We are proud to report 35,894 people attended Santa Barbara Earth Day this year! (And thanks to our stellar volunteers, who tracked entries from 6 locations). It's a beautiful thing when so many people can gather to share information, celebrate, and empower one another. Check out our "Live" site to re-live the magic: live.sbearthday.org

2013 Earth Day Festival stats:

• Approximately 1,026 bikes were valet parked; an estimate 1,000 more were self-parked.

• 628 people took a ride in alternative-fueled vehicles, like the 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV, the first all-electric SUV on the market, the 2013 Chevrolet Volt, the top selling electric vehicle of 2012, and other electric and hybrid cars at the “Ride & Drive” at the 14th Annual Santa Barbara Green Car Show, the longest-running public focused Green Car Show in the U.S. 

• 35,894 people attended this year’s Earth Day Festival!

• Green Project Consultants, which handled all of the event waste by hand sorting each piece, estimates it will divert over 90% of the waste generated from the festival.

• 92 pairs of gently used sneakers were collected by GreenSneakers.org, which partnered with CEC to collect retired tennis shoes at the Green Sneakers booth. The donated sneakers will be reused and provided to people in need around the world.

• This year’s festival had about 250 Volunteers!

Environmental Heroes

We are grateful to have had two Environmental Hero award recipients this year, Van Jones and Bill Nye, who accepted their awards in person and inspired the crowds with their words. 

“I’m really glad to be here,” said Van Jones, attorney, bestselling author and pioneer in the environmental movement during the acceptance of his award from the CEC. “There’s a breakdown happening in the nation’s capital, while there’s a breakthrough happening out here among the people. We’ve got to be clear about the peril that this breakdown represents, but we also have to be clear about the promise of the breakthrough.”

“It is fabulous to see so many people out here for Earth Day, because this is the future,” said Bill Nye, scientist and award winning actor and TV host. “The key to the future is to not just do less, the key is to do more with less: to go further on a gallon or a
liter of gas, to get trains to run on time with less electricity, to make aircrafts more efficient, to make farming more efficient and to have less run-off run into our rivers and streams.”

Thanks so much to these environmental champions!

Special thanks

A huge thank you to our core production and marketing partners: +One Events, LoaTree, New Noise, and Oniracom, as well as dozens of other partners and hundreds of volunteers. We invite you to applaud their incredible energy and commitment by posting your thanks on our Facebook page.

Tell us what you think

We want to hear from you! What were the highlights? Suggestions for next year?

• Festival attendee? Take this survey.

• Sponsor or exhibitor? Take this survey.

• Volunteer? Take this survey.

Share your photos

We know you took some great shots -- please share them!

You can post your photos and videos to one of our sites (including Facebook, Instagram #sbearthday, or Flickr) or mail a disc to CEC (26 W. Anapamu St. 2nd floor) for a chance to be used in festival promotional materials for 2014.

Santa Barbarans are leading the way in the clean energy movement. We've met locals who are installing solar panels on their homes and driving electric vehicles. We've heard from people who are using reusable water bottles instead of plastic and bike commuting to work. Read our most popular personal stories from 2012 for a dose of inspiration going into the new year.

For Santa Barbara residents Chris and Stacey Ulep, the decision to solarize their home “was just the natural decision.” They’ve always been conscious of their environmental impact by recycling and turning out lights that aren’t in use. However, as a family of musicians, they use a lot of energy to power instruments, amps, and other gear.

When the Uleps began a re-model of their home last October, they started thinking about how they could make their home as energy efficient as possible. Since the house was built in 1931, they incorporated upgrades to improve the energy efficiency of the property, such as new windows, denim insulation, and Energy Star appliances.

They also began considering solar so they could generate their own energy and offset the electricity used by their musical gadgets. However, they were concerned; the upfront price was prohibitive, and they had other re-model costs to consider. When Chris and Stacey heard about Solarize Santa Barbara and reviewed a cost analysis, they decided to lease their solar panels instead of owning them outright. This option minimized the upfront costs, set them up with a predictable electricity bill, and allowed them to produce clean energy for their home. They also appreciated how smoothly the process went with Solarize Santa Barbara. They didn’t have to research companies or figure out which technology was best; they just had to sign on the dotted line.

