Hello Thanks for joining us for sustaining us here on KLC PBS I'm David Huizar City of Santa Monica California Population about ninety thousand How can a city with Just ninety thousand residents be effecting so much change where Sustainability is concerned and be recognized as one of the greenest Cities in our nation Well this mighty metropolis Of environmentalists green businesses and conscientious citizens Has been a model of environmental stewardship for decades And this begins with a Santa Monica nonprofit known as Sustainable Works Santa Monica College is considered one of the greenest Colleges in the nation For the past 25 years there has been An environmental center on campus Now part of the innovative Sustainable Works Program This was unheard of a quarter Century ago for a two year college to help lead the way as a good sustained Ability citizen today some is renowned Center for Environmental And Urban Studies is the perfect backdrop for one of the greenest cities In the nation The approach of the environmental center is to educate Thousands of students about sustainability The center also Dubbed the House on Pearl Street is part of a Sunset Park Santa Monica Neighborhood just a few minutes from the ocean and the Santa Monica Pier About 10 years ago the center morphed into what environmentalists say Is the most eco friendly house on the block kind of like a living Lab where everything is sustainable resilient and zero emission Closer inspection this average working house which could be located On any block of Main Street USA is a microcosm of Green building In this case simple amenities to help Save the environment and help save money there are things like skylights And solar tubes which illuminate the house during the day so no lights To be used for much of the year And a solar array on the roof To help with this energy saving process Utility bills are almost Nonexistent There is a solar water heater which heats the water Without taxing the energy grid and also doubles as an H back That's Because the excess heat from the water tank is sort of siphoned Off to heat the building during the winter The landscape is all Made of plants so the garden uses about 90 percent less water Than a typical lawn And there is a 50 percent reduction in maintenance costs And this is a zero waste office so the costs of any waste Disposal is drastically reduced as well And if we Continue to teach people how To do the job that has always been done the way It's always been done things are not going to change Ferris Sklar The Santa Monica College sustainability manager who helps lead The Center for Environmental and Urban Studies at S.M.

C. Ferris Has dedicated his career to helping guide the younger generation On how to be both environmentally and economically sustainable We need to show these students That there is a better healthier More efficient way of doing things So that they really understand the full impact of the industry's That they're interested in working in so that they can go Into those jobs and know that there There is a better way of doing things you can be more energy efficient You can use less toxic inputs you can use fewer Resources and they can Change though the industries from the inside And really we if we We are going to fail if we don't make sure that the Students who pass through here really understand the Facts they're gonna have in their future careers Ferris explains The environmental center is ground zero for us some sees sustainable Works Workshop This is an extra credit curriculum that Hundreds of Santa Monica College students participate in every year Some of the students who opt to take the workshop are self-proclaimed Environmentalists simply learning what else they can do to save The environment However most of the students have no environmental Background whatsoever and admittedly know nothing about sustainable Delta These are the students the workshop is really helping to influence These young people can eventually be sustainability change Agents The extra credit workshops begin with teaching these students about Environmental problems and challenges and then finding Solutions The program also teaches going green With the goal of guiding students to the best career paths involving companies And industries that are putting in the effort to be good stewards of a Sustainable society The students learn about things like water Efficiency energy conservation waste management Toxic chemical alternatives transportation options Or simply how to be a conscious consumer And don't expect a syllabus A professor lecturing around here The workshop is all about Students teaching students This is a peer to peer program Basically students who graduate from the program return the following School year to lead the workshops for the new batch of students Companies Are looking for young energetic people Who understand sustainability to bring them Out of the darkness and into the light and really just help Them help the company to see through a different Prism And what I tell students is if they Get out into the working world and the industry that they're Working in is not ready for change And there they've got an entrepreneurial spirit and they've got a great Idea go ahead and leapfrog over the dinosaurs Who refuse to change because now is the time you can develop An app you can you know actually get Into the industry's relatively quickly And cheaply today and disrupt These ancient you know business models That refused to change for too long Industries have Had the opportunity to externalize the costs Of doing business The costs of pollution Really polluting air soil water really comes Little to no cost to the companies But Society bears the cost of Those damages So we really need to Teach the students that That you need to internalize these costs so that we can Actually have something you know We can price our products and services properly So that when you have an eco friendly alternative You're actually winning Apples to apples instead You know talking about false equivalence theorists Believes that sustainability programs here at Santa Monica College could be A prototype throughout the US as environmentalist politic Shuns community and civic leaders and the general public try And find ways to fend off the depletion of our natural Resources This model what We're doing here on our campus can be replicated across The nation I think that the building Itself should be you know all building Codes in the US could benefit from adopting some of the Things that we've done in here It's very simple very