Can Curtis Park neighbors
help to save energy?

By Kathy Les
Viewpoint Staff Writer

Think globally, act locally. This advice from the 1960s has never been truer than today when dire predictions of global warming and climate change are cropping up in the news almost daily.

The biggest culprit in creating the ozone layer that's warming the earth's surface is carbon dioxide (also known as (CO2). And the primary source of carbon dioxide is something we all do daily - energy use to power our homes and drive our cars.

That's why a few Curtis Park neighbors have already taken the message to heart. Many are quickly scooping up available hybrid cars. Others like Vicky Powers of Portola Way have diminished their dependence on a car even further.

Vicky now glides to work on her new Gelato electric scooter. After her 2002 VW Bug was totaled in an accident in January, Vicky decided there was no need for a second car in her household. She stumbled onto her new commuter vehicle while shopping at ACE Hardware in Davis. She's traded in high gas, insurance and car maintenance bills for a one-time shot of $599 for the scooter.

"When I saw the Gelato, I liked that it was electric," said Vicky. "It's so much fun to ride."

The scooter runs for 25 miles on a charge, enough for a week's worth of trips to her four-mile round trip job on L Street. The motorized scooter maxes out at 25 miles per hour, so Vicky plays it safe by riding in the bike lane.

In this day and age, when most trips are made by automobile, cars take a heavy toll on the environment. The average car emits 35 pounds of carbon dioxide a day - that's over 12,000 pounds or six tons a year (picture the typical one ton dumpster and visualize six of these to compute your share of carbon dioxide generated each year from driving). SUVS and other big gas guzzling cars emit even larger sums of CO2 each year-as much at 40% more.

We use energy to travel to and from home and to be at home. It's estimated that 21% of America's global warming pollution is produced by individual households. All the daily conveniences we depend on - and indeed take for granted - contribute to the huge volume of oil needed to energize our light bulbs, power our refrigerators and ovens, activate household appliances like dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers, and especially to propel our heaters and air conditioners.

In Sacramento, where residents are already familiar with inferno temperatures, the thought of even more hot days per year is daunting. City of Sacramento Energy Manager Keith Roberts, who is in charge of developing a climate action plan for Sacramento, is not optimistic about the future weather patterns in Sacramento if no action is taken to stem global warming.

"Today Sacramento averages approximately 18 days per year over 95 degrees," Roberts told the Sacramento News and Review. "By 2100, under the high-emissions scenario, Sacramento may have between 90 to 110 days per year over 95 degrees." That's not good news for those preferring cooler weather.

But Curtis Park has a chance to show it can do its fair share to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. If we think globally and act locally in terms of our own neighborhood, we can help make a difference.

Roberts estimates that Sacramento's entire population produces seven to nine million tons of carbon dioxide annually. According to Environmental Defense, "an average household with two medium-sized sedans emits more than 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. That's 10 tons of pollution adding to the greenhouse effect. Times that by 2,000 households in Curtis Park, and we're responsible for 20,000 tons (picture 20 dumpsters all in a row) of carbon dioxide just from our driving.

The detriment to the environment doesn't stop there. If all 2,000 Curtis Park households replaced four incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs, collectively Curtis Park would reduce CO2 by 718 tons (718 dumpsters worth) annually.

Admittedly, Curtis Park is a very small part of emissions regionally and in the U.S. But it's increasingly evident that a reversal of disturbing climate patterns can only occur with a change in personal consumption of oil and energy.

So with this in mind, a challenge is being issued to Curtis Park. How much energy can we save collectively? Discussions are currently underway with SMUD for help in assessing Curtis Park's monthly electrical usage. Soon, Viewpoint may be able to report on how our neighborhood is faring in this one area of energy consumption. SMUD is excited about the prospect of working with Curtis Park as a model neighborhood for energy reduction.

So to help you get a head start, here are some easy energy-saving tips, especially useful as we head into the hot summer season when air conditioners will draw on heavy electrical usage. The good news is that saving energy also saves money.

There are also several fun Web sites that help you assess your household and transportation energy consumption (and your contribution to increased carbon dioxide emissions). Look these over and see if there's some way you can make a local difference.

For the good of the neighborhood and for the good of the world, help reduce your share of energy consumption.

SMUD offers energy saving DVD to Curtis Park residents

Saving energy shouldn't be a mystery. So stop by the Sierra 2 Center office and get your own private detective to uncover the clues to manage energy use at home. The detective is the "High Bill Caper," a user-friendly DVD produced by SMUD.

The 40-minute DVD is divided into seven segments that make the information easily accessible. Neighbors can click immediately to any of the separate headings, such as Water Heating, Lighting, Water Heaters or SMUD Services.

Saving time, energy and money this summer is as easy as a visit to our neighborhood center for your free copy of the "High Bill Caper," an energy audit and information DVD provided by SMUD. The Sierra 2 office is at 2791 24th Street.

Saving energy at home

Source: You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money!) by Jeffrey Landgholz, Ph.D. and Kelly Turner

Saving energy on driving

Source: You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money!) by Jeffrey Landgholz, Ph.D. and Kelly Turner

Sources for assessing your own energy usage
www.smud.org/energysmart/online.html: to assess energy consumption bases on your size and type of house

www.nativeenergy.com/traveler.html?traveler# : to perform a comparative analysis of CO2 emitted from different modes of transportation

www.fightglobalwarming.com/carboncalculator.cfm : to calculate the pollution impact from your house or yourself

You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money!) by Jeffrey Landgholz, Ph.D. and
Kelly Turner is an excellent, easy-to-use guide on energy saving tips. Available through www.Amazon.com.

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