During the global event, entitled, "24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action," over 1,300 climate leaders gave 1,750 presentations in 80 countries, all 50 US states, and on seven continents. They presented in living rooms, auditoriums, classrooms, libraries, offices – some of even presented in treehouses, on boats, and in parks, and at least one person presented underwater!

In Santa Barbara County, we were pleased to team up the local IBEW to talk about the big questions: Must we change? Can we change? Will we change? Climate Reality presenter, Katie Davis, explained the consequences of inaction. 18 of the 19 hottest years on record have occurred since the year 2001; the climate is changing at an unnaturally rapid rate, faster than species can evolve and adapt; millions of people and trillions in assets are at risk from sea level rise, and weather catastrophes are increasing with devastating impacts on communities, costing $653 billion in economic losses in the past two years. She pointed out that the three most expensive wildfires in world history have happened in the last two years, and they were all in California. She explained that we cannot burn most of the world's current fossil fuel reserves if we want to preserve a livable planet. However, there are solutions. Wind, solar and storage are now cost competitive with fossil fuel energy. The world has agreed on goals in the Paris Climate Agreement and countries, including China and India, are meeting those goals. States like California, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Washington state, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico have all committed to moving to 100% clean electricity. With that renewable energy we can power electric cars and decarbonize buildings. “Solar installer” is forecast to be the fastest-growing job category in the U.S. through 2026, and “wind turbine service technician” is second," she explained. "There are already five times more jobs in California in renewable energy than there are in the fossil fuel industry, including the oil industry." 

Brian Gregory with IBEW then explained how a trade union operates in the private sector. "It's like a temp agency run by workers for workers," he said, noting that it is also a nonprofit and a democracy run by members, with a fair referral process that assigns jobs equitably and pays everyone the same wage for the same work. “A transition from fossil fuels needs to be a clear plan that is realistic,” he explained. “We don’t want to transition from good paying union jobs to low paying non-union jobs.” He explained the importance of local energy generation to provide resiliency, and he talked about their free electrical appreticeship program that takes people from every local high school, veterans, and people from all walks of life and provides a comprehensive program that pays people as they learn, starting at $17 an hour with structured raises and advancement. "Safety is paramount in everything we do," he said. Their Buellton-based program includes training on solar PV installation, EV charging stations, lighting controls and energy efficiency, and energy storage systems. Learn more at www.sbjatc.com