Climate change can be a daunting and scary subject, but there are strategies for addressing this calamity, which include the electrification of transportation combined with greening our electrical grid. Kristi Markey, who co-chairs the Monterey Bay Electric Vehicles Alliance on behalf of Supervisor Jane Parker, and J.R. Killigrew, Director of Communications and Energy Programs for Monterey Bay Community Power, will talk about how the Monterey Bay region is doing its part.

There may be no greater challenge facing humanity than the need for a global effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of fossil fuels. According the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have 12 years to make serious reductions in CO2 emissions to avoid the most catastrophiceffects of climate change.

The State of California has taken the lead on this effort, having decreased its CO2 emissions by 15 percent in the past 10 years, and plans another 40 percent drop by 2030. The State and local air districts are investing heavily in electric cars and charging stations, and Monterey Bay counties and cities formed their own community-choice energy agency, Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP), which nowdelivers 100 percent carbon-free, lower-cost electricity to their customers, with profits funding energy programs in the tri-county region.