The Uleps completed the remodel and had their solar panels installed in February. Chris says the solar panels were well worth the initial investment. Before the re-model in 2010, their electricity bill was averaging $125 per month. They now pay a flat rate of $65 per month -- a rate that is locked in for the length of their 20-year contract. Based on projected energy costs of electricity, the Uleps will save more than $27,000 over a 20-year period.

Note: Click to enlarge. Figures based on a 5% increase per year for traditional electricity.

Beyond the financial savings, check out their “Environmental Impact” breakdown, below. Since the Uleps needed to cut down a backyard tree that was shading their roof, Stacey was pleased to see that their solar panels have saved the carbon dioxide equivalent of 60 trees planted. Although cutting down the tree wasn’t easy, seeing how much of a positive environmental impact they have made after going solar has definitely helped.

If you are interested in joining the Uleps and dozens of other Santa Barbara families, check out our Solarize Santa Barbara program. It’s the cheapest and easiest way to go solar in Santa Barbara and the program is running until November 9, 2012. Our next workshop is coming up in Carpinteria on Monday, September 17. Learn more →

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 805-963-0583 x105 for more information.

My dad was a Mercedes man. My favorite of his cars? A buttermilk 300E with matching leather seats. I loved to slip into that luscious interior and escape to the hardware store for father-daughter bonding. While different models came and went, the Mercedes always got the prime garage spot - with other cars relegated to the driveway.

You can imagine my surprise when I arrived at his house two months ago and encountered the Mercedes parked in the driveway.

Something had changed.

A squeaky clean Chevy Volt was now plugged into the prime garage spot. Dad had purchased the Volt and installed a rooftop solar system through a zero money down lease program. The Department of Energy and the State of CA helped fund his 240 volt charger (no pun intended), which is set to charge only during off-peak periods. With this setup, his electricity bills are about the same, though sourced from renewables instead of fossil fuels, and hedged against inflating energy costs. However, he's saving about $100 a month in gasoline.

To celebrate Dad's shift in priorities, I made him an electric car playlist to bump to while silently whirring down the highway.

I put a lot of thought into the order of these songs and thought there might be other plug-in / hybrid electric vehicle owners who would enjoy a playlist selected specifically for their automobile. I would love to hear what I might have missed and welcome your suggestions.

I hope you'll enjoy this playlist in your electric vehicle!

• "Electric" by Lisa Scott-Lee
• "Danger! High Voltage (Soulchild Radio Mix)" by Electric Six
• "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant
• "Electric Youth" by Debbie Gibson
• "Electric Lady" by Con Funk Shun
• "Electric Feel" by MGMT
• "Plug In Baby" by Muse
• "She's Electric" by Oasis
• "Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra
• "Running On Empty" by Jackson Browne
• "Charge Me Up" by Jennifer Lopez
• "Electric Barbarella" by Duran Duran
• "Electric Man (Radio Edit)" by Mansun
• "Charge" by The Renegades
• "Electricity" by Spiritualized
• "Together In Electric Dreams" by The Human League
• "It's Electric" by Metallica

Listen to the full playlist through CEC's YouTube page →

About the author:

Cherlyn Seruto is currently commuting 80 miles a day via gasoline, and is considering selling her soul for an electric Porsche Speedster a la Reverend Gadget.

My journey is one of many steps. Thirty years ago I built a modest house for our family near the upper end of Mission Canyon that was quite green at the time. Our utility bills were miniscule. Nevertheless, in 1999, we installed photovoltaic panels to generate most of our electricity. However, I was troubled by the fact that, living in upper Mission Canyon, we went everywhere around town in our cars -- yes, that is plural. The only way I saw to reduce this dependence on fossil fuel was to move downtown.

Concern about energy and resource use evolved from a basic value that I have held for a long time -- namely, the sacredness of all life. Spending a lot of time camping and backpacking as a child and teenager shaped this reverence for life and my becoming a conscientious objector to war.

