Past Reports

5/8/24

Casey started with some sad news that the Ninth Circuit Court dismissed Juliana v. US on lack of standing.  As a reminder, a group of young people and “future generations” in federal district court in Oregon sued alleging that the federal government had violated their constitutional rights by contributing to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Don’t worry, there are many other cases in the US and around the world underway. Using the legal system is an important tool in the fight to preserve a habitable planet.  The Columbia (ugh, I know) Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law tracks all climate related lawsuits: https://climatecasechart.com/

Pat stopped by and let us know that the Climate Protection Ad Hoc Committee now has a Climate Protection Working Group Meetingopen to the public. The next meeting is Tuesday May 14 from 3PM to 4:30 PM in the Community Meeting Room on the ground floor of City Hall. There is also an option to attend by Zoom.  Find more details here:  https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Events-Directory/Public-Works/May-Climate-Protection-Working-Group-Meeting Thanks, Pat, for letting us know! 

Diane reported over 90 new signups for the heat pump water heater program in the last month!  See latest data below. She attributes these signups to a number of factors: the city sent out a post card; Earth Day tabling; and, 350.org canvasing, among others.  Find the latest data below.  Thanks, Diane!

Speaking of canvassing, join us this Saturday for our May canvass with 350.org. Come grab some pizza and head out to inform our neighbors about the heat pump water heater program.  Sign up here!  You’ll make Mother Earth proud this Mother’s Day weekend. She will appreciate you. So will we!

You recall that Sgt. Alex asked us to not hang our END THE ERA OF FOSSIL FUELS sign between the flag poles in King Plaza. He said it was fine to hang it on the sad blue trees in the plaza. Well, nope – now he says that someone complained and that we may no longer dress the sad trees, probably their only moment of joy each week. He said it was fine if we held it up with our own poles.  I only wish that more people were complaining that we are not ending the era of fossil fuels quickly enough. Sigh.

This Friday, Ingrid leads us in a conversation about the videos (see below) she recommended we watch. There are some good ones!  Looking forward to our conversation. Thanks, Ingrid!

5/2/24

We celebrated amazing events over the past week: the rally in King Plaza, the city council “flood,” and the tabling event at the Paly Quad, among others. We are fortunate to live in a community committed to making positive changes for all Earthlings, humans included.

LeeAnn and Robin reported on all the exciting developments in renewable energy, batteries, and lowering emissions in carbon-intensive industries like cement and steel because of the Inflation Reduction Act – the US’s biggest climate policy initiative to date.  They hope it will lead to the re-election of Biden.

Meanwhile, potential young Biden voters have reached their limit and are taking a stand around the nation to demand that the US stop supporting the killing of kids.  There are two key ingredients to mass uprisings: 1) social injustice, and 2) an existential threat. Young people feel these both acutely now and are rising up. Do you blame them?  It was on 5/4, 54 years ago this Saturday, that four students died at Kent State when they stood up to the then injustice and existential threat, US involvement in the Viet Nam War. This song is a poignant reminder of that tragedy: Ohio.   How many more young people must die before we change direction?  

Thanks to Casey, Elders for Sound Democracy has published its first newsletter. Congrats Casey!  See it here. I notice there’s an action to promote youth vote.  Remember the youth uprisings in the summer of 2020 right before the last presidential election when the then incumbent lost? I hope Biden takes note.

Plan on celebrating Mother Earth on Mother’s Day weekend, Saturday 5/11. Join our canvass to inform our Palo Alto neighbors about the city’s heat pump water heater program. (Why are people still using fossil gas water heaters?) Sign up here.  Your mother would be proud of you!

This Friday, Kadir will begin recording the next Green Mic video. Come, learn a line, and say your piece.  We will postpone the climate slow march until later in the month.

I leave you with an Angela Davis quote: 

You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time. 

4/25/24

Wow, wow, wow! PASCC did an AMAZING job oganizing the Earth Day Rally! At the peak, I counted 124 rally goers. Love the engery and messages from moderators Avroh and Floyd, speakers Angelina, Keshav, Amie, Joby and keynote Julia, followed by dancers and musicians Raging Grannies, Dance of Peace and The Climate Strikers! So many organizations with tables around King Plaza. The Climate Slow Marchers – George, Casey, Karen, Robin, Carol, Ingrid, and Ian – marched around downtown while Rick, Kimberly, Aidan and Om handed out flyers promoting the rally. Monarch Sharat “flew” around the procession.  If you would like to review the speeches, you can find them here.  Thanks, everyone, for bringin’ it!

Chris Cassell at Pro Bono Photo delivered a stunning array of great shots. You can find his work here: https://www.probonophoto.org/2024/19Apr24PA-ClimateRally    

ABC7 News covered the rally:  https://abc7news.com/palo-alto-students-hold-rally-to-end-fossil-fuels-ahead-of-earth-day/14699459/

On Earth Day, Monday, April 22, the PASCC team “flooded” the Palo Alto City Council chamber. Julia and Phoebe and presented PASCC’s climate policy recommendations to the council.  Watch their presentation here:  https://youtu.be/Srqra5D7Tk0

On Tuesday, Paly Eco Club members Vince and Jack organize an Earth Day event on the Paly Quad. Great to see Avroh, Om and Aidan. I learned that Aiden and his sister Eliana wrote a book about Tesla! Also, great to see our friends from 350 Silicon Valley, Kit Kat Adventure, and the City of Palo Alto’s Sustainability Team, among others. Great job organizing this event, Vince and Jack!

We have much to celebrate this Friday as we hold our 119th consecutive week of action. Also, let’s elect the message for our First Friday Climate Slow March in May.

4/18/24

Reminder: Global Climate Strike/Earth Day Rally Tomorrow!  Climate Slow Marchers head out at 4PM and return to King Plaza for the Youth Climate Leader speeches at 5PM.  After that, the Raging Grannies, Dance of Peace and The Climate Strikers! perform for rally goers. Come join the fun!

Last Friday, we discussed the final chapter of All We Can Save entitled “Rise” with the Climate Friends Book Club facilitated by Claudia. We found the words of the fearless women climate leaders inspiring and hopeful.   After our discussion, Ingrid volunteered to take the lead for the next discussion on May 10, and Ian volunteered for June 14. Thanks, Claudia, Ingrid and Ian!

Sgt. Alex stopped by, his first visit to our weekly climate demonstration. He wanted to make sure we were all set for our April 19 climate rally. He kindly gave us permission to hang our End The Era of Fossil Fuel banner between the blue (sad?) trees.  (Apparently, hanging our banner between the flagpoles is a no no.)  Thank you, Sgt. Alex!

The Climate Slow Marchers discussed conducting a slow march around downtown prior to Friday’s rally in King Plaza. The marcher’s message: KIDS DESERVE CLIMATE ACTION NOW. Casey created a beautiful flyer just for the occasion, and Rick and Kimberly plan to hand them out to EVERYONE in downtown. Thanks to the entire Slow March Team!  

Kadir created a website to promote our Green Mic videos and our group’s actions.  Check it out here: https://www.greenmic.org/ Thank you, Kadir!

Chris from Pro Bono Photo will be joining us Friday to memorialize the Global Climate Strike. Thank you, Chris, Jack and Pro Bono Photo!

This is truly a global event!  David will be joining the Climate Strike and Rally in Dhaka.  Thanks, David, for your persistence and commitment!

Marianna facilitates an amazing monthly Climate Leaders conversation and publishes a fantastic news-you-can-use monthly email. Don’t miss out. Sign up right here. Here’s a sample of the latest email: April News You Can Use (mailchi.mp)

Vincent created a website to keep us updated on the many climate-related activities in our community. Check it out here: https://climatecommunitycenter.org/  There’s something for everyone—we have such an amazing community!  If you do not see your action highlighted on the website, please be sure to let Vincent know so that he can add it. Thank you so much, Vincent!

Here We GO!  See you tomorrow in King Plaza. 4PM for the Slow March and 5PM for the Youth Climate Leader Rally!

4/10/24

It was great to have Juan stop by and share his climate journey. He talks the talk and walks the walk – no flying, hemp clothing, vegan. Like many in our group, he is fighting for his grandkid’s future. Although some might find Juan’s living-lightly style austere, he is clearly enjoying abundance. Once we all value the true meaning of abundance, perhaps we can deliver that to our grandkids?  We will see… Meanwhile, thanks to Juan for setting such a fine example!

George took a stand against Chase Bank, the US bank most responsible for funding fossil fuel infrastructure and the destruction of the planet.  Thank you, George, for raising our awareness!

Ingrid organized an amazing group viewing of The Week.  We first met Friday evening and then again Sunday evening.  The Sunday group stayed together after the viewing for a continued, fabulous discussion. Thank you, Ingrid, for introducing us to members of your amazing community.

Kadir has released our first Green Mic video!   Check it out here: https://youtu.be/3-egYQ45nNk Please watch to the end and click on the thumbs up button – this will help the video get more impressions.  Thanks to Kadir for his mad directing and producing skills!  

Debbie facilitated a debrief or our recent Heat Pump Water Heater program canvass. Amanda shared insights about the uptake on the program and we discussed plans for continued community outreach. Our next canvass is scheduled for Saturday May 11. Thanks, Debbie, for your leadership!

Diane updated us on the Heat Pump Water Heater Program – see below for details.  We saw a nice jump in sign-ups since the canvass, though installations dropped dramatically in the past month.  Hopefully, the sign-ups result in more installations.  Thanks for sharing this data, Diane!

Ingrid was excited to share news about the new Aptera, a solar-powered, three-wheeled vehicle.  Meanwhile, David continues his global journey on his solar-powered, three-wheeled vehicle. He is currently wheeling through India where he is reporting extraordinarily high temperatures.  See David on the road here. Stay safe, and keep trekking David! 

Avroh has been doing amazing work organizing the Climate Rally in King Plaza at 5PM on Friday April 19.  Be sure to join us and listen to our local youth leaders share their voices with the community.

This Friday we will gather in King Plaza for our joint Climate Strike and Climate Friends Book Club meeting.  We will discuss the final chapter of All We Can Save entitled “Rise.”

4/3/24

Firstly, there has been a change in plans for the upcoming Global Climate Strike on April 19.  Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition (PASCC) is organizing a rally in King Plaza from 5PM to 6:15PM.  We have been invited to join them to bring energy to their rally.  PASCC is extending the permit to 8PM so that we can continue the program as we had planned with music, dance and an opportunity for an open mic for those that wish to share their thoughts and feelings about the climate crisis. 

Ingrid is organizing our upcoming viewing of The Week.  Please mark your calendar and join us on Friday Apil 5, Sunday April 7 and Thursday April 11 for the three viewings from 5:30 to 7PM.  Let me know if you plan to attend, and I will send you a reminder. Or just join us on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86591524726?pwd=amt0NDhtVnVHQ1FoU0V5OUhYZWNlUT09 Thanks, Ingrid, for organizing The Week viewing!

George shared John Steinbeck’s book, The Log From The Sea Of Cortez. This is a non-fiction book – a dialogue between Steinbeck and his close friend and marine biologist, Ed Ricketts, who imparts an Eastern philosophical, wholistic view of man’s relationship with nature to Steinbeck thinking.  Steinbeck and Ricketts were environmentalists before that was even a thing! And, these dialogues give us insights into Steinbeck’s other works.  I am very much enjoying the book—thank you, George!

The Bay Area punk rock band Green Day held a surprise concert at the Filmore this week to benefit the UN’s efforts to address the climate crisis. Coincidentally, my band Full Immersion played a Green Day song at a concert in Sunnyvale on Saturday, so I had the chance to talk about the climate crisis to the audience and wear a special version of our Fridays for Future shirt at the gig.  If you like Green Day’s American Idiot, you can check out our version here:  https://youtu.be/GiDwyvFuOps

Angel sent a Fridays For Future t-shirt commemorating our Week 100 rally!  It is a cool, black shirt that was perfect for our gig.  Thank you, Angel, for your encouragement!

Kadir inspired me to fast. I made it 38 hours.  It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. When I broke the fast, I thought I was having a normal-sized meal, but after I felt stuffed!  I guess you don’t need to eat that much after a fast.  Also, Kadir is preparing to launch our first Green Mic video. Thank you for your inspiration, Kadir!

This Friday we will gather in King Plaza but retreat to NOLA if it is raining.  We will postpone the Climate Slow March and perform that at the April 19 climate rally.

3/28/24

Director/Producer Kadirwas on his game as he guided us to create a series of amazing videos for the first Green Mic production. It was great to have so many participants in this project -- I’m counting 10!  Can’t wait to see Kadir’s director’s cut.  Thank you, Kadir, for initiating this!

We discussed what issues we would like to raise at the upcoming Friday April 19 Climate Rally.  Carol and Ian plan to speak on reducing plastic consumption. Amy will advocate for a plant-based diet. Hilary is promoting the elimination of gas appliances in our homes for both health and climate reasons. Debbie will keep the focus on the growing momentum of Palo Alto’s heat pump water heater program.  John expressed the need for local government sustainable energy. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe expressed interest in participating. Sharat Lin – Dance of Peace – will provide both dance and eloquent speech.  The Raging Grannies will deliver their passionate song and dance. Matt is recruiting students who want to share their perspectives. The Climate Strikers! will perform climate-related songs.  The Climate Slow Marchers will deliver their poignant message to passing pedestrians and motorists. It is shaping up to be another fantastic Global Climate Stike & Rally!  If you have not already, sign up here and let me know how you would like to participate and contribute.  https://actionnetwork.org/events/global-fight-to-end-fossil-fuels-april-19

Ingrid is organizing our next group viewing of The Week.  If you would like to join us, sign up here: https://app.theweek.ooo/invitation/1711659966131x887754160915349500  Thank you, Ingrid, for leading this!

If it is raining at noon on Friday, we will head over to NOLA and continue our planning for the Apr 5 Slow March, our viewing of The Week, and Apr 19 Global Climate Strike and Rally.

3/20/24

Friday was a gorgeous day, a perfect backdrop to our heartfelt conversation about how to preserve a habitable planet for all life.  After creating our list of candidates for the next Sign March climate message, we again used rank choice voting and cast our ballots.  Over the weekend, after all ballots were received – 10 in all – the winner was decided in a very close tie-breaker election: KIDS DESERVE CLIMATE ACTION. Thanks for participating in the selection!  I have started to create the signs in preparation for the next march.

Next, we focused on completing and refining the powerful script for our first Green Mic video. for developing the draft and leading the discussion.  We completed the script and assigned our lines.  We even conducted rehearsal recordings.  Kadir reports that they are very helpful and will make the actual recording all that much better.  Thanks, everyone, for sharing your voices and your messages!

While we had planned to have a joint meeting with the Climate Friends Book Club this Friday, our book club discussion has been postponed.  Rather, this Friday we will record our Green Mic video segments, decide on a hashtag for our climate march, and develop a speaker list for the Global Climate Strike on April 19.

3/13/24

On Friday we marched!  We informed diners, pedestrians, shoppers, and motorists that CLIMATE ACTION LATER IS TOO LATE. We marched into Lytton Plaza and raised our voices to let all in earshot know the urgency of our current moment. It was another exhilarating action.

At our march debrief, we noted the people who took pictures and videos—one sympathetic fellow followed us for a while.  We received many well wishes and a few stern glares. 

The Grim Reaper is a big attraction, receiving both giggles and, I’m afraid, some tears.  If the goal of our theatrical march is to connect people emotionally with the climate crisis, we appear to be succeeding.

While we took climate action on International Women’s Day, David joined a celebration in India.  Check out the cool video he posted here.