inexpensive It will save lots of people money in the long Run But what we're doing For the students is even more important You know making sure that throughout the curriculum On this campus we are teaching students how To be responsible citizens how to be responsible business People so that we are accounting for All the potential damage our products and services Create Joining me now to discuss more about sustainable Works and the collaboration with the city of Santa Monica and the rest Of L.A. County is Gina Garcia Gina is the co executive Director of Sustainable Works She leads the community program There and helps coordinate throughout L.A. County to keep SoCal Green Thank you so much for being here Gina thanks for having me Damon why is Santa Monica such a green City why is it taking the lead throughout the United States Well you know when they say whenever you want to do something you have to have a plan and That's exactly what the city did way back in 1994 before You know many cities are doing anything The city of Santa Monica came Sustainable city plan and it adopted it and it had Eight areas of impact that they wanted to cover like resource conservation And transportation So they actually had a plan to move forward And create a sustainable city And that's kind of where sustainable works came out Part of that plan How are your program's Impacting the community of Santa Monica the surrounding neighborhoods and affecting Change It's remarkable We are doing it in three different areas You Affect students we affect the community we affect businesses Just recently one of our events I when we came up to me She said I have to let you know every time my husband and I come to one of your events Our lives get a little bit better So I think We affect change We have a great impact because we don't just leave people On their own We really you know people are always talking about a dog Sustainable behaviors change your behavior But how do you do that on your own And we You know that's what it's about about helping people need meeting them where they're at And helping them to take the steps and that's what we do with businesses reducing Energy and their water with community members changing their habits Students who don't even know anything about sustainability learning and getting involved And if you live here in Southern California in the L.A. area Jena most folks know that Santa Monica is a fairly Liberal city Is it because it is a liberal left Leaning city that it is able to be so Environmentally friendly or do conservative cities also Have ways to be environmentally friendly say for example more Conservative cities in Orange County as an example Well I'm Trying I don't I don't want to connect Politics and environment It's not rare You No right or left It's it's about Helping all of us And I think the reasons to Santa Monica is so successful Is because of this city sustainable city plan because that's The city's goal is the city does everything they can with policies and events And everything to make the city more sustainable And they include the community in it So I think it's more about that than about Whether you're left or right because you ask people do you think that we should have a healthy Safe planet whether Republican or Democrat people say yes it's just finding The methods and the tools and the commitment actually to do that That's what the city does Really well Yeah With that said and I accept your answer But Then how do you talk to some of your conservative colleagues who aren't As environmentally friendly as you and say hey let's just All speak the same language here Well you come to a Point of not what are you not doing and why you're wrong and why your opinions But what needs to happen and what like looking at goals of Where do we envision And when you actually sit down and talk to people about what They want we all kind of want the same thing Want clean air and clean water So if you talked about that also bringing health impacts especially like with when When people realize it's going to affect their health in a negative way that much Likely more likely to be onboard So talk about how it affects Them personally where you want to go and then really encourage The small steps they've taken as opposed to saying what you didn't do this you're not doing that Here are some things you can do and then really encouraged to meet people where they're at So that they can take the steps to move forward going forward What Are the challenges to be such an environmentally friendly city Well funding is a huge one for while You know With all you know all cities are struggling So some of the city's goals Have been reduced And hopefully that won't last too much longer So funding is one of the biggest issues And You know expanding and going outside of like you Said we're more liberal city we're kind of close expanding out and sharing Our message with other communities in other cities because you know when when the city came up Sustainable city plan they re became a nonprofit Sustainable works as part of that plan with the goal that we would be doing this for other cities Outside of Santa Monica And that hasn't really happened as much as the vision When it was created And I know you don't want to talk politics it just seems Environmentalism and sustainability Is a political element to it I mean you have half the country Somewhat doesn't believe in the climate science you have the other half that Saying it's an existential threat right Climate change Global warming et cetera How do you bridge that Divide then Because there must be some sort of centrist Position where we all can simply say hey we're all in this together Me we let's try to find a solution Right Well it's actually less than half think that it's you know are not onboard And it's hard it's hard to You know I think what you have to do is create relationships with people first before you start Hitting them with environmental issues You have to create relationships First so that they know that you understand where they're coming from And just reaching out to you know we're always trying to preach to the choir And that's one great thing about one of the programs we have is that we bring People in who aren't who have no issue no Sustainability And so it's to start to stop preaching to the choir And finding those opportunities like you do film screenings entertaining Opportunities where you could bring people in that aren't like minded And have a conversation with them and start just start the you know put those first little Hints into their brain to