Who would have thought that while I was at the Fillmore last night seeing the always fantastic Boggs and Hot Chip, this story was being printed on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle's Business Section:

Pia Sarkar, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Even live music is going green.

The Bay Area office for Live Nation, an entertainment venue management company formerly known as Bill Graham Presents that promotes live concerts worldwide, has initiated a program that is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and waste generated by six of its local venues, which draw more than 1 million concert goers each year.

The program will be implemented at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View; Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord; and the Fillmore, the Warfield, Punch Line Comedy Club and Cobb's Comedy Club, all in San Francisco.

Live Nation SF is looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing upgraded parking for hybrid cars and cars with four or more passengers at Shoreline and Sleep Train. It will also purchase carbon offset credits to compensate for emissions generated by fans, employees and artists who attend events.

To reduce power consumption by 10 percent, Live Nation SF will install energy-saving lighting and has already replaced 1,700 bulbs. It will also reduce water use by up to 5 million gallons per year by putting in a new lawn care system and upgrading kitchen equipment.

Lee Smith, chairman of Live Nation SF, said that the company started planning the program last summer and that about 95 percent of the initiatives are in place.

"My biggest concern was to not be fashionable but do what needs to be done," Smith said.

Although some of the initiatives, like replacing the lighting, will cost Live Nation SF money up front, other initiatives are allowing it to save. For instance, composting and recycling at the Warfield could result in an annual savings of $17,000 in waste removal. Live Nation SF has not calculated the full cost of implementing the program.

Of the estimated 800 tons of waste that all six venues now produce, about 223 tons are being recycled. Live Nation SF will try to bring that up to 280 tons, Smith said.

If successful, the program may be replicated in some of the company's 160 other venues globally. Last year, Live Nation organized 26,000 events in 18 countries, drawing nearly 60 million fans.

Maybe the next crop of apples will be locally grown organic? Hey, anything can happen.

Labels: efficiency, green renovations, greenhouse gas, San Francisco, venues

I learned a new vocabulary word today: prosumerification--it's the marriage of professional and consumer and manifests itself in stuff like professional-grade appliances and electronics. Newly built homes and condos often boast "professional grade range top and hood"--but fail to mention that even if you're just making mac & cheese on it, the greenhouse gas emissions that result in your use of a "professional grade appliance" are way more than the old faithful General Electric model version you got in your first apartment. Always at the cusp of new trends is Treehugger.com, who weighs in with this piece:

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06. 6.07

Prosumer is a portmanteau from Professional and consumer, it is an ugly word picked up by the vendors of digital cameras to describe too many complicated and formerly expensive professional features being added to consumer models. Paul Kedrosky makes it uglier by inventing Prosumerification- the tendency of home stoves morph into into commercial Garland ranges, Home entertainment systems that rival a THX equipped cinema, video cameras where George Lucas couldn't use all the features, all of them more complex, expensive and sucking more power.

A remarkable example can be seen in rice cookers; Toshiba invented them 50 years ago with a simple heating element beneath the bowl that had a thermostat to click off as soon as the water was gone. We use a 25 year old one like this every night and it still works perfectly. Now the Wall Street Journal tells us that Toshiba is offering the Vacuum-Pressure Rice Cooker for 100,000 yen ( US$ 830). It creates a vacuum while the rice soaks, then 264 pounds of pressure while it cooks, all in a vessel coated in silver and diamond dust to distribute the heat evenly.

One rice expert questions the logic of this:

The latest rash of technology is a bit much for Mr. Nishijima, the rice expert. "Just because you pay 70,000 yen [about $575] or 110,000 yen doesn't mean that there's a drastic change in taste," says Mr. Nishijima, who adds that good rice can be made with the simplest of rice cookers if it is to be eaten right away. He thinks consumers might be too susceptible to hype. "It almost seems like anything is OK as long as it's expensive," he says. ::Wall Street Journal, subscription only but copy of portion here.

Also in the Journal was "Japan Aims To Be Climate Change Leader But Lags Kyoto Goals"

Household emissions present a major challenge. (household emissions rose 37.4% from 1990 levels)

The government estimates that household emission of 175 million tons of CO2 in 2005 will have to be cut by 38 million tons - or nearly 22% - by 2010. Officials are urging citizens to take quicker showers, use less air conditioning and heating, and switch to eco-friendly appliances.

Coincidence? ::Infectious Greed

Labels: consumer behavior, greenhouse gas, sarah, treehugger

Bush gets it from all sides
Posted by David Roberts at 7:40 AM on 03 Jun 2007 -from Grist.org

Poor Bush, he just can't get a break. He announces a shiny new climate-change strategy, and what does he get? Nothing but grief.

Nancy Pelosi called it "the same stale proposals he has repeatedly put forward to the international community."

Al Gore called it "purely and simply smoke and mirrors [that] has the transparent purpose of delaying the efforts that could start now."

Dan Froomkin called it an "attempt to muddy the debate about the issue and derail European and U.N. plans for strict caps on emissions."

Britain and Germany are not amused:

Britain and Germany yesterday joined forces to warn President George Bush that talks on climate change must take place within a United Nations framework and not in an ad hoc process floated last week by Bush....'For me, that is non-negotiable,' the German Chancellor Angela Merkel said of the need to ensure that climate change negotiations take place within the existing UN framework.
And what about the right? What's the reaction from Bush's eternally faithful base? Mark Levin says this to the president:

You expanded the federal role in education, and we held our nose because of the war. You signed McCain-Feingold in the dead of night, and we held our nose because of the war. You expanded Medicare by adding prescription drugs, and we held our nose because of the war. You increased farm subsidies, and we held our nose because of the war. Today you disparage us for opposing a massive amnesty program that endangers our economy and national security. Today you even embrace the religion of global warming, a stunning shift from prior policy (your administration even went to the Supreme Court and argued correctly that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant). What's a conservative to do?

I won't answer that last question.

Labels: Bush, climate change, greenhouse gas, Grist

BEIJING - China's smog-choked capital and the financial hub of Shanghai have agreed to close their roads for the country's first "no car" day, along with over 100 other cities, the official Xinhua agency said on Saturday.

On September 22 private cars will be barred from some roads, forcing people to walk, use public transport or get back on the bicycles for which Chinese cities used to be famous. Officials are struggling to clean up the grey skies of its major cities, as pollution takes a rising toll on health and growth, while supporting an industry key to its booming growth. The country's car fleet has been growing, with an estimated 1,000 new private vehicles hitting the streets of Beijing alone each day, the report said. But for those members of the growing middle class who have been car owners too long to face being crammed into a bus or train, taxis will still be allowed to ply the otherwise car-free streets.

Source:REUTERS NEWS SERVICE-5-07-07

Labels: China, climate change, greenhouse gas