Everything is Connected to Everything Else
In his 1971 book, The Closing Circle, ecologist Barry Commoner outlined an informal set of "laws of ecology” governing life on Earth. I have found the “First Law” especially helpful in governing the California Air Resources Board. It says, “Everything is connected to everything else.”
Commoner wrote this brilliantly simple principle in the context of ecosystems. But I find this law of nature reliably guides my thinking on how best to develop policies and regulations to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The brain trusts that the Air Resources Board has assembled for these climate change solutions are a kaleidoscope of experts in energy, public health, urban planning, economics, venture capital, automotive and building design, forestry and dairy management – to name just some of the disciplines.
This holistic approach to problem solving is a relatively recent development at the ARB. In my first stint as board chairman, 1978 – 1983, engineers pretty much ran the air pollution control shop. Chemical engineers reformulated gasoline to be lead-free. Mechanical engineers redesigned exhaust systems to remove ozone-forming emissions. A big part of my job then was to phase out leaded gasoline and phase in catalytic converters.
The ARB, where I’m once again chairman, continues to rely on engineers for ever-cleaner fuels and engines. But our expanded mission of fighting global warming (Assembly Bill 32) has vastly diversified the expertise we require, the audiences we reach and the interests we regulate.
We recently expanded our venue from vehicles to entire transportation systems. We’re now at the forefront on streamlining freight operations across the board, from ships to ports to freeways and rail yards.
We entered the field of energy regulation last fall when Governor Schwarzenegger directed the ARB to implement an accelerated Renewable Portfolio Standard – by 2020 utilities must generate at least 33 percent of their electricity from sources such as solar and wind power that do not rely on fossil fuels.
At the same time, we’ve proposed the nation’s first plan for a broad-based cap-and-trade system to use market forces to reduce global warming emissions.
And, in what is perhaps our most eye-opening move afield, the ARB is venturing in land use – as yet another way to reduce climate-altering vehicle emissions. Under a new state “sustainable communities” law (Senate Bill 375), the board this year will be setting emission reduction targets for passenger cars and trucks in 18 urban areas in the state. But – significantly – we’re leaving it to local government to decide how best to achieve those goals. Regional transportation planning authorities will be working with counties and cities to develop planning measures such as compact and mixed-use housing that will lower the average household’s vehicle miles traveled.
The growing diversity and collaboration reflects a broader shift toward more integrated environmental problem solving, not just at the ARB or in California, but across continents. It’s a more holistic approach driven by the urgency of global warming and the lure of profit in the transition to a low-carbon economy. It reflects the interconnectivity of climate change itself.
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A note to Mary:
In one of your previous posts, I had the pleasure of working with you. I found you to be intelligent, sensible and open-minded to new information and ideas. I would hope that those traits have not diminished. Please refresh your set of information on global warming, CO2 and the perversion of science that is now being revealed on many fronts. Do that first, then ask questions of experts on both sides of the issue in a public forum, then reexamine your position and then make a decision that you can articulate with logic and supporting facts. That is the Mary Nichols I remember and respect.
Thank you for your kind note, Mr. McGuinness. One of the reasons I advocate a holistic approach to environmental problem-solving is to help filter out weak and dubious scientific studies. Enlarging the spectrum of viewpoints in our staff analyses and independent reviews helps ensure that the California Air Resources Board remains vigilant of flawed work -- but also open-minded to findings that run counter to current scientific thought. That said, the recently reported inaccuracies in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments do not undercut the remarkably vast body of evidence signaling human-caused pollution as a significant contributor to global warming.
Mary.
In your statement of everything is connected to everything else you only offer one perspective. Considering your agency applauds the decision to designate CO2 (Human exhale)as a pollutant, humans have a disadvantage from the start. One thing you never connect is how your regulations can negatively effect humans. There must be a balance of give and take between humans and our environment.
A recent UC Sacramento study predicts the implementation of AB32 will "cost the average household $3,857 a year, kill more than 1.1 million jobs and cut the state's economic output by nearly 10 percent."
Don't get me wrong, I want clean air also. I'm also a big fan of human survival. One thing that came out in your symposium on PM2.5 the other day was that while PM2.5 is a concern, there are much larger risk in the air. So why are we going to spend billions that we can't afford at this time on the little stuff? Loss of income to a family is a health risk you never recognize. It is a connection to all this that is very real that gets left out.
You talk about forestry. Now there is one area you could make huge strides in cleaning up the air we breathe. But you have ignored our most precious natural resource, a significant tool to clean air. A healthy tree.
Every single forest in this state is at the highest level of risk of catastrophic fire. Why? Because lack of maintenance has allowed our forest to become diseased and overpopulated. You know the importance of tree on the environment. A tree is made up of carbon that it collects over decades. As trees are thinned to maintain a healthy forest, that lumber is used for housing etc and that carbon is sequestered for ever. A HUGE benefit to air pollution. Why haven't you done anything to protect them? There is no such thing as a cleansing forest fire any more. You know that. We will all sit by and watch 5 million more acres be incinerated this year in CA. All that carbon that a tree absorbs for decades gets released right back into the air we breath in one catastrophic fire let alone every living thing, every structure, everything right down to scorching the soil is put into the air leaving a landscape that is so scorched a tree won't even start to grow for a decade.
You want to clean up PM you need to start with the big picture before you continue to pass regulations that will bankrupt this state based on questionable science for a small return. I urge you to open up your eyes to ALL perspectives.
Thank you, Mr. Miller, for bringing forestry into the conversation. The California Air Resources Board recognizes the exceptional value that the state's vast forests provide in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In one of its first climate actions, the board adopted standards for measuring carbon stored in a forest - making it possible to generate emission-reduction credits in the growing global carbon market. Such investments will lead to sustainable forestry and preservation projects that both sequester carbon and protect watersheds and wildlife. The stored carbon also could be purchased as "offsets" under the state's proposed cap-and-trade system. Industries or electricity generators needing to reduce global warming emissions could receive credit for forestry offsets that meet rigorous verification standards. The board is currently developing those compliance-grade protocols.
Ms Nichols,
Thank you for responding.You missed my point in regard to the big picture in going after bigger problems with a lesser negative effect on the economy and the working family that drives the economy.
In response to cap and trade.We both know that a healthy forest is the best tool we have in sequestering carbon from the burning of fossil fuels etc. And it's great you are measuring carbon in a tree so PG$E knows how much it will cost so they can raise my utility bill. Here is my question to you: Why is it your priority to measure carbon in a tree that is at the very highest level of risk of being incinerated in the very near future? ARB are experts in evaluating risk and then evaluating the health risk from them. Shouldn't your number one priority be doing everything you can to reduce the risk of losing this valuable renewable natural resource? If your house was about to collapse because lack of maintenance would your main concern be measuring what you might lose when it collapses or would your priority be to repair the house?
This state is broke. We need to re-evaluate our priorities and open our eyes to the bigger picture of things.
Thanks again for responding.
Jeff Miller
Question: Has CARB calculated how much net job loss or net job gain will result from implementing California AB-32? If so, please post that information to include specific types of job losses by industry, and/or, specific job gains also by industry. The public has a right to know how this legislation will ultimatly affect their personal lives and livelyhood. The movement is on to suspend implementation of AB-32 because it clearly doesn't take into account the high unemployment rates and severe economic conditions this state is currently experiencing. Clean air is everyone's desire and a step-by-step approach would seem most logical. Will you please elaborate on that issue Ms. Nichols? Thank you.