PD EDITORIAL: Trip to Denmark

<p>Numbers are important when talking about climate change. Here are several to consider:</p><p><•>390 — Estimated parts per million of carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere.</p><p><•>350 — Level of CO2 many scientists say the world needs to return to (in parts per million) to avert significant environmental problems.</p><p><•>4,800 pounds — Estimated amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere per passenger trip for a round-trip flight from San Francisco to Copenhagen.</p><p><•>7 — Number of people Sonoma County is paying to fly to Copenhagen to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference next month.</p><p><•>$22,500 — Money allocated by the Board of Supervisors to send four people and two consultants for the Sonoma County Water Agency.</p><p>Sonoma County can do little on its own to change the top three numbers. But it has all the power to lower those last two. And it should if only for this reason: Symbols are also important in this discussion, and these are the wrong ones.</p><p>First, as our letters to the editor have shown, spending $22,500 of taxpayer money during a time of budget cuts, furloughs and high unemployment is a tough sell. This is especially true for the Sonoma County Water Agency.</p><p><i>First you encourage us to save water, then you increase water rates, and now you tell us there’s money to go to Denmark?</p><p></i>That’s a hard one to justify.</p><p>Then there’s also the muddled environmental message of flying seven people to the other side of the world - to learn about lessening our carbon footprint here at home.</p><p>Air travel is one of the worst contributors to the C02 problem. One passenger trip from San Francisco to Europe is equal to about one year of driving (in a hybrid) for the average American.</p><p>That Sonoma County is emerging as a “green” leader and should be represented at this conference is without debate. As for determining the right number of people to represent the county, that’s still a work in progress.</p><p>We don’t know the right answer (Maybe one representative from the county, one from the Water Agency and one other?) But we do know that the county needs to set a better example — and a new number. Seven is not it.</p><p>Here’s our simple advice: Think global, stay local, participate by teleconference. If that’s not available, or not encouraged, the world’s not ready for this conference anyway.</p>