Meanwhile, this Thursday 3/14 is known as Pi Day. Coincidentally, this year 3/14 is also US Earth Overshoot Day. In other words, if everyone on the planet consumed as much as we in the US do, we'd all have to stop consuming after March 14 to let the earth recover from our consumption intensity – stop consuming energy, stop flying and driving, stop eating beef, and stop buying so much stuff. And we are only 74 days into the year – 292 more days left of us living beyond our means – taking on a debt that will be paid in the future. If we don't control our consumption, mother nature will foreclose on us. Climate collapse, food system collapse, political system collapse – it's already started. Do we choose to let our consumption crash hard or do we lower it now in line with the Earth's capacity to sustain us and land softly? The Earth will come full circle, with or without us. Can we evolve now and exhibit the required restraint?

Ingrid is organizing our next viewing of The Week. We encourage you to join us for this upcoming viewing and consider organizing a viewing with your own friends, family and community. I will be happy to provide support.  Please let Ingrid or me know if you would like to join and we will send you  the calendar invitations and zoom links.  Thanks, Ingrid, for organizing this!  And, thanks again to Casey for introducing us to The Week!

Diane provided us with an update on the Heat Pump Water Heater program. The monthly installation reached its highest level since the start of the program, 48 installations per month (goal = 83 installations per month.) Find the details below. Thanks, Diane!

This Friday, Kadir will shoot videos answering the question, “What does climate change mean to you.” Also, we will hold an election for our next climate sign message. Please bring your ideas!  I will bring the guitar so we can also make music together. 

3/7/24

Although we postponed our First Friday Climate Slow March due to poor weather, we met in King Plaza and didn’t let a little drizzle dampen our discourse!  This coming Friday’s forecast is sunshine, so we will march this week!

Matthew joined us for the first time. Being an expert in cognitive biases, he has helped me better understand the tricks our brains play on us to keep us from taking action to address the climate crisis and how to overcome those biases. He said he felt *guilty* for not joining us sooner. For those you interested in learning more about how guilt, shame and anxiety, and their opposites (pride, valued and ataraxia) motivate each Enneagram type to take action, check out this video. Thanks for joining us, Matthew!

Rick shared that he has been nominated as the “story weaver” for the upcoming intergenerational climate conference. We look forward to hearing more about this fantastic event.  Thanks, Rick, for all your efforts!

Casey introduced us to the film series “The Week,” and Ingrid, George and I joined for this series of three films.  We are very excited to share these with more people and watch them together as a group on Zoom. Ingrid is actively recruiting the next viewing cohort. If you are interested, please let us know!  Thanks, Casey and Ingrid!

Lee Ann wishes we were doing more to reduce plastic pollution.   Another exposé has come out about the fossil fuel industry’s lies about plastic recycling.  We know we really can’t recycle much of it, and we simply need to stop using this material that pollutes both the planet and our bodies. We discussed advocating having the city sue fossil fuel companies for damages to our bodies and to the city’s budget, and for promoting those lies.  Thanks, Lee Ann, for raising this important topic!

Kadir led our discussion about promoting the upcoming April 19 Climate Rally with a scripted video to post to our new Tik Tok (@green_microphone) and other social media accounts.   Thanks, Kadir, for leading the charge on this effort!

Judy is excited about a book talk at Books, Inc in Town and Country Village this Thursday 3/7 at 7PM with author Timmon Wallis who will be discussing his book Warheads to Windmills: Preventing Climate Catastrophe and Nuclear War. Thanks for letting us know about this event, Judy!

We have secured our permit for the April 19 Climate Rally – Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels in Lytton Plaza.  Please RSVP and send this link to your network: https://actionnetwork.org/events/global-fight-to-end-fossil-fuels-april-19.  Please let me know if you are interested in speaking at the event or if your group would like to have a table to promote your actions.  Yay!

This Friday, first we will march, and then Kadir will record our Tic Tok video.  Woohoo!

2/29/24

We had a wide-ranging conversation about the perpetrators of climate disinformation and how to combat that with conversations, humor, theater and music. We reviewed our 2024 goals and entertained a proposal to promote climate action in  neighboring communities.  EvenKing Earth stopped by and shared his tribute to Louis Pasteur. 

Next, we turned to planning the April 19 Climate Rally – Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels.  Please RSVP and send this link to your network: https://actionnetwork.org/events/global-fight-to-end-fossil-fuels-april-19

Kadir is excited to create a short video to promote the upcoming rally. We’ll each share one sentence for the video. Thanks, Kadir, for organizing this!

Kudos to the 350 SV Palo Alto team for organizing another amazing canvass. This time we reached nearly 400 homes to get the word out on Palo Alto’s heat pump water heater program.  On Monday, Diane reported that there was a big surge in sign-ups, so we know that canvassing works! If you haven’t already upgraded your water heater, start now by contacting the Palo Alto water heater program office here.  Prepare now so that you won’t be caught by surprise when your water heater fails!  

The next Climate Friendly Book Club meeting is scheduled for Friday 3/22. We will finish All We Can Save, the last chapter 8 – “Rise.”  By the way, one of the book’s editors/contributors, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, is releasing her next book – What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures – this summer. You can preorder here.   Thanks, Claudia, for organizing these powerful conversations!’

Casey encouraged Ingrid, George and me to attend a viewing of The Week, a powerful film about people’s growing awareness of our polycrisis and coming collapse of food, biodiversity, political/security and climate systems. We then had a guided conversation empathizing with young people and the world in chaos that awaits them. The next two sessions will focus on how we got here and what we can do going forward. Thanks, Casey, for bringing us into these impactful conversations.  

The Coalition for a True School of Sustainability is encouraging people to attend an upcoming meeting of the Committee on Funding for Energy Research and Education (CFERE) at Stanford. The session is on Wednesday, March 13. Learn more and RSVP here. We appreciate their work to eliminate fossil fuel industry money and influence from academic research.

The First Friday Climate Slow March is scheduled for this Friday, but the weather forecast does not look promising. If it is raining, we will postpone the march and seek shelter at NOLA for lunch and conversation.

2/23/24

Our first order of business was to select our next message for the upcoming Climate Slow March on Friday 3/1.  We first created a list of our favorite messages, eight in total. Then we used rank choice voting (RCV)where each of us listed our most favorite to least favorite message in order.  It was a close race, and it went to the fifth round, but finally choice A won the day: LATER IS TOO LATE CLIMATE ACTION NOW. The sign preparations can now begin.  RCV worked very well for this – it is a great tool for democratic decision making. Great job everyone!

Mark and Duffy stopped by and brought their friends, Mike and Willow.  A pop-up musical festival emerged as Mike played guitar, and we all sang along. Here’s a sample of the fun: video.  Hope to have another pop-up music festival again soon!

Ingrid shared a pamphlet being distributed at her church entitled “Climate + Faith: How We Can Help Meet the Greatest Challenge in Human History.”  It describes a 40-day program over the course of Lent to reflect on and develop a plan to become a climate activist.  Reading through it, I found that it is a very practical guide to help people understand the climate crisis and build resolve to address it. Me? I am giving up fossil fuels for Lent! Thanks for sharing, Ingrid!

Mark and Duffy stopped by and brought their friends Mike and Willow.  A pop-up musical festival emerged as Mike played guitar and we all sang along. Here’s a quick sample of the fun:   Hope to have another pop-up music festival again soon!

Pizza will be served! Yes, 350 Silicon Valley Palo Alto will be fueling canvassers with pizza before they head out to canvass this weekend to get the word out on Palo Alto’s Heat Pump Water Heater Program.  Join the food and fun and sign up here.

Casey and I are very excited about an upcoming special online event – a screening of The Week, a 3-part experience.   Join Casey and me for the Tuesday Feb. 27, 5PM session here. Thanks for sharing this, Casey!

Peninsula Peace and Justice Center is hosting an online conversation with Juilia Zeitlin, Co-Founder, Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition working Group Member, Palo Alto Sustainability Office, on March 7 at 7PM. Register for the event here.

We missed George and Robin and hope they both feel better and join us again soon.

On a final sad note, RIP Shirley Ann Powers, Raging Granny and peace activist extraordinaire: obit.  We will keep fighting in your honor.

2/15/24

Claudia led our Climate Friend’s Book Club discussion of All We Can Save chapter 7 “Nourish.” We all agreed that the tone of this chapter was very optimistic and hopeful as we reviewed many climate solutions based on regeneration and renewal of our food and natural systems.  For instance, I learned a lot about how soil can sequester carbon and water, making them more resilient to drought and able to grow much more nutritious food.  There are so many wonderful solutions if we just take the time to listen to the natural world! Robin was surprised to learn how much carbon humans released from tilling soil, even before we started burning fossil fuels. George reminded us that we must stop killing the planet – amen to that! Four of us shared that we have stopped flying to avoid burning those fossil fuels. Ingrid led a reading of one of the poems in the chapter with different readers taking different lines. 

It was beautiful to hear everyone’s voices. Thanks, Claudia, for leading this wonderful discussion.

LeeAnn noted that small mouth fish are more sustainable than those with larger mouths. Thanks for sharing that tip, LeeAnn.  Here’s an interesting article on sustainable seafood.

Rick reported that his apartment flooded in the recent storm This is the second time since he’s moved in.  With higher atmospheric temperatures, there is now 10% more water vapor in the air, leading to wetter storms like we are experiencing.  The time to prepare and adapt is now. Thanks for sharing, Rick.

Kadir joined us for the first time, a friend of Kimberly’s. He is optimistic for the future because of people’s innate desire to solve problems. He is working on highly energy efficient cost-effective buildings. Thanks for joining us, Kadir!

Scott, also a friend of Kimberly’s, joined us. He is frustrated by a lack of progress and wants to decrease oil production.  He’s worried that restricting SUPPLY will increase prices and is politically unviable.  Meanwhile, our group also focuses on reducing DEMAND, which doesn’t have those concerns.  Thanks for joining us, Scott!

Both Claudia and I shared that we are rewilding our front yards.  We are enjoying the process of nature reclaiming the space.  George chuckled and shared that he and his wife rewilded their yard years ago.  I think we need a field trip to see George’s yard!  

We next turned to the upcoming election. LeeAnn pointed out that the Sierra Club’s report card is a great resource: https://www.sierraclub.org/california/report-cards Thanks for sharing that, LeeAnn!

Linda stopped by and pointed out that the City of Palo Alto is still contracting with services that have not electrified their vehicles and equipment.  She pointed specifically to Brightviewlandscapers and the street sweepers. It’s a great point, and we need to ensure that Palo Alto’s S/CAP includes prioritizing contractors who have gone electric. 

Dina, visiting from Toronto, shared how her city is working to replace gas burning equipment with heat pumps.  That is great to hear!  Thanks for your advocacy, Dina!

Diane provided us with an update on the heat pump water heater program—see below.  There is a nice uptick in participation!  Thanks, Diane!

Speaking of heat pumps, 350 Silicon Valley Palo Alto is preparing for the next community canvass on Feb 24 and 25 to get the word out on Palo Alto’s Heat Pump Water Heater Program.  We want our community to enjoy the benefits of California’s TECH Rebate before it runs out. Join the fun and sign up here.

This Friday, let’s decide on the wording for our upcoming Climate Slow March message and begin the conversation about the next Global Climate Strike this spring.

2/8/24

What an amazing march! We headed out after noon, lined up with our signs wearing our cool, climate tree ponchos. We slow marched our way through the streets of downtown where we were warmly received by folks taking pictures and videos and accepting our handouts suggesting that they join a local climate group. Kids were especially delighted to see us!  Special thanks to Chris of Pro Bono Photo for his spectacular photography. Check out his pictures here. You can find pics and videos that I took here.

After the march, we conducted a debrief.  Here are the notes.  We all agreed to conduct the next march, weather permitting, on Friday March 1. We also wished Casey a happy birthday!

350 Silicon Valley Palo Alto is preparing for the next community canvass on Feb 24 and 25 to get the word out on Palo Alto’s Heat Pump Water Heater Program.  We want our community to enjoy the benefits of California’s TECH Rebate before it runs out. Join the fun and sign up here.

The march inspired Matt to write another climate poem entitled 1992. Hear him recite it here. You can read the poem in the description.

Matt presented his monthly Climate Moment talk to his business networking group.  This month he presented four unconscious cognitive biases that keep people from taking action to address the climate crisis.  Watch here: https://youtu.be/RTbMWhZVvts

Stevie is excited about using the Ecosia search engine which uses ad revenue to plant forests and install renewable energy.  I have started using it, and it works wonderfully.  And, I do not have to worry about biased search results. Check it out here: https://blog.ecosia.org/tag/search-engine/ Thanks, Stevie, and happy birthday!

Kimberly has signed up for The Climate Reality Project’s Climate Reality Leadership Training in April. Want to attend? Sign up here: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/new-york  Thanks for sharing this opportunity, Kimberly!

David interviewed a woman entrepreneur in India who is providing 600 bikes at 25 locations for free in India. Check it out here.  Thanks for sharing, David!

Amy reports that Amsterdam is the latest city to endorse the Plant Based Treaty and is eager to get the ball rolling here in Palo Alto. Let’s go, Amy!

This Friday, the Climate Friends Book Club joins us as Claudia facilitates our continued discussion of All We Can Save. This time we will discuss chapter 7, “Nourish.”  Thanks, Claudia!

Also, we will check in with our 2024 goals and determine whether we will take collective action for the upcoming primary election.  Find the 2024 goals here.

2/1/24

We started our 107th consecutive week of climate strikes as Brett passed by reporting he was on his 1,233rd consecutive day of walking 10,000 steps. At the check in, Casey exulted in Biden’s decision to halt construction of all new LNG terminals.  Rick said he would write President Biden a thank you letter for the monumental decision. Ingrid found a way to access the Climate Action Now app and is excited to take daily action. Robin initiated a conversation regarding the upcoming atmospheric river, and we decided that if it is raining on Friday we will postpone the march. George expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming march.  Ianlamented the rise of right-wing extremism in the US and around the world.  Carol says we should not be shy about demanding peace in Gaza and peace everywhere.

Kimberly quoted Noam Chomsky: 

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours.”

On that inspirational note, we next talked through the march plan details. Then we donned our ponchos, grabbed a prototype sign and conducted a dress rehearsal march around King Plaza.  We debriefed the rehearsal and decided on the configuration for our first march—exciting!  Here’s a brief video of our rehearsal: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FS5feZcgMvKA7Skp9

In the event of rain on Friday we will postpone the march until we have nice weather.  Meanwhile, thanks to Casey for making a wonderful handout, and I am happy to report that I completed all the signs before it started to rain—we are good to go!  Also, a big thank you to Pro Bono Photo and Chris Cassell and Jim Colton for agreeing to photograph our event—THANK YOU!

In other news, there were 31 members of the public who spoke at this week’s city council retreat!  Here’s how I categorized the comments (some spoke to more than one):

Call for a Gaza ceasefire resolution 17

Biodiversity (light pollution) 7

Climate Change (electrification) 6

Environmental toxins (ban artificial turf) 4

Community services, transportation and facilities 4

Housing 4

Racism in the community 3

Against Gaza ceasefire resolution 3

Airplane noise 3

Also, I appreciated the council discussion around including the word “belonging” in 2024 priorities and its adoption into the final wording. Here are the 2024 Council Priorities:

• Community Health, Safety, Wellness & Belonging

• Economic Development and Transition

• Climate Change & Natural Environment – Protection & Adaptation

• Housing for Social & Economic Balance

Let’s get to work!

1/25/24

As we gathered, John stopped by and asserted that we are going to hell. John gave us an opportunity to practice our generous-listening skills so we invited him to join us and share his thoughts about our alleged destination as long as he agreed to our working-together agreement and listen to our thoughts. He was not interested in listening to us so he wandered off. Honestly, I was disappointed. Given that we have put 250 zettajoules of excess energy into Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, John’s metaphoric description of where we are heading might not be far off the mark.

Next, we discussed the wording of our working together agreements. Amy pointed out that our use of the word “hog” in the context of dominating a conversation is form of speciesism.  We all agreed to update the wording to “Don’t Monopolize the Conversation.”  Thanks, Amy, for this astute observation.

