City Aiming for More Solar Panels, Win in Likely Lawsuit Over Prop. 26

Talk about virtually any issue that matters to Santa Monicans—the Expo Line, the LUCE, traffic, unemployment—and the word "sustainability" will inevitably come up. The city is a complex fabric, but sustainability may be the most critical thread.

In that respect, the city's Office of Sustainability and the Environment is the center of attention—even if it's located about as far west as you can get (at the top of the  building on the pier). The OSE plays a critical role in the leaf-blower and plastic-bag bans, the new , solar panels and much more.

Its director, Dean Kubani, recently hosted Santa Monica Patch to update us on those issues, reveal what's coming up in 2011—and prove that his office has a way more scenic view than ours.

Santa Monica Patch: What are the OSE's top priorities at the moment?

Dean Kubani: We're really focused on leaf blowers. We're making sure that [the ban's] moving along well and being enforced.

[With the] plastic-bag ban, we're making sure all our legal ducks are in a row. We anticipate we'll be sued over the ordinance because of Prop 26.

Patch: What makes you so sure?

Kubani: The county just passed the ban, and they were sued by the American Chemistry Council, saying that their EIR wasn't sufficient. And it's been pretty clear they and the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition have been following us very closely.

Patch: Does the city have a good chance of winning?

Kubani: Based on what I hear from our lawyers and consultants, I think we're in a good position. But this stuff hasn't really been tried in the courts. No one knows with Prop 26.

Patch: What about on the environment front?

Kubani: We're pushing ahead on Solar Santa Monica, ramping up the amount of solar panels we have on rooftops in the city. [We're] focusing on commercial installations but also looking at solar on city facilities, possibility through a power-purchase agreement.

Patch: How would that work?

Kubani: A third party would install the photovoltaic and own them, and we'd pay for the power. We'd get 100 percent power at a low rate, and we would know what that rate would be for a number of years.

We don't get the same government incentives as a business or resident would, so the company that installs it would get those incentives and make it cost-competitive for them. It'd be a win-win. But we haven't even put together an RFP yet.

Patch: Which city facilities are you targeting?

Kubani: We're looking at every rooftop that we have: parking structures, libraries, buildings at the —and evaluating the solar potential at each site. We've been working with and the to do their solar installations.

Patch: What else is on tap?

Kubani: After the first of the year, we should have a greenhouse-gas action plan, a midrange plan on what we will do to achieve future reductions, to council.

We've been doing a lot of work on sustainable food, pulling together all the stuff that's going on already with the farmers markets, local restaurants and schools. [We've been staging] lectures, movies and other events that connect food and where it comes from and where it's produced.

Patch: The water facility will have a big impact on the city when it opens next year, no?

Kubani: The city's task force on the environment talked about a water self-sufficiency plan once those wells are online, doing an analysis of all our resources. Seventy percent of our water will come locally, 30 percent from metro, once the wells are opened.

[We're trying to determine] what is the capacity for further conservation and alternative sources of water—recycled water and maximizing the use of our local well water. Can we get to 100 percent, so we're not dependent on Colorado River water and Sacramento water? That's the question we're asking.

[This interview was edited and condensed.]

---

Past Santa Monica Patch Q&As:

• Terry O'Day: 'We Can Be a City That Stands Up for Its Ideals'
• Louise Jaffe: SMC Struggling to 'Hang On to' Low Student Fees
• Gleam Davis: 'Expo Line Is Not a Panacea' for Traffic Woes
• OPCC Executive Director John Maceri on Homelessness in Santa Monica: 'We're All in This Together'
• School Board Member Nimish Patel on 'The New Normal'