help them adopt some of These ideas Gina early on in closing Sustainable Works was really a prototype Locally for Southern California The L.A. area Santa Monica Could what you're doing it's sustainable works with your programs I guess say be a prototype for the rest of the nation could you work With other cities and maybe even teach them what you're doing To achieve all this success to be so eco friendly Yeah well we are working on that We actually did expand some Programs in Culver City and we do get like universities From around the country Email us and say they've seen our program They want to do it So it is it is a goal and it is something That's doable But again I think cities have to be on board And help fund the program because that's where most of the funding comes from But You know having an organization that's helping a city to Implement the plans and the goals they have and communicating with the community Members and the businesses to get them involved is beneficial for cities and I think More cities see this as a benefit the more they're likely to Adopt it and to have other organizations maybe not even to up works Help them because it's really about helping cities and can use reached their goals So I don't see why other cities and communities around the country wouldn't want That Gina Garcia of Sustainable Works a Great organization Thank you so much for being here Thanks for the interview Thank you so much David for having me And now from the west side of Los Angeles to the west side of Kansas City in Kansas City's historic west side Neighborhood gentrification Well it's a very contested Word A tug of war among the old and the new Kansas City Is an example of what is happening all throughout the US today Residents who lived in their homes for decades versus real estate developers City officials over the best way to evolve older iconic Neighborhoods for a sustainable future PBS station Casey Petey in Kansas City has our story What's vital to the future Of Kansas City is that first we have more Kansas Citizens that would good run because you need population Fill these stores And ride the streetcar but you also need to say and How do we have it be a place that people of all walks of life want to live That's I think with a key question is A booming city Does it always lift Boats And what we need to make sure is that we do have a rising tide That does so I'm concerned that we don't right now To an extent we have to get out of our own world and In a fundamentally different way Gentrification is it happening Could it happen Is it bad It's a funny Word if you imagine that word meaning an existing neighborhood That has a certain physical financial level under which it operates and Then the neighborhood has a major influx of new people that have Higher maybe physical descriptive standard of what Neighborhood should look like and have more powerful financial needs and Then they use a combination of those to sort of change The character of the neighborhood if that's what you mean by gentrification Yeah that's happening in my community The West Side is one of the I Think most vibrant and unique neighborhoods in Kansas City and it is complex And it is changing and absolutely we are Seeing gentrification on the west side with segregation and the isolation And the redlining and the urban renewal and no investment and now You're coming to them saying we're going to gentrify you and you expect Them to be happy about it No they're going to be happy About that and I wouldn't blame them one better place smack right between The eyes Back then the west side was a poor area That had housing affordable housing and so those Individuals that decided to call the west side their home Created a community If there's One neighborhood where there's going to be a fight a confrontation or Negotiation about what happens there it's going to be that neighborhood And then the big thing that I want you to take away from tonight is that This is the start of a conversation because I want to make sure that we Have the opportunity as a neighborhood for everybody who Wants to have a seat at the table to have a seat at the table and make sure that We're all working together for the west side to be exactly the Neighborhood that we wanted to be Not all gentrification is bad maybe for You but what about the community that's already there How are you engaging With this community The West Side neighborhood I think everybody will agree is Experienced while the gentrification pressure over the past decade And it's been good to some people and not good for a lot of people I say from the west side I've grown up in what I call brutally inclusive Community politics I mean like brutal man get ready We want to make our own decisions that should have been brought to the Neighborhood and you didn't you have a lot of people in our Neighborhood who are very passionate about our neighborhood They don't call us the Wild Wild West for nothing We kind of feel Like we're experiencing mass differences We have A history of trying to keep our community And ethnic community and not once in your Proposal have you said anything about maintaining Ethnic character in this community One of the hardest issues Is making sure that you celebrate and protect Your existing neighborhoods while not turning it back on Progress The biggest community meetings are always about the Developers You know what we see at times with some developers It's like well you know the city says I can do this So this is what I'm going to do And then the residents have to go and remind the city Well wait a minute you made amendments to This plan and you're not upholding it and So then we get into this fight and sometimes you Come out of it where there is a compromise that benefits everyone And those are the those are the view of this whole project And then there's other Times when you get projects like gee I mean how did this happen Gentrification and Its threats actually really do fundamentally affect I think the social fabric of a community And if we want to keep a community That's interesting and dynamic and that supports public transit and supports All of the infrastructure investments we've made in Kansas City Then we need to keep our mind on that particular we're talking about urban redevelopment Urban info so much of our policy answer is to Say let's make it like the suburbs right We can bring people back From something I mean you're basically trading people for one thing because all Of a sudden that area is attractive that area is marketable And disregard the people living there