Event – Central Coast Sustainability Summit

The sixth annual Central Coast Sustainability Summit will take place on Monday, October 17th, 8 AM – 4:30 PM, in Santa-Barabara California at the Loma Pelona Conference Center, UCSB. This event will be attended by representatives from government, chambers of commerce, nonprofit organizations, campuses, utility companies and private industry. Participants will discuss common sustainability issues, share best practices, and seek partners. The event aims to inspire action and regional collaborations that may seed potential solutions to environmental issues in the area.


“We are very excited about this year’s summit and grateful for the partnership of our colleagues from the Community Environmental Council; the Cities of Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria; and the County of Santa Barbara,” said UCSB’s Jewel Snavely, event organizer and campus sustainability coordinator. “With so many complex environmental and economic challenges in our region, this event provides an important opportunity for learning about best practices and innovative solutions on issues including sustainable transportation, energy efficiency, carbon farming and energy resiliency. New collaborations to help advance sustainability on the Central Coast may be sparked as a result of these discussions — that’s certainly our hope.”

The morning keynote talk, “The Keys to Sustainability in the 21st Century,” will feature Terry Tamminen, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which focuses on protecting wildlife, saving the oceans, restoring wildlands and empowering communities. Tamminen has served in sustainability roles in both the private and public sectors, including as secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Concurrent sessions to follow Tamminen’s talk will cover topics including municipal energy efficiency, more sustainable local and regional transportation, financing options for climate resiliency initiatives and rapid scaling of carbon farming energy.

A major focus for the afternoon: water. A panel discussion of regional water issues will feature Tom Fayram of the County of Santa Barbara; Charles Newman of the Montecito Water District, Joshua Haggmark of the City of Santa Barbara, and Ryan Drake of the Goleta Water District.

“As we enter our fifth year of drought in California, we’re thrilled to have a panel of water experts from Goleta, Santa Barbara and Montecito sharing current conditions and forecasts, as well ideas they are exploring to diversify our water sources,” said Mo Lovegreen, UCSB’s director of sustainability. “With our own expert, UCSB’s Robert Wilkinson, who researches water policy, moderating the panel, it promises to be an informative and robust discussion.”

Hydrogen fueling and community choice energy are on the docket for the afternoon agenda, as is former California Assemblymember, now Santa Barbara County Supervisor-elect Das Williams, who will speak on biofuels, Senate Bill 32 and the future of cap and trade. An afternoon keynote will focus on “The Distributed Grid: California’s Transition to a Cleaner, Faster, More Resilient Grid.”

“We are excited to see the Sustainability Summit continue to bring thought leadership to the Central Coast,” said Jefferson Litten, director of energy and climate programs at the Community Environmental Council, a key partner in the annual event. “The presentations will address some of the most pressing issues that our community faces — our regional water supply, the transition to a clean energy future and alternative transportation. The event will be a great chance to share updates on energy storage, Community Choice Energy and other opportunities to implement sustainability measures in our region.”

Since the summit began in fall 2011, it has served as an incubator for regional initiatives. The spin-offs include the Multi-jurisdictional Renewable Energy Task Force exploring the feasibility of community choice aggregation, and the cross-agency Volunteer Management Program, which enabled local non-profits to shift from a model of recruitment per organization to a collective model of joint recruitment to the environmental movement as a whole.

2016 Summit Schedule
Event Program

Schedule at a Glance
8:00am-8:30am Registration and Coffee/Tea
8:30am-8:45am Welcome and Opening Remarks
8:45am-9:30am Keynote presentation

Terry Tamminen, CEO Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. From his youth in Australia to career experiences in Europe, Africa, China and across the United States, Terry has developed expertise in business, farming, education, non-profit, the environment, the arts, and government. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and later Cabinet Secretary, the Chief Policy Advisor to the Governor, where Terry was the architect of many groundbreaking sustainability policies, including California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the Hydrogen Highway Network, and the Million Solar Roofs initiative.

9:45am-11:00am Concurrent Session A

Municipal Energy Efficiency – Best Practices for Making Projects Happen
Room 1108
Sustainable Transportation breakout session:
Room 1100

11:15am-12:30pm Concurrent Session B

Financing as a Solution: How new financing options are advancing climate resiliency initiatives
Room 1100
From Pilots to Big Bold Visions: Rapid Scaling of Carbon Farming
Room 1108

12:30pm-1:30pm Networking Lunch
1:30pm-2:45pm Panel – Regional Water issues
3:00pm-3:15pm Central Coast Hydrogen Fueling Readiness Update
3:20pm-3:35pm Biofuels, SB 32, and the future of Cap and Trade – Speaker Das Williams
3:40pm-3:45pm Community Choice Energy Update
3:45pm-4:15pm The Distributed Grid: California’s transition to cleaner, faster more resilient grid – Speaker Susan Kennedy, Advanced Microgrid Solutions
4:20pm-4:35pm Closing Remarks – Dave Davis

Cost

Non student – $20
Student – $10

Click here to register

Source: The Current