Climate Talks Tomorrow Paris France

UPDATE: Post Paris, Colbert says good-by to OIL.

 Monday 30 November 2015 is the Climate Summit in Paris France. Organized by the United Nations 40,000 dignitaries heads of state and support staff  from every nation on planet Earth will meet to produce an agreement for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (full article Grist) 

• Each nation will submit an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), a commitment to reducing emissions by a target amount. The US commitment is reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2025. 
• All nations INDC's will be combined into a core agreement in two parts, one legally binding the other non-binding, meaning a country can change its commitment without international repercussions.
• Climate scientists argue a change of 2 degrees Celsius must be held to avert the worst impacts from climatic change. The best target temperature in the INDC is 2.7 degrees allowing a chance for agreement but does not meet the recommended target.

But what about those climate deniers? 

NASA and Bloomberg News have prepared animated graphs from climate models (like the graph above) that give more confidence to historical temperature measurements and the computer modeling that matches. To see the animation visit the Bloomberg site here.

What's this got to do with TRANSPORTATION?

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has compiled data showing the contribution to global emissions from their source, by type of gas and by economic sector.  The charts show Carbon Dioxide (CO2)is the largest contributor (65%) from the fossil fuel industry (9 billion metric tonnes in 2010) where the transportation sector contributes 14%. It's noteworthy the Industry, Electricity and Building sectors contribute to both creating and maintaining the Transportation sector.           --LS

Pay When You Play at CAR2GO RideShare

 

Ping it

Take it

Drive it

Park it

Munich has BMW's DriveNOW, in Paris it's Autolib, Pittsburgh has Zipcar, in Oakland it's City CarShare, Palo Alto has Zipcar, in San Diego it's CAR2GO. Worldwide you can find car-shares in 1000 cities but what about Laguna?

Laguna's new mobility plan

CAR2GO is available around the clock. Find one with your Car2Go App (there are no storage depots) or reserve one 30 minutes before your departure. You pay only when you use it there's no monthly fee or subscription. Pay when you play and Parking is included. Read the San Diego parking FAQ's here.  Sign-up for your membership from any smartphone. A one-time $35 fee gets you started so find-out how it works at CAR2GO            -LS

BREEZE New BikeShare in Santa Monica

Reserve
Release
Ride
Return

Reserve an 8-speed bike from any of 80 hub stations around Santa Monica with your Mobile App. Release the bike lock with your smart card - adjust the seat - ride anywhere - return the bike. Lock it at the hub or leave it for the Breeze-van to collect (on-board GPS tracks the bikes).

Santa Monica introduced their new bike share in August with a promotion in November, from now until December 31, 2015 anyone can become a Founding Member for only $99. Founding Members get a full year of bike share use including 60 minutes of daily riding time and a special gift.

Street Car and Bike Share connection

Breeze launches on Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 8:15 a.m. at a City Council ceremony with participation by Mayor McKeown, Assembly Member Richard Bloom, and Presenting Sponsor, Santa Monica-based Hulu.

Santa Monica has adopted an award winning land-use and circulation  element with a bold 5-year phase-in strategy to allow riders of all ages to go anywhere by bike.   

Santa Monica is building their future in transportation, Laguna should join them.    -LS

Pay Plans

Santa Ana hosts Ciclovia Sunday

Santa Ana Ciclovia is Sunday 8 November 2015

Ciclovia is an excellent tool to teach the alternative value of neighborhood streets - a value hidden in plain sight. When will Laguna host theirs? For contact info and a flyer to the car-free event click here.   -LS

Sunday on main open streets (SOMOS).

Laguna's Dirt Fondo Challenge

The Dirt Fondo Invitation Flyer

Learning to bike ride safely and competently on off-road open space encourages kids to learn riding skills free of highway traffic and danger from motor vehicles on PCH and Laguna Canyon Road.  MounTain Biking in Laguna is a great way to stay off the highways and avoid cars altogether.  The Dirt Fondo is a MTB ride fund-raiser to support the LB Interscholastic Mountain Bike Team to hire certified coaches from  National Interscholastic Cycling Association to teach safe riding techniques, trail safety and fitness. IMBT is working with Orange County Parks and the Laguna Canyon Foundation to teach trail sustainability, IMBA trail use rules and maintenance. Riders are taught IMBA Rules of the Trail such as respecting road closures, leave no trace, yield to others and never scare wildlife.