As we know, tensions around the possession and exploitation of the planet's finite resources—fossil fuels being prominent on this list—have and continue to lead to many wars and the destruction of many creatures and habitats. I remember being stuck in long lines of cars waiting for gas during the OPEC oil embargo in 1973. That event sparked my involvement with solar energy and efforts to move away from our over-reliance on fossil fuels. This awareness has undergirded my path of using fewer non-replaceable resources.

About 6 years ago, we and 2 other couples began designing a 4 condo infill project just a few blocks off State Street. We harnessed the sun for powering the buildings in all ways—space heating, hot water, and electricity. This combined with rigorous energy conservation measures has nearly freed us from fossil fuels in our homes.

The next step was to get rid of my car, which I did about 8 months ago. Now biking or walking gets me wherever I need to go with the occasional negotiated use of my wife's car. Even though my geographic world has shrunk, my interactive world has increased. I meet more people—old friends, new friends and casual interactions—than I ever did in the past. Best of all, I love it.

Being a part of a small living community has also been wonderful. Visiting, helping, borrowing, lending and sharing on a daily basis is a lost pattern of living for most of America.

The frosting on the cake for this journey (and totally unplanned) is having our son, his partner, and their new baby – our granddaughter – living in the flat just above us. Multi-generations living together is prevalent in most countries of the world but not so common in the U.S. today. This old family living arrangement has brought us great joy and richness. It makes me think often of the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child."

You may remember when we featured Katie D. and her family on our blog back in December in “A personal struggle with climate change.” She talked about how her family was able to power their home and their car with their rooftop solar panels. Back then, she said, “I never go to gas stations anymore. I’ve stopped giving oil companies my money. I feel a bit like a junkie who’s finally starting to kick her addiction.” We’re proud of Katie and her family – they are the perfect example of Santa Barbarans who are powering the clean energy movement.

During CEC’s Earth Day Festival, we asked festival goers to make an “Earth Day Resolution” – like a New Year’s Resolution, but focused on how to make a difference for the environment. Katie has already done so much to lessen her environmental impact, so we were curious what her resolution could be. This year, she said “My Earth Day Resolution is to share my story about how it is possible to actually save money and be carbon neutral at the same time. You can always do more, and we all have to do that because it’s not up to one person.”

She decided the best way for her to share her story was through video. She created the video below to share her calculations for the payoff of an electric vehicle powered by solar panels. Over a 10 year period, her family will save $15,125! That’s not to mention the environmental benefit. Fueling her car will emit 0 pounds of carbon dioxide, whereas a fossil fuel car would emit 114,500 pounds over 10 years.

Watch her video

;

We are proud to report 35,765 people attended Santa Barbara Earth Day this year! (And thanks to our stellar volunteers, who tracked entries from 6 locations). It's a beautiful thing when so many people can gather to share information, celebrate, and empower one another. Check out our "Live" site to re-live the magic: live.sbearthday.org

Our favorite stats

• 923 people took a test drive in one of the new electric vehicles in the Green Car Show. Thanks to the teams from Chevy Volt, Coda, Ford Focus, Nissan Leaf, and Toyota Prius for making this possible.
• We counted about 1,500 bikes at the festival. 850 took advantage of free valet bike parking in Bike World. Still more came by foot or bus. Special thanks to our partners at the SB Bicycle Coalition, MTD, and Santa Barbara Car Free.
• The amount of water distributed by our water stations this year was equivalent to 2,000 plastic bottles.
• 85% of the waste generated by the festival was diverted from the landfill. Special thanks to Green Project Consultants for hand sorting each piece.

Special thanks

A huge thank you to our core production and marketing partners: +One Events, LoaTree, New Noise, and Oniracom, as well as dozens of other production partners and hundreds of volunteers. We invite you to join us in applauding their incredible energy and commitment.

You can still give back

For those who participated in our text donation drive, many thanks. If you didn't get a chance, you can still make a $10 donation by texting "Earth" to 50555 and replying "Yes." We'll be pulling our raffle winners tomorrow - prizes include a bicycle, water bottles, and more. Your support allows us to host this event year after year.