Rick paraphrased a Paly graduate with an angelica voice, Joan Baez, saying the antidote to anxiety is action as we next turned to planning the upcoming march.  First, we reviewed the march goals and landed on a few: 1) Bring the climate crisis into the conversation; 2) Demonstrate that people care; 3) Have a small information pamphlet to hand out to anyone who wants it; and, 4) This first one is an experiment – just do it!  Casey modeled our Save The Trees ponchos – thanks, Casey, for getting those!  

Jeanie and Michelle from Florida expressed their admiration for our climate signs and our action. Florida is on the front line of climate collapse with rising sea levels and “Blue Sky Flooding,” with hot-tub temperature seas driving marine life die-offs, and with severe storms driven by that hot sea water. We appreciate them and their concerns. Also, thanks to Sel for taking our photo this week.

This week Debbie organized a neighborhood canvass planning meeting with the city’s heat pump water heater program team.  I was encouraged to hear how the city is marketing the program, making it available to all income levels, and planning to accommodate residents who have a sudden gas water heater failure and want a solution that avoids having to buy a new gas unit.   Once we finalize the direction and creation of canvass materials, we will hit the streets—stay tuned!

Robin had her new heat pump water heater installed this week! She says it is working great. She is relieved to now have her gas line turned off.  Congratulations, Robin!

Prolific Ingrid created another climate song for our musical repertoire.  Weather permitting, we will debut this latest addition this Friday. Thanks, Ingrid!

Amy was excited to share that the City of Edinburgh has endorsed the Plant-based Treaty and developed Plant-Based Treaty Action Plan. Given the devilish treatment of animals and hellish methane emissions of a meat diet, it’s important to shift to plant-based diets.  Amy asks, why not here?  Shall we ask the City of Palo Alto to endorse the Plant-based Treaty and develop an action plan as part of S/CAP?

This Friday is a dress rehearsal with signs and costumes. Also, let’s decide on the goal and content of the pamphlet.

1/17/24

We kicked off the first week of our third year of climate strikes with a joint event with the Climate Friends Book Club. We had a very powerful conversation about chapter 6 of All We Can Save on the topic of feelings.  Claudia, who has facilitated Climate Cafes, gracefully navigated us through this conversation.  Needless to say, we are all carrying strong feelings about the climate crisis, and we are grateful for each other’s understanding and support as we navigate these emotionally fraught times. The next chapter is entitled Nourishand those who read ahead report that it is another good one. The next book club meeting will be Feb 9.  Thank you, Claudia, for organizing this!

After book club, we turned to planning the upcoming march.  Everyone is excited about the ponchos that Casey identified, and we look forward to trying them on next week.  We came up with a couple simple, flexible options for our “Burma Shave” signs.  Casey reached out to the Lamenters to see if they would like to join us.  It’s shaping up to be an impactful march! Mark your calendar for Feb 2.

On Saturday, Casey and I attended Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action Teams (SV-YCATS) Green New Year Celebration, a regional climate summit organized by youth climate leaders from Cupertino, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Los Gatos/Saratoga, Morgan Hill/Gilroy, San Jose and San Mateo.  It was great to hear all their accomplishments in 2023 and their goals for 2024.  Several elected city and school district leaders shared their stories of the impact that youth advocacy had on their work. We came away inspired to continue creating a sustainable future for our city, our region and our planet. 

On Tuesday, I spoke at city council about the heat pump water heater program and the importance of accelerating the installation rate to equal that of the failure rate of gas water heaters. Certainly, we do not want our community to install any new gas water heaters as it locks in years more of needless greenhouse gas emissions. Listen to my comments here.

I also encourage you to listen to Andrea who spoke on how climate anxiety is affecting our youth here, and to Avroh, a Paly freshman who also spoke about is own climate anxiety here.  Deborahlise spoke on the connection between war and the climate crisis here.  I am so moved to be in a community that cares so deeply about addressing the climate crisis.

While reading All We Can Save, I was inspired to write this poem:

Crazy People

Did you see those crazy people

Out at City Hall

Taking pictures with climate signs

It makes no difference at all

I would never act like that

They just sit and talk and sing

What’s the purpose of that

They don’t accomplish anything

If I were acting on climate now

I’d do something cool

I’d encourage youth to vote

And get them to the poll

Or maybe I would plant a tree,

Maybe more than one

I’d restore a forest

Or maybe an ocean

Or maybe I’d help build a house

For someone who lost theirs

Maybe from the floods

Maybe from fires

Or maybe something close to home

I’d stop burning fossil fuel

First I’d do my own home

Then help my neighbors too

I’m excited, I’m gonna start

I’m gonna get involved

I’ll do more than those crazy people

In front of City Hall

Matt Schlegel -1/10/24

We started by discussing the importance of bringing young environmental voters into the democratic process. I have listed two actions below in the “More Climate Action” section.

Next, we turned to planning our upcoming action on Friday Feb 2, a Climate March through downtown Palo Alto. Creativity poured out as we developed themes, dress and routes for the action. Mark your calendars to join us for the march! 

Mark stopped by and turned our attention to music. We sang our climate songs including Ingrid’s latest composition, “Sunshine in the Morning.”  Thank you, Ingrid for the song, and thanks to everyone – Rick, George, Kimberly, and Robin – for your strong voices! 

Emily is volunteering with Shirts Actross America to help rebuild homes and return residents who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.  Thank you, Emily! You can support her work here: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/2024Build/EmilyBeaton

Diane shared the latest data from the heat pump water heater program.  I have included those below. The next city council meeting public comment session is Tuesday, January 16 at 5:30. Please share your thoughts about the HPWH program or anything else on your mind. I plan to.

On Wednesday I attended a meeting hosted by Fridays for Future USA to guide local group leaders through a listening exercise to help us process our feelings about climate change. This exercise reminded me of our weekly Generous Listening check in, a practice I hope we continue. Coincidentally, this Friday we are meeting with the Climate Friends Book Club to discuss All We Can Save chapter 6: Feelings. I am very much relating to the sentiments in this chapter. One of the sections is written by the terrific climate journalist Amy Westervelt who is exposing the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long misinformation campaign. She reports to swing emotionally between grief and rage. I look forward to our discussion.

Matt Schlegel -1/3/24

Before retreating to the dry warmth of a NOLA booth, Pria, George and Robin shared their concerns about environmental degradation in places they love, especially Antarctica which suffers staggering ice loss, the Great Barrier Reef which experiences coral bleaching, Glacier National Park which has very few glaciers left, and the Arctic which may be experiencing the most dramatic impacts of climate change (heating, ice and permafrost loss, methane releases, fires, etc.)   It is sad to see us lose so much stunning beauty that we grew to love. 

These reflections sparked a conversation about intergenerational injustice – how older generations are spending the future of younger generations leaving them behind to pay the bill.  In addition to climate change, there are so many issues in our society that disproportionately impact young people – guns/mass shootings, opioids, health care, housing security, food security, air/water pollution, refugees, etc.  These reflections inspired me to create another climate song about this injustice. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/Xf2Elv81fYg

At NOLA, Mark joined us, and we discussed Greta’s position on the bombardment of Gaza and the intersection of the climate crisis, war, colonialism, and the disparities between the Global North and the Global South.  We all agreed that we want peace, and Mark reminded us of the Jewish tradition, "Tikkun Olam," Hebrew for "repairing the world," that embodies the idea that individuals have a responsibility to actively engage in acts of kindness, justice, and social responsibility to contribute towards making the world a better place, even if the task at hand cannot be completed or fully realized. That certainly captures Greta’s spirit!

From Dubai, David is excited about the progress at COP28 on reducing fossil fuel subsidies and increasing low-emission transportation.  For details on David’s efforts, read his latest press release.  Thanks, David, for your determination!

Ingrid has also been creating new climate songs—thank you!  It’s looking like there will be a break in the rain on Friday so we will have a chance to perform our climate songs at our first climate strike in 2024!

Matt Schlegel -12/28/23

Before we reflected on the influence of religious traditions on climate conversations, Jessica revealed that her husband delivered divorce papers to her on her birthday this year.  She chuckled that the couples therapy clearly wasn’t working.  We wish Jessica a wonderful 2024 and a much happier birthday in the new year.

Robin reports that she will get her heat pump water heater soon, and her home will be fossil fuel free in 2024.  Georgeapplauds the effort and suggests we try out a solar oven this summer. Sheena stopped by to show her support for our continued demonstrations.

Kimberly announced she is pivoting her consulting practice to help companies create and achieve sustainability goals.  We all must take action in our spheres of influence, and Kimberly can be very influential!

Amy continues to focus on reducing methane emissions in animal factory farms.  Additionally, this year she is putting effort into embedding ethics in education.  

Matt M. joined us for the first time. Hailing from West Virginia, he shared how those living in coal country feel that addressing climate change is a direct threat to their livelihoods, a threat more acute than that of floods, heat and famine.   The concept of a social safety net is so absent in WV, that if one does not have a job, they feel a loss of dignity. The prevalent rugged-individual mythology in that state makes it unthinkable to take a “handout” and make a transition to a job in a greener economy or simply retire early. Thanks, Matt, for sharing your insights!

Both Matt M. and Ingrid are ordained ministers and Rick was an academic in theology and philosophy.  We compared the individualistic, atomistic thinking in Western traditions to the wholistic, connectedness traditions in the East.  We also discussed how the mammalian brain’s pre-frontal cortex can be right dominant (more wholistic) or left dominant (more atomistic) from which these two distinct traditions emerged.  To solve the climate crisis, we will need wholistic thinkers to empathize with atomistic thinkers and vice versa. We will need all of us to solve humanity’s biggest challenge.

We next turned to Project 2025, a plan to reshape the executive branch when a Republican becomes president.  I count 162 mentions of climate in this plan all of which are focused on reversing Biden’s policies and dismantling any further systems to address the climate crisis.  Another Republican presidency will press the pedal to the metal on climate collapse.

Mark shared a 12/7/23 Times of Israel article who reported on Greta’s 12/5/23 The Guardian Op-Ed piece who speaks out about the tragedy in Gaza, asserting that there is no climate justice without human rights. As calls for the end to the violence in Gaza grow, not the least of which from Pope Francis in his Christmas address, opinions are divided along generational lines with younger people more sympathetic with Palestinians than elders.  Young people feel abandoned by those who could be caring for them. Youth recognize that the climate crisis is just one of many compounding crises – mass shootings, opioids, health care, food security, air/water pollution, refugee, and now the bombardment of a region where over 8,000 children have been killed. We must recognize these intersecting crises have a disproportional impact on young people and work to protect children and support youth leaders who are raising their voices about violations of human rights.

Matt Schlegel -12/21/23

We shared our thoughts, hopes, dreams, and themes for 2024.  Sharat pointed out the challenge of directing resources towards a regenerative economy while our tax dollars are being channeled towards war and destruction in Ukraine and Gaza (among other places).  We agreed that restoring peace is a prerequisite to addressing the climate crisis.

George, Casey, and Kimberly all bemoaned misanthropes.  Kimberly remains hopeful that human greed will drive corporations to reduce their emissions and skirt climate collapse in order to maintain their quarterly profits. Here’s to hoping those instincts kick in soon!

SGeorge is eager to experiment with downtown theatrical demonstrations to evoke feelings that disrupt people’s normalcy bias. He suggests a silent march akin to The Lamenters, a local group known for theatrical climate demonstrations.  Perhaps the Lamenters themselves will join us for our first downtown demonstration! 

Miles remains focused on making music and certainly music draws attention and evokes feelings.  Miles, might a metro musical march mend moody minds? Meanwhile, Louise Harris produced our first anthemic climate song that is reaching #1 on the UK charts.  Ready for some powerful climate feelings? Check this out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2XV20G85Tg

We next turned to the 2024 election. There are opportunities to support climate advocates at all levels – national, state and local.  Notably, Anna Eshoo is retiring which opens the possibility for a progressive candidate for our house district. Who is the best candidate to represent us?

Robin remains dedicated to the proposition that we must stop burning fossil fuels. She will replace her methane-burning water heater with a clean, efficient electric heat pump water heater (HPWH) in 2024. Meanwhile, Matt remains dedicated to accelerating the adoption of HPWHs in the community. The more people who switch to a HPWH now, the sooner Palo Alto Utilities can discontinue poisoning our homes, city and planet with methane.  Shouldn't methane-burning replacements be disallowed now, considering that methane-burning appliances are disallowed for new construction? This is crucial for achieving our 80X30 goal.

Amy eagerly encourages us to promote a meat-free diet as a means of minimizing methane emissions and points to this study of studies: https://sentientmedia.org/meat-climate-change-studies/

David reports progress from Dubai!  The Conference of Parties at COP28 are now allowed to use the F-words: fossil fuels. Yes, it’s now okay to say that humanity’s use of fossil fuels is causing climate collapse.  (It only took 28 years to say the obvious!) The Fossil Fools finally conceded to the term, “transition from fossil fuels,” which is watered down language for the stronger “Phase Out Fossil Fuels.”  Meanwhile, Fridays for Future uses the yet stronger language of “End Fossil Fuels.”

Matt Schlegel -12/14/23

We celebrated Week 100 in fine form. Firstly, thank you Roger and Spiritual Life Foundation for sponsoring our delicious pizza! After fueling up with pie, we broke out the guitars and played our collection of climate songs. Ingrid even wrote a new song – Fridays For Future – just for the occasion! (Thank you, Ingrid😊) We also sang Let Her (Mother Earth) Be, Won’t Back Down, Turn It Blue, Stop Burning, and This Land Is Your Land. Everyone sang delightfully – Casey, Rick, Debbie, George, Ingrid, Ian, and Carol—accompanied by Bill on guitar. Videographer Stevie caught the scene: https://photos.app.goo.gl/F3LfRzbYtNL31xr97

Steve stopped by and shared that he formed a company, TerraJoule, to manufacture and distribute solar-powered steam-driven electricity generation and storage plants with up to 8MW of generation and 32KW-H of storage. You can learn more about TerraJoule here: www.terrajoule.energy. Thanks, Steve, for making renewable energy accessible!

Stephen reports that he joined the board of Hebrew Free Loan which is launching a program in the spirit of two Jewish values, tikkun olam (repairing the world) and shmirat ha-adamah (care of the earth), to help address climate change and environmental destruction. They’re determined to improve people’s lives and the world, one interest-free loan at a time. Thank you, Stephen, for making de-carbonization more accessible! Also, I am grateful to Stephen for sponsoring my Climate Moment Talks and Videos that I produce for Provisors each month. You can find a sample of the talks here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCt7LPRITZv7rF_1vMzOCDGZbqTE6g-I5 Thank you for everything, Stephen!

My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you for all your generous support of The Climate Mobilization Project fundraiser. So far we’ve raised a wonderful $1,800 — thank you all so much for your generosity! If you have not yet chipped in please do so here – every bit helps!

This Friday we will share our thoughts on the outcome of COP28 and look towards setting goals for our climate action in 2024.

Matt Schlegel -12/6/23

We had an amazing turnout for our first *In Spirit* climate strike – a great way to celebrate Week 99!  We enjoyed participation from all over the world!  Notably, David checked in from COP28 in Dubai where he is fighting to divert billions in fossil fuel subsidies towards the now operational Loss and Damage fund, aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change. Meanwhile, back in the US we made creative climate signs reflecting what’s on our minds– thanks to everyone for participating and keeping our unbroken string of consecutive climate strikes alive. 

The Climate Mobilization Project fundraising is going amazingly well!  So far we’ve raised an outstanding $1,285, a substantial portion of the $10,000 target. Thank you so much for your generosity! If you have not yet chipped in please do so here – every bit helps!

Next up, our Week 100 Celebration! It looks like the weather will cooperate so that we can focus on making music, eating pizza and having a grand time.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone *In Person* this Friday.

