I was staffing a table for 350 Bay Area, one of whose projects is to urge local Bay Area cities to require labels on gas pumps reading something like:
The warning would be accompanied by a link to the local city's Climate Action Plan. Most SF Bay Area cities have adopted climate action plans. See for example Oakland , Berkeley, San Francisco, El Cerrito, . . .
Having a warning label on the gas pumps puts the oil companies in the same category as cigarette companies. Their product is legal, but it is a health hazard and consumers are warned that they should avoid it or use as little as possible.
Altogether we collected about 70 signatures on petitions aimed at the city councils of Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, and Oakland, plus a few miscellaneous cities. We also handed out a couple hundred leaflets explaining our proposal. Here are my thoughts/observations:
Most people are not at Solano Stroll to sign political petitions--they just want to listen to music, have some fun with their kids, eat, and people watch. But I think it is a very supportive audience in general. Quite a few people liked the warning label idea right away and signed the petition without any questions, which was very encouraging.
The number one reason people gave for not signing was "Doesn't everyone already know that?" I have two responses to that:
First, I think many people do NOT know that burning gasoline is causing global warming, or if they do know, they don't think global warming is a very serious problem. Many people who watch Fox "News" or listen to Republican politicians are likely to dismiss global warming as a hoax or as a natural climate fluctuation and a non-issue. They tend to think there is a lot of debate and uncertainty with regard to climate change predictions. (It is true that scientists constantly debate and refine their models, but there is overwhelming agreement that climate change is human caused and is a real threat.)
Second, and of more importance to the general San Francisco Bay Area population, I think the feeling behind the question is "Yes, I know I am causing global warming by buying gasoline, but this warning label is too much of a guilt trip, and there aren't really good alternatives." That's why the petition also calls for the warning label to link to the local city's Climate Action Plan as a positive way to reduce gasoline consumption. Here's the exact wording (with Berkeley, Oakland, . . . substituted for "Our City"):
Petition to the Bay Area Local Governments:
We urge our city council to require warning labels on gas pumps to:
We urge our city council to require warning labels on gas pumps to:
1) Warn consumers that burning gasoline is causing global warming,
I'm pretty sure that most people are not aware that their city has a climate action plan. I think it is important for people to understand that there are good alternatives to internal combustion engine vehicles. Even getting a high mileage vehicle is a positive step, although it will only slow the rate of global warming; it won't stop it. The local climate action plans call for transportation related ways to reduce CO2 emissions--transit, pedestrians, bicycles, and electric vehicles. The plans also call for conservation/weatherization of buildings and conversion to clean energy among other points.
The petition drive shows that people will support this effort to stop global warming, and to shift to carbon neutral transportation. This is only the beginning of this campaign.
Electric Car at Solano Stroll
View down Solano Avenue 9/9/2012
To learn more about 350 Bay Area please click here.
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