You can also donate online.

Tell us what you think

We want to hear from you! What were the highlights? Suggestions for next year? Respond by Thursday at 5pm and we'll enter you in a drawing to win some fossil-free lifestyle gifts.

• Festival attendee? Take this survey.
• Sponsor or exhibitor? Take this survey.
• Volunteer? Take this survey.

Share your photos

We know you took some great shots -- please share them!

You can post your photos and videos to one of our sites (including Facebook, Instagram #sbearthday, or Flickr) or mail a disc to CEC (26 W. Anapamu St. 2nd floor) for a chance to be used in festival promotional materials for 2013.

Environment California recently released a study comparing adoption of solar among California cities. As expected, big cities, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Jose (respectively) came in on top for total number of installed systems, and total installed capacity. Environment California also analyzed small and medium sized cities, and installations per capita. That’s where things get interesting.

Of the 170 municipalities in California with populations over 50,000, Santa Barbara ranks 9^th in number of solar installations per capita (0.81 installations per 100 people). While we don’t fair quite as well in installed capacity per capita (19^th), we are by far above average in both categories.

The other cities in our region that made the list are Ojai, ranked 12^th in the small cities category with almost four solar installations per 100 people, and Paso Robles ranked 7^th in the large town category with 0.17 installations per 100 people.

We give credit for this accomplishment to a combination of forward thinking individuals and good government policies.

Ever since the 1969 oil spill, Santa Barbara residents have recognized the importance of moving away from our dependence on fossil fuels for environmental and economic reasons. By installing solar, residents have stabilized their energy costs and those with electric vehicles have switched to fuel supplied by the sun for their transportation needs. We at CEC like to think that we might have helped some of those people make the decision to go solar with events like CEC's Earth Day Festival and Solar SUNday, and our publications like Get Started with Solar (PDF).

The City of Santa Barbara also deserves recognition. Not only has the City has installed solar on government facilities; they have also created a streamlined permitting process for rooftop solar, allowing homeowners to get a permit in less than an hour. Streamlined permitting creates certainty and reduces costs for solar. CEC is proud to have helped develop that process years ago and continues to work with the City on further improvements to the solar permitting process.

Read the full study (PDF) >

And a big thanks to Environment California for collecting and analyzing the data. We look forward to next year’s report.

A buzz was in the air and Coffee Cat was teeming with people on Saturday, January 21^st. We put the word out about our Carrot Mob on Facebook, Twitter, and our email list, and you (along with hundreds of your neighbors) showed up for the “buy-cott” to help green a local business.

Hundreds of activists came together and bought cups of coffee, crepes, and bags of coffee beans, all in the name of energy efficiency. The mood was upbeat as carrots danced on the street and a band played inside, with bikes stowed next door at Bikestation bike valet. Check out the photos on Facebook >

The results

Carrot Mob was a success!  

From 10am to 3pm, 440 people came to the Carrot Mob to support Coffee Cat’s efforts to go green. And it showed - Coffee Cat’s sales for the day more than doubled! The Carrot Mob produced $1,400 above what Coffee Cat would normally bring in. 100% of those funds will pay for major lighting improvements that will increase energy efficiency and reduce the shop’s carbon footprint.

YOU made energy efficient lighting a reality for Coffee Cat – Thank you! Krista Fritzen, owner of Coffee Cat, is grateful to have the community rally behind her efforts to make the shop more sustainable, and is eagerly preparing for the installation process.

Watch this video from the event:

Next steps

Coffee Cat will be swapping out old, energy-wasting lamps for new, efficient lamps. We’ll take you behind the scenes during the installation so you can check it out for yourself. Stay tuned for updates on Facebook, Twitter, and by email.

Thank you for mobbing, mob again soon!

Thanks to our Partners:

Bikestation, CALPIRG, City of Santa Barbara, Edible Santa Barbara, LoaTree, Plus One Marketing, Santa Barbara Bike Coalition, Santa Barbara High School Dons Net Cafe, The Sustainability Project, Sustanability Socially, and UCSB Environmental Affairs Board.