Matt Schlegel -11/29/23

We celebrated GREEN FRIDAY with songs and conversation.  Miles joined us for the first time.  As a teenager, he expressed his appreciate for our efforts to raise awareness of the urgent need to cease burning fossil fuels.  Thanks, Miles, for joining us and sharing your thoughts. Please come again and bring your guitar!

Matt Schlegel -11/21/23

Peace! That is our demand. We joined forces with Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and held our peace demonstration on the corner of El Camino and Embarcadero.  Passing drivers encouraged us by honking in agreement.

Thanks to Judy and the entire WILPF crew for organizing the vigil, and thanks to our Fridays For Future crew – Casey, Carol, Ian, Kimberly, George, Karen & Sue – for supporting this action.   We must have peace for climate action and climate justice.

This Friday we are back at City Hall to celebrate GREEN FRIDAY – a day of no consumerism. We will keep up the cheer as we sing our growing list of climate songs.

Giving Tuesday is coming up. Please consider supporting the amazing team at The Climate Mobilization Project.  Please donate here.

Matt Schlegel -11/10/23

When we arrived at King Plaza on Friday, we encountered a large group of Palo Alto elementary school students.  We invited them to use our signs, and they knew exactly what to do with them – they started chanting, “end fossil fuels,” and directed their chants at City Hall.  Their energy and enthusiasm impressed everyone!  Students instinctively know what they are up against and how those who should be protecting them are failing to take the urgent action necessary to bring down carbon emissions and planetary temperatures.  We all must stop burning fossil fuel!  Hear their voices here: https://youtu.be/tXJUiV_WnJs Thank you, Palo Alto students!

After the rousing rally, Claudia led a discussion of Chapter 5 entitled, “Persist”  of the book, “All We Can Save.”  We pondered the dilemma of maintaining energy and, well, persistence, in the face of a problem that took generations to create and will take generations to solve.   Those of us who enjoy the satisfaction of solving problems wondered how to approach working on a problem while knowing that it won’t be solved today, or tomorrow, or next year, or even in our own lifetime.  But we know that we must work on the problem with “radical incrementalism.” (Thanks, Rick, for coining that phase.) Thanks to Ingrid, Rick, Robin, Casey, and George for bringing your energy, and thanks, Claudia, for leading this fascinating discussion.

Andrea informs us that we are fast approaching the Dec. 1  deadline for the 350 SV Palo Alto  Petition to Set a Sunset Date for Gas Shut-off in Palo Alto. Please help reach the goal of 750 signatures.

Given the war in the Middle East that’s causing division here at home, we agreed to raise our voices and call for peace. We decided to join Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom on Friday 11/17 for a peace vigil at the corner of El Camino and Embarcadero.

Matt Schlegel -11/8/23

Seven of our FFF members joined the field trip to Stanford to hear MIT Prof. Charles Harvey’s talk sponsored by Scientist’s Speak Up, Fossil Free Research and The Coalition for a True School of Sustainability. Folks, the news was not good. Prof. Harvey explained how incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act provide profits for the fossil fuel industry to extract geological natural gas, two-thirds of which can be CO2, separate the CO2 from the methane, and pump the CO2 back into the ground for financial credits. They also profit from selling the methane.  This perverse subsidy results in more extraction, more emissions and more Big Oil profits, not less!  Thank you, Prof. Harvey, for sharing this enlightening information.  Representative Eshoo once told me frankly that nothing happens in DC without permission from the fossil fuel industry, and now we have a better understanding of how Big Oil is profiting from the Inflation Reduction Act.  You can hear more from the student organizers here.

Horrifyingly, while we were at Stanford, a Stanford student was struck by a car in an alleged hate crime.  The ongoing war in Gaza is having violent consequences in our own community with rising Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.  While recovering in the hospital, this compassionate student released a statement that gracefully speaks not only to how we can stand up to the forces that perpetuate war, but also to those (many of the same forces) that are perpetrating the climate crisis:

Today, as I share my story, my hope is to ignite a spark of empathy, a desire for change, and a call to action to foster a society where love overpowers hate, where understanding douses ignorance, and where compassion binds us in a tapestry of unified strength.

Matt Schlegel -11/2/23

David joined up to celebrate Heat Pump Water Heater Day!  We visited the heat pump water heater on display in the City Hall lobby.  Let’s keep raising awareness of Palo Alto’s water heater replacement program!  Thanks for joining us, David!

George informed us about an upcoming action in San Francisco sponsored by Oil and Gas Action Network and XRSF to protest the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) CEO summit.  Find details in the upcoming climate action section below. Thanks, George!

Casey shared that her passion for climate action is motivated by wanting to secure the best possible future for her daughter.  She takes inspiration from other climate activists who are likewise fighting for our future. We all expressed our appreciation for celebrities who have taken up this challenge like Mark Ruffalo, Dolly Parton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damen and Jane Fonda.   Thank you for sharing that, Casey!

David shared that his environmental awareness arose from his older brothers’ commitments to veganism which inspired lifelong activism.  Thanks, David, for your passionate commitment!

After visiting the heat pump water heater display at City Hall, we marched to Anna Eshoo’s office, urging her staff to communicate our concerns about the use of tax dollars to fund the killing of children and to join the resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza." 

Then, during our lunch, Sakura joined us and shared her experiences of participating in protest actions in Seattle during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement." Thanks, Sakura, for your passion and inspiration!  

This Friday is our field trip to Stanford to support our allies at the True School of Sustainability.  If you haven’t RSVP’ed yet, you can do that here: Event Details & Registration | Scientists Speak Up 

Matt Schlegel -10/26/23

We joyfully rehearsed our climate songs and enjoyed Casey’s latest contribution, 'Help!' – set to The Beatles' 'Help.' It's destined to be a climate classic. Thanks, Casey!

Before singing, Robin reported that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting above-average temperatures and moisture this winter.

Matt led a conversation about how climate activism can impact relationships with friends and family, both productively and counter-productively.  Hey, if tackling the climate crisis were easy, everyone would be doing it!

Casey recommended a book by Daniel Sherrell, “Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World.”  The book imagines the future and prepares us emotionally to work through our upcoming climate collapse. Always good to have some emotional girding—thank you, Casey!

George recommends the movie Symbiotic Earth. It's a film about scientist Lynn Margulis, who challenged the notion of “survival of the fittest” and showed how all of nature, including Homo sapiens, evolved out of cooperation rather than competition. You can watch the trailer here. Thanks, George!

Rick is preparing to be a climate entertainer! He plans to perform a skit in Oakland in November and later at Avenidas. Stay tuned for more details.

Speaking of Avenidas, Paula joined us for lunch and conversation. She is intrigued by our Palo Alto Vision 2040 and noted the overlap between our vision and the work being done by Palo Alto Forward. There’s an upcoming opportunity to connect on Wednesday, Nov. 15 to hear a talk by the authors for “Just Action.”  Details below.  Thanks for the great tip, Paula!

Happy Heat Pump Water Heater Day! I’ve heard rumor that there is a heat pump water heater on display in City Hall.  Let’s see if we can find it this Friday!

Matt Schlegel -10/18/23

On Friday, Casey was excited about an interview she heard with climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann on his new book “Our Fragile Moment.”  Dr. Mann, who regularly appears on TV, until recently has taken a measured tone in his delivery, but he is increasingly emphasizing the urgent need to stop burning fossil fuels, which is a change in tone for him. He’s walking a fine line between expressing the urgency for action and being invited to appear on corporate news.

Rick and Matt shared their enthusiasm for volunteering in Saturday’s region-wide Electric Home Tour event in which over a thousand registrants visited some of the dozens of homes available for tour.  I enjoyed many conversations with the visitors and the host and got some ideas for new home electrification projects.

We discussed California’s lawsuit agains the oil companies. Did you hear Big Fossil’s response to the lawsuit?  “Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not the court system."   Since the California lawsuit is charging oil companies with harming the public and lying to the public about the harms of their products, not climate policy, it is unlikely that this defense will hold.  Read the statement from California Attorney General Bonta here.

Thanks to Casey for adding her contributions to the to Palo Alto Vision 2040. You can find the latest and greatest here. 

Nicholas reports that UC Santa Cruz released its plan to end use of fossil fuels; the Decarbonization and Electrification Task Force has released a long-term campus plan to move to 100 percent clean and renewable energy sources.

In 1941, the US let warnings about an imminent attack on Pearl Harbor go unheeded, and subsequently used that act by a foreign nation to sweep up innocent US citizens of Japanese descent and put them in concentration camps while justifying the action by stoking fear that these US citizens might betray their country. Most of these families lost their homes and land, some of it highly productive farms and orchards. The action was, in part, a land grab. I can’t help but see the similarities between that act and the act that Israel is now perpetrating on innocent citizens of Gaza after letting warnings of the Hamas attacks go unheeded.  Thankfully, most Israeli citizens aren’t falling for this ploy.  I hope American citizens don’t either. Meanwhile, the US State Department has prohibited US diplomats from using words like “de-escalation” or “end to violence” or “ceasefire.” Unbelievable. Read the report here.

This week, activism against the fossil industry gains moment as activists protested an industry event in London and, notably, Greta Thunberg was arrested. Read more here.

Matt Schlegel -10/11/23

Kimberly inspired us to create a beautiful vision of our fossil-free city in the year 2040, a Palo Alto that is clean, quiet, thriving, songful, full of biodiversity, and a place for all to live, work and play.  Jai reported on the network of electric tram cars in the city, and Georgereminded us that Palo Alto had these 100 years ago (what’s old is new.) Robin saw Gray Whales frolicking in the bay off the shore of the restored baylands sited on the former airport and golf course. Amy lauded that Palo Alto had the lowest per-capita meat consumption, beating Berkeley!  Debbie boasted about the many community groups in the city and how Stanford was instrumental in organizing our city’s community networks.  Mattshared how Palo Alto’s sibling cities had become model climate leaders in each of their respective countries and how climate-focused sibling sister networks were spreading globally based on the Palo Alto model.  These and many more headlines from 2040 are captured here. Comments are enabled, so please feel free to chime in and add your thoughts.  I will continue to update these news reports as I collect and capture all your great visions.  Thanks to Jai, Sheena, Amy, Rick, Chris, Scot, George, Debbie, Robin and especiallyKimberly!

Here we go again, the second major world war in as many years. The Russian invasion of Ukraine took energy out of the cllmate movement, as did Covid before that. And now the Israel-Palestine War provides a convenient excuse for US lawmakers to divert attention away from taking climate action. In the face of these calamities, it’s hard to stay focused on the the climate crisis. It’s difficult to mitigate societal collapse in the midst of the collapse – yet, those of us who still can must.

Matt Schlegel -10/5/23

The Climate Friends Book Club met for an animated discusion about our future. Amidst the conversation, curious passerby Steve stopped by with thoughts and questions about climate change. We were grateful for Steve’s curiosity.  He agreed that Palo Alto has the platform, knowledge and resources to demonstrate climate leadership. We wish Steve much success as he continues his journey towards understanding climate change.

We discussed chapter 4 of “All We Can Save” entitled “Reshape” which focuses on how humans are transforming our environment and livable spaces. We recounted our favorite passages from this insightful, humorous and profound collection of essays and poems. We discussed the psychological and emotional impacts of addressing climate change. We considered the predominance of denial and likened buying and selling seaside real estate  to a game of musical chairs. We discussed the emotional impacts of choosing between adaptation and mitigation, what we will be compelled to do versus what we could be doing now. We also discussed the physical consequences of sea-level rise in Palo Alto, for instance having sewage treatment plant at sea level. Thank you, Claudia, for hosting a thoughtful conversation

This Friday, Kimberly will facilitate her popular Creating-A-Vision Workshop, in which we will envision life in Palo Alto in the year 2040—Palo Alto Vision 2040.  What will a fossil fuel-free Palo Alto look like? What will it smell like? What will it sound like? How will people, live, work and play in our community? Come and share your inspiration and be inspired by others as we envision the community that we want to create.

Daly shares that students are calling out Stanford’s BS working with big oil at the so-called “school of sustainability”. Check out this new video that the producers of Don’t Look Up just put out: https://youtu.be/uIiCXHnKGl4?si=D_tZoq_-F4Xu67yW

Finally, a BIG THANK YOU, to Debbie for her organizing prowess. Last Saturday, her crew of volunteers canvassed over 600 households to get the word out on Palo Alto’s water heater replacement program. The results of this outreach will show up in next month's report and will hopefully accelerate the sign up rate. Meanwhile, here’s the latest report. The numbers from the rebate program have not yet been reported.  I will update you once I have those figures. The installation rate will be higher once the rebate installs are included.

Matt Schlegel -9/28/23

We were enjoying French green lentil stew as we debriefed the previous Friday’s successful Global Climate Strike rally when Mark stopped by to inform us that he arranged for a pop-up musical performance in Lytton Plaza, and he encouraged us to do a pop-up climate demonstration to accompany the music.  As we prepared to march to Lytton Plaza, a Downtown Streets Team crew came by and participated in our group photo!

At Lytton Plaza we met Mark and his musical guest, the charismatic and creative Steve Poltz.  As we set up our climate signs, Steve used our messages to improvize hilarious climate songs. We danced and sang until we were exhausted, though the energetic Steve seemed to be just getting started!  I served as videographer for Steve’s livestream. Watch here: https://fb.watch/nlEx-2KNGG/

Mark hustled Steve away to get some food and rest before a benefit concert he was to perform later that evening, coincidentally, for Downtown Streets Team.  Big thanks to both Mark and Steve!  

This Friday we will be joined by the Climate Friends Book Club to discuss “All We Can Save” chapter 4.  The first essay in the chapter is hilarious and gives us great insight how will will be adapting (or not) to sea level rise. Thanks, Claudia, for organizing this!

Next Friday, Kimberly will conduct one of her world-famous visioning workshops – stories from the future – workshops that we are calling Palo Alto Vision 2040.   I expect this to be no less energetic than a pop-up Steve Poltz climate concert!  Please plan to join and bring your friends—the more the merrier!

Don’t forget to join us at Rinconada Library this Saturday to hand out materials to our neighbors encouraging them to replace their dirty, fossil fuel gas water heaters with clean electric water heaters.  Thanks to Debbie for her amazing organizing work!

Matt Schlegel -9/20/23

What an amazing Friday! We had 75 people participate in our rally filled with passionate speakers, moving music and delightful dancing! Check out the pictures here.  After we expressed our gratitude to the City of Palo Alto for passing the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, we urged them to take further steps in reducing carbon pollution. This includes setting a firm date for discontinuing the distribution of utility fossil fuel gas by 2030.  To meet our 80X30 goal, the city must intensify its efforts in expanding the heat pump water heater replacement program.  Additionally, we implore the city to address transporation pollution, which is approximately 60% of the city’s emissions. This entails starting to charge for public parking, a measure that has proven effective in various cities. Such a move not only reduces pollution but also simulates local business—a no-brainer. Find more details about our demands here.  

Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to all our remarkable speakers: Aran, Angelina, Debbie, Nicole, Lana, Neha, Judy, Eva, Emunah, Ayler, Mimi, Tristia, Chris, and Linda Marin. The talks are currently being uploaded to the FFF Palo Alto YouTube channel. To receive notifications when a new talk is added, we encourage you to subscribe.

Also, our thanks go out to all the participating and sponsoring organizations,  including Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition (PASCC), Citizen’s Climate Lobby (CCL) San Mateo Youth Group, 350 Silicon Valley Palo Alto, Sierra Club – Loma Prieta Chapter, Youth Climate Action Team (YCATS),  The True School of Sustainability, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, South Bay Indigenous Solidarity, Engage On, Pro Bono Photo and Spritual Life Foundation. Thanks to The Raging Grannies and The Climate Strikers for their spirited dance and music performances.  A special thanks go out to our event organizers:  Rick, Casey, George, Claudia, Nicholas and Robin.

