Program Soil not Oil Wed Sept 8- Sat Sept 9 Richmond CA
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Join us for an incredible learning/organizing experience!
It has been a lot of work, but here is the (almost) FULL PROGRAM
Regenerative Agriculture & Socio-Ecological Justice to Heal the Earth
International Environmental Conference
Program Soil not Oil Wed Sept 8-Say Sept 9 Richmond CA Wednesday September 6th
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Keynote Speaker AUDITORIUM
Indian Scholar, Environmental Activist and Anti-globalization Author
4:00 PM – 6:30 PM BERMUDA ROOM
People’s Blueprint on Climate Change, Working Group on AGRICULTURE
6:30 PM – 6:35 PM Intro by Miguel Robles Soil Not Oil Coalition
6:35 PM – 8:00 PM Keynote Speaker AUDITORIUM
Professor Emeritus of Agro-Ecology UC Berkeley
8:00 AM Registration/Breakfast
9:00 AM - 9:05 AM Intro by Soil Not Oil Coalition
9:05 AM - 9:15 AM Welcoming AUDITORIUM
Mayor of Richmond California
9:15 AM - 9:55 AM Keynote Speaker AUDITORIUM
Soil Health Specialist/ Agronomist at NRCS USDA
9:55 AM - 10:35 AM Plenary I AUDITORIUM
Regenerative Solutions to Climate Change
John Roulac, Founder of NUTIVA
Tim LaSalle, Regenerative Agriculture Specialist
Greg Gregory Landua, Terra Genesis Intl.
The leading cause of climate change today is industrial ag -not the oil sector. Come learn how regenerative ag and restorative ocean farming can sequester carbon, conserve water and create economic growth. These nature friendly solutions are vital to help prevent the current state of climate chaos.
10:40 AM - 11:20 AM Plenary II AUDITORIUM
Drawing-down Carbon at the Landscape Level
Diana Donlon, Soil Solutions Program CFS
Brittany