I have quite a bit of experience with solar systems in terms of remote telecommunications facilities where utility power isn't practical. These involve large battery banks and over-engineering to ensure reliable power for radio, microwave, and telephone relay stations that need to be up 24/7.

So, the idea of a solar system in a suburban area with plentiful utility power didn't make sense to me at first. Electricity is readily available at reasonable rates. It would be satisfying but not practical to pull the plug on Edison.

Then, I stumbled across a mention of solar "co-generation" on Southern California Edison’s website. Co-generation is when a customer connects a source of power such as solar or wind into the electric grid. With solar, California supplies a rebate to pay part of the cost, and the federal government provides an additional tax credit.

On further research I found the idea of co-generation kind of exciting. I can use the entire utility grid as my energy storage. I don't need a battery and I don’t need to design the system any bigger than my load.

I was also considering my electric vehicle (Chevy Volt). I decided the convenience of the 240-volt charger was worth it. Rebates cover half the cost of the charger and installation. If I came home from a day trip with a depleted battery I could plug in for a couple of hours and then go out to dinner on electricity. However, the Volt would be away from home when my solar panels would be generating power from the sun.

With co-generation, I just produce more power than I need when the sun shines, feed it to Edison, and then pull power from Edison at night to run my home and charge the car. I also switched to a rate plan that gives me much lower electric rates at night and credits me at higher rates in the daytime when the sun is shining and I'm producing electricity. Some friends were predicting that the Volt would cause my electric bill to skyrocket –ha!

[Click image to see more...]

As luck would have it, I have a great roof for solar. It is south-facing and doesn't have any vents or obstructions. I had enough area to install panels that could generate about 4kW peak power. I'm good with my hands and have a lot of experience with wiring and electrical things. My initial plan was to install the solar as well as the level 2 car charger myself.

I quickly changed my mind about installing the solar because I'm not comfortable with the permit process and roof penetrations kind of scare me. I shopped around and chose Coastal Constructors to provide the hardware, do the mechanical work and take care of the permit paperwork. They did the wiring at the same time as they wired the charger, and everything passed inspection. Modern panels are a lot better looking than the earlier ones. I'm very happy with the appearance as well as the performance.

Another modification I considered was the inverter systems. Most grid-tied systems connect a number of panels in a series string to produce high-voltage DC, and then put in a large wall-mounted inverter to convert this to conventional AC power. I was not excited about this design. A fault in one panel can bring down a whole string. Due to the high DC voltages, the wiring is complicated.

I discovered a company in the Bay Area, Enphase, that does things differently. They manufacture micro-inverters. Each micro-inverter handles the output from one solar panel. One mounts underneath each panel and they connect in parallel. If one panel or inverter goes bad, the rest of the array keeps going. The DC wiring is low-voltage and needs no conduit.

In addition, my solar system has its own website that not only shows real-time and historical data for every panel, but can also alert me if there's ever a problem. If there's debris such as bird droppings on or an electrical problem affecting one panel, the other panels are not affected, and I get an email describing the issue and showing me which panel is in trouble.

It's now been in service for almost 10 months. I've ”banked” a bit over 6 megawatt-hours of electricity with Edison. Carbon offset a bit over 4 tons. Every month since installation I've produced more electricity than I've consumed. Not only am I driving on daylight, I'm powering my house with it and even providing solar energy to my neighbors via the grid-tie.

Kermit was wrong. It's easy being green. Take a look at my solar production >

We all agree that rooftop solar is important. But what about utility scale solar? At CEC, we think that both have a place in our energy future, but only if they are completed in a responsible, environmentally beneficial manner.

Right now we have the chance to shape solar in our community through two opportunities. First, the County of Santa Barbara has begun a scoping process for the environmental impact report (EIR) for a solar project in Cuyama Valley. Second, the County is considering an amendment to the Land Use and Development Code that would allow solar on agricultural land. If you have concerns or comments on either of these topics, it is crucial that you get involved now so that those issues can be examined and addressed. This is the time during the planning process to have your voice heard.