On Sunday Sept. 17, there was another climate rally in Sacramento.  It was great to see Syd who was organizing the event with Sunrise Movement.  We connected with Mimi there.  If you you haven’t seen pictures from that energizing event, you can view the coverage by indybay.org here.

As wildfire smoke and smell fills the air, we are reminded once again of the urgent need to reduce our fossil fuel pollution. This Friday we hold our joint event with the Climate Friends Book Club and keep the focus on the need for urgent action.

Keep Up the Fight and See You Friday!

Matt Schlegel -9/13/23

We gathered to reflect on yet another week marred by climate disasters – Floods, ‘Canes, Fires, Smoke, Drought and Famine – underscoring the pressing need for immediate action. We know what we must do—Stop Burning Fossil Fuels!  Our rally demands are centered on how the City of Palo Alto can and must reduce emissions within our community. Approximately two-thirds of emissions originate from vehicles, while the remaining one-third is attributed to buildings. To achieve our 80X30 goal, we must reduce both of these sources by 80% below 1990 levels by 2030. Our rally demands include expediting the water heater replacement program, setting a sunset date for utility gas service, and implementing public parking fees to curtail vehicle emissions. Here are the details of the demands: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lpd7z57DkNncqYLVTXrohGfSaPmoqu7XjA2AH13fo68/edit

This Friday, we have a terrific roster of speakers representing Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition (PASCC), Youth Climate Action Team (YCAT), Climate Citizen’s Lobby Youth Collaboration, and 350SV Palo Alto among others.  We are eager to hear the voices of our local climate leaders.  If you haven’t already, please RSVP here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/global-climate-strike-september-15

The monthly update for the heat pump water heater program includes good news and bad news. Starting with the good news: There have been 62 new sign-ups since the last report, marking the most significant increase we've seen since we began tracking the numbers.  The marketing efforts by the City and the community outreach by 350SV Palo Alto are paying off—hooray! The bad news is that this rate remains only a fraction of what's required to reach the target installation rate of 83 per month, a crucial milestone for the pilot program. Furthermore, it falls short of the broader aim of achieving 250 installations per month, as is required to meet our 80X30 goal. Clearly, there's still much work to do!

Matt Schlegel -9/6/23

Linda joined us for what could be characterized as a discussion of the challenges related to personal safety when decarbonizing personal transportation.  We appreciated Linda’s perspectives about her attempts to decarbonize.  She noted how, at times, she feels unsafe while riding public transportation (rideshare services also pose safety concerns). Regarding EVs, she objects to waiting 30 minutes at a charging location, thinking it may increase the likelihood she falls victim to crime.  These considerations were eye-opening and certainly must be addressed to facilitate widespread adoption of low-polluting transportation options.  Linda did express enthusiasm for counter-top induction cooking and committed to trying that right away.  Thank you, Linda, for all your efforts and for sharing your experiences! Additionally, thank you, Rick, for encouraging Linda to participate!

Robin endorsed Claudia’s suggestion to combine with the Climate Friends Book Club on the fourth Friday of each month. We greeted the idea enthusiastically and look forward to having Claudia join us on 9/22 for a conversation on Chapter 4 of “All We Can Save.”

George emphasized the importance of keeping climate concerns in the conversation.  We reflected on Just Stop Oil’s effectiveness at keeping climate in focus in the UK media. Notably, in one recent appearance the broadcaster conducting an interview with Just Stop Oil’s Alex De Konig completely lost control of herself, and they had to cut the interview short. Clearly, climate conversations can be emotionally charged.  Still, we must have and will have these conversations.  See the incident on “X” here:   https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil/status/1691901006559211562

Next, the conversation turned to the Theory of Change and what activates people to build movements.  Linda suggests that change needs to be as easy as possible. Rick highlighted a study about the role anger plays in movement building.  Matt noted that big movements arise when people feel both injustice and an existential threat.  Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, hosts a very informative podcast series detailing the steps to build a successful movement. 

Finally, we updated the group on our plans for the upcoming Climate Strike on Friday 9/15. The list of participating groups keeps growing: Fridays For Future Palo Alto, Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition, 350 Silicon Valley Palo Alto, Raging Grannies, Dance of Peace, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, and The Coalition for a True School of Sustainability.   If you haven’t already, please RSVPhere: https://actionnetwork.org/events/global-climate-strike-september-15

Matt Schlegel -8/30/23

Katie and Corrina, visitors from San Diego, stopped by and expressed their concern about the recent major tropical storm, Hurricane Hilary, that swept through their city. They reported that sea-level rise is already affecting the fragile coastal cliffs and causing disruptions for the Surfliner, the Amtrack train connecting San Diego to LA.

Amy, an environmental science student at Northern Arizona University, expressed her dedication to preserving a habitable planet. She also shared her deep affection for the Ponderosa Pine Forest that surrounds her university.

Anna, a student climate leader at Stanford, is promoting the upcoming Global Climate Strike to environmental justice groups at Stanford.  Thank you, Anna, for your support!

Bing stopped by and expressed her eagerness to help make Palo Alto more resilient to climate change. Bing recently joined Palo Alto’s parks commission. We reviewed the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) key issue areas (page 8 of the presentation), and saw that she can impact of a number of areas, not the least of which are “Reduce impacts of climate change from sea level rise and wildfires” and “Enhance biodiversity – restore and enhance resilience of the natural environment.” Thank you, Bing, for your dedication to improving Palo Alto’s climate resiliency!

After George and Robin led an interesting conversation about the unconscious biases that keep people from climate action, we turned to planning the upcoming Global Climate Strike on September 15.  We have secured the permit for Lytton Plaza!  Also, we reviewed strike demands, participation, event promotion and music. We are getting ready for a fun event!  We ended by singing Casey’s “Let Her Be” and Rick’s “This Land is Your Land.”

Matt Schlegel -8/23/23

Fires, storms, floods, extreme heat – after contemplating another week of climate turmoil, our focus shifted to organizing for the upcoming Global Climate Strike! on Friday September 15.  We’ve secured our location at Lytton Plaza.  The Raging Grannies are joining us, and Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition is actively seeking speakers for the rally.  The musical ensemble, The Climate Strikers! is gearing up a climate-themed performance to energize the crowd. Anticipation is high for an incredible afternoon!  If you have thoughts on potential speakers or event enhancements, please feel free to reach out – your contributions are invaluable!

Rick is collaborating with Elders Climate Action to arrange an intergenerational climate summit event, "Generations Together for Climate Action."  Thanks, Rick, for fostering opportunities to build alliances and connect with fellow advocates!

George is eagerly anticipating a Zoom webinar featuring climate scientist and author of “Under the Sky We Make,” Dr. Kimberley Nicholas. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, September 21. More information is provided below. 

Claudia kindly reminds us about the upcoming Climate Friends Book Club on California Avenue scheduled this Sunday.  We’re excited to resume our discussion of the book All We Can Save.  Thank you, Claudia, for hosting these enriching conversations!

Based on the latest heat pump water heater program data, only one person who enrolled in the city’s program has yet to receive the site assessment agreement (SAA). Coincidentally, Robin hasn’t received an SAA, so she dialed the city and learned that being a tenant rendered her ineligible to receive it.  She promptly notified the property owner, and she wished the city had informed her earlier.  

Debbie encourages us to join 350SV Palo Alto for the next community outreach this Saturday August 26:  Please meet us at the large conference room at the Rinconada Library, 1213 Newel Road, 1:00 pm to pick up materials. Please fill out this simple form — or send a note to Debbie Mytels:  debbie.mytels@gmail.com

Roger at the Spiritual Life Foundation invited me to speak to foundation members about the intersection of climate activism and the Enneagram.  You can watch a recording of my talk at this link: https://youtu.be/8U6Xfw87f-E.  Thank you, Roger, for your unwavering support and for raising awareness about the climate crisis within the membership.

Keep Up the Fight and See You Friday (and Saturday, and Sunday)!

Matt Schlegel -8/16/23

Vesna stopped by deeply concerned about the firestorm in Lahaina, Maui. For her, it brought to mind scorching temperatures (110 degrees) and devastating fires in Greece, near her home country of Serbia.  It also brings to mind the firestorm that swept through Paradise, CA.  Tragically, we are losing many of our paradises now.  We appreciate you, Vesna, for sharing your concerns and for encouraging our action.

George cautions us that when winds exceed 30 mph, fires transform into blowtorches, spreading rapidly and burning uncontrollably. If you are near a fire during high winds, evacuate quickly and stay away until the danger has passed. We appreciate your wise advice, George.

Robin enthusiastically supports the US Department of Energy’s community solar programs and the democratization of energy sources.  For more information about these programs, visit: https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/community-solar-basics  Thank you, Robin, for emphasizing the significance of moving away from fossil fuel energy sources!

Sakura finds hope in the landmark court case where a Montana judge sided with young environmental activists who said state agencies were infringing on their Montana constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate.  Litigation is potent instrument for holding polluters accountable, and this big win ushers in an era of  increased corporate responsibility. Thanks, Sakura, for sharing this exciting news!

Carol recommends that we visit the Earth Exhibit at the Palo Alto Art Center before it ends on Aug 19. Find more details here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/Community-Services/Arts-Sciences/Palo-Alto-Art-Center/See-Art/Exhibitions/Current-Exhibitions Thanks, Carol, for this great suggestion!

Rick, assisted by Casey, will spearhead the media outreach for the upcoming Global Climate Strike on Friday, September 15.  Thank you both for promoting climate action in the media!

David reports his collaboration with Red de Mujeres en Energía México (RMEM), a women-led energy association in Mexico. This partnership aims to create an open-source electric bicycle kit for the entire country. Visit David’s website here: https://www.bankontheclimate.com/.  I hope there will be an opportunity to introduce these electric bicycle kits to our sister city of Oaxaca.  As transportation is a significant source of fossil fuel consumption, we commend David for his efforts to reduce this major contributor to carbon pollution.

Heat Pump Water Heater Program Next Community Outreach on Saturday August 26:  Please meet us at the large conference room at the Rinconada Library, 1213 Newel Road, 1:00 pm to pick up materials and your “turf” for walking.  If you are available, please fill out this simple form — or send a note to Debbie Mytels, debbie.mytels@gmail.com.  

We have more music planned for this Friday—join the fun!

Keep Up the Fight and See You Friday!

Matt Schlegel -8/9/23

We had a fantastic demonstration, and it was a great day of solidarity with Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).  We felt very supported and encouraged by the many passersby. Thank you, Judy, for organizing such an amazing outing!

George, Iza, Robin and I proudly held up the No Nukes banners at the corner of El Camino and Embarcadero.  My loud “woohoos” were a big hit with passing cars and participants alike.

Tian, wearing his “Mend You Fuelish Ways” sign shared his 1-minute plea for everyone to chip in and do their part to address the climate crisis.  Check it out here.  Thanks, Tian, for spreading the word!

Congratulations, Daisy, for finishing your article, Environmental Issues and Activism Regarding the AAPI Community. I shared it with you all earlier this week, but if you haven’t seen it, please read it here.

Rick attended the Youth Climate Rally in San Mateo which picked up media coverage. Check it out here: CCL San Mateo Student Rally 2023 . Thanks, Rick, for sharing this!

Fridays For Future Palo Alto co-sponsor’s Human Agenda’s South Bay premiere of Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty with filmmaker John de Graaf.  Be sure to check it out this Sunday afternoon.  More details here.   Thanks, Sharat, for organizing this!

Matt Schlegel -8/2/23

We had a packed agenda!  Robin kicked us off by sharing some ideas that could make electric transportation accessible and affordable for all.  Based on policy that bans tobacco ads, George suggests banning ads for both fossil fuels and for travel.  Great ideas from both Robin and George!

Casey expressed alarm at Project 2025 published by the Heritage Foundation that will roll back all restrictions on fossil fuel usage should a Republican be elected president next year (yikes!)  She also promoted the Seniors to Seniorsproject, where seniors help high school seniors register to vote. She is also supporting 1000 Grandmas and making preparations for the upcoming climate actions on Sept 17. Casey also shared pictures from Claudia’s Imaging Future Art Tile Exhibit which she visited. Check them out here.  Thank you, Casey!

Rick has been busy writing climate songs and working with his colleagues who are helping to prepare youth to survive the degraded environment we are bestowing on them. Thank you, Rick!

Ian highlighted Palo Alto’s ban on disposable plastic foodware and expressed disappointment that the Covid pandemic sapped energy from the movement to take this ban further. Carol agreed and expressed interest in building up that momentum again. Thank you, Ian and Carol!

Next, we had a broad-ranging discussion as we debriefed the past two Fridays.  We discussed the ethical overlap between Buddhism and the climate movement. We applauded Daisy’sinvestigation on Asian American engagement with the climate movement and how we ourselves can strive to be more inclusive and welcoming of everyone. We reviewed our working-together-agreement , which, we concluded, continues to be consistent with our aims:

• Welcome All Comers

• Everyone Feels Heard

• Generous Listening

• Don’t Hog the Conversation

Next, we turned to music and performed an energizing version of Casey’s song Let Her Be.  Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/oQN2upCH5xU

Speaking of climate music, Stephan, Executive Producer for The ClimateMusic Project, is preparing a really enjoyable concert/fundraiser at Ft. Mason on September 14th and is encouraging all music lovers to attend and support this live music event by the Bay and network with this interdisciplinary community of positive change-makers. Interested? You can make your donation and get your ticket to attend here. Thank you, Stephan!

This Friday, in solidarity with the Women’s League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), we will hold our Friday noon vigil on the corner of Embarcadero and El Camino where we will commemorate the atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We, US taxpayers, continue to spend vast fortune on building and maintaining these apocalyptic weapons and, regretfully, continue to normalize their potential use in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.  Thank you, Judy, for your effort to continue to press for a ban on all nuclear weapons.

Matt Schlegel -7/26/23

We celebrated Week #80 of climate action—another amazing day filled with passionate conversations from our climate-concerned cadre! 

Before marching to Lytton Plaza for celebration and pizza, George recommended the new book by Jeff Goodell entitled The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet.  The book has reached #6 on the New York Times Best Seller List.  With four(!) persistent heat domes ringing the Northern Hemisphere and smoke choking New York skies, it’s not surprising readers are turning their attention to learning more about the consequences of our continued burning of fossil fuels. They say timing’s everything, and this book is very well timed. Thank you, George!

Claudia reminded us that Imagine Future Tile Art Project is on display at the Palo Alto Art Center until August 3. Be sure to check it out!  We appreciate all the great climate conversations this project started and look forward to Claudia’s next project.  Thank you, Claudia!

Casey enthusiastically shared that she is participating in the Environmental Voter Project, writing post cards to activate inactive environmentalists by encouraging them to vote.  Studies show that this is an impactful tool for increasing votership on climate issues.  Thank you, Casey! 

Kimberly remains hopeful that small actions can precipitate large transformations.  She is actively seeking the next action on which she’ll focus her considerable energy.  Thank you, Kimberly!

Rebecca expressed her gratitude for the space we have created in which we can share our feelings, hopes, fears and desires.  As we hurtle towards ever more heartbreaking climate events, our hope is that we will continue to listen, hear and support each other and give each other the tools and the strength we will need to help us help ourselves and all those in our lives navigate this crisis. This Friday, I’d like to spend a few minutes discussing how we can better do this going forward.  Thanks, Rebecca, for your kind thoughts.

We discussed Palo Alto’s heat pump water heater program.  George reported that his site assessment is completed, and he is awaiting a proposal from the city/contractor.  Claudia signed the site assessment agreement (SAA) and is awaiting the city to schedule the site visit.  Robin has been waiting over 9 weeks to receive the SAA from the city. Sachiyo, who replaced her water heater using the DIY route, received her rebate check. Sachiyo also had the city disconnect the gas line to her home! Meanwhile, Jonathan Abendschein, Assistant Director of Resource Management for Palo Alto Utilities, reports that program capacity has increased and that they need more leads.  350SV Palo Alto is organizing another community outreach campaign to generate leads—stay tuned for details.  Thank you all for your contributions to decarbonize our community!

