Transcriber: Luis Javier Salvador Reviewer: Emma Gon
Admittedly, that's a tough act to follow,
so I'm going to begin with something very simple,
something we all know: we are addicted to fossil fuels.
Oil, coal and natural gas rule our lives.
I challenge you to think of one thing you did today
that didn't require a petroleum product.
If you danced naked in the moonlight this morning, you got a point.
Here is the interesting thing. We don't actually need it.
We can exist solely on renewable sources of energy: sun, wind and waves.
The organization I work for, the Community Environmental Council, spent two years working on
what we call our blueprint for a new energy direction.
We looked at countywide energy use, natural resources and economic impacts.
And what we discovered is that we can be free from fossil fuels in one generation,
save money and help stabilize the economy.
We can take responsibility for energy use and show others what is possible.
40 years ago, Santa Barbara is the birthplace of the modern environmental movement,
born out of a oil spill just off of our coast.
Over the last four decades, we've continued to be a model community,
pioneering recycling, watershed protection and habitat preservation.
Today, it's time to make another such stand.
Climate change and energy insecurity are much too big a problem
to continue on our path of dirty, expensive fossil fuels.
As a city and as a state, we depend almost entirely on others for our energy.
This slide shows you that 75% of our electricity is generated in the state,
but the fuels themselves often come from elsewhere.
We only get 13% of our natural gas from California
and while 40% of our petroleum comes from here, it often means drilling in sensitive habitats.
Don't get me wrong, I actually like fossil fuels.
Our modern transportation and communication systems would not be possible without them,
but like the typewriter, it's technology of the past and it's time to evolve.
Lucky for us, we have other options.
I'm talking about clean, renewable sources of energy.
Sun, wind and waves that are unlimited and don't pollute our air, our land or our water.
The study I mentioned calculated that we need 2700 GWh renewable energy
to account for our electricity needs alone.
I'm going to touch on just a couple of projects in Santa Barbara County
that are getting us started down that path.
Last year, the Santa Barbara County board of supervisors approved the Lompoc Wind Energy Farm.
Once completed, this project will account for 10% of our county's electricity needs.
It also has some of the most stringent environmental safeguards in the industry.
Recently, a solar farm was proposed in Santa Barbara's northeast county.
At about 80 GWh, this will account for a little less than 5% of our electricity needs.
It is also sited on existing agricultural land, near transmision lines,
which helps minimize impacts on sensitive habitats.
And believe it or not, wave energy is just around the corner.
PG&E, our local utility, has a preliminary permit to study wave energy potential, biological resources
and other factors off Vandenberg Air Force Base.
This study will help them decide whether or not they want to move forward and which technology to use.
Three projects, 25% of our electricity from local renewable sources.
We need another 8 to 10 projects total to meet all of our electricity needs,
but the good news is we have more resources than what we need.
So, why stop there?
By 2020, it's estimated we'll need 100 million gallons of petroleum to run our cars here in Santa Barbara.
Alternatively, we can run our cars off electricity.
We would need another 3700 GWh or 20 Lompoc Wind Energy projects.
We could also look to our neighbors in Europe, take their lead
and build one or two large off-shore windfarms outside the Channel Islands. There are possibilities.
First step, though, we have to get rid of the internal combustion engine. Dirty, loud and inefficient.
Conventional engines waste 75% of the energy we put into them.
Imagine pouring out 3/4 of every beer that you drink.
No, thanks.
Instead, we want to see clean electric engines, even running off a dirty grid.
They are less polluting and they cost less to operate. We want to see a clean electricity grid.
Better yet? Solar and wind in every home. You could be driving on your own sunshine.
Here is the best part, our plan saves us money.
By 2020, countywide we could save 400 million dollars.
2030, 1.5 billion. 3000 dollars per year, per person, everyone in this room.
A lot of those savings are attributed to energy efficiency, but renewable energy plays a huge role
because once you've built a renewable energy facility, the fuels themselves are free.
So, let's begin today. Changing lightbulbs is simply not enough.
We have to change how we generate energy as a society.
Put solar panels on your home, but support a wind energy farm in your backyard.
I ask you today to imagine a different future.
Our fossil-free plan is not only possible, it's practical.
And it's based on the core value
that a strong economy and a healthy environment are deeply intertwined.
All it takes is a community, like ours.
(Applause)