In this interview from February 17, Kimberly Miller interviews Alex Hinds, president of the board of the California Planning Foundation. Alex Hinds talks about why he hopes the Obama administration keeps the ‘yes we can’ attitude towards green building, sustainable development, and making sustainability a core practice of building. This is the 3rd in a series of podcasts and interviews leading up to the Green Cities Conference in Orlando, May 19-21 where Alex Hinds will be speaking.

“Its time, in my opinion, to rewrite our zoning codes, our building codes, our health and public work codes to really address what’s needed to have more renewable energy. Less use of fossil fuels, and to take into account how climate change is going to affect our public health systems, our agriculture, and infrastructure.” – Alex Hinds

 

 Green Cities Podcast: - Alex Hinds Interview [10:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Transcript of Interview
February 17, 2009

Tell me a little about yourself and the work you do.
Well I’m currently working as the Interim Director for the Center for Sustainable Communities at Sonoma State University, a small university located an hour north of San Francisco. Before that I had a career working in the local government planning and administration up and down the state of California.

So what is it that you will be discussing at Green Cities?
The session that I’ll be discussing at Green Cities highlights several leading green governmental initiatives in California. We’ll be addressing topics such as climate change, land use planning, local food systems, green building, green business and the like. Included in this will be a summary of Marin County California where I used to work, award winning general plan and sustainability programs, along with tips on how to get started, obtaining public support, measuring success, funding and those things. An in addition we have a group out here called Green Cities California and I’ll be discussing initiatives from other member cities as well as examples of municipal cooperation with local universities

I see that you were one of the founding members of Green Cities California, how did this come to be?
Well I should really give most of the credit to Jared Blumenfeld from the city and county of San Francisco, as well as Dean Kubani from Santa Monica, we all met many times and decided working together we could collaborate and help spread various initiatives around sustainability, and that’s been going on for a couple years now.

So why focus on the cities specifically? What is it about a city that can help advance environmentalism and sustainability?
I would say local government in general should play a central role in institutionalizing best practices in regards to energy and sustainability. I think cities, and counties, are a great place to start because they are very close to the public. They can start out immediately with providing technical assistance, and faster permit processing rebates. And probably equally important is by implementing these practices on public facilities so that they can provide a learning opportunity for folks.

What was the thing that interests you most about coming and speaking at Green Cities?
Well I think it’s a great opportunity to not only speak but learn what’s going on, on the East coast. I’ve been kind of a resident of the west coast. It will be great to go there and share ideas, learn what’s happening up and down the states, north, south, east and west.

Is there any specific topic that you are looking forward to learning more about?
Well you know what, out here in California right now it seems that climate change, no pun intended, is the hottest topic and I’m very interested in what other communities are doing. Particularly in Florida where you have a lot of low lying land and a rising sea, so that’s one area that I’m very interested in. Both speaking about and learning about, as well as a variety of various renewable energy practices, green business, and the new green economy. All those things are really important topics that I look forward to getting involved in.

So you just mentioned the new green economy. Do you want to talk about that and your take on the current economic situation and where we are headed?
Well we are obviously in a big mess right now but being an optimist hopefully it’s also a wakeup call. So invest in green jobs and green infrastructure that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce our gas emissions while creating new jobs and making it more competitive and safe in the long run.

If there is a pivotal moment, what prompted you to do the work you do now?
I guess I’m a product of the environmental awareness and ecology movement from the latter half of the last century. I think the pivotal moment was an appreciation of the natural beauty of certain world places, like the Grand Canyon, Arizona, the Rainforest, and Hawaii. Which lead to a real appreciation for natural systems and an interest in escaping from the city, frankly and working to maintain agriculture and the quality of life in rural areas. However it didn’t take too long to realize there is a real connection between land use planning and other sustainable development practices in both urban and rural settings and as a result I went on to work primarily for local government.

So what are some of the projects that you are currently working on?
Well I am currently the Interim Director for the Center for Sustainable Communities at Sonoma State. I am coordinating their Green Building Certification Program, as well as instructing some of the classes and also providing technical assistance on implementing energy and sustainability to the county of Marin and will be working with students and faculty to assist other local governments on a number of topics.  My background is working in both planning and building and planning departments and environmental health departments. It’s really to help make sustainability a core business practice rather than something we would like to do.

So what would you like to see happen in cities that currently are not happening as it relates to sustainability?
What I would like to see happen is for cities to rewrite their plans, ordinances and other rules to make sustainability the lens which they look through the rest of their practices. Its time, in my opinion, to rewrite our zoning codes, our building codes, our health and public work codes to really address what’s needed to have more renewable energy. Less use of fossil fuels, and to take into account how climate change is going to affect our public health systems, our agriculture, and infrastructure.

How do you think the new administration is going to affect sustainability initiatives, green building, and how cities just build and exist?
Well, I think they are certainly sympathetic. I hope that their model will continue to be “yes we can”. Obviously we are in a tight budget situation, so there will be certain constraints, but I am looking forward to the new policies coming out of Washington D.C. and hopefully we’ll be seeing some investments at the national level, as well as what has been occurring at the local and some of the states.

What’s an interesting project or topic that is emerging in your topic or field that is going to happen in 2009 or the next couple years?
I think one of the most interesting topics right now is, first of all, how to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions so that we can reduce the severity of climate change in the future. Also, it’s rethinking our programs and how to adapt to it, and that’s a topic that is really starting to catch on. We are starting to see that integrated into our land use plans and our building codes and I am looking forward to being a part of that.

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Alex Hinds has managed county land use and resource agencies in California for over 24 years and has directed the Marin County Community Development Agency since 1999. Alex is currently president of the board of the California Planning Foundation and a former president of the California County Planning Director’s Association.

Alex has been responsible for many award-winning planning programs and documents. These include Marin County’s sustainability program which was awarded the coveted American Planning Association’s 2008 National Award for Excellence, and the update of the Marin Countywide Plan which comprehensively addresses climate change and sustainability issues – and was selected as the outstanding comprehensive general plan for the state of California. Mr. Hinds is one of the founding members of the recently established Green Cities of California and a frequent presenter at national, state and regional forums. Alex teaches at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo and regularly guest lectures at Sonoma State and other universities. Alex was a former Fulbright scholar in Ecuador.

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