Green Summit in November

I’ve been asked, in my capacity as Yolo Audubon president, to participate in a steering committee for a day long workshop to address conservation challenges in our region. The first meeting of this committee took place last night, and while I do actually have plenty to do this summer, I’m quite jazzed about this. It’s a fantastic group.

I sense a huge fatigue among the public, at least around here, about climate change and the environment. The brown smoke that hovers in the air, still, this morning, the days of suffocating heat we’ve been having, the drought this spring: undeniable signs of unpleasantness, with more and worse to come. The housing crisis and the price of gas and food, together, are clear indicators that what we’ve been building since WWII is untenable, unworkable. Back to growing our own food and walking or biking to the shops. This means, ultimately, less urban sprawl. (The wakeup call couldn’t have come faster, from my point of view, but I realize the transition is going to be messy, difficult, and very possibly violent.)

I think our task with this summit is to empower people to get engaged. Have workshops on how to understand planning policy and participate in the process. What does it mean? How can I help? How can I make what I do count? I don’t doubt that people around here have the will and the energy to get things to change, but they do need more tools to do it. I know I do.

This summit will come just after the general election, when the focus of everyone will be on the outside, on the country as a whole, on the body politic on the national level. Our green summit will be all about bringing it home…