Matt Schlegel -7/19/23

What a day! We were joined by Daisy, a college student who is taking a class exploring different aspects of Asian American culture. Her project is to understand how Asian Americans engage with the climate movement and why they tend to be less involved in climate activism.  We had a broad-ranging conversation exploring the reasons behind this.  I am looking forward to learning what she discovers in her research.  Thanks, Daisy, for taking on this important project and thanks to Daisy’s friends Rodrigo and Brian for supporting her!   

Daisy may benefit from having a conversation with our activist extraordinaire Angel.  For those of you who have not yet met Angel, she was in the Hong Kong Umbrella Protest in 2014, and was captured in this iconic picture that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.  She now lives in the US and cannot return to Hong Kong for fear of arrest. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down?

George joined us and shared his feelings about reading the recent IPCC report. As the UN summarized the report, we are in Code Red for humanity. Thanks for joining us, George, and for sharing your feelings.

Robin gave us an update on her home electrification projects.  She now has an electric cooktop, an electric oven, and an electric heat pump HVAC.  She is eager to replace her water heater, too!  She signed up through the city for the water heater replacement program over 8 weeks ago, longer than the 4-6 weeks indicated on the website, so I checked with Scott Mellberg, the Palo Alto’s Sustainability Programs Administrator, and he reports that Robin should see the site assessment agreement soon.

Casey recounted the various actions she has taken with the Climate Action Now app.  It is so easy and fun to use and helps remind our elected officials of the importance of taking climate action. Elected Official Rebecca, who needs no reminder, asserted that we don’t have a choice—we must keep up the climate fight!

Next we marched to Avenidas and joined Rick’s group for lunch and a discussion on Buddhism which veered into a discussion about sharing our feelings about the climate crisis.  Clearly, the crisis is affecting people and one participant shared feelings of helplessness. She feels she has done everything she can do and is at a loss for what to do next—she just wants to be told what to do.  She is definitely not alone—I shared this experience on Twitter, and asked what advice to give her. At over 250 replies, “Climate Twitter” suggests everything from relaxing to vigilante justice; from supporting a youth-led group to leading an adult one; from diet to recreation; from the practical to the emotional; from the spiritual to the mundane; from the individual to the collective. Check out the many replies here. What will she do? What will you do?

This Friday we celebrate Week 80!  Is this a good opportunity for a pizza party?  We hope you can join us!

Matt Schlegel -7/12/23

Paula from Avenidas joined us Friday thanks to Rick. Paula shared her long family history of activism.  It’s always a pleasure to meet a kindred spirit! Among other things, Paula is an expert at dancing the California Twirl, so let’s encourage her to give us a lesson at an upcoming FFF. 

Rick is organizing a talk on Buddhism at Avenidas this Friday after our climate vigil. We will “march” over to Avenidas at around 12:40 after we take our group picture. If you want to join us for lunch at Avenidas, please RSVP to Rick and/or me. 

José joined us briefly – great to see him again and looking forward to hearing more of his stories and poetry.

Rick has created a number of memorable and catchy climate songs.  You will want to hear Rick’s voice and to join us in singing these tunes together.

Mother Earth just endured her hottest week on record since 100,000 B.C.E. because we continue to burn fossil fuels and blanket her with heat-trapping pollution.  Some scientists call this new epoch in the Earth’s history the Anthropocene.  In the past, humans used the conjunction of planets and stars to define epochs.  The Anthropocene is marked by the conjunction of Coal, Oil and Gas. A killer heat storm hits California this weekend. Please stay safe.

Matt Schlegel -6/29/23

We enjoyed another music-filled gorgeous Friday afternoon as we explored the importance music will play in the climate movement.  We adapted a number of familiar tunes to have climate themes. We created a mesmerizing version of Give Earth a Chance played to John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance.

Our music attracted José who joined us for a wide-ranging conversation. He was a DJ in the 80’s and was very familiar with Casey’s band and the classic song, I Wanna Be Jackie Onassis. What a small world!  José also likes writing poetry – he plans to write a climate-change poem and share it with us at an upcoming Friday climate strike. Thanks, José!

In a lightning round, each of us shared a climate event that struck us in the last week.  Casey: Rampant Groundwater Pumping has changed the tilt of Earth’s axis;Robin: Deaths due to heatwave in Texas; Rick: Media cares more about a submersible for the wealthy than drowned refugees;  José: Global warming leading to severe tornadoes; and, Matt: Record high Atlantic sea surface temperature.

Volunteers from 350 Palo Alto are reaching out to residents with older water heaters who expressed interest in Palo Alto’s Heat Pump Water Heater Program. I made calls to ten residents: two residents signed up for the program (YAY!), two said they love their fossil fuel water heater (BOO!), and the others received a friendly voice mail message encouraging them to sign up. Thanks to Debbie and the 350 Palo Alto team for their terrific organizing!

Matt Schlegel -6/22/23

Friday was a gorgeous afternoon filled with friends and music, song and dance, and… cherries!  William and Kimberly brought many percussion instruments to kick us off with a round of rhythm.  Mariataught us how to dance Toyi Toyi – very energizing!  I debuted my new song Turn It Blue, which became very upbeat with all the percussion accompaniments! Shirat taught us all how to dance like butterflies. Music Mark brought a metal ukelele – very cool! And we sketched out a new climate song (Becoming Sharper) to be debuted at an upcoming FFF soon.

A couple stopped by on the way to the library and checked out our signs. When I asked how they felt about the climate, the dude sadly looked at me, speechless. After a few moments, the gal said, “Not good,” to which he responded, “Yea, not good.”  On their way back, I joked that I sometimes felt like Sisyphus, to which he responded that we all need to become Atlas. Yes, now we all must hold up the Earth!

Shirat encouraged us to see the documentary Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty, a film by  John De Graaf.  Check out the trailer here.  It’s a very good reminder of what is possible when we work together to preserve natural beauty. There will be a screening of the film at the SJSU King Library on Aug. 13. Thanks Shirat!

Rick gave us four words – Here, Now, You, Hope – and updated us on the carbon-consumption reduction program he and Casey are encouraging AARP of Californiato promote.  If you have not signed the petition yet, please do so now: https://supportaarpclimateaction.org/

Physicist Kimberly was dismayed to learn that Bill Gates’ climate action consists mainly of promoting new nuclear energy. She feels that there are better ways to develop new clean energy. The cleanest of all?  Use less energy!

David continues to make progress developing the program to build millions of electric bicycle conversion kits for women and children in Mexico.  Rick expressed interest in fundraising for this program.  Thanks to you both 

Brad Eggleston, Director of Public Works for Palo Alto, stopped by to see how I was progressing on the rebate for the heat pump water heater we installed.  Thankfully, Scott Mellberg, Project Manager for the heat pump water program had already assisted me.  Thanks to them both!

Robin remains very impressed with UN Secretary General António Guterres who chides those who say we need to reduce fossil fuel “emissions.” He insists that what we really need to do is to Stop Burning Fossil Fuels.  I couldn’t agree more!  In fact, I wrote a song about that last year😉: Stop Burning. 

President Biden burned some fossil fuels to travel for a photo op at Palo Alto’s Baylands on Monday to say a few words about the few dollars he has allocated to address the climate crisis before shuttling over to Atherton to meet with wealthy donors.  Meanwhile, the “Climate President” has approved 6,430 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in his first two years, outpacing the Trump’s 6,172 drilling-permit approvals in his first two years. C’mon man!   (See report here.)

Matt Schlegel -6/14/23

Mr. Zhong stopped by and took pictures of all our signs. Robin jumped in with Mandarin to engage him in conversation. Thanks, Robin, for your linguistic versatility!

Rick brought his incredible enthusiasm and shared the many things he is working on – notably he is working on a home electrification project with Casey in San Jose that he will promote widely using his connections with AARP-CA. Way to go, Rick and Casey! Also, Rick is very interested in creating music for the climate movement—stay tuned😉

Doug, a scuba instructor, is working on a project to monitor marine life and restore coral in the Caribean. Thank you, Doug, for this important work!

Kimberly was enthusiastic about educating students in science. She encourages us to visit and support of CuriOdyssey in San Mateo which re-opened on June 3 after completing repairs from extensive damage due to the terrible March storms which caused incredible damage. A Muwekma Ohone leader spoke at the re-opening ceremony. More details about CuriOdyssey here: https://curiodyssey.org/ Thank you, Kimberly, for promoting science literacy!

Speaking for Muwekma Ohlone, Mark reminds us about the movement to have Stanford return 8,000 acres to the Muwekma Ohlone as promoted by Malcolm Harris in his book Palo Alto. Thanks, Mark, for highlighting this important advocacy.

Angel continues develop a climate-movement documentary and introduced us to filmmaker Brandon, who is interested in how the climate movement challenges patriarchy, racism, misogyny, ableism and man’s dominance over nature—in other words, it challenges the status quo. Thanks for continuing to promote this project!

How will we accelerate the adoption of heat pump water heaters in our community and have residents take advantage of the amazing heat pump water heater program? Debbie is organizing a calling campaign to reach out to residents who have expressed interest in replacing their older gas water heaters. Please join us to speak with these residents and encourage them to switch to HPWH! Thank you, Debbie, for your amazing organizing!

Mr. Chan stopped by with his wife and was very encouraging of our climate strike. Again, Robin helped with introductions. Thank you, Mr. Chan, for taking our picture this week!

Thank you, everyone, for all the terrific work you are doing to decarbonize our community!

Matt Schlegel -0/07/23

Kimberly joined us for a very dynamic conversation.  She conducted one of her world-famous ideation sessions – Yes, and!  Out of the many wonderful ideas that emerged, one stood out to me – have classes of students from the community join us on Friday in front of City Hall and share their thoughts, poems, art, essays, projects and feelings about the climate. Thanks, Kimberly, for bringing out the ideas!

David just finished his second Sun Trip CAfrom Palo Alto to Santa Monica – congratulations to David and all participants!  Now he heads back to Tijuana to fulfill his mission of creating worker co-ops in every state in Mexico to build electric bike kits.  Interested in supporting this project?  Here’s how: 1) Need a technical partner to help produce the motor; 2) Need help to organize the management structure of the worker co-op; and 3) Need cash to “prime the pump” for the first 3 months of operations.  Reach out to David or me if you know anyone who can help.  And again, congratulations to David on the ride!

Maria introduced us to toyi-toyi – the South African protest dance.  There is no protest in South Africa without dancing toyi toyi – check it out here: https://youtu.be/TaJY8g4iIZ8. Maybe Maria will conduct a toyi toyi dance lesson for us?

Angel checked and reported that she found a USC film student that is interested in making an Oscar Award-winning documentary about Greta.  Thanks, Angel, for moving this project forward!

Casey shared that she is working on an effort in San Jose to pilot a home electrification program that will be promoted by AARP California. If this pilot is successful, it would be rolled out to all AARP members in California and possibly beyond. Thank you, Casey, for working on this very promising approach!

Rebecca made a public comment at Monday’s City Council meeting pointing the importance of picking city vendors who are equally dedicated to the city’s mission of decarbonization.  Specifically, she expresses her concern about O’Grady Paving and questioning their dedication to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in both the materials they use and their operations. Listen to Rebecca’s comments here: https://youtu.be/ATK7oUJDJr4?t=7850 . Thank you, Rebecca, for making this very important point. 

Palo Alto City Council passed S/CAP unanimously on Monday!  Congratulations to the S/CAP Ad Hoc Committee, community members, city staff and city council who have been working tirelessly towards this milestone for three years!  You can watch the entire presentation, public discussion and council vote here: https://youtu.be/ATK7oUJDJr4?t=13868s. Now the implementation work begins!

City staff are working to understand how to improve the the conversion rate of completed-assessments to installations which now stands at roughly 10%. (12/111)  This understanding will inform those of us canvassing the community to sign up residents.

Thank you all for your feedback on celebrity Chef Jose Andresand the City of Palo Alto’s misstep to permit Andres’ new Palo Alto restaurant to burn fossil fuel gas despite violating Palo Alto’s no-new-gas Reach code. So far responses have ranged from outrage to let it be, action to apathy.  One responder reminded me to get the facts straight. Fortunately, the city has published details about our Green Building Code Requirementshere:  https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/City-Hall/Sustainability/Energy/Green-Building-Code-Requirements. The city reviewed proposals starting in March 2022 and discussed them publicly in June 2022, so this was in the works well before it was passed by city council in November 2022 and implemented on January 1, 2023. The relevant provision is: Require all new, non-residential construction to be all-electric.  Rather than comply with our law, Andres threatened to sue the city, and the city waived the requirement. The question becomes, what to do about this transgression of democracy in our town.  Perhaps Kimberly can help us with another world-famous ideation session—stay tuned! As Member Stonereminded us on Monday, Palo Alto has a global platform as a climate leader.  Let’s turn this lemon into lemonade and demonstrate to the world how to electrify all aspects of our community.

Thank you, everyone, for all the terrific work you are doing to decarbonize our community!

Matt Schlegel -05/31/23

It was another magical day in King Plaza as we were visited by an angel.  Yes, Angel dropped in to express her support for our efforts and shared her vision of creating a 29-minute documentary about Greta and Fridays for Future that will win an Oscar and spark Greta to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  Angel dreams big!  Thank you, Angel, for your passion and persistence.

Rebecca checked in and reported that she is still fighting the good fight at the water district to keep big money interests out of our water.  When the bad guys are pushing back, you know you are getting under their skin – keep up the great work, Rebecca!

Mark checked in to show his support, encouraging us to engage with music to communicate our feelings about climate crisis.  Thank you, Mark, for sharing your passion for music with us.

Claudia stopped in and reported that the city contacted her in preparation for her heat pump water heater assessment. She has signed the form and is moving to the next step.  Please continue to let us know how the program is working for you.  Meanwhile, Robin reports that she is still waiting her turn in the queue.  Claudia, Robin and I attended the Climate Friends Book Group on Sunday for another amazing discussion.  We were able to discuss climate with many friends that happened by, like Alex and his daughter Sophia. Sophia is studying design and shared how climate must be considered all aspects of design work.  Thanks, Claudia, for creating this climate-friendly group!

This is UPSIDE DOWN!  Palo Alto should not allow Chef Jose Andres to violate Palo Alto's no-new-gas building code in order to cook the planet.  We are outraged by the city’s misstep and demand that Palo Alto work with Chef Andres to create an all-electric model kitchen to serve as an example for the world. Meanwhile, I do not see the S/CAP discussion scheduled for the June 5 City Council meeting, and there is nothing scheduled after June 5 so I cannot report when we will see this presentation—hopefully sooner than later, as we do not have much time left.

Matt Schlegel -05/24/23

A protest or a vigil?  We were greeted by Council Member Pat Burt and Director of Public Works Brad Eggleston as we entered King Plaza on Friday.  So great to see them both.  Council Member Burt saw our signs and asked what we are protesting.  I explained that our action is more a climate vigil than a protest. Director Egglston astutely pointed out that our action holds the city accountable for meeting its climate goals – PRECISELY!

Meanwhile, Palo Alto Weekly is reporting that the city backtracked on the requirement for new buildings to use all-electric equipment when threatened with a lawsuit by a celebrity, Chef José Andrés. The City of Palo Alto is setting exactly the wrong example about the direction we need to be moving.  The City needs to show some conviction. Did the City just turn our vigil into a protest?

Furthermore, this particular chef purports to support climate-friendly food options while using climate-killing fossil fuel gas to cook his “climate-friendly food,” falling into the both the hypocritical and self-defeating categories.  More reporting on Palo Alto’s climate travesty here:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-19/chef-jose-andres-natural-gas-palo-alto-restaurant-zaytinya

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/despite-palo-altos-ban-natural-003545347.html

https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/jose-andres-gets-permission-to-use-natural-gas-ban-despite-palo-alto-ban/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/palo-alto-exempts-celeb-chef-jose-andres-restaurant-from-gas-ban

Who knew that Palo Alto would become famous for spinelessness in the face of fossil-fuel interests.

