The increasing prevalence of wildfires (often sparked by utility wires) and other extreme weather events highlights the urgent need for DERs and local microgrid systems to provide true resiliency against climate-induced disruption and state authorized Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) that would preemptively deenergize transmission lines. Unfortunately, there are many hurdles to be cleared before […]
infrastructure
Global Citizens Club Meeting: Designing Dreams from Derricks
On November 6th, 2019, we concluded the Global Citizens Club 2019 conference series on “Greening our Infrastructure.” With the company of over 100 Santa Barbara community members and four key panelists, “Designing Dreams from Derricks” focused on the new discussion of the decommissioning of oil platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara. With a controversial […]
Designing Dreams from Derricks
Global Citizens Club Community Meeting Wednesday, November 6, 2019 5:00pm – 7:00pm Belmont El Encanto Hotel SANTA BARBARA, California – The future of the stranded oil derricks off of the Santa Barbara coastline will be the subject of a community meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Belmond El Encanto Hotel & Spa. “Designing Dreams […]
Repurposing Offshore Oil Infrastructure to Save the Planet
By Robert Perry When most people think of climate change, they focus on the atmosphere. In truth, it is our oceans, lakes and other water resources that serve as the bulwark in preserving a livable climate and are closer to collapse than most realize. Indeed, acceleration of climate change will reach a whole new level […]
Urban Housing Development in Santa Barbara: A symposium presented by the local UC Berkeley Community
On July 10th, 2019, the World Business Academy hosted a Global Citizens Club meeting focusing on housing solutions for a vibrant Santa Barbara. The incredible turnout at this event underscored how much our audience cares about making our community work well. Topics addressed in July included millennial housing, project affordability, and policy allowances. The panelists and […]
Resiliency Through Repurposing
By Robert Perry, Director of Research In facing our climate crisis, a lot of emphasis is placed on adding to, or replacing infrastructure. While this impulse is a logical reaction in the transition to clean energy, a strategy to repurpose existing facilities should always be considered first as a means to accelerate the transition, while […]
The Resource Adequacy Hurdle to 100% Renewable Energy
By Robert Perry, Director of Research Over the years, I’ve written about Santa Barbara County’s energy resiliency issues, particularly for communities along the coastline in the Southern California Edison (SCE) service territory. I’ve also decried SCE’s antiquated Request for Offer (RFO) process that no longer works in a time when energy procurement means building hundreds […]
Business as a Global Change Agent: Ceres/Academy Collaborative
Since 1987, the World Business Academy has focused on the role business can and should play in solving humanity’s largest challenges. Our focus on climate change and energy security results from an analysis of the most important threats to human survival and thus the survival of business. Given this prime directive, it logically follows that […]
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 […]
Greening Our Infrastructure: Transportation
We are now on the precipice of systemic change to our planetary climate system… The near-unanimous consensus at last year’s IPCC 1.5 conference, combined with an initial wave of climate change impacts in the form of stronger hurricanes, more violent storms/floods and longer drought, demands a holistic transition of all economic sectors to a carbon-free […]
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 […]
