‘The Switch is On’: Petaluma resident’s statewide campaign in climate change fight

Petaluma resident Ann Edminster said she “came out of the womb” practically knowing she had a connection to the environment. Now, she leads a recently-launched, statewide campaign to encourage Californians and Petalumans alike to do their part in the movement to curb climate change.

Edminster, who heads Design AVEnues LLC and is Chair of the Petaluma’s Climate Action Commission, has partnered with the Building Decarbonization Coalition to launch the “Switch Is On“ campaign statewide in an effort to help others switch from gas-powered to all-electric appliances.

“There’s so much to be concerned about in terms of climate change,” Edminster said in a phone interview. “It’s really important for people to understand that there are things they can do that actually are going to move things in the right direction.”

Moving to Petaluma more than two years ago from Pacifica where she grew up, she had her first run-in with human-caused environmental destruction in 1969, when roughly three million gallons of oil spilled into the Santa Barbara coastline. Edminster recalls jumping to action to aid in the cleanup efforts after oil had traveled up the coast.

“There were a whole bunch of us teenagers who helped clean up birds that arrived on our beach just saturated in oil from that spill,” Edminster said. “That was tragically memorable.”

Though she went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in architecture, the rise of what Edminster called a “green building movement” in the 1980s drew her to head back for a master’s degree at UC Berkeley in 1993.

“It still wasn’t really being called green building, but I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Edminster said. “I was married and I had my own business, but I figured the only way I was really going to make this shift in my life is to go back to school and that would kind of force me to dedicate my time to this. So certainly that was a pivotal decision and definitely marked a turning point in my career.”

Since, Edminster has centered her everyday life on shaping the building industry to be more eco-friendly. In 2009 she founded the consultant business Design AVEnues LLC, which provides education, research and design coaching on sustainable homes and communities to a wide range of organizations. She’s worked with teams at Pacific Gas & Electric, the Bay Area Regional Energy Network, setting up curriculum and workshops for employees to help them become more aware of the clean energy options in the industry. And in the same year she founded her thriving business, she even published the award-winning book, “Energy Free: Homes for a Small Planet.“

“I spend way too many hours sitting in front of my computer,” Edminster laughed. “This is near and dear to my heart. It’s my day job, it’s my night job – it’s kind of what I do all day, almost every day.”

Her career expanded once again in December when she helped launch a statewide campaign to encourage other Californians to join in the goal to work toward having a completely clean energy grid in the next two decades, alongside the Building Decarbonization Coalition, which helps connect building industry stakeholders with energy providers, environmental organizations and local governments to power homes with clean energy.

“The only way California – and the world at large – will meet its climate goals will be to electrify our homes and businesses,” Panama Bartholomy, executive director of the Building Decarbonization Coalition, said in a recent news release. “By sharing knowledge with everyday Americans and guiding them through the process of electrifying their homes, this campaign will catalyze the transformation to a cleaner, safer energy future.”

The “Switch Is On” campaign comes after a 2020 pilot program promoting electrification in the Bay Area and two years of market research, and strives to educate people about the value of swapping out gas-powered water heaters, dryers, stoves and furnaces for electric alternatives.

Edminster said that many people over time have had the misconception that installing electric appliances also comes with environmental costs. But because the state has decreased the burning of fossil fuels to power the electric grid, our energy use has become cleaner in recent decades as wind, solar and hydro energy becomes more prominent. California established a goal of using only electricity from renewable energy and other zero-carbon sources at its grid by 2045.

“I’m hoping that we can convey the impression that switching from natural gas to electric appliances has a myriad of benefits and it should be something people are eager to do and excited to do,” Edminster said. “Because not only is it great from a climate change perspective, but it creates a much healthier indoor environment.”

Amelia Parreira is a staff writer for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at amelia.parreira@arguscourier.com or 707-521-5208.