Empowering Oceanside: Nonprofits Harness Clean Energy to Reinvest in the Community and Combat Climate Injustices

January 24, 2024

min

Tara Hammond

About a year ago, Preserve Calavera, the Oceanside-based nonprofit organization that received $4.4 million for its Oceanside Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Fund, selected solar power projects to be among its first initiatives with the fund. The target for its initial solar grants were nonprofits in Oceanside’s communities of concern that otherwise wouldn’t be going solar.

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With an April 2023 deadline to get secured under net energy metering, or NEM 2.0, the solar agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric before solar rules changed across California, Preserve Calavera hired Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation to manage the solar initiative. After outreach to several community organizations, Preserve Calavera recommended Brother Benno’s to be one of the grant recipients. Brother Benno’s is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to serving homeless neighbors, the working poor, and seniors in North San Diego County by offering essential meals, addressing basic needs, fostering community outreach, and supporting addiction recovery.

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Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation managed a competitive bidding process for the solar projects, brought in BQuest Foundation, another philanthropic funder, oversaw the execution of the solar contracts and philanthropic solar agreements, in addition to reaching out to an established BQuest partner, Vista Community Clinic, to be a grant recipient. Vista Community Clinic, which first opened in 1972, set out to provide quality health care to anyone who walked through its doors. Today, nearly 50 years later, the clinics have helped redefine the community clinic model by pioneering innovative models of primary care delivery.

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The first of the three solar projects, for Vista Community Clinic’s (North Horne Street location), completed this month. The other two projects, at Vista Community Clinic’s (Pier View Way location) and Brother Benno’s, should start within a couple of weeks. Combined, these projects are saving the nonprofits an estimated $2 million during the lifetime of the systems while reducing 2810 metric tons of CO2 contributing to the climate crisis. The three systems have an average payback period of 4.3 years. Additionally, these solar projects were installed by the Encinitas-based, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 569 signatory contractor, Aloha Solar Power, supporting local green jobs and apprentices getting on-the-job training. These three projects are considered smaller solar projects that slip through the cracks with traditional solar financing. This leaves many nonprofits not being able to go solar, missing out on a variety of benefits.

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The solar projects will provide education to the community about clean energy, how it reduces climate injustices and the impacts of the climate crisis, which often impact communities of concern first and worst.

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These projects were made possible by a grant from the Oceanside Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Fund at San Diego Foundation on behalf of Preserve Calavera as well as a philanthropic solar bridge loan from the BQuest Foundation.

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Biker riding in the city in front of shops

Biking as a Solution to the Climate Crisis

Lifestyle

February 3, 2021

min

Biking as a Solution to the Climate Crisis

The San Diego Climate Hub hosted its second quarterly event, Biking a Solution to the Climate Crisis, on Thursday, December 10. The San Diego community engaged in an interactive discussion about how bicycling is one of many solutions to help reduce our CO2 emissions, which exacerbate the climate crisis and contribute to climate injustices.

The free event included a presentation with speakers from the nonprofit organizations Bike San Diego, Climate Action Campaign, SanDiego350 and Sierra Club San Diego, and the panel was moderated by Denice Williams with Black Girls Do Bike and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. After the panel there was a Zoom breakout session where fellow activists were able to get to know each other and share about their interest in biking.

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San Diego is the eighth largest city in the nation yet ranks sixth for having the worst air pollution. Communities of concern, surrounded by freeways in San Diego, experience higher rates of asthma and pollution related-illnesses, and have a shorter lifespan than communities in other parts of the city. This is an example of a climate injustice. More people who bike instead of drive dirty, gas vehicles can help reduce local air pollution, which was highlighted during the event.

"Communities of color need to be prioritized for all sustainable transportation improvements that will ensure that they have more access to clean air and affordable transportation options,” said Bertha Rodriguez, the Assistant Organizer at Climate Action Campaign, who presented on Thursday. “By centering equity and looking at biking through an intersectional lens, we can start breaking down the disparities caused by race, class, gender and ability in order to promote a more inclusive climate revolution."

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The San Diego Climate Hub is a center, located in Hillcrest, to strategize, collaborate and build collective power to stop the climate crisis and advance climate justice in the San Diego region. The nonprofit members include Bike San Diego, Climate Action Campaign, SanDiego350, San Diego Coastkeeper and Surfrider Foundation San Diego County, and it’s managed by Hammond Climate Solutions. The purpose of the Climate Hub is to catalyze collaborative local and regional solutions to stop the climate crisis, and quarterly events are a way to bring together activists to share education, resources and people power to create a brighter future.

The next quarterly Climate Hub event will be in partnership with the San Diego Green New Deal Alliance on February 23 at 5:30 p.m. More details will be available at www.sdclimatehub.org.

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