At the World of Ideas Cafe: UC President Bob Dynes is flanked by graduate student Dan MacDonald and Folsom Lake College Professor Alice Textor, as they discuss residential carbon emission reduction. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis)
Focus the Nation UC Davis
Perspectives
Event Coordinator and Lead Planner Dan MacDonald
On Thursday, January 31st , 2008, over 1750 educational institutions (primarily colleges and universities) across the country hosted events focusing on climate change solutions as part of Focus the Nation. UC Davis hosted one of the more creative, community collaborative, and extensive events of the day with multiple venues and programs that ran the gamut from a day long Idea Fair and 8 hours of panel sessions, to tours of campus and community organizations and capstone "World of Ideas Café" that played host to prominent policy makers and University of California representatives, including UC President Robert Dynes and UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef.
The Graduate School of Management (GSM), through a partnership between the student organization Davis Net Impact and the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center (EEC) and with endorsements by Dean Nicole Biggart and EEC Program Manager Benjamin Finkelor (GSM '04), was both well-represented at the event itself and heavily involved in the 6+ months of planning leading up to it. Davis Net Impact was an official Planning Partner while the EEC was a Campus Host.
Daniel MacDonald (GSM '08) - an Edison Energy Efficiency Fellow in the Emerging Venture Analyst (EVA) program and former Co-President of Davis Net Impact - served on the Planning Committee from its June 2007 inception. Desiring to tie both Davis Net Impact and the Energy Efficiency Center closer to the greater campus while ensuring that the business community is viewed as a partner in tackling climate change, he participated in weekly meetings and focused his input on energy innovation and clean technology. His tenure lasted through December when he transitioned his Net Impact Co-Presidency to Christine Lim (GSM '09) who - together with Tanya Marston (GSM '09) - organized the GSM connection and outreach during the critical final stretch.
The Idea Fair, of which this partnership was a Co-Chair, hosted over 30 booths, tables and activities that ranged from green building and recycling to sustainable living and energy efficiency. The EEC itself held a booth in which Jonathan Woolley (TTP, '08), a graduate student in the Institute for Transportation Studies and recent EVA addition, promoted the EEC's "Living Laboratory" proposal. Meanwhile, thanks to Christine, Dan, Terence Fleischer, Jeff Gleeson, and Diana Mejia, Davis Net Impact and PG&E partnered to host a table on energy efficiency education at which about 500 CFLs were given away to the public. It is estimated that over 1500 people fought the rain to visit the Idea Fair. Meanwhile, EEC partners California Lighting Technology Center and Western Cooling Efficiency Center were one of 21 tours offered during the day.
Covering topics such as "Climate Change Spirit" and "Local Government Strategies", there were five climate change solution "Teach-In" panels at the ARC which were attended by roughly 250 people. In addition to six Energy Efficiency Center research posters exhibited at the accompanying poster session, the final panel of the day "Innovation: Commercializing Science in Energy and Efficiency" was hosted by Davis Net Impact and the EEC and featured Center for Entrepreneurship and EEC founding director, Dr. Andrew Hargadon as Moderator. The panel focused on how the UC Davis campus is strategically positioned to bring helpful technologies to market. Using SynapSense - a leading provider of complete wireless instrumentation solutions - as a case study, panelists Barbara Grant of American River Ventures, David McGee of InnovationAccess, and Raju Pandey of SynapSense represented the roles and viewpoints of venture capital, campus incubator, and scientist-entrepreneur, respectively.
Finally the day's educational activities culminated in the two-hour long World of Ideas Café. Many prominent policy-makers, including Davis Mayor Sue Greenwald, California State Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis), and Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada (District 4), joined President Dynes, Chancellor Vanderhoef, and roughly 300 members of the general public in learning about ideas for solutions. The ideas originated from 16 campus-related teams which were coordinated by Solution Team Organizers, Julie Purcell and Cassie Hilder (GSM '08). The EEC and Davis Net Impact presented "Confront Carbon at Home", a project rooted in a final project of EEC Associate Director Alan Meier's Energy Efficiency class and winner of the 2007 Net Impact Network Challenge. Jeff Gleeson (GSM '09) and Tai Stillwater (TTP '10) joined Christine Lim and Daniel MacDonald in demonstrating how an excel tool could facilitate fun and competitive environments to "incentivize" grassroots residential carbon abatement. The idea was spotlighted in both the Sacramento Bee and Dateline UC Davis in subsequent news coverage.
In conclusion, the Graduate School of Management was happy to play a role in what may become an annual grassroots event. Business innovation and energy efficiency are amongst the low-hanging fruits that society can use as tools in the long battle against climate change. By leveraging their campus and industry partners, organizing human and educational resources, and facilitating projects such as the "Living Laboratory" and "Confront Carbon at Home", organizations such as the EEC and Davis Net Impact will continue to do their part in keeping these tools at the forefront of society's attention.