That's not The right way to rebuild urban cities when it comes to affordable Housing Quite frankly when you get to looking around and you get to Looking at the numbers you're going to find that on the west side We're pretty lucky There are two HUD complexes in our neighborhood West Bluff And Villa Del So is there Villa del Sol Is a unique wonderful complex one of the first projects In the country it took new legislation working with HUD where they removed The projects built a new project And it made it a combination of low tech low income housing tax credit Some Section 8 voucher housing and market rate the Benefits are that as gentrification occurs in the neighborhood There is affordable housing there that is there in perpetuity So those income ranges will not change As long as that development is there and it was very important to the community Now that project is about 17 18 years old It still looks new and it lives in is integrated in Our community People always assume that people Of different races won't live together And that assumption carries into income people so people of Different incomes will live together And this this development proves all that wrong So that communities can develop and can grow And thrive when there are people of different age groups incomes And races all working together because they believe in The same community values The one thing that I know about the west side Is the men and women who have lived there for generations want to work hard To kind of save their community and so it's a difficult task But it's one that I think is worth worth fighting for With that it's a lot better than It used to be I'll tell you a lot better And I've been here 57 years When I Came to the West Side my intention wasn't to be a Gentrified and it wasn't to run anybody off Sometimes unfortunately It's really tricky I wake up with a stomach ache sometimes and think Did I create the force for displacement By taking the things that were vacant And it's like OK if I say Yeah I did that And so Now really Jones you didn't do what you wanted to do man When people start sending You letters asking you want I want to buy your house I don't want all my old neighbors getting a letter like that a lady notes Send me notes here all of them They want to buy the place I'm going to call no name but it's quite a few around here one very bad Number I'll let my son take a look I don't have a problem bringing new people In here I think that's good but not at the expense of the ones who have been here before And So that's the struggle that we face down I'm worried as with All this new influx of people that the next Representative from this neighborhood might not be as supportive And would have a completely different mindset Would be more in in line with the downtown Developers and if that happens the gentrification of this community Is going to be exacerbated Tell you what the worst way to gentrify In my opinion is when you get the government to Do it with you And it happens all the time right They say hey we need A population downtown How can we do it Hey let's bring in a lot of low income housing Tax credits and all of that Then we can get people in the city market and downtown How cool is that So that only a generation later You have this situation where hey let's incentivize a bunch of luxury housing and Other sorts of things that these people could actually never afford And what's more The low income housing tax credits roll off So therefore we actually Can't keep those people there And these are people that often aren't working These are people that are engaged and active in our economy And so These poor people who pay taxes to write Are helping finance their own removal It's kind of on us it's on the people watching it's on the people That participate to say wait wait wait before you tell me about the next big Thing How are we going to actually make life better for People who live here Thank KCET in Kansas City for that report Now back To Los Angeles and the potential return of smog due to the Potential fallout from deregulation of car emission standards This next story is brought to you through a special collaboration with KLC Yes PBS and Arizona State University's Cronkite School Of Journalism and Mass Communications as we partner with and Mentor students seeking to explore the environment through their reporting Here is Kyla Wiltshire with Cronkite News L.A. is notorious for smoke and fog or Smog because the first city to address the issue of smog in the skies L.A. officials created the nation's first air quality regulator back in 1947 But it wasn't till nineteen eighty four that the state started Mandating smog checks for all cars Now California could Be facing cutbacks to their smog standards Air pollution Especially from cars and fossil fuels is not just an L.A. problem According to 2019 rankings from the American College of Sports Medicine Long Beach California are ranked worst in air quality But six Cities in the valley round out the top 10 Suzanne Paulson is a professor Of atmosphere chemistry at UCLA She says the L.A. area's Geography traps smog as it forms We have a Very clean city as cities go with some Sort of conditions that are specific to local Our location Paulson has spent The last 30 years in Southern California and says she's noticed dramatic Improvements in the air quality since she moved to L.A. decades ago most Afternoons A wall of smog would roll in Chris Chavez Works for the Coalition for Clean Air He grew up in Long Beach and as a child Who had asthma He understands the impacts of air pollution firsthand Pollution definitely impacts the people that live there And certainly is a major concern of Residents in that region While California has made large strides in air Quality Chavez and Paulson say the state has a long way to go The end of the day if California need going to have the tools to Protect its citizens and can combat climate change This step in rolling back these standards and freezing or revoking California's waiver is certainly going to stand in the way of that On Tuesday Trump administration officials told California To abide by their standards or risk losing funding for highways In Santa Monica Kyla Walter Cronkite news Thanks Carla Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Mutations for that report For more information about our program just Click on KLC s dot org and then click contact us to send Your questions and comments or story ideas so we can hear from you Thank You so much for joining us for this edition of Sustaining US here on ALCS PBS I'm David