Issue 310 ___Will you want to live in San Francisco - tomorrow ___February 2007

Sustainable Development : What is it?

In this issue we present a little primer of the latest enviromental terms:

The most commonly used definition of sustainable development comes from the report Our Common Future, more commonly known as the Brundtland Report, which states that sustainable development is that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. The 2005 World Summit Outcome Document refers to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as: economic development; social development; and environmental protection.

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental degradation is the damage to the biosphere as a whole due to human activity. Environmental degradation occurs when nature's resources (such as trees, habitat, earth, water and air) are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them, when pollution results in irreparable damage done to the environment or when human beings destroy or damage ecosystems in the process of development. Environmental degradation can take many forms including, but not limited to, desertification, deforestation, extinction and radioactivity. Some of the major causes of such degradation include: overpopulation, urban sprawl, industrial pollution, waste dumping, intensive farming, over fishing, industrialization, introduction of invasive species and a lack of environmental regulations.

The goal of environmental sustainability is to minimize this degradation and the processes they lead to.

An Unsustainable Situation
An unsustainable situation occurs when natural capital (the sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity uses nature's resources only at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally.
Theoretically, the long term final result of environmental degradation would result in local environments that are no longer able to sustain human populations to any degree. Such degradation on a global scale would, if not addressed mean extinction for humanity.

In the short-term, environmental degradation leads to declining standards of living, the extinctions of large numbers of species, health problems in the human population, conflicts, sometimes violent, between groups fighting for a dwindling resource, water scarcity and many other major problems.

Criticism of the term
Many environmentalists have criticized the term "sustainable development" as an oxymoron, claiming that economic policies based around concepts of growth and continued depletion of resources cannot be sustainable, since that term implies resources remain constant. Resources such as petroleum are consumed much faster than they are created by natural processes, and are continually being depleted. However, technologies such as renewable energy, recycling and the provision of services can, if carried out appropriately, provide for growth in the economic sense, either without the use of limited resources, or by using a relatively small amount of resources with a small impact. In the latter case, even the use of small amounts of resources may be unsustainable if continued indefinitely.

What is Green Building?
"Green building" is a process to create buildings and supporting infrastructure that minimize the use of resources, reduce harmful effects on the environment, and create healthier environments for people.
Resource-efficient or green buildings make both environmental and economic sense. Buildings are often expensive, wasteful of precious natural resources and harmful to both workers and the environment. In the U.S. alone, buildings use 30% of our total energy. Five billion gallons of water per day are used just to flush toilets. Typical commercial construction generates 2-2.5 pounds of solid waste per square foot of floor space.

The source of the material in this article is the website of the San Francisco Department of the Environment which publishes the Green Building Resource Guide, now available.

What is LEED®?
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. Green buildings are designed, constructed, renovated and operated in an environmentally and energy-efficient manner. To earn certification, a building project must meet certain prerequisites and performance benchmarks ("credits") within each category. Projects are awarded the label Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum depending on the number of credits they achieve. This comprehensive approach is the reason LEED-certified buildings have reduced operating costs, healthier and more productive occupants, and conserve our natural resources.
According to WorldWatch Institute, construction, demolition and operation of buildings collectively consume up to 40% of the earth's energy and other natural resources. New design practices, technology, and materials can significantly reduce the resources used in the construction and operation of buildings and their cost of operation. (This article will be continued next month).
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THREATENED:
Sanchez Creek Canyon, Pacifica

Here’s an almost unknown wild place that is part of Sharp Park Golf Course and owned by the City of San Francisco.

San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, the SF Public Utilities Commission, and the North Central Coast Water District are proposing to build a pipeline and a 20,000-sq ft water tank platform 40' tall to bring water to the Sharp Park Golf Course. The tank and concrete pad will transform the canyon's secluded, wild character. The proposal is on a fast track, and there is no process for public input. Come to see for yourself!
Hikes

Sanchez Creek Canyon, Pacifica
Sunday, February 25, 10 a.m. to noon
Leaders: Jake Sigg & Jon Campo

Join Jake Sigg and Jon Campo on an exploration of one of the Bay Area's hidden jewels. Sanchez Creek Canyon, just 15 minutes south of San Francisco in Pacifica, is home to rough-skinned newts, rubber boa snakes, and federally listed red-legged frogs. This relatively intact watershed is one of only two canyons in Pacifica that has never been developed, except for the presence of a rustic archery range. Expect to see red-stemmed dogwood, hazelnut, fringe cups, columbine, oceanspray, trillium, slim Solomon, woodland sanicle, five species of ferns, and many other local gems. Only an informed public can stop this development, or slow it down sufficiently to insist on a public process, including hearings. If you missed this chance to visit Sanchez Creek Canyon call Recreation and Parks Department General Manager Yomi Agunbiade at 831-2700 or e-mail to Yomi.Agunbiade@sfgov.org and demand a hearing.

Yerba Buena Island (San Francisco County)
Sunday, April 29, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Leader: Mike Wood
(Reservations required) To reserve, contact Mike Wood at wood-biological@mindspring.com or 925-899-1282. Hike co-sponsored by California Native Plant Society and San Francisco Tomorrow

Yerba Buena Island, only a mile and a half offshore, was entirely overlooked by early botanical explorers. This familiar yet little-known feature of the San Francisco Bay was placed under military control in 1868 and has been off-limits to the public for 130 years. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), the Navy began the process of identifying surplus ands no longer essential for military operations. Mike Wood conducted a two-year floristic study of the island for the Navy’s base closure environmental analysis. Join Mike for a circumnavigation of this natural geologic feature. Remarkable native plants! Astounding views!

