Welcome to Monitor Notes, a weekly roundup of news items, event announcements, and updates on past Bay Area Monitor articles.
Taxing Pollution?
The League of Women Voters of Palo Alto is hosting a September 9 discussion with Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) about carbon pricing — a fee levied on the burning of carbon-based fuels such as coal, oil, and gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CCL is a nonpartisan advocacy nonprofit focused on national policies to address climate change. Yifei Huang (pictured), part of CCL’s presenter action team, will speak about the organization’s support for implementing a carbon pricing/dividend policy. Will carbon pricing be implemented nationwide? Get more perspective about this question by checking out the League-endorsed Price on Carbon website and reading coverage from the Monitor’s Leslie Stewart about California’s pricing policies like cap-and-trade. Then register for the 7 p.m. CCL discussion.
Water’s Kryptonite
The Commonwealth Club is organizing a September 8 discussion at 9:30 a.m. with water activist and author Erin Brockovich (pictured). Known for her focus on contamination — depicted in the 2000 eponymous film — Brockovich says climate change poses bigger threats to water, impacting freshwater supplies, droughts, and weather. In her new book, “Superman’s Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It,” she talks about taking collective action to protect the environment and resources. Register for the Commonwealth Club discussion here before reading up on Bay Area water coverage from the Monitor’s Robin Meadows.
On the Road Again
In the home stretch of summer, the Mineta Transportation Institute is conjuring up nostalgia for road trips in an upcoming September 17 webinar at 10 a.m. entitled “See the USA in Your Chevrolet: The American Road Trip Reconsidered.” Author and historian Dan Albert and Stanford University American history professor Allyson Hobbs (pictured) will re-examine the road trip through a historical lens intended to inform the work of transportation professionals within the context of the mobility revolution, social justice reform, and the pandemic shutdown. Register here.
A New Parks Director
California’s Department of Parks and Recreation has a new director. Armando Quintero (pictured) is taking on the important role at a time when the state’s open spaces face wildfire and other critical issues. The department oversees 280 state parks, 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, and 4,500 miles of trails. Marin County’s Quintero, once a park ranger, joins the department after serving as executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at the University of California, Merced since 2015. Quintero told the San Jose Mercury News the appointment is “an astonishing honor at an extraordinary time.” The article explains his plans for expanding park access and other challenges ahead.
Join the Book Club
At a time of protests and unrest, consider booking into a 6 p.m. virtual discussion on September 17 with the League of Women Voters of Oakland to learn more about issues of race. The League’s book club will be delving into New York Times best-seller “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism.” The 2018 book, written by sociologist Robyn DiAngelo, explores reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions affect racial inequality. Read event details.
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