Following closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in 2013, the Academy’s energy advocacy efforts in various hearings and lawsuits initially focused on preventing the industry’s rush to build massive natural gas “peaker plants” which the Academy helped defeat in both Oxnard and Goleta. During that time, the Academy Research Director Robert Perry […]
California
Rebuild with Resilience: Montecito Community Microgrid Initiative
In partnership with the Clean Coalition, the World Business Academy has engaged the Montecito community towards the development of a Community Microgrid, starting with independent microgrids at three critical community facilities: Montecito Fire Protection District (FD) headquarters and primary fire station, which maintains and deploys the majority of Montecito’s fire-fighting resources. Montecito Water District (WD) headquarters and […]
Santa Barbara County Votes to Join Central Coast CCA: Now What?
By Robert Perry, Director of Research On June 16th, the County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to participate in the Monterey Bay Community Power Authority (MBCPA), Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program. Following years of deliberation and analysis concerning the feasibility of forming its own CCA, the vote could lead to the inclusion of Santa […]
Downtown Santa Barbara Retail Discussion Moves Forward With New Consultant’s Report
When it comes to the issue of revitalizing Downtown Santa Barbara and bringing back some of its lost luster, momentum is building towards a solution and the World Business Academy is gratified to see that the public discussion we launched last year about this vital issue continues to move forward. The World Business Academy started […]
Global Citizens Club Meeting: Housing Solutions for a Vibrant Santa Barbara
On July 10th, 2019, we enjoyed the company of over 100 Santa Barbara community members and four key panelists at the Global Citizens Club meeting on Housing Solutions for a Vibrant Santa Barbara. As part of the 2019 conference series, this meeting focused on the pressing topic of housing in Santa Barbara, specifically on the […]
Housing Solutions for a Vibrant Santa Barbara
Like most of California, Santa Barbara is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. As our population has grown over the past few decades, our housing stock has stayed relatively flat – leading to exponentially rising prices to rent an apartment or buy a home. Partly this is by design, as majority bias in […]
Global Citizens Club Meeting: Santa Barbara’s Transportation Future
We were delighted by the response to our May 22nd Global Citizens Club meeting focusing on Santa Barbara’s Transportation Future. With attendance reaching almost 100 people, it clearly demonstrated the historically vigorous community interest in finding transportation solutions that will work well for everyone and strategies for investing in new modes to quickly transition to […]
Some Good News on the Fracking Front
By Robert Perry For all of us following the onslaught of oil and gas proposals and attempts by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to open every acre of federal land in California to fracking, the sheer volume of battles can be daunting. I attended and spoke at the BLM public meeting at SBCC on […]
Honoring Earth Day 2019 with a Renewed Commitment to Finding Solutions
Visit the World Business Academy Booth at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival April 27 & 28 at Alameda Park. The world has problems, and Santa Barbara County is no exception. The World Business Academy’s mission is to encourage businesses to create innovative solutions both locally and globally to the planet’s pressing environmental challenges. […]
Global Citizens Club Meeting on Climate Change Grassroots Action Draws a Huge Crowd!
The huge response to our February 19th Global Citizens Club (GCC) meeting was extremely gratifying, with over 200 people from the community turning out to learn more about effectively fighting climate change from a diverse panel of experts and activists. Highlights of the meeting hosted at the El Encanto included a moving statement from local […]
PG&E’s Bankruptcy Filing: An Opportunity for Energy Democratization
By Robert Perry, Director of Energy Research Everyone is buzzing about the implications of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) declaring bankruptcy. When the news broke last week, PG&E’s stock fell 52%, only to bounce back by 75% when California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection determined that private electrical equipment was responsible for starting the […]
2019: The Year of Climate Mobilization
By Robert Perry, Director of Energy Research “For the world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air.” – Treebeard, from The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien. For many, 2018’s seemingly endless succession of hurricanes, wildfires, and torrential storms, combined […]