Aurelie (David Liguoy’s cousin) joined us on Friday.  She shared that she learned a great deal about our climate predicament from David and has become very concerned for the future of her children. She is not seeing action and she fears not enough is being done to lower carbon emissions. She is correct.

Matt Schlegel -05/17/23

Another glorious Friday afternoon filled with amazing conversations.  Claudia shared her new project – Atlas of the Beloved – in which she collects drawings from Palo Alto students of their beloved creatures, plants and places. Check it out here: www.engageon.org/atlas. Also, she encouraged us to attend the Climate Friends Book Club meeting on 5/28—see details below.  Thanks, Claudia, for these wonderful contributions to our community!

Robin reported that she signed up for the Heat Pump Water Heater Program but was dismayed to learn that she had to wait 4~6 weeks before she would be contacted by the city to start the process.  I followed up with City Council on Monday and asked that they encourage the city to provide our community with a status update on the program including corrective actions being taken to eliminate any hurdles that are impeding the ramp up of the program.  Palo Alto’s Sustainability Manager Christine Luong reported that they are working to have just such a presentation ready for the June 5th City Council Meeting.  You can listen to my comments at City Council here:  https://www.youtube.com/live/dz1UOELyuPI?feature=share&t=1640 (Transcript below.)

Brian and I wrote our second climate song in with which we ponder the human predicament of dealing with invisible threats.  We imagined if our carbon emissions turned blue just how quickly we would react to the threat and to deal with it. Alas, our carbon emissions are invisible and odorless, making them easy to ignore.  Is there’s a great example of how our society has learned to manage an invisible threat? Yes, there is!  Do you wash your hands after using the bathroom?  If so, why?  We have been taught about invisible germs and learned a behavior that minimizes transmission. Society uses powerful forces of guilt and shame to reinforce this pro-social behavior along with positive reinforcement – Thank you for washing your hands! None of this would be posible without a sink and running water. So the four main ingredients to dealing pro-socially with an invisible threat are: 1) Education; 2) Infrastruction; 3) Positive reinforcement—appreciation; and 4) Influencing forces of guilt and shame.  I present to you Turn it Blue:  https://youtu.be/qotmqawBp2E

Matt Schlegel -05/11/23

Victor, who is from Peru, stopped by to share his thoughts about the climate: We aren’t taking care of it; There are too many people polluting too much; Politics isn’t helping; Climate collapse is forcing people to migrate and become refugees; and, US sanctions are causing hardship and migration of people who would rather stay where they are.   Victor noted that the US never joined the League of Nations because it was more interested in defending its own interests than making the world safe for democracy. Thank you, Victor, for sharing these important perspectives!

Next, Ryan from Parker High School stopped by and shared the important work he and “The Green Team” are doing to reduce food waste at his school. Thank you, Ryan, for your dedication to this project!

It was great to have my nephew Evan join us for the first time – I appreciated his sign selection!  Also thanks to Sakura and Robin for joining us. Thanks to Nicholas for taking our picture.

On Sunday, Fay gave her talk on the importance of bringing back into balance humanity’s relationship with nature. It was so great to be in community with like-minded people. Thank you, Fay, for sharing your vision, and  thank you, Kimberly, for hosting the event!

Today, Anu was a panelist for a discussion: Courageous Conversation: Talking Climate Emotions with Kids. I am so encouraged and inspired by these caring leaders who want to ensure our kids have the tools they need to navigate the emotionally fraught world we are leaving them.  Thank you, Anu and all the panelists.  And, thank you all for everything you are doing to make the world better for youth and all life on our one and only Mother Earth.

Matt Schlegel -05/04/23

Some of you knew that I set a goal of having seven people attend Friday's climate strike. I was content with our wonderful six strikers when the universe produced Nick! Curious passerby Nick joined us, and we had a wide-ranging conversation covering science, self-reflection, meditation, family, life journey and, of course, reducing our fossil fuel emissions.  Thank you, Nick, for joining us and thank you, Universe, for helping us meet our goal!  

Kimberly introduced us to her friend Fay from China who is creating an international network focused on a sustainable planet – one that that prioritizes life over money. She shared her vision and her focus on the future -- looking forward 20 to 40 years – and keeping carbon pollution out of our biosphere.  Want to meet Fay and hear more?  She will be speaking this Sunday, May 7 at 5:00PM hosted by Kimberly in Redwood City. I plan to attend and am happy to drive.  More details below.

Mark stopped by which sparked a conversation about creating a climate concert in Palo Alto.  I know The Climate Strikers! would be delighted to play. We imagined having a wonderful musician like Palo Alto’s very own Molly Tuttle headline the show. What is your vision for the ideal experience of a Palo Alto Climate Concert?

Casey, Brian and Robin all shared their latest focus and activism on policy, water conservation and home electrification among other topics.   Thanks for the lively discussions!

I checked in with Palo Alto Utilities’ Sustainability Program Administrator Scott Mellberg for our monthly update on the Heat Pump Water Heater program. Here are the latest HPWH full-service program numbers (as of last Thursday 4/27):

• Number of residents signed up on the HPWH full-service interest list: 466

• Number who have been sent a site assessment agreement (SAA): 245

• Number who have signed their SAA: 156 (they can get scheduled for their site visit from Synergy)

• Number of completed site assessments: 58

• Number of installed HPWHs: 8

Thanks, Scott!

As you already know, this program has a goal of ramping up to an installation rate of 1000 per year (80 per month) and, to meet our 80x30 goal, a further ramp to 4000 installs per year.  I asked Scott what are the impediments to accelerating the installation rate.  I will let you know what I hear.

Did you catch the Daniel Ellsberg interview on Democracy Now!? He has great admiration for Greta quoted her not once, but twice—remarkable!  https://www.democracynow.org/2023/5/1/daniel_ellsberg_ukraine_war_pentagon_leak

“The adults are not taking care of this, and our future absolutely depends on this changing somehow fast, now.”

Matt Schlegel -04/28/23

Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition along with Silicon Valley Sunrise Movement and allied climate groups created an amazing afternoon of climate conversations, music, dancing, marching and action with ~200 participants!  I am so greatful for our community and our dedication to taking the steps necessary to lower our carbon emissions.  Special thanks to Katie, Julia andAditi and on the PASCC and Sunrise crews for their tireless organizing!

Thanks to Pro Bono Photography and photographer Jim Colton for their support and memorialization of climate rallies in our community. Check out their pictures here: 

https://www.probonophoto.org/2023/21Apr23PAEarthDay/

Ria and Kye of People-Plates-Planet had a table at the rally.  These amazing Palo Alto High School students are minimizing food waste at Paly and arranging to have unused food distributed to those in need in our community. So grateful for this student-led movement and the work they have initiated.  Wouldn’t it be great if PAUSD supported these students and made this program available at all schools in the district?  Learn more about their organization here: www.peopleplatesplanet.org

I really enjoyed accompanying singer/guitarist Nancy and dancer Kat at the rally.  Glad I had my tamborine handy! See more dancing by the Raging Grannies here: https://youtu.be/u0byQ9Kby3g

On Sunday, Claudia and EngageOn hosted the Climate Friends Book Club meeting where we had a passionate discussion about the book All We Can Save and shared what actions each of us are taking to address the climate crisis in our personal lives and in our respective communities.  Many thanks to Claudia for creating this opportunity for inspriation and optimism.  I came away very engergized!   

I checked in with the city on the status of the Palo Alto’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report.  It’s not quite ready for release. Stay tuned!

Matt Schlegel -04/20/23

Great turnout and great conversations as our attention turned towards climate art and engaging students in climate conversations and projects.

Justin, a 5th grade teacher, shared some of his student’s climate and ecology projects  including minimizing single-use plastic, minimizing food waste emissions, and learning how to buy sustainable products.  We discussed how to purchase two products we all use, chocolate and toilet paper, using these resources: https://www.chocolatescorecard.com/ and https://us.whogivesacrap.org/ -- we encouraged ourselves to be conscientious in our purchasing decisions.

Trudy, whose art name is Myrrh,  shared her inspiration – Guy McPherson’s Nature Bats Last blog – for her admirable art piece, Mother Nature Bats Last. You can find more of Myrrh’s work here: https://www.myrrh-art.com/

Claudia is enthusiastic about her youth climate art projects and was eager to collaborate with both Justin and Trudy to help students express their feeling about the climate crisis through art.  She also reminded and encouraged us to attend this Sunday’s book club meeting to continue our conversation about the first two chapters of All We Can Save.  I’ve made lots of notes in my copy of the book and can’t wait to discuss!

Both Robin and Trudy were excited to share climate-related programing on PBS which highlighted The Earthshot Prize winners. They were amazed by the  properties of kelp and the promise of kelp farming as a climate solution.  Learn more asbout the Earthshot Prize here: https://www.pbs.org/show/the-earthshot-prize/

Amy was excited shared the great news about NYC Mayor Adams’ commitment to reducing the city’s food-based emissions 33% by 2030.  Perhaps this can serve as a model for Palo Alto!  Learn more here:  https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/263-23/mayor-adams-commits-reducing-city-s-food-based-emissions-33-percent-2030-after-releasing/#/0

Katie and PASCC shared the agenda of the events at the Earth Day events this Friday. See details below. We will meet at noon and stick around for the fun afternoon!

Finally, Zachy was eager to share his enthusiasm for baby squirrel season. Hoping that you, too, are enjoying our new adorable neighbors!

From Matt Schlegel -04/12/23

Casey cut up her Chase credit card! Chase Bank is the biggest US financier of new fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure projects making them a worst-of-the-worst climate villian.  Follow Casey’s lead and cut your ties with this evil institution. I did!  Mine was a twofer since it was a United Airlines miles card, and I am committing to avoid air travel until I can fly without polluting the atmosphere with climate-warming carbon. 

Susan and Richard stopped by and brought us up to date on the exciting activities planned for Palo Alto’s Earth Day activities.  Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition (PASCC) is organizing this event. Sign up here.

Journalist Barabara Noordermeer of Het Financieele Dagblad – the Dutch Wall Street Journal  – saw our signs and stopped by for a conversation. She is doing a story on the imminent Sierra Nevada snowmelt flooding and the refilling of Tulare Lake. The world is interested in the dramatic unfolding climate story about California’s water and agriculture. 

In the wake of the horrific Nashville school shooting, two Tennessee lawmakers were expelled from the state legislature for demanding action to protect students from gun violence. These expulsions caused a massive uprising by students and supporters of democracy. What is the connection with Palo Alto and climate? Palo Alto singer and social justice icon, Joan Baez, was there to support the students and these brave legislators.  Remember, social justice is climate justice. Climate justice is social justice.  Learn more about the story here:  https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/04/10/joan-baez-meets-gloria-johnson-justin-jones-at-nashville-international-airport/70098445007/

Listen to Baez accompany Rep. Justin Jones in song here: https://twitter.com/brotherjones_/status/1645203426693853187?s=20

Notice gardeners in your neighborhood who have converted to electric equipment?  I have!  I have been thanking them for taking this action, and they have all received my appreciation warmly.  Try it. It makes them feel good. It makes you feel good.  We all need to find ways to make people feel good for taking climate action.

From Matt Schlegel -04/05/23

Last Friday was another sunny but chilly day.  Claudia shared the many amazing projects she is conducting in our community. She is especially passionate about helping our young students process their feelings about the climate and mass extinction crises they are inheriting.  Our photographer Steve also shared his passion about addressing the climate crisis and expressed his appreciation for our climate vigil in King Plaza.

Today, students took to the streets nationwide to protest the mass shooting epidemic that afflicts them. Guns are now the #1 cause of youth death, having surpassed car accident deaths.  Students are constantly reminded of this threat having to participate in frequent active-shooter drills at school.  What is the overlap between the climate crisis and the gun violence crisis?

Tomorrow, the converation about the Doerr School of “Sustainability” continues with a roundtable discussion.  You can weigh in on these questions and learn from professors, students and activists. Sign up here! 

This Friday, we will celebrate as Casey cuts up her credit card in defiance of her bank which continues to fund fossil fuel projects. Is your credit card bank funding fossil fuel projects?  Bring your credit card and join in the shredding fun!

From Matt Schlegel -03/23/23

Finally a sunny, but still chilly, day. Casey joined us to share information about Third Act’s amazing nation-wide  action on Tuesday, March 21.  We appreciate this effort to hold big banks accountable for their financing of new fossil fuel extraction projects.

We reviewed a busy week in climate news -- Biden approved the Willow Project despite his campaign promise, the release of the IPCC report,  the Pajaro River flood, the ongoing atmospheric rivers pounding California, etc. When UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres presented the IPCC report, that last one before we exceed the 1.5°C global warming threshold,  he made these comments: 

Dear friends, humanity is on thin ice — and that ice is melting fast. As today’s report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) details, humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years. The rate of temperature rise in the last half century is the highest in 2,000 years. Concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest in at least 2 million years. The climate time-bomb is ticking. But today’s IPCC report is a how-to guide to defuse the climate time-bomb. It is a survival guide for humanity.  As it shows, the 1.5°C limit is achievable.  But it will take a quantum leap in climate action. This report is a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. In short, our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once.

Everything, everywhere, all at once!  Most importantly, we need to stop burning fossil fuels.

From Matt Schlegel -03/15/23

Last Friday, we had many things to celebrate! While we sought refuge from the atmospheric river at NOLA, we celebrated the successful Global Climate Strike and imagined how we can continue to pursue lowering greenhouse gas emissions in our community.  Also, we were delighted by a surprise appearance of David Ligouywho has just reached Palo Alto on his journey from the Biodiversity COP15conference in Montreal.  David exuberantly shared tales of intrigue and success at COP15, especially the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Personally, I am delighted to see the commitment to lowering fossil fuel subsidies by a whopping $500 billion—it is a good start! (Globally there are ~$5 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies.)  

One of the themes that we discussed is Buy Some Time. An effective way to buy time is to lower methane emissions.  We reviewed Palo Alto’s path to decommission our community’s gas delivery system and the current effort to replace gas water heaters with electric water heaters. Also, we need to change our consumption pattern to lower GHG.  Meanwhile, there’s a new report on methane bombs. The Guardian reports that more than 1,000 human-caused methane super-emitter events were detected in 2022.  Lowering fossil fuel subsidies will lower the frequency of these methane super emitters.

This weekend, 350 Palo Alto volunteers continued to canvass Palo Alto informing residents about the heat pump water heater program.  Well over 1,000 residents have been informed now.  Once the city has made progress on the backlog of inquiries from the community, let’s get back out there to grow interest in the program.  Stay tuned for the next canvass.  Special thanks to Debbie Mytels for her incredible leadership and energy to make this campaign a success!

Stand up! Show up! Casey is organizing with Third Act a day of action on 3-21-23. She shares, “you don’t need to be a cardholder or a Third Actor to participate––we need people of all ages, races, and means! The point is to make the connection between the banks that are funding fossil fuel development and we humans who are bearing the brunt of climate destruction.”

Palo Alto’s 2021 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report is planned to be released in April around Earth Day.  Meanwhile, here is the 2020 report.  Do you think our community’s emissions went down in 2021 as needed to meet our  80X30 goal?  Notably, in the 2020 report you will find this statement:  “Staff did not complete a consumption-based GHG inventory, though staff believes there would be value in completing one eventually.”  We agree! If we are going to be honest in our accounting of our GHG emissions, we need to include consumption, which is why we included it in our GCS demands.

What surprises await us this Friday? Join us and find out!

