in-depth look at Green GDP.

 

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

GNH originated in Bhutan - they have an official Secretary of Happiness (click here for Bhutan's official GNH Commission page). According to GNH USA, "GNH is based on the premise that the calculation of 'wealth' should consider other aspects besides economic development: the preservation of the environment and the quality of life of the people."

The ability to measure happiness - and to focus on the happiness of a country's people as vital to the country's success - seems to be the most exciting of these ideas. In June of this year, NPR did a story called "Gross National Happiness Measures Quality of Life". GNH was also the topic of a KUOW show in 2008, discussing Eric Weiner's book Geography of Bliss.

A documentary called Gross National Happiness asks: What happens when a government decides that happiness is a top priority? In 2008 author Arthur C. Brooks published the book Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America—And How We Can Get More of It. There is also, of course, the Wikipedia entry for GNH.

 

What are the significant differences between these three alternatives? Are there other movements out there? Or is our current way of measuring GDP just fine the way it is? We hope you'll join us on November 19 - bring your questions! Our panelists represent Earth Economics, Glaser Project Foundation, Take Back Your Time and Seattle Area Happiness Initiative.

If you have any comments, additions, or corrections to the info we've linked here, we'd love to hear your comments.

 

We've been pretty quiet on the blog front this week - our Community Matters Campaign launches next week! I assure you, however, I never forgot about CityBlog. Here's a brief update with what we're working on:

• Yesterday was our Health Care Series event "Global Health: The Local Impact". Click here for our Twitter feed from the event, and stay tuned for video from Seattle Channel!
• Today we've got our heads down, working hard and very excited about next week's conversation with David Gregory, moderator of "Meet the Press". Tickets are still available, so don't be shy: share on your Facebook page or Twitter stream, send to your neighbors, register away!
  
• Can you believe it's almost time for our next Seattle Speaks program? On September 30th with tackle "Income Tax in Washington State?" - you can click the link to register or just for more information. Don't forget to take our poll and let us know your thoughts on I-1098!
• We just announced two more of our Community Matters campaign programs: "Education Series: Repaving the Road to Higher Education" and "Environment & Sustainability Series: Energy We Can Trust?" Panels are being finalized as we speak!

Many, many exciting things going on at CityClub - and more to be announced next week! Stay tuned, and we'll see you at an event soon!

In the spirit of connecting you with ways to be involved in our community, we wanted to share this opportunity to serve on a Seattle Public Utilities Sounding Board, helping SPU do work related to the Clean Water Act and develop a long term plan to reduce Combined Sewer Overflows. If this sounds like something you're interested in sinking your teeth into, read on!
Read more...

During last week's program "Local? Sustainable? Equitable? Having Your Values and Eating Them Too!", there was mention and brief discussion of the Local Food Action Intiative (our Twitter feed linked to info about the initiative on City Councilmember Richard Conlin's webpage). On Friday, Councilmember Conlin sent out this update! We wanted to share it as a great follow-up to our recent discussion.

Again, you can see more on Councilmember Conlin's webpage.


SEATTLE GETS $300,000 FOR COMMUNITY FOOD PROJECTS

In mid-July the US Department of Agriculture notified Seattle that we had been awarded a $300,000 grant to implement elements of the Local Food Action Initiative. The funds will all go to community-based organizations, with the City providing in-kind match to ensure that the projects will be successful.

The goal of the Seattle Community Farm and Good Food Project is to create a vibrant urban farm that grows food for hungry people, to improve access to healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods, to provide education on food production and nutrition, and to increase market garden and retail produce opportunities. The project will focus its efforts in the Rainier Valley, central Area, and Delridge neighborhoods.

The Project includes the following components:

• Transforming unused City land for farming by low-income residents, volunteers and project staff, with the produce going to local food banks and community nutrition programs such as community kitchens, night teen programs, and child care programs.
• Creating market opportunities for low-income residents by increasing market capacity for the Clean Greens Farm and Market which grows culturally appropriate produce to sell in low-income communities.
• Providing gardening education for low-income residents at community centers, senior centers, and other locations through the work of the Southeast Seattle Garden Education Initiative.
• Supporting a Healthy Corner Store Initiative that will increase the availability of healthy, locally grown foods by connecting convenience stores with producers, and by providing assistance to the stores in making fresh foods available.

The funding is for a three-year period. Implementation begins this year, with the urban farm and all other components underway by the spring of 2010. Solid Ground, a community-based anti-poverty and anti-hunger organization, will be the lead agency for the project, and project partners include the Clean Greens Farm and Market Program, Seattle Tilth, the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, the Healthy and Active Rainier Valley Coalition, Public Health Seattle&King County, the Seattle Parks and Neighborhoods Departments, and the University of Washington School of Urban Design.

This grant is a powerful affirmation from the federal government of the successful model for community based action around the issues of local food, hunger, and nutrition, which has been developed through the Local Food Action Initiative (Resolution 31019). It is another step in the path towards implementation of this important priority that will improve the health of Seattle’s residents, add value in our local economy, and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and the generation of greenhouse gases.

Do urban people recognize the complexity and severity of issues faced by local farmers trying to farm in a developed or developing landscape? Do [they] recognize the conflict between our progressive environmental regulations and local farming?

These are questions posed by Nancy Hutto, chair of the King County Agriculture Commission. In letters shared by Nancy's office, we see her addressing this issue by advocating for farmers about policy. This is the role of the Commission. From their website: "The Agriculture Commission gives farmers the opportunity to take an active role in land use decisions and in the development and evaluation of policies, regulations and incentives that can affect commercial agriculture in King County."

Check out our other questions from panelists on CityBlog here and here.

Click here to register online.

Have you joined our Facebook group to receive notices of CityClub events in your Facebook inbox? If you have, you received a message yesterday about our upcoming program, "Local? Sustainable? Equitable? Having Your Values and Eating Them Too!" In it, I mentioned the popularity of Michael Pollan's books as an indicator of public interest in this topic.

Turns out, I was right on the mark. David Granatstein, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist at the Washington State University Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, also recommends Pollan - specifically, In Defense of Food - as a resource for learning more about this topic.

"There is no simple answer to sustainability in our food system," Granatstein says in our pre-event questionnaire. "It took many years for the current system to evolve, and it will take time to evolve to another system that we hope will be more sustainable. Sustainability is a goal, one best judged by hindsight.  We take actions today to improve sustainability based on the best information we have.  But that doesn’t guarantee we will be right, and we must be willing to change our minds."

Granatstein provided for us an article he's written titled "Sustainable Horticulture in Food Production", published in Acta Horticulturae. You can find it at the bottom of this post, downloadable in PDF form!

Other books Granatstein recommends:

Agrarian Dreams by Julie Guthman
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
The New American Farmer by USDA Sustainable Agriculture Network

Try these online resources as well!

Articles on Organic and Sustainale Fruit Production
Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources: Organic Agriculture
Profile of Organic Crops in Washington State – 2008

Granastein offers these as thoughts to chew on (and discuss!) before next Thursday's panel: Can we have a sustainable food system if the culture as a whole is an unsustainable model? Where do “limits” fit in to sustainability and how do they work in a growth oriented economy?

(Click here to sign up!)