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Public invited to free Energy and Clean Air Expo
Bakersfield Express
February 11, 2010
A new rule that passed in December 2009 requires employers of more than 100 in the Central Valley to encourage their workers to reduce the amount of miles traveled by vehicle. For examples, this could be through carpooling, alternative transportation such as bicycles and buses, or telecommuting.
Rule 9410 was adopted by the governing board of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District as a means of reducing air pollution in the Valley.
It's a rule that requires effort on the part of both regulators and the business community to enforce, and is a prime example of why the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Fifth Annual Energy & Clean Air Expo on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
The air district director, Seyed Sadredin, will give a breakout session on the new rule and answer questions about how to implement and enforce the Employer Based Trip Reduction program.
"This is a real opportunity to create some dialogue and communication between both regulators and business people," said the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Debbie Moreno. "On the one hand, once a regulation is in place, we need education to know how to comply with it. And on the other side, we need dialogue to make an impact on future regulation."
Sadredin is one of several speakers and panelists who will be educating the public throughout the day. He will give a general talk on air district issues in the morning before the Rule 9410 breakout session.
The lunchtime keynote speaker, Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, will speak on another hot topic - greenhouse gas emission regulations on the horizon via AB 32. Her speech will be followed by a business panel representing two major industries in Kern County: agriculture and development. The panelists are Joe MacIlvaine, president of Paramount Farming, and Bruce Freeman, president of Castle & Cook.
"This is not designed to be a debate or rebuttal," Moreno said. "Both of these folks in their operations have been in the lead of doing things to be more environmentally friendly. We'll be talking about both the challenges and the value of working on these issues."
In addition to the speeches and breakout sessions (see full schedule below), the expo will feature a tradeshow with exhibits by local businesses and nonprofits, test drives of hybrid vehicles, free e-waste recycling by BARC, and a presentation of green business awards.
One booth, sponsored by KernCOG's Kern Commuter Connection program, will have information on local ridesharing and carpooling programs - which go hand in hand with the air district's new trip reduction rule.
Anne Schoolcraft, the rideshare coordinator for KernCOG, says her goal is to get people to try carpooling just once.
"Statistics show that 60 percent of people who try carpooling are going to continue," she says. "They find out it's not that difficult to do."
Schoolcraft visits businesses to give employees tools to carpool. One key is to let people know they don't have to carpool every day. She herself carpools every Friday with a co-worker from southwest Bakersfield to their office downtown.
"One of my talking points is this: Talk to people in your office. Maybe you'll find out two or three of you live on the same side of town. Say, every Friday you all bring your lunches and ride in to work together."
To help connect people for ridesharing, KernCOG operates the website commutekern.org. Registered users can control the amount of personal information they share on the site. One tip for people wary of listing their home address is to use a public place near their house as the destination point.
In December 2009, commutekern.org had just 300 people in the database. Now that Rule 9410 has been enacted, Schoolcraft hopes to see the number skyrocket.
Even before the rule, employees at the Kern County Department of Human Services have been actively encouraged to carpool, says Beverly Hughes, a program director there. She and fellow program director Antanette Jones carpool seven miles from their gym in the southwest to downtown for work. Schoolcraft has invited Hughes to the expo to help educate the public about carpooling.
"I had to take a look at what happens in my car," Hughes said. "And 99 percent of the time I'm the only one in my car. I look around at the parking lot and think, 'Even if just one person carpooled with one other person, the lot would be half full.'"
"It makes a dent in being a good neighbor, in reducing emissions, and the guilt thing. Do I really need my car sitting there all day long?"
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