Press Clippings and Comments on the Leadership Training Course

• Drawing a Green Bottom Line
• Think Locally About Impact of Global Warming
• Leadership Program for Sustainability Graduates First Class, Begins Second Year

Drawing a Green Bottom Line

Two-thirds of Americans identify themselves as "environmentalists," and more than four in five tell pollsters they agree with the goals of "the environmental movement."

But how many know what they're talking about?

Believing that an educated environmentalist is an effective environmentalist, Rick Theis last week launched a program designed for producing a new crop of environmental leaders in Sonoma County. Modeled loosely after the Chamber of Commerce's "Leadership Santa Rosa" program, the yearlong course in "Leadership Training for a Sustainable Future" aims to teach participants the connections between the environment and the economy.

Or, as the inaugural class of 26 discovered in its first meeting Thursday, they'll be talking about profit and loss as much as about birds and bees.

Theis, the former executive director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association, says the idea for such a program has been kicked around in Sonoma County for at least a decade but went nowhere because of a lack of money and sponsorship.

Early this year, using stock that he'd had since he worked for Coca-Cola in the early '80s, Theis founded the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy as a nonprofit umbrella for the educational program and, he says, "to be a community resource for information about sustainability."

Theis said his goal is, 10 years from now, "for every city council in the county to include at least one member who's been through this program."

Thursday's first meeting revealed a class that includes not just aspiring leaders, but policy makers and community activists from throughout Sonoma County, and even a few from Mendocino County. Answering roll call were Pamela Tuft, Petaluma's general plan administrator; Bob Jordan, a Cloverdale planning commissioner; Terry Tinagero, a candidate for the Santa Rosa City Council; and Scott Vouri, a candidate for the Petaluma City Council. On the roll but not present were Cloverdale Councilman Michael Nixon and Lawrence Jaffe, aide to Assemblywoman Pat Wiggins.

Tinagero, who said his views about environmentalism have changed as he's grown older, said he came to the class "because the old way isn't working and it's time to do something different." Elizabeth McCarthy, a Sebastopol attorney, said, "I want to go from being a bystander to being a participant."

David Berry of Kenwood said, "I want to make sure that this is still a place where we want to live in 20 years."

"Sustainable" is a word increasingly used by environmentalists to describe the type of development practices they can support. Some adherents maintain it can be scientifically defined, but the difference between sustainable and nonsustainable often seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

Theis said the program aims to cut through the murkiness.

"It may seem amorphous, enigmatic and complex, but the simple definition is: something that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs," Theis said. "In this class we'll look at things with three questions in mind: Is it environmentally friendly? Is it economically viable? Is it socially equitable?"

The class spent Thursday morning acquiring some of the tools they'll need to answer Theis' questions. Adina Merenlender, a conservation biologist for the University of California, showed the value and the limitations of maps and geographic information systems in defining and measuring resources. And Moira Chatton, an accounting instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College, gave a quick lesson in reading balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements.

"You need to know what you're talking about when someone asks,

`What's the bottom line?"' Chatton said. "If you want a business to change the way it operates, you need to be able to help them find an alternate path to the bottom line."

Call Coursey at 707-521-5223 or e-mail ccoursey@pressdemocrat.com

Think Locally About Impact of Global Warming

Chris Coursey

So here we are in the grip of what weather experts say is an unusual cold spell, threatened with electric blackouts caused by, among other things, a shortage of power plants.

Not exactly prime time for a discussion of global warming.

But the truth is, there's no good time to talk about this subject. After all, it's tough to get excited about the fact that the average air temperature on planet Earth has increased 1 degree in the past 100 years. And even if that disturbs you, it's pretty daunting to contemplate a solution that requires a fundamental change in lifestyle, like giving up our cars.

When the problem is one of global proportions, it's always easier to let someone else worry about it.

But what if, for example, you were told that global warming might mean that what now are called "100-year flood events" on the Russian River in the future will occur on a frequency of every 10 years?

What if, for example, you were told that the micro-climate down the road that's now perfect for growing prime pinot noir in the future will be better suited to table grapes?

What if, for example, you were told that your favorite ski area that now gets an average annual snowfall of 400 inches in future winters will get half of that precipitation as rain?