From Matt Schlegel -03/8/23

What an amazing event!  Firstly, thanks to co-organizer Sydney Ernest for her energy and organizational prowess. Also, thanks to all the amazing speakers – Angelina, Carol, Matt, Syd --  who spoke passionately about our demands for the city to take urgent action to decarbonize our community and be transparent about progress towards reaching our goals. Also, thanks to all the allied organizations who participated in and supoported this action:  PASCC, WILPF, Climate Mob, EngageOn, 350 Palo Alto, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Center for Spiritual Live, Pro Bono Photo, The Climate Strikers!, Raging Grannies and Dance of Peace (Sharat Lin). We had a total of 45 participants for this event, about double what we achieved last year—a great turnout for winter evening action. Check out the beautiful pictures taken by Savannah Kuang of Pro Bono Photo here. Also, watch a video of the event.

I want to make a point about the inclusive nature of our movement—one of our passionate youth speakers made mention of the unacceptable treatment of Palestinians in Isreal and in doing so used an anti-semitic figure of speech.  We can object to people’s words and behaviors without generalizing based on ethnicity/race, age, gender, color, etc.  The climate crisis effects everyone, and we welcome to our movement in kindness and caring. 

Let’s celebrate our successful climate strike! Since it will be raining this Friday at Noon, we will meet at NOLA (535 Ramona St.) to celebrate. Please plan to join us there at Noon.

From Matt Schlegel -03/1/23

The True School of Sustainabiliy hosted Dr. Jef Caers who delivered a powerful talk to over sixty Stanford students on Friday. A Stanford professor and decades-long petroluem engineer/scientist, Dr. Caers shared his life journey which has led him to commit to no longer supporting the fossil fuel industy and to devoting his talents to creating a sustainable and equitable world for all. His experience with both addiction and grief has given him the tools and empowered him to face the realities of the harm the fossil fuel industry has wrought upon our biosphere. Thank you, Dr. Caers, for shaing your story and for your devotion to life! And, thank you True School of Sustainbiliy for hosting. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR8yMWD0UBE

The Global Climate Strike is this Friday!  The event starts at 5PM, but pizza will be out for setup, around 3:30. Come early and grab a bite to eat. Thankfully the forecast is for drier, warmer weather.  Thanks to all the groups participating in the event -- PASCC, WILPF, Third Act, Climate Mob, 350 Palo Alto, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Center for Spiritual Live, Raging Grannies and Dance of Peace (Sharat Lin). RSVP here and join us for a fun Fridays for Future.

From Matt Schlegel -02/13/23

Palo Alto Climate Rally! Global Day of Action!

Hello!

I’m reaching out on behalf of Fridays For the Future, a climate movement fighting for action across the World. The movement is having a Global Day of Action on March 3rd, 2023. Our local chapter is organizing a Palo Alto Climate Rally where there will be speakers, music, dancing, tabling and good energy! We are one of many global climate events happening all across the world in solidarity. We hope through this event we can engage more community members and passionate people. The goal of this event is to nudge Palo Alto to become a leader for the world in migration away from fossil fuels. We would love your support in whatever capacity, and please let us know if you can make it!

If you are interested in getting involved, here are some ways we can collaborate to make this the place to be!

• Attend: Join us on March 3 and let Palo Alto know how strongly you feel about the importance of addressing the climate crisis by lowering fossil fuel emissions in our community

• Sponsor: We are a smaller organization so we could really use some support in planning and materials. If you can, we would love any help we can get

• Partner: You can partner with us for this event and, potentially, have a table at the strike talking about all the amazing work you and your club are doing! You would have to bring a table for this but we would be happy to support you in whatever way we can to make this happen

Thank you so much for your support and let us know if there’s any way we can support your current work as well! 

-Matt

Fridays For Future Palo Alto

Email: Palo-Alto@FridaysForFutureUSA.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fridaysforfuture_paloalto/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fri4Future_PA

Web: https://fridaysforfutureusa.org/local-groups/palo-alto/

Join us for the Global Climate Strike on March 3!: https://actionnetwork.org/events/global-climate-strike-palo-alto-march-3-2023

From Matt Schlegel -02/08/23

I love that our city is full of passionate climate activists!  We had a great turnout on Friday.  We shared our learnings on David Fenton’s talk on how to fight fossil fuel greenwashing—especially how to keep fossil fuel companies centered as the villains in our climate collapse story. 

Ian and Carol wanted a debrief on the conversation with Palo Alto’s Sustainability Manager Christine Luong.  I updated everyone on the upcoming canvass to inform residents about the heat pump water heater program and the action that Fridays For Future Palo Alto co-sponsored with 350 Palo Alto and others to demand the city council establish a sunset date to end the flow of dirty methane gas in our city.  Claudia reminded us of the Climate Friends Book Club Meeting on Sunday.

Speaking of the Climate Friends Book Club, we had a fantastic conversation led by Claudia. Leeann, Anu, and I had an invigorating discussion, and we are excited for the next club meeting, which is scheduled for Sunday, March 5 at 1:30 PM—details below.

More than twenty climate activists showed up at City Council on Monday. Andrea kicked us off with a very concise and informative talk which concluded that ending methane distribution in Palo Alto is a no-brainer.  I also spoke about how Exxon lies to us just like tobacco companies before them to us, and both of their products cause dreadful harm—we need to stop burning fossil fuels the same way we stopped burning tobacco!

Andrea’s comments:  https://youtu.be/iP1tJ8MJkZ4

Matt’s comments:  https://youtu.be/8v6QRl09bM0

It’s not too late to sign up to canvass this Saturday (and Sunday, too, if you are not a football fan). Help our community kick our fossil fuel habit by encouraging our neighbors to switch to electric water heaters.  Sign up here and join us for a fun afternoon:  bit.ly/water-heater-canvass

Organizing continues for the upcoming Global Climate Strike on March 3.  We’ve applied for the permit at Lytton Plaza and started media outreach. 

From Matt Schlegel -02/01/23

We had our first field trip!  On Friday we attended David Fenton’s talk entitled,"How to Fight Fossil Fuel Greenwashing and Brainwashing" hosted by the True School of Sustainability at Stanford. Fenton gave a very entertaining talk and held a lively Q&A session with Stanford students grappling with the morality of conducting research funded by fossil fuel companies.  Fenton’s answer was clear—don’t do it! He frames fossil fuel companies as the villians in our climate collapse so resisting them is paramount—don’t enable fossil fuel companies!  Fenton certainly gave us lots to think about. Great to see so many of our group there – Amy, Robin, Carol, Ian and Karen. Also, great to see and catch up with Briat the event.  

Palo Alto’s Sustainability Manager Christine Luong gave us an update on Palo Alto’s sustainability plans for 2023.  The S/CAP plan is currently under CEQA review which should be completed by March at which time it will go back to City Council for approval.  Once approved, more emissions-reduction initiatives can be undertaken. Take a look at the Goals and Key Initiatives document here and imagine a project you would like the city to undertake. Amyidentified a big gap in this plan – our communities’ consumption of high emissions products like beef. What other gaps are there in our goals?

Christine also shared that the Palo Alto’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions inventory report for 2021 will be coming out in the next few weeks.  She warned that emissions are likely to have increased compared to 2020 because 2020 was lowered due to the pandemic.  This report will give us guidance of where to focus our attention and efforts.

Organizing continues for the upcoming Global Climate Strike on March 3.  We are finalizing demands and are developing outreach plans.  Syd is eager to take on the role of media outreach, as the baton is handed off from Casey – thanks to you both! If there are specific demands you want included, please let me know.

Help our community kick our fossil fuel habit by encouraging our neighbors to switch to electric water heaters.  The dates are set for the community canvass: Feb 11 and 12, and March 11 and 12.  Sign up here and join us for a fun afternoon:  bit.ly/water-heater-canvass

From Matt Schlegel -01/26/23

Thanks to WILPF (Woman’s International League for Peace and Justice) for an amazing day of action and collaboration!  We marked the 2nd anniversary of the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponsfeaturing Sharat Lin and his beautiful words and dance.  Our action could not be more timely considering that this very week the Doomsday Clock moved 10 seconds closer to midnight – now 90 seconds – the closest it has been to midnight since its inception.  The largest nuclear powers are again engaged in a proxy war, this time in Europe; global civilization is being buffeted with waves of pandemics; and climate collapse is moving from the background to the fore.  These Big Three advanced the clock closer to midnight. Our collaborations and actions will help move the clock back by this time next year.

Help our community kick our fossil fuel habit by encouraging our neighbors to switch to electric water heaters.  The dates are set for the community canvass: Feb 11 and 12, and March 11 and 12.  Sign up here and join us for a fun afternoon:  bit.ly/water-heater-canvass

The next Global Climate Strike is on March 3.  Plan to join us and let the city know your concerns about the climate crisis and the urgent need for local action.  

This Thursday we will meet with Palo Alto’s Sustainability Manager Christine Luong and get the latest on the Heat Pump Water Heater program and discuss the city’s goals for 2023.  Join us in King Plaza Thursday at 1PM.

DIFFERENT LOCATION THIS WEEK: This Friday we’ve chosen a special location for our climate strike – Stanford University! We’ll meet at building 380 in the main quad. There will be a talk by David Fenton titled "How to Fight Fossil Fuel Greenwashing and Brainwashing.” You can RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/ssu-df

From Matt Schlegel -01/13/23

We dodged raindrops, mostly, and held our demonstration on Friday in solidarity with our climate activist friends in Germany protesting the reopening of Luetzerath coal mine. Greta traveled to Luetzerath, protested the reopening of the mine, and marked a milestone—being detained by the police for the first time! We applaud all the brave climate activists defending our planet.

Speaking of defending the planet, this Friday we will mark the 2nd anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Nations in collaboration with WILPF Palo Alto (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) and others.  The weather will be nice so please join us on Friday at noon for this special event. Find more information here.

Speaking of nuclear weapons, climate scientist Eliot Jacobson corrected a CBS News report calculating the energy being sequestered by our biosphere in terms of Hiroshima-bombs-per-second – it’s over 10 bombs-per-second, double what CBS reported. In any case, that’s a lot of energy. The antidote? Stop burning fossil fuels.

Speaking of stopping burning fossil fuels, do you want to help your neighbors do just that?  Sign up to get the word out on Palo Alto’s Water Heater Replacement program.  Let’s help our neighbors switch to clean, electric water heaters before they lock in another 10+ years of burning fossil fuel with a new gas-burning water heater.  Sign up for an afternoon in February or March here: bit.ly/water-heater-canvass – you’ll receive info about training, where to pick up materials, and what to bring. It will be a fun afternoon, including light refreshments.

Remember to join us this Friday in solidarity with the WILPFdemonstration commemorating the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Nations.

From Matt Schlegel -01/11/23

We were inspired by first-time climate striker Aliyah who shared her passion about addressing the climate crisis and her commitment to starting a Fridays For Future demonstration in her community.  Thank you, Aliyah, for your leadership. And thanks to Jahangir, Aliyah’s dad, for supporting her. We look forward to collaborating with you both.

Speaking of collaborating, WILPF Palo Alto (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) is organizing a commemoration of the anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Nations on Friday January 20 in King Plaza with a nuclear/environmental protest “die-in.”  They have asked that we co-sponsor and participate in this event—seems like an extraordinarily fantastic idea! As war between nuclear-armed petro-states once again washes over us, we can take this opportunity to remind ourselves of the dual threats of how war causes extraordinary consumption of fossil fuels and emissions of greenhouse gases that are devastating the biosphere and how nuclear war would also devastate the biosphere. Let’s take this opportunity to show City Hall how deeply concerning both of these threats are to our community.

Want to eliminate fossil fuel emissions in Palo Alto?  Help get the word out on Palo Alto’s electric water heater program. We are supporting 350 Palo Altoto inform our community about this amazing program.  Please sign up here:  https://forms.gle/ND7gFQdbYuxuRL1LA  The last thing we need is for our neighbors to replace a broken water heater with another fossil-fuel gas-burning water heater that locks in another 10 years of greenhouse gas pollution. Let’s help our neighbors make the switch to electric!

Fridays For Future has set the date for the next Global Climate Strike:  March 3.  Mark your calendars and let’s plan for another powerful rally and march.  

On Friday we discussed our goals for 2023 and had a broad ranging conversation about education, the power of rhetoric, reducing meat and plastic consumption, carbon capture and banning leaded aviation fuels at the Palo Alto airport. We identified many opportunities for collaboration and action, punctuated by some impromptu Chinese lessons—it’s going to be another great year!

This Friday’s strike will acknowledge the action by amazing German climate activists, including Fridays For Future, in Lutzerath who are blocking the reopening of a dirty, polluting lignite coal mine and are being forcibly evicted by police.  https://www.aa.com.tr/en/environment/hundreds-of-german-police-clear-climate-protest-camp/2784831

Keep Up the Fight and See You Friday!

The greatest threat to the planet is the belief that someone else will save it. – Robert Swan

From Matt Schlegel -01/03/23

Happy New Year!  And, Happy Birthday to our Fridays For Future inspiration Greta Thunberg.  She turns 20 today.

I so appreciate you all for being on this journey together to create a culture and society that respects all life and that uses our planetary resources in a manner that preserves a biosphere capable of sustaining life, including humans. You are my heroes--I am so inspired by all of you! 

This was our last Fridays For Future demonstration of 2022 and the first one with rain!  While we gathered in Kings Plaza, we visited with a family from Nigeria who was interested in our demonstration.  When the rain increased, we retreated to shelter and warmth (electric heater!) – a  booth at NOLA – where we reflected on our many accomplishments this year:

• Global Climate Strike in April co-organized with EngageOn

• Global Climate Strike and Street March in September co-organized with Sunrise Movement and Palo Alto Climate Coalition and supported by Raging Grannies and Peninsula Peace and Justice Center

• Rebecca’s successful campaign for Santa Clara County Water District

• David’s successful 25,000KM journey to Montreal on an electric trike in time for Biodiversity COP15

• Palo Alto City Council passing the S/CAP framework

• Palo Alto City Council passing the heat pump water heater (HPWH) program

• Many comments at city council meetings

• Developing a community cavass with 350 Palo Alto and EngageOn to inform residents about the HPWH program

• Marking Earth Day, Earth Overshoot Day, and Climate Emergency Day

• Fifty-one consecutive demonstrations in front of Palo Alto City Hall!

2022 was indeed an amazing year of remarkable action and progress! Please let me know your favorite climate accomplishments for 2022.

On Friday, our wide-ranging conversation covered the role education plays in developing climate-informed citizens and the role the brain plays in our beliefs about class, patriarchy, democracy and authoritarianism. We discussed technical innovations such as water-soluble plastic substitutes like this.  We examined the positive and negative emotional tools available to influence people’s behaviors, the carrots and the sticks. The biggest sticks are those that provoke shame, guilt and/or anxiety, the opposites of which are appreciation for anti-shame and pride for anti-guilt. The antidote for anxiety is action, especially those actions that make oneself proud and garner appreciation.  We also reminded ourselves that it takes eleven emotional carrots to neutralize the impact of one emotional stick, and the sticks can often backfire and lead to the opposite of the intended result.  From this conversation, I concluded that we need to instill pride in those mitigating the climate crisis and thank them generously for doing it. A big THANK YOU to each of you for all you are doing!  Our conversations continued into the evening as we enjoyed the warmth of the guilt-free electric heating😉

Next week while we mark the first anniversary of Fridays For Future Palo Alto, let’s set goals for 2023 actions.

Last June I created this collage at a Creating Your Vision workshop conducted by our very own Kimberly Wiefling. I have been trying to figure out what this image means ever since. I wrote an Earth Day essay this week — it's my latest interpretation of my vision. Check it out here:
https://evolutionaryteams.com/its-earth-day-who-cares/

Be there glorious rain or glorious sunshine, see you at Noon today for Fridays For Future and at 4PM for Earth Day, both at the Palo Alto Civic Center. In between, we can grab something to eat, FFF will treat!