Parin Shah on Urban Environmental Accords (transcript)

transcribed by Barry Silver

PS: Parin Shah with the Urban Accords Institute. And today is November 8, 2006.

DR: Talk about the Urban Accords Institute.

PS: The Urban Accords Institute is an organization dedicated towards urban sustainability, and we've been around for about two years, and the primary work of it is the Urban Environmental Accords, which were an international treaty that were signed by 100 cities and 100 mayors round the world. It's a program between the United Nations, the institute, and City of San Francisco.

The accords essentially lay out a road map, set the targets and timelines towards urban environmental sustainability, so on topics related to water, reducing toxics, increasing the amounts of renewable technologies and efficiencies, and urban planning. So, it's something focused on how do we make cities be fountains, instead of sinks, as sort of these - the traditional sense of what a city is, which is really this place where all of the detritus of society ends up. And what we're aiming to do is look at how to make cities be more beacons of light and opportunity. The work of the Oil Independence Resolution is actually right in line with what we're trying to do, which is look at how we can consume in more sustainable ways, as well as reduce consumption of our natural resources.

DR: Give an example of an Urban Accord that deals with energy.

PS: There's actually a whole section on energy within the urban accords. The accords are broken up into seven sections. One is focused on energy, and the three component pieces are: renewable energy, energy conservation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. So, one specific action a city would take that signed onto the accords is to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 25% within seven years, using a baseline amount that they've already determined.

DR: Do cities pick which accords they want to be a part of?

PS: The way that it's structured is that we've got a ranking system: a one green star, two green star, three green star, four green star city. And so, it really depends on how innovative, and how much of a leadership role the city wants to take on. Generally speaking, of the cities that have signed on, they are all aiming for accomplishing all twenty-one actions. Some actions are regional in focus, and may not be appropriate for a city in Europe or a city in the U.S., and some actions may not be appropriate for cities in India or China, or in Sri Lanka, or Kampala. So, they don't have to do all of them, but we look at - it looks as if they're going to be accomplishing probably anywhere from sixteen to twenty of the different actions across the board.

DR: What "aha's!" have you had in working with cities?

PS: The biggest "Aha!" is really the sense that action happens very quickly at the city level. Oil independence is a perfect example. It was introduced within a handful of months. We were able to start a task force here in Oakland to look at how Oakland can become more oil independent. The speed is remarkable. It's taken years to ratify Kyoto at the international level; it's taking weeks to move forward in direct action in cities. That's a very big piece of why I love working with cities, and the opportunities that cities provide citizens to really effect change. Another one is the local leaders are eager, and they're anxious, to do the right thing for their communities, if the right thing is introduced to them in appropriate manner - one that shows the value to the community, and their constituency, as well as the impact that it can have on a larger international frame.

DR: What is the role of the city in the transition into a less energy intensive society.

PS: I like to, sort of, rephrase that question. I think that cities - in societies, human societies have always been energy intensive from the point when we needed fire and we used forges, to factories, to where we are now. I think the role of the city is to look at how we can be less reliant on one form of energy, and more reliant on a diverse portfolio of options. And that was the key behind energy independence is that we'll always be using some form of energy in order to fuel our societies - it's intrinsic in who we are as human beings - we need energy! As humans, we take it in food, as cities we take it in different forms: from fossil fuels, or from the sun, or from the wind, or tide. So, the role of cities, for me, in trying to answer your question, is to look at how we can increase the amount of renewables, and be more efficient in how the city runs into the future.

DR: How did you become aware of peak oil and how will it figure into your future work with cities?

PS: I became aware of peak oil - actually, I think, at a little earth day activity in Berkeley about a year and a half ago, and started talking to someone about it, and realized that it is a very important topic to get into, and also saw what was going on within the statement of peak oil, which is that it's a lot of apocalypse and - sort of - fear, and I've always be one to try to approach situations that are apocalyptic, and that are serious - very, very, serious - from a place of solutions. And I saw that that was an opportunity that cities provide - is that cities are about solutions, whether it's fixing a pothole or planting a tree in front of someone's home or apartment building, or developing economic incentives for small business. Cities create solutions, and to address the issue of peak oil, we needed solutions at the local level, and so I think that cities are going to be the perfect engine to be able to move forward the solutions component of the issues that are brought up by peak oil.

DR: To what extent are mayors in the Urban Accord concerned about our oil predicament?

