A dramatic change in leadership has thrust Menlo Park into a hot new topic: global warming.
From talk about slashing solar panel fees and taking the “Cool Cities Pledge” to creating a Climate Change Task Force, the city is poised to make the controversial worldwide issue a top local priority.
The new direction illustrates the shift on the council after November’s election. What was until recently a pro-business and development-oriented panel has morphed into an environmentally conscious group with an aggressive agenda to push Menlo Park to the forefront of the climate debate.
“We live in a very affluent part of the world, and an affluent society contributes disproportionately to greenhouse gas emissions,” Mayor Kelly Fergusson said. “We need to do our part.”
When combined with the work of other communities, Menlo Park’s efforts can have an impact on the global situation, she said.
The new push could raise some eyebrows, because the rookie council faces some pressing local problems: plunging sales tax revenue, an overall business slowdown, and a rift between developers and longtime residents over the city’s direction.
Terry Moe, a professor of political science at Stanford University, said movements by local governments to tackle global problems are largely symbolic.
“It is clearly not workable in terms of actually producing solutions,” Moe said. “It has to be done by national governments and state governments. Local governments are just a drop in the bucket. The question is, is the symbolism and the leadership worth it?”
He said strict environmental rules can be a financial burden and force businesses to leave the area. “It could be ineffective and have negative consequences for the local community.”
But city leaders say global warming is no longer a back-burner issue and that it should be addressed in tandem with traditional responsibilities of city government.
Most scientists agree that rising temperatures are dramatically altering the planet’s ecosystem. Thanks to celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore, global warming has emerged as a worldwide point of interest.
In Menlo Park’s first public foray into the issue, Gail Slocum, an attorney with Pacific Gas & Electric, led a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation during last week’s city council meeting on how Menlo Park can address climate change.
Buying hybrid vehicles for city fleets, adopting green-friendly building standards and encouraging property owners to install solar panels by waiving permit fees all are on the table in Menlo Park. One quick step the city might take is adopting the “Cool Cities Pledge,” a vow other communities have taken to reduce pollution and promote renewable energy.
“I would like to see Menlo Park move forward on these issues,” said PG&E’s Slocum, a former Menlo Park mayor. “It is kind of like curing polio. You don’t sit around and say, `Should we cure it? No, you say `How do we cure it?’
“Cities do design buildings. Cities oversee the transportation network. There are so many ways that the solution set for this directly flows from what cities do.”
The council’s new direction has won praise from some residents.
Technology investor and consultant Mitch Slomiak said cities and businesses that invest in green technology probably will spend more at first but see a financial and moral payoff in the long run.
“I would like to see us go out and try to attract businesses that use clean technology,” Slomiak said.
Craig Lewis, an investor in solar and electric-vehicle technology, echoed those sentiments. “We need to start at every level we can,” he said. “It is a matter of survival.”
Contact Joshua Molina at jmolina@mercurynews.com or (650)688-7581
