Editorial: Green Up, Del Mar!

Del Mar is a wonderful place to live. We have great beaches, great views of the ocean, lots of open space, and a carefully preserved environment that attracts many visitors and new residents. So how do we preserve this special place from the many challenges that global warming presents?

Why is this so important now? It is clearly unlikely that we will see any meaningful action on climate change from the federal government for the next 4 years, and we will undoubtedly see major rollbacks of environmental safeguards such as clean water, EPA, investments in clean energy, and undoubtably more.  Every year we wait makes the measures we should be taking more difficult to have an impact. Our options are to take more local action to preserve Del Mar for our children and grandchildren, or to bury our heads in the sand and hope for some miracle solution in the distant future.

Del Mar City Council really needs to update our Climate Action Plan (the update was due in 2021) and start taking concrete steps to protect our city. The most impactful option we can take involves reducing and eventually eliminating our use of fossil fuels for transportation, energy generation, and home heating and cooking. The goal is to switch to electricity generated by solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower and stored in battery arrays to power our homes and vehicles.

Here are some actions the City Council should undertake:

1. Install solar panels and battery storage on all municipal buildings. City Hall history demonstrates this investment will pay for itself within a few years. Use of power purchase agreements mean that the city would not even need to pay upfront for solar installations.
2. Update building codes to incentivize the use of electricity, not gas, for all new construction.
3. Update building codes to have major additions and major alterations have the same requirements as new construction.
4. Work with the Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) to fund rebate programs for clean energy upgrades for Del Mar residents.
5. Electrify the city vehicle fleet to the extent possible.
6. Use grant funds to install additional EV charging stations.
7. Put up signage telling residents and visitors where EV charging stations are located.
8. Expand designated parking spaces for EVs.

Del Mar has the unique legacy of being the first to know of growing threat of climate change due to the groundbreaking research of Del Mar resident Dave Keeling. Let’s honor that legacy and start taking meaningful local action.