Comment Log Display

October 9, 2008


Dear Chair Nichols and Members of the Air Resources Board:

Thank you for the commitment you have made to implementing AB 32
which represents a critical milestone in addressing the
overwhelming challenge of global climate change.

As a very interested bystander who is attempting daily to
understand the most recent developments and twists and turns in
this incredibly exciting, but extremely complicated process, I
have an observation and a suggestion that I would like to make. 

My observation is that you have tried to make this process
transparent and your website has a wealth of information, but the
California Climate Change Portal and ARB website have become
unwieldy. It is extremely difficult for laypeople such as myself,
who want to understand and support this process, to find the
critical high-level pieces of information and to uncover recent
developments and thus to support the process in whatever ways we
have at our disposal. 

My suggestion is that the ARB consider creating a more
user-friendly website that allows and actually invites the kind of
support from local governments, counties, regional governments,
nonprofits, educational and private entities and individuals that
the ARB will need if emission reduction goals are to be met. This
new website would reach out and be user-friendly to a wide range
of people, from those just familiarizing themselves with the issue
of climate change to those who are on the forefront of writing the
guidelines for how we'll achieve the targets in the various
sectors. It could exist in conjunction with, embedded in, or
separate from the existing website.

Generally, this website will help people with all levels of
understanding of climate change get on the same page. It will
clearly lay out the targets by sector and subsector. It will
shamelessly reveal for each sector and subsector what the plans
are, thus helping to engage more people in the effort. It will
publish short-term actions and how various levels of the public
and private sector can and will contribute to the effort. Perhaps
most importantly, it will report on the progress that is being
made, thus keeping the various players accountable and encouraging
a larger number of people to be engaged.

For an example of this type of website, you can visit the website
of a company called Visible Strategies (visiblestrategies.com)
whose product 'see-it' attempts to fulfill the objectives
mentioned above. While I have no relationship with this company
other than as a participant in two of their webinars, they have an
impressive list of clients including Lester Brown's Earth Policy
Institute.

I recognize that the ARB staff resources must be stretched by the
AB32 scoping plan and process. However, you have invested so much
in this process that it would be a shame not to invest in a tool
that would help to optimize the process for implementing the
emissions targets. Such a website would also provide a window for
other governmental and nonprofits worldwide to witness and to
emulate the groundbreaking efforts underway in California.

Again, I thank you for your time.

In appreciation for all that ARB is doing,


Arianna Van Meurs