Open letter to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission

August 1, 2007

We are requesting that Mendocino County ’s General Plan have a separate Energy Element that states a clear path toward a “fossil-fuel free” County by 2030. This means producing enough clean energy in the County (energy from renewable resources such as solar, wind, small-scale hydro, geothermal, and biomass, and waste gases) to offset 100% of the energy used in the County.

This is an achievable goal that would create jobs strengthen the Mendocino’s economy by retaining the 250 million dollars, and rising, spent on energy each year by county residence. Many other regions and states have taken tentative measures to promote renewable energy, but none have taken the action being proposed here.

The benefits of Mendocino County becoming a net producer of clean energy are that it can:

1)     be a leader and establish a precedent in the U.S. for others to follow

2)      make the transition from non-renewable to renewable resources early and relatively painlessly

3)      strengthen its agricultural industry and attract clean energy businesses

4)      develop into an eco-tourism and eco-restoration destination

5)      mitigate the impacts of continued fossil fuel use, including climate change, peak oil, and other environmental and social issues

6)      generate tremendous amounts of wealth