PS: I think what mayors are concerned about is how to make their cities livable, and to the extent that when we talk about peak oil, we talk about it from the perspective of local benefit - how does it create jobs, how does it improve the air quality and reduce asthma, how does it increase the tax base? - that is what will resonate. How does it improve the community and the society that the mayor is leading? That is where the message lies, and that is where, actually, the impact will occur. I think to bring up a topic from a place that there isn't an understanding of when it comes to peak oil, the depth of understanding. And probably - Councilor Nadel is one of the rare few that really will delve into an issue and try to understand it, here, in Oakland. But most just want to see how to improve the city structure and society. So, I would say that, at the local level, bringing up peak oil as an issue to the council member, or a mayor, is valuable if it's not a full-stop, but actually, the issue of peak oil come and it will reduce the burden of asthma on our public health system; it will increase the livability components, or aspects of the city; it will help drive an economic engine around clean technology or green technology in a city - using those messages, as well, is going to have the impact for mayors and local leaders.

DR: So knowledge of peak oil can impact mayors if there's a concerted effort to educate them about the issue?

PS: Absolutely! It can! I should rephrase that. We can - if I can add - we can, if it's led by citizens, right. So, it was only through folks sitting around at a table at earth day that I found out about the issue of peak oil; and it's citizen action that can impact all of the things that I just talked about a few moments ago. I think that the will will happen at the local level with mayors. But can it? And that's really the role of the groups, of the localization groups, the peak oil groups in communities around the country - sort of, actively, with the right message, bringing it to their local leaders.

DR: Can Oakland's goal of oil independence serve as catalyst to broaden the base of the peak oil issue?

PS: I think so, because it speaks to the - the fact that, from my perspective, we need a broader energy portfolio, and what we have is an addiction to fossil fuels. And to say that we'll never use those fossil fuels - or that those fossil fuels won't exist in the future - is something incomprehensible to most people in the world that we live in, whether it be in Kampala or Oakland. And, by saying that we're going to be independent of oil is - what my aim was to try to say and do was, to say that we're going to look at a broad variety of options and have a robust meal of food, energy food for our cities. If I, as an individual, only ate bread 80% of the time, I wouldn't be a very healthy human being. And it's the same point with our cities is, if we're 80% reliant on oil for our transportation, or to fuel our society, then we're not a very healthy society, and independence says, while we love our - while I love my bread (I love pizza!), I need to have a variety of different foods to feed me to be healthy. And it's the same concept with the city. The city is just a living being that needs different kinds of foods introduced, and independence allows for - that term of independence from my perspective - allows for us to be able to look and talk about different ways to fuel, or give food to our society.

DR: Does "oil independence" also include the oil used to manufacture and ship goods from overseas?

PS: Oh, absolutely. I think the whole system needs to be looked at, and that's why I think localization is a very, very important component of oil independence. And it was a big reason why, in the definition, I advocated that we not aim for oil free because of that very reason that you're bringing up: to be free of it is to be wholly free of it, and that isn't - that won't happen by 2020. I hope it happens - very, very soon, in my lifetime - but it's because of the fact that we, as Oakland, as a City, can't control what somebody in Beijing is doing or a manufacturer in Hyderabad is doing - it's to start to wean ourselves out of it. But I do think it's a very important thing to think about the whole system, and to look at how to address that - from purchasing, from incentivizing local production, and local manufacturing, local innovation.

DR: What was your role in Oakland's "Oil Independence" resolution?

PS: My role was simply to help initiate the idea forward. I always try to think of myself as a bit of a catalyst, to bring more progressive or radical ideas into the mainstream. And I feel like that was my key in it, and also to be able to provide resources in the form of paring down some of what the Swedish report talked about, and also messaging to the council member that sponsored it here in Oakland, the idea, so that it didn't seem so far off on the fringe, and that it was something that's very doable, and it's actionable, and it's possible.

DR: Can you talk about the Swedish energy independence plan and what aspects of it can be applied to a city?

PS: The Swedes did one thing right, which is that they analyzed the situation, and they took a look at their whole society, and said: this is where we are using oil, this is where it's endemic in our world - in our way of being - and this is where the biggest hits are. They did a really, really thorough analysis, and that is the greatest gift of that report and the work of that commission and those experts provide to us. Sweden is a country and they can control certain things that a city can't do. I think the biggest thing is the ability to be able to analyze and take a look at a baseline of, this is where we're at, and then, using that, to take the steps forward - is what the Swedish report and the work that the Swedish commission did. The actions, I think, are pretty vague, and not necessarily applicable, often times, to Oakland, and, quite honestly, aren't really progressive enough from my perspective.

DR: What are the main actions in the Swedish plan?

