Environmentalist? Yes. Environmental Champion? Not So Much

First off, a big heartfelt "Thanks!" to City Councilman, Bill Brand, for helping to make my column of last Tuesday #1 in the popularity rankings. 

I mentioned Brand in one of my column's 13 paragraphs and it prompted him to do something he's never done before – actually respond to my environmental concerns, with a column of his own.

Full disclosure – I've met Bill in person at least half a dozen times at different events in the South Bay over the past few years and each and every time I've spoken with him he's introduced himself to me and tells me, "Nice to meet you." Clearly my shy and retiring personality makes me quickly forgettable.

Bill took issue with my column because I said he wasn't Redondo's environmental champion. He claimed that it's hard to name environmental champions of other cities too. No it's not. It's easy.

In Hermosa Beach, Dency Nelson has long been that city's environmental champion and has walked the green walk for over two decades.  Mayor Michael DiVirgilio is another Hermosa environmental champion, advocating on behalf of climate action to reduce CO2 levels to 350, fighting for homeowner rights to wind power and helping to spearhead the movement to make Hermosa Beach carbon neutral. Councilman Jeff Duclos, long a leader with the Surfrider Foundation and the man responsible for the city's pesticide free zones is yet another champ on the green side.

In Manhattan Beach, several environmental champions come immediately to mind, including Councilwoman and former mayor, Portia Cohen; the city's Environmental Programs Manager and a ; Lillian Light, the long term President of the Environmental Priorities Network; the ever green Kaye Sherbak, President of VOICE; and and active member of the city's Environmental Task Force.

There are a lot of ways to respond to criticism, but when you're a public servant the smartest way to try and win over your opponent is using the opportunity to reach out to them. 

The difference between being an elected official and a columnist is that it's my job to give my opinion and to call out the powerful and prominent when I see the need for them to listen to another point of view besides their own.

I grew up reading great columnists like Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill who did exactly that in New York. Later it was Herald Examiner columnists like Tony Castro and Bud Furillo who did the same thing in Los Angeles.  Today I read and admire Steve Lopez, George Skelton and David Lazarus of the L.A. Times, and bloggers like Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos and Joe Romm of Climate Progress.

I'm not in their league, but I am part of the great tradition in our country of columnists giving their unsolicited advice to public officials, such as Brand, who choose to raise the money and their own name recognition in order to get into office.

In my last column I called the harbor development issue in Redondo a "soap opera" and the Councilman took issue with that too.  I guess he never watched "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" because that's exactly what the trials and tribulations of this development saga look like to most people. 

My take on the development of the harbor area is that Redondo Beach is missing a golden opportunity to make that rundown neighborhood the greenest showcase of sustainability on the West Coast.  It should be a carbon neutral development powered by solar, wind and wave energy.  It should be the most walkable and bikeable place anywhere in the South Bay and it should give parking preference to plug in electric and hybrid vehicles, providing free charging.  In fact, it should become a green economic zone, luring clean tech businesses and offering a permanent free home to the South Bay Environmental Services Center. 

And yes, I'm in favor of getting rid of that ugly old polluting AES plant and turning most of that land into a park.

I guess if I want to have a productive conversation about issues like that I'll need to talk to Harbor Commissioner Harry Munns since he has actually offered similar ideas and is not tied up in court at the moment suing the city.