Student Ambassadors Rachelle Lema and Grace Cun
Hosts to the Honorable A.G. Kawamura, Secretary, California Dept. of Food and Agriculture
We were very impressed with the World of Ideas Café event for Focus the Nation. The sheer size and scope of the event was amazing and the hard work that everyone put into it was very impressive. We were especially impressed by the different groups and how much information they had on their specific projects. Everyone we talked to had answers to all our questions and they were very informative.
The highlight of the evening for us was the opportunity to host California’s Secretary of Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura. We think the Agriculture industry is something that is very important to remember when working on environmental policies and it was an honor to have the opportunity to speak to such a knowledgeable person. In addition to his duties for the evening, Secretary Kawamura spent some extra time at the end of the event to answer any questions we had and talk to us about what we were doing at UC Davis, what our majors are and what fields we are planning on going into. His willingness and ability to speak to students and show interest in our plans is something that we think is very important for the future of agriculture and in the area of environmental policies.
We felt the Focus the Nation event was a great success in that people of all different opinions were able to come together and express their ideas and concerns and work on solutions that will benefit all.
Student Ambassadors Bradley Wright and Kathryn Salfen
Hosts to Ms. Ruth Coleman, Director, California Dept. of Parks and Recreation
Focus the Nation was an amazing experience which really opened my eyes to the various solutions to global warming. We were blessed with the opportunity to escort Mrs. Ruth Coleman, Director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Through conversation we learned of the department’s initiative called “Cool Parks”. In this policy, will estimate the state parks environmental footprint, reduce emissions, adapt to change, and provide education and interpretation of climate change.
After the question and answer session with the policy makers, we were also blessed with the opportunity to talk with A.G. Kawamura, the Secretary of the California Department of Agriculture. Kawamura expressed the importance of agriculture in the helping climate change. Their main focus is on reducing emissions from animals and evaluating of the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by plants. As a landscape architect major I felt
Focus the Nation helped me understand the importance of my responsibility in creating sustainable living.
Student Ambassador Nick Abrams
Host to The Honorable Helen Thompson, Supervisor, Yolo County Board of Supervisors
Focus the Nation was a successful event and I am confident Supervisor Helen Thomson enjoyed the event. At the World of Ideas Café, we only had time to visit a few tables. Supervisor Thomson and I spent the majority of our time at the Gimme Shelter and Pedal Pushers tables. Supervisor Thomson was interested in both these presentations because they are examples of climate change solutions that can be affected at the local level.
The Gimme Shelter presentation was about green building which reduces GHG emissions through energy efficiency. High performance insulation, smart lighting, and high efficiency appliances were just a few of the ideas discussed by that group.
The Pedal Pushers group presented strategies for making local and regional transportation less carbon intensive.
One idea we discussed at length was developing a regional transit pass that could be used for local buses, light rail, and the Capital Corridor line on Amtrak. By streamlining these services, Pedal Pushers believes that more people will choose Amtrak when commuting between Sacramento and the Bay Area.
Student Ambassador Leo Gvozdev
The Honorable Sue Greenwald, Mayor, City of Davis
One of the most effective measures during this event was to invite regional policymakers to participate and discuss the solutions proposed. In UC Davis, California, all policymakers – city, state and national – revealed that they were already engaged in combating global climate change. This event allowed them to learn about new methods and technologies they could support in the future.
The trouble with this method is that it did not address the main causes of the problem. Industries are the single most impacting players in our environment and they were not represented at this event - in Davis at least. Passing legislation to force industries to be considerate of their impact is an arduous ordeal that they will fight because it increases their costs. Our state can and does put restrictions on industries trying to balance impact and cost but these are the first baby steps of what needs to be done. Thus it is good to put pressure on policymakers so that they could put pressure on industries.
UC Davis has a very large impact on the environment and its voluntary leadership in alleviating this has been great. It does across the board changes to go as fast as the process allows, a good insight at the trouble industries and the public will also have to consider. Our research into sustainability maybe our most helpful contribution to the climate change problem. Our biomass energy project was the most popular at the event because it can be used by both homeowners and large industries and they even make some of their money back making this a good economical solution and a worthwhile investment.
UC Davis is outstanding when it comes to combating climate change. Whether they put political pressures or technological market incentives into play or whether they take active steps to reduce their own carbon footprint, UC Davis is on the vanguard of the movement. It is unfortunate only that this process does take an obnoxious amount of time and it will be a while yet before the rest of the country can make a similar enormous effort at sustainable existence.