PS: They spend a lot of time talking about using alternative fuels like biofuels, and ethanol, and methanol, and using the green gold, as they call it, of forestry products to burn - things like that. I don't think that that's really the path forward. They don't spend a lot of time looking at renewables from my perspective to power their society forward.

DR: What might more progressive actions look like?

PS: I think the key in answering that is that we have a date of 2020 that we want to be oil independent in Oakland by, so, the big pieces: whatever actions are laid forward, that there be a specific measurable date, and amount reduction or amount increase, that we do something by. So, for example, it could be increasing the number of individuals that are riding mass transit to work by x% by next year. The actions underneath that? They may change, they may look very different in five years than they do in fifteen years. So, I think to prescribe specific actions is a little pre-emptive, and doesn't allow the flexibility that good policy really needs to have. For me to not answer your question, I think that there are some very easy, specific things: building a bike highway in Oakland; looking at a 30-year plan to put in light rail in Oakland: Oakland has these huge, wide streets all through, so it's a tremendous amount of land that exists here, and light rail is extremely expensive when you look at it as an immediate cost, here, but over the span of decades, it is, actually, quite feasible, and cities around the world are looking at doing things like that, and we don't have that - people tend to ride by rail more than they ride buses - so maybe looking at how to develop a plan like that. It could be an initiative around smart growth: mixed-use communities, and implementing some of the principles that are articulated in smart growth models.

Oakland has a diversity of communities: from West Oakland to East Oakland, to Lake Meritt, to Temescal. Yet they don't have a community identity necessarily. Implementing programs on policies to try to create, sort of, cities within the city, almost, could be something that could be looked at from an urban planning perspective. I think that, quite honestly, the biggest piece in Oakland that will impact the community will be looking at port emissions - the port of Oakland emissions - and oil usage, and developing policies. Once we understand those more fully, developing policies to reduce their use of fossil fuels. They can be a really big driver. Another one might be RECO standards, which is just residential energy conservation ordinance, and, so, with the sale of a house, let's say, creating an incentive, or break, to the seller and the buyer, if, instead of using a big - one of those big, fifty-gallon, hundred-gallon water heaters - putting up solar thermal for a couple thousand dollars, and an on-demand - one of those little flash heaters that they use all over the rest of the world - to heat water. The impacts in terms of natural gas use - to the fossil fuel - the impacts on natural gas use are significant. So, looking in different kinds of residential energy conservation standards in the sale of a home, or in building new homes, could be some of the innovative policies that Oakland looks at.

DR: What about electricity generation?

PS: I don't know Oakland's electricity mix, so I wouldn't necessarily be able to speak articulately to the city, itself. But, I think, looking at, again, ordinances or policies programs to energy efficiency programs, which used to exist in spades, and maybe will exist again. Looking at if there are barriers to solar or wind that exist in the city, and trying to remove those barriers.

Another component to look at is community choice aggregation, and the positive impact that it could have on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Community choice aggregation is essentially creating an organization - a sort of joint powers authority - that would aggregate the buying of electricity, and be a larger purchaser. And the benefit of that is that they can drive the need, or the request, for renewable energy. Right now, most of the energy that comes into California (I know for sure) is primarily natural gas, and a JPA (a Joint Powers Authority), through community choice aggregation, could ask for 25% or 50% of all of the electricity that comes into Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville, to be renewable - and renewable not from hydro, not from dirty sources.

DR: What is the key to getting the word about peak oil and climate change to the masses?

PS: I think the key to bringing awareness around oil independence, peak oil, and climate change, to the masses is to talk about it from the perspective of how it impacts individuals - because of the amount of particulate matter that's in the air, as a result of oil being used for transportation, my younger brother's got asthma (he had asthma as a kid) - and talking about it from the place of where it impacts an individual in their daily life (so, for example, asthma), and its impact on that family is the way to bring it out of the insular world that is climate change, that is the green ghetto, that is the world of peak oil and oil independence. Bringing that message to the individual in their daily action in a way that is hopeful. So, saying: look, if we drive a little bit less, or if we use more public transit, or we plant trees, it may help reduce the asthma burden on our society - is one specific example. Another way to do it is to look at in low income communities or environmental justice communities. Jobs are such an important piece of what is missing, and using green technology and clean technology as an opportunity to talk about jobs generation into the future - like through retrofits or efficiency measures - often times can bring jobs to those communities. So, making the primary message the message of, well, whom am I talking to? Am I talking to a businessperson? Am I talking to a financer, or someone that's interested in that? - and looking at how the solutions can improve their lives. And, behind that, talking about the climate impact and the fact that the oil is prevalent in a terrible addiction in our - in the way our society is. So, it's about the messaging.