Local efforts support sustainability

By: DON CHRISTIANSEN - Commentary: | Tuesday, January 1, 2008 8:30 PM PST ∞

The three legs of sustainability are economic, environmental and social. All three legs need to be strong and balanced to support a sustainable community. Carlsbad is in a unique position to become a leader in sustainability, and a model for other communities.

The recent Coastal Commission approval of Carlsbadís seawater desalination plant is a major step toward sustainability. Another major step is distributed generation of electrical power. Distributed generation means producing electricity as close as feasible to where it is used. It ranges from residents using solar electric panels on their homes to smaller fossil- fueled power plants that can provide electrical power to the community. "Homegrown" water and power are very significant building blocks for sustainability.

The alternative to distributed generation is to continue to build massive power plants in remote areas that donít need the power, and then run power lines to the areas that do. The proposed Sunrise Power Link is an example. Downsides of this model include power lost during transmission, environmental degradation of pristine remote areas, high financial cost of running power lines, increased fire risk, and increased potential for service disruption and financial manipulation. A little known alternative to the Sunrise Power Link is "Path 42," which would add capacity to an existing power line.

Earlier this decade Enron and a few other companies were able to rip off the eighth largest economy in the world, California. Distributed generation distributes the financial rewards of producing electricity and decreases the likelihood of manipulation by a few large players.

On Dec. 14, 2007, a Wall Street Journal headline read: "Senate Kills Energy Tax Package" and went on to say that "intensive lobbying from the oil industry and the White House opposed the tax package." The bill passed after the provision that would have transferred $9.4 billion of tax incentives from established and very profitable oil companies to emerging renewable energy sources was removed. This is not the way to end our "addiction to oil," and it is not the way toward sustainability.

Sustainability leadership is being shown on the state and local level. Carlsbad city staff has formed Carlsbadís Environmental Resources Management Team to advise city council, and Carlsbadís 2007 State of the City theme is "Journey to Sustainability." Encinitas City Council has approved the formation of a new Environmental Advisory Committee, and hundreds of cities around the United States have signed on to the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement ( And the www.coolmayors.org ) and the Plug-in Partner Commitment ( www.pluginpartners.org ).

Distributed electrical generation from renewable sources contains all three elements of sustainability. The economy benefits because of increased reliability and good-paying "green" jobs that canít be outsourced. The environment benefits because of reduced carbon emissions and fewer cross-country power lines. Social benefits include reduced health problems, like asthma, and reduced reliance on foreign energy supplies. Distributed generation provides more power to the people, and is a logical next step toward sustainability.

-- Don Christiansen is a resident of Carlsbad.