Atherton, CA Thinking Green Think Tank

Type: Policy

Status: Established in 2008

Source File: http://www.tiemann.net/athertongreen/WebSite2/ThinkingGreen/HomePage1.html

Description:

Atherton's "Thinking Green" Think Tank is a group of Atherton's best and brightest residents working to help Atherton's Environmental Programs Committee (EPC) design a response for the town to the challenge of climate change. Recommendations provided by this group in the spring of 2009 will be reviewed by the EPC and sent as a set of proposals to the Town Council for inclusion in the council's agenda for the new fiscal year, commencing July 2009 (FYE 2010).

The first meeting of this think tank was held on September 3rd, 2008 and a presentation on the background of the issues was provided by Valerie Gardner, an EPC committee member. Afterwards, there was a discussion of the some of the issues, the task at hand and the process for the group going forward. The group will first be reviewing a set of reports prepared by other green teams to address the challenge of climate change and extracting ideas for recommendations that could be appropriate or applicable to Atherton. Thereafter, the group will consult other materials and sources and generate an additional list of ideas that are more or less unique to Atherton and its specific characteristics. The group will conclude by prioritizing both sets of ideas, generating one list of recommendations for Atherton and submitting it to the EPC for its review.

Atherton's "Thinking Green" Think Tank members or prospective members should expect to participate with as much of the following as possible:

I. Preparation (September - October)

• Read through the EPC's Presentation about the purpose of Thinking Green
• Review Background Materials (in Source Materials)
• Join the Thinking Green email distribution list

II. Research (September - November)

• Review one or more of the available plans and take notes on any carbon-reducing action items that could be appropriate for Atherton
• See if you can find other additional sources of viable recommendations to add to the list of possible recommendations
• Send any ideas that you have extracted from your reading of the source materials via email

III. Brainstorming (November - January)

• Think creatively about other mechanisms or programs that could help Atherton to reduce its carbon and get residents engaged in greater energy efficiency
• Meet to review the list of recommendations and mechanisms and help to prioritize them based upon effectiveness in addressing Atherton's unique carbon footprint

III. Reporting (February - March)

• Assist in the creation of preliminary and then final reports on the recommendations found to the EPC for presentation to the City Council
• Present summary findings to the EPC and/or City Council