Habits must change to end climate change

Those who care about Earth Day understand it’s also Save Our Climate Day, or in Ventura, No More Thomas Fires Day. Here’s something else worth caring about: On Tuesday, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors will invite the public to discuss policy options for the county's general plan for 2020-40, which includes its first climate action plan.

I’ll admit I’m overwhelmed by public policy mired in the habits of a fossil-fuel economy. I’ll admit it’s challenging to change my habits. Some days I put on a polyester blouse, grab a plastic coffee cup, gas up my car, drive the freeway to environmental meetings where I sit among consumers equally burdened with energy-guzzling choices — and consider giving up.

It’s not time to give up but instead to recognize how tough it is for individuals to make changes with much impact unless we instigate policy shifts with community-wide buy-in. A climate action plan can help create that shift.

We have time to not only stop climate change but reverse it. Consider the research of Project Drawdown, a team convened by environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken. Drawdown is “the point in time when the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases begins to decline on a year-to-year basis.” Project Drawdown identifies 100 existing solutions that could stabilize our atmosphere if implemented on a global scale over the next 30 years.

Here are the top four solutions identified in Hawken’s book, "Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming," in which Ventura can play a role:

• Refrigerant management: This is already underway statewide. Last month the California Air Resources Board adopted a regulation prohibiting refrigeration with hydrofluorocarbons. HFC refrigeration is used in supermarkets, convenience stores and vending machines. HFCs trap heat in the atmosphere at a rate thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide.
• Wind turbines (onshore): Ongoing cost reductions will soon make wind energy the least expensive source of electricity.
• Reduced food waste: Uneaten food generates greenhouse gases at every stage and accounts for 8 percent of global emissions.
• Plant-rich diet: Meat-centric diets account for a fifth of global greenhouse gases.

Drawdown only addresses solutions to reduce emissions, not policies to make those solutions economically competitive. To that end, I joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) last year. It believes political will starts not with politicians but citizens. Ventura County's CCL grows political will by informing leaders climate is a priority.

The goal is bipartisan legislation to create a carbon-fee-and-dividend system, which aims to reduce fossil fuels by taxing them at the source at a steadily increasing rate and returning dividends to households. This revenue-neutral plan would allow market forces to pressure companies and consumers to make new choices.

CCL has been instrumental in encouraging 72 members of Congress — 36 Republicans and 36 Democrats — to join the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, which explores economically viable options to reduce climate risk.

Last year, my husband and I became a one-car family. We worried it would be inconvenient, but it has only required small changes. We live less than two miles from his work, and I work at home. So he bikes to work, I bike to errands. If we both need a car, we give each other rides or use ride-sharing services. That doesn’t happen as often as we expected.

We’re in better shape and spend less on gas, repairs and insurance. Doing right by our environment is already improving our lives. But such changes make little difference unless we engage entire communities.

People do what’s convenient, but sometimes what we call “convenience” is habit. Public policy can reshape habit. I kept forgetting to bring reusable bags to the supermarket until it became public policy.

We need policies to favor choices that reflect a common goal: reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million, the number climate scientists say will restore a livable planet. Climate action plans will only work if we act as a community. Our lives depend on it.

Cara Lopez Lee, of Ventura, is an author, a former journalist and a member of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Email her at cara@caralopezlee.com.