Lobos Creek, The Presidio
Saturday, May 5, 11 a.m.
Leader: Michael Chasse
Hike co-sponsored by California Native Plant Society and San Francisco Tomorrow

One of the last free-flowing creeks in San Francisco, Lobos Creek serves as a drinking water source for the Presidio. As such, the public is generally not allowed access to the creek. Here’s your chance to go
“inside the fence” and explore the oak and willow riparian wonderland of Lobos Creek! Participants will enjoy the creekside vegetation such as horsetails, bulrushes, and one of the few San Francisco occurrences of western goldenrod (Euthamia occidentalis). Efforts to diversify the coast live oak and arroyo willow riparian understory will also be highlighted. Time permitting, the group will also explore the restored dune scrub habitat adjacent to the creek. Meet at the Lobos Creek Valley boardwalk trailhead, near the El Camino Del Mar/25th Avenue entrance to the Presidio. The trailhead is at the southwest corner of the parking lot, which is to the east of Lincoln Boulevard. To RSVP, call Michael Chasse, National Park Service at 415-561-4457.

TREES: Despite Our Good Intentions

Dear SFT Newsletter Editor:
In the January newsletter, you purport to portray "two sides" of an issue--when the articles you juxtapose have almost nothing to do with each other. The reason I am writing is because there is a clear implication that I am opposed to planting street trees. I have been a friend and supporter of Friends of the Urban Forest from its beginning in 1981, and I continue to be a financial contributor as well as member. I want more street trees, not fewer, but I want them for their amenity value, not their climate-changing abilities, which are non-existent.
Jake Sigg

Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance
It’s called the Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance but it’s really a mandate to the major grocery chains that their stores in San Francisco should provide compostable
plastic bags that could go into the green cans with or without kitchen scraps or garden waste. The measure was introduced by Supervisors Mirkarimi, Ammiano, McGoldrick, Daly, Sandoval and Peskin. It would require the use of compostable plastic and/or recyclable paper checkout bags by grocery stores located in the City and County of San Francisco. Public hearings on the measure will be held as early as March 2007.

Goodbye Fat Fluorescent Tubes
Mayor Newsom recently announced that he has asked the City Attorney to draft legislation banning the use of old-style fluorescent tubes in San Francisco’s commercial buildings. The old fluorescent tubes, known as T-12’s, were at one time the standard for energy efficient lighting. The lighting industry, however, has made significant technological advances over the past decade, and new model fluorescent tubes are much more efficient, and save users energy and money. While many businesses in the city have switched already to the slimmer, more efficient T-8 fluorescent tubes, the legislation’s purpose is to make the changes universal in all of the city’s commercial buildings.
San Francisco has greenhouse gas reduction goals of 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The Department of the Environment estimates that if the remaining T-12s in the city were replaced by the new T-8s, it would save enough energy to power 7,200 San Francisco residences. Emissions savings would total 16,500 tons of CO2, the equivalent of taking 3,000 cars off the road. Contact the city’s current Energy Watch program, a partnership with PG&E, at 415-554-6131.

The Latest: green weapons
straight from the BBC and the Times of London
One of the world's biggest arms manufacturers, British Aerospace, is investing heavily in eco-friendly weapons. Soldiers and civilians may now be blown up by a recyclable explosive, hit by a reduced-toxin rocket, or bombed by a fuel-efficient fighter jet. Biodegradable land mines and their victims both turn into compost over time. Quieter warheads reduce noise pollution, less smoky grenades reduce air pollution, and reduced-lead bullets, if left in the environment, "do not cause any additional harm," says Deborah Allen, director of corporate social responsibility at British Aerospace. Meanwhile, British troops will stay safe in their armored vehicles -- hybrid, naturally. "No company, regardless of what they make, can now just make a product, bung it out there, and then forget about it," says Allen. "We all have a duty of care to ensure that from cradle to grave products are being used appropriately and do not do lasting harm."

Survey shows support for Car free Saturdays in Golden Gate Park

The City’s Parking and Traffic Department sent 30 workers out two weekends in August to count cars and pedestrians and to interview park visitors about the impacts of road closure of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park. Just now released, this exhaustive study found that over twice as many people visit the Park on Sunday as Saturday and are twice as likely to visit the Museum on Sunday. Driving visitors also found it easier to Park on Sunday, most finding parking in less then five minutes. The survey also found very few, surveyed on Saturday, who felt Sunday Closure a discouragement to visiting the park while over 1/3 of those surveyed on Sunday said it was why they were there. The entire survey is posted at: http://www.cora.org/JFKAnalysis.pdf Call your Supervisor and tell them it’s time for Healthy Saturdays.


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger postponed a High Speed Rail bond vote scheduled for 2004 and again for 2006 and he now wants to cancel the vote in 2008. Quick trips from downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco by High Speed Rail is the best way to relieve highway and airport congestion. Ask the Governor and Legislature to keep High Speed Rail on the 2008 ballot:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Capital, Sacramento CA 95814: SF Phone 703-2218
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, senator.perata@sen.ca.gov
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez , assemblymember.nunez@assembly.ca.gov

JOIN THE FIGHT AS AN SFT MEMBER!
You can help protect our urban environment as an up-to-date member of San Francisco Tomorrow. Celebrate SFT’s 35th Year of Action by sending in your dues check as a 2006 member. Your choice: $15, $25, $35, $50 or more. Make checks payable to “San Francisco Tomorrow” and mail them to SFT at 41 Sutter Street, #1579, San Francisco 94104-4903.