Climate Week brought dozens of activities and presentations to San Diego County in October, showcasing important work by nonprofit environmental organizations, local researchers, and “sustainability”-focused business ventures, all of which are important elements in the fight to build resilience to the effects of climate change while working toward a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 as stated in San Diego’s 2022 Climate Action Plan.
Some of the City of San Diego Climate Advisory Board members were on hand for one event where they asked for audience input regarding potential solutions. It wasn’t made clear what they planned to do with the notes they took, but anyone who is interested in this board’s work can attend their monthly meetings. The next meeting will be held at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Civic Center Plaza downtown. If you have the time and are interested in getting involved, please check out their past agendas and other meeting information on the City’s website. We can’t afford to ignore anyone’s valuable ideas in the face of accelerating climate disasters.
One concern we asked the board to communicate to the City comes from personal experience here in UH, where residents of multi-family and mixed-use buildings have seen the number of waste management trucks rumbling up and down our streets and alleyways more than double since the City required residents in those buildings to hire their own private haulers. Dealing with 17 or 18 carbon-emitting trucks each week where there were previously 8 or 9 has led residents to wonder if any studies were made regarding the net pollution effects of this new private hauler policy multiplied throughout the entire city. The extra noise and traffic effects are one thing, but if there are now extra greenhouse gas emissions, along with other noxious pollutants, was the shift to competing private haulers the best solution to the City’s budget woes? Since no data on these waste hauling truck emissions is currently available, the answer remains unclear, but the question is just one small example of why it’s important for us to get involved and stay involved in the process of pushing our government to do the right thing.
Reminder: the San Diego Environmental Film Festival will run from Nov. 20 to 22 at the Digital Gym Cinema located on the second floor of the UC San Diego Park & Market building at 1100 Market Street in downtown San Diego. Event details and tickets are available at sdeff.org.