Chris Field, a biology professor at Stanford and a member of the advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists, believes that if you think about global warming on a more local scale, you're more likely to be concerned about it. Last year, he helped create a report on "California's Changing Climate," and last week he summarized it for participants in Sonoma County's Leadership Institute for a Sustainable Future.

"We still have a lot to learn about climate change," Field said. "But we know enough about it to say that it needs to be included in every dialogue about planning and policy from the local level to the international scale."

It wasn't that long ago that every discussion about global warming included "the other side" -- the argument that there's no proof that human activity is changing Earth's climate.

But today, that dissent has largely disappeared. In its place is a debate not about whether the climate is being changed, but how to slow or stop that change.

Last month's U.N. conference on climate change in the Netherlands failed to reach agreement on new protocols for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. European nations, which already have made significant reductions, refused the U.S.'s proposal to credit existing forests and grasslands in this country's efforts to clean up the atmosphere.

But the pressure for change won't go away. Field said the International Panel on Climate Change's soon-to-be-released report will more definitively lay out a future in which continued burning of fossil fuels -- largely in coal-fired power plants and internal combustion engines -- will drive up global temperatures by as much as 6 degrees in the next 100 years.

Field said that translates into a "high certainty" that California will experience warmer, wetter winters -- as much as 5 to 6 degrees warmer and 20 to 40 percent wetter. Consequently, precipitation that now falls as snow in the Sierra will turn to rain, exacerbating winter flooding while at the same time reducing snowpack, on which the state relies for spring water storage.

"In other words, we're going to have more water in the winter, when we usually have enough or more than enough, and less water in the summer, when the need is greatest," he said.

A global rise in the sea level by 8 to 12 inches -- combined with increased runoff -- will increase frequency of coastal flooding. Competition for water in summer months -- already increasing on the North Coast and prompting calls for greater conservation -- will become more intense. Temperature changes combined with shifts in precipitation levels will force plant and animal species to migrate to find their comfort zones.

But it's cold outside. And we need more power plants. So let's worry about this climate change thing later, OK?

Call Coursey at 521-5223 or e-mail ccoursey@pressdemocrat.com.

Leadership Program for Sustainability Graduates First Class, Begins Second Year

"My whole picture of the world has changed." The words could have been from any of the 23 people sitting in a circle at Finley Community Center, where a graduation ceremony completed the journey they began together nine months ago, as participants in the Leadership Training for a Sustainable Future. The course meets one full day each month; classes are taught by locally recognized leaders and experts, and include field trips to locations throughout Sonoma County. Although inspired by Leadership Santa Rosa and similar programs, this course focuses on promoting sustainability in every area of public policy, making it unique in the North Bay.

This journey into sustainability has only begun for many of the graduates, as they step into a wide array of leadership roles. For example, participants Scott Vouri and Terry Tinagero ran for city council in Petaluma and Santa Rosa, respectively; Elizabeth McCarthy of Sebastopol was recently appointed to the Human Rights Commission.

Deborah Grace took a different route. After an inspiring and informative class on water issues, she became outraged at the ongoing destruction of the Russian River by gravel mining and mismanagement by the Sonoma County Water Agency. Grace said: "Before the class I knew so little about these issues or was completely oblivious to them. The speakers and presentations inspired me to the point of taking action myself, and gathering friends together to correspond with our local representatives. This has been empowering not only for me, but my friends as well." Although she had never written to an elected official before, Grace organized a letter-writing campaign resulting in more than one hundred letters to Virginia Strom-Martin and other State Assembly Members. Those letters helped move Strom-Martins bill, AB38, out of committee and closer to passage.

The most dramatic changes have been in the thinking and daily choices of the participants. Tinagero, who had described himself as a typical conservative, now questions many prevailing assumptions. According to Tinagero, "Now I know that the status quo just isn't good enough. Before the course, my thinking wasn't even close to the concept of sustainability; I recycled, but that was about it. Now I'm asking why they're spraying, why we're doing what we're doing. Now I'm thinking about all of it, paying attention."

After making the connections between suburban sprawl, with it's increased reliance on the auto to get everywhere, and global warming, environmental deterioration, the decline of community and quality of life, Vouri decided to sell his suburban home and move his family into downtown Petaluma. Now he - and his kids - can walk or bike to most destinations.