Student Ambassador Eren Kavvas
Host to Mr. Gregg Albright, Deputy Director, California Dept. of Transportation, Caltrans, Planning and Modal Programs
As California attempts dramatic reduction of greenhouse gases, one of the carbon demons that must be faced is that of transportation. Herds of cars manned by single individuals crowd the freeways in their commute to work, many of them traveling well over thirty miles, contributing to the 500 million tons (in 2004) of greenhouse gases produced in California.
Gregg Albright, of CalTrans, whom I had the chance to host at the World of Ideas fair, deals with this difficult balance between efficient transportation and progressive environmental policy daily. Albright was full of a plethora of environmental information, and a particularly interesting initiative I learned from him concerned a computer-based system that is now being implemented within the CalTrans organization itself. The system is identifies where employees come and go and thusly sets up carpools based on the data. Unfortunately, such a system is currently unique to CalTrans but hopefully if it proves to succeed, other similar systems can be implemented on a broader spectrum.
Additionally, as a car-less student, one of the questions I had for Albright was as to why Amtrak seemed so darn expensive. To get to San Francisco from Davis, it costs $18 both ways, which on my budget was a bit excessive when I could just hop in the car with a licensed friend. What I learned, however, was that although it may seem that splitting gas with a friend may appear to be less expensive than taking the train, in fact, when we consider the cost of wear-and-tear on the car, parking, insurance, plus the cost of gas, driving is often just as costly as taking the train. Gregg Albright was truly an awesome policymaker to host, proving that there still do exist bureaucrats who care about our interests.
Student Ambassador Jessica Moreno
Host to Mr. Perez, representative of the Energy Commission
(in place of The Honorable Mike Chrisman, Secretary, California Resources Agency)
As a volunteer at the “Focus the Nation” event, I felt proud that not only UC Davis was being part of such an important movement towards letting people know about global warming, but that also policy makers are taking action in the different fields each one of them specializes. Each policy maker talked about what they have been doing to contribute to the wealth of our environment, their proposals, and their impressions.
Personally, I was impressed by all proposes and projects presented by expositors, that give us all hope for a better future. With remarkable and innovative ideas, each one of the proposals would create a change in our environment if applied, and that some of the expositors were UCD students, also made me realize that I can start contributing with ideas or actions, even if I am still a student, because the global warming issue needs actions today. Nonetheless, I was disappointed about the lack of commitment of the policy maker I was supposed to host, which was the California Resources Agency Secretary, as he canceled at the last minute.
As an environmental resource and sciences student, I was thrilled to have the opportunity not only to meet an important policymaker and representative of the agency, but to have the opportunity to hear what the agency is doing about global warming, their propositions, and future plans. My disappointment was because being such an important agency and managing the natural and historical resources of the state, global warming should be one of their top worries and top “take action” issues. However, I had the chance to host Mr. Perez, representative of the Energy Commission. We talked about what organizations and policy makers are doing about global warming, and what it needs to be done.
Unfortunately, he did not have the chance to participate in the forum and speak about what is being done in his area to fight global warming, which I think would have been as interesting as all the other speeches where, since energy is an important “bullet point” in the global warming issue.
In a summary, I was delighted to be part of an extraordinary event, and to have the opportunity to hear and meet policymakers' plans and actions towards global warming. One of the things I am glad I learned is that our policymakers are taking action and not only promising, but also that they need the support and contribution of all of us together to make an improvement on our environment.
“Focus the Nation” should be done every year, and for sure, every year, I would be there, because getting primary information about global warming, what can be done about it and what is being done is a valuable experience.
Student Ambassador Christian J.C. Commander
Host to Mr. John McCamman, Acting Director, California Dept. of Fish & Game
At Focus the Nation I observed some of California’s legislators interact with fellow environmental advocates and offer solutions to our growing problem of global climate change. I was very impressed with the turnout and how involved these legislators were with affecting change to help save our environment.
I did not get to speak in depth with the legislator that I was ambassador to, Director of the California Department of Fish and Game John McCamman, but from what I gathered from our brief conversations and his voice in the forum he is no less involved in making an impact with global climate change. Speaking for the Department of Fish and Game, his concerns were of course centered around the impact on wildlife and fish. But when he spoke he did not focus only on this or on California itself, but rather he spoke peripherally to address how this issue affects a broader scope.
Like the other legislators Mr. McCamman addressed the issues with creating new “green” technology, changes in environmental policy, and other subjects brought before the forum. It was a comfort to me to observe this in all of the legislators: a uniformity of thought, focused on the impact that global climate change is creating on all of us and the responsibility and capability that we have to fix it.