CEC does not take a position on any project until we have examined the final environmental impact report. However, we do participate throughout the process, increase transparency, and encourage public participation.

To get involved, examine the project proposal. Then email or mail comments, suggestions, or concerns to:

Kathy McNeal Pfeifer ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Planning & Development, Energy Division
123 E. Anapamu St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Send your feedback by Friday, January 20.

Michel Saint-Sulpice is a gentle soul who takes his responsibility for the planet seriously, and always has. Growing up in France, his family was careful with resources, and he has carried forth that strong environmental ethic into his adult life as a Santa Barbara architect.

Michel aspires to be fossil fuel free by the end of 2012, and he’s well on his way. Solar panels provide his home with electricity, and he’s been driving a Toyota Prius since the second generation first hit the market. He completely removed his lawn to make room for a beautiful drought tolerant landscape. Greywater and collected rain water (with back-up well water) will soon irrigate a “food forest.” On the drawing board is a geothermal system that will heat the entire house (with cooling option), all his domestic water and his swimming pool year round. Since Michel produces all his electricity, his carbon footprint will be zero, and he will not be paying electric and gas bills any longer. He has taken these measures to express his deep appreciation for nature and beauty.

Recently, however, Michel took his environmental commitment to a new level, after attending a screening of “Revenge of the Electric Car,” co-sponsored by CEC in October. He was so inspired by the film and the subsequent panel of speakers (the director, two of the film’s stars, a Chevy Volt owner and a Nissan Leaf owner) that he went out and bought an all-electric Nissan Leaf the next day!

Before seeing the film, Michel had done his homework and knew he wanted to take advantage of the current government incentives to promote electric vehicles. But that night, he knew the time was right.

The added bonus for Michel is that when he plugs in his new electric vehicle at home, he has enough solar panels (63 of them!) on his roof to power his home and the car. In fact, Michel is part of a growing group of “early adopters” who are driving around town in cars powered by sunshine instead of oil.

One hour’s worth of the sun’s rays hitting earth could supply all of earth’s electricity needs for a year. Only if it could be captured, that is. Michel captures as much of that sunlight as he can, to power his life and energize his spirit. He envisions a future where all households are run efficiently and powered by the sun. Part of his life’s pleasure is working towards achieving this himself, and extending his grace (and extra energy) towards others.

I never go to gas stations anymore. I’ve stopped giving oil companies my money. I feel a bit like a junkie who’s finally starting to kick her addiction.

It started with changing a light bulb or two. Then I started eating more local food from a CSA and less meat (Cows are up there with cars when it comes to emissions.) They were little things, like deciding to only buy California wine (not a major a sacrifice!). But they were enough to make me start realizing that there are things I can DO besides wring my hands when it comes to reducing my carbon footprint. I went a little further -- creating a video that has over 60,000 views on YouTube (link in footer) and a website on ocean acidification. However, I was still using electricity and driving a minivan.

My husband and I are not generally early adopters. We're careful with money. But we did our research, and so our next step was not just a vote for a new technology, but a practical move as well. We put ourselves on a waiting list for the Nissan Leaf, an all-electric car. In the meantime, we got solar panels on our house, producing way more energy than we needed for our energy-efficient house -- specifically planning for the electric car. That meant that when we got the car this summer, we just drove home and plugged it into the sun.

We haven’t invested in a charging station. We just use a regular outlet. We charge it overnight and can drive up to 100 miles on a charge. We try to maximize all our miles on it, so sometimes we get low on miles. Once when we got low, we stopped at my in-law's house, plugged it in there, went for a pleasant walk while it charged a bit, and then headed home. But generally speaking, 100 mile range is more than enough. It re-charges when you are stopping and going downhill so you can drive it up the mountain, and then watch it recharge all the way down.

The Nissan Leaf fits my two kids and a dog, and handles better than any car I've ever driven. And I really love never having to stop for gas! But it wasn't until a friend's daughter stopped by the other night with a bunch of her college-age friends to show off the car, and when another friend's 13-year old daughter took a picture of it with her smartphone to share with her friends, that I realized that while we chose it sight unseen purely to reduce our emissions, we've found ourselves driving something that really is very cool.

And indeed, with its touch-screen and rear camera, it feels like a luxury car, but without the luxury price. In fact, a $5,000 tax rebate we got covers the lease for the first year. Since we don’t pay for gas, the car is essentially free right now.

Obviously solar panels aren’t free, but they are a sound investment. We spent $18,000 after tax rebates on lots of solar panels. Here’s the simple math: $50/month electric bill + $200/month gasoline bill = payoff in 6 years. Electric is a lot cheaper than gasoline so it’s not exactly a fair comparison. But with expected inflation in electric costs and the fact we can now get paid for excess energy we produce, it still makes sense from a strictly economic perspective.

I can’t kid myself that I’m home free when it comes to the environment. What about the energy used to make my new electric car? What about all those plane flights we like to take? However, I am closer than I have ever been to feeling like it is indeed possible to be carbon neutral.

A few years ago, when my son was about 6, he liked me to read him Calvin & Hobbes comics. In one comic, Calvin says, “Hey mom, what’s this I hear about the greenhouse effect?” “They say the pollutants we dump in the air are trapping in the sun’s heat and its going to melt the polar ice caps!” “Sure, YOU’LL be gone when it happens, but I won’t! Nice planet you’re leaving me!”

His mom says, “This from the kid who wants to be chauffeured any place more than a block away.”

Calvin replies, “Hey, nobody told me about the ice caps, all right?”

Re-reading this comic to my young son 20 years after it was written in 1989, I realized how long I’ve known about global warming. And it’s not just theoretical anymore. The ice caps are melting. Disasters of all sorts (fires, floods, hurricanes, droughts) are increasing, and this is with 1-2 degrees of warming -- not the 11 or so that may happen in my children's lifetime. It will get worse, but our actions now determine how much worse.

The good news is that the technology now exists to dramatically reduce our emissions -- if we’re willing to make doing so a priority. And, at least in the case of things like the electric car, it’s actually a whole lot of fun!

The Community Environmental Council (CEC) is a small and dedicated non-profit with a very big mission: ending the Santa Barbara region’s dependence on fossil fuels in one generation. It's been a busy year for CEC. After all, moving our region off fossil fuels is no small task. Check out this infographic of our most impressive accomplishments from 2011.

Thank you to everyone who helped us this year: donors, green-minded businesses, Solarize SB participants, Facebook fans, Earth Day attendees...  you all help power the clean energy movement in Santa Barbara. Consider giving back by making a donation to CEC this year.

Share this infographic on Facebook and Twitter.

Click the image for a full size version.

Share this infographic on Facebook and Twitter.

The days are getting shorter, but it's still bright and sunny in the solar realm. Both the City and County of Santa Barbara are working to make it easier for residents to get permits for rooftop solar arrays.

As with any construction project, solar permits are required for homeowners and businesses that want to install solar panels on their roofs. Processing time varies widely depending on the city or county where the permit is granted.

A new, expedited solar permitting process makes solar installations go more smoothly for all parties involved. This improved system lowers regulatory barriers for local businesses and simplifies the process for homeowners. It reduces the amount of municipal staff time needed to process the permits. It also cuts the amount of time solar companies spend on the process, which brings down the cost of solar overall. Solar that costs less, paired with a hassle-free process, makes it easier for Santa Barbarans to generate clean, local and renewable energy for our region. It's a good deal for our local environmental and economic health.

The City of Santa Barbara has lead the way for years with an over-the-counter permitting process that is quicker than most other cities. The City has recently revised their guidelines to make them even more user-friendly. With a little nudging from CEC, the County of Santa Barbara recently stepped up as well. They rewrote their guidelines for residential rooftop solar permitting to expedite the process (read the new County process). A process that used to take 2 to 6 weeks will now only take 2 days. We applaud the elected officials and dedicated staff who made these changes possible.

Now, CEC is working with the other cities in Santa Barbara County to take a second look at their permitting processes, as well as encourage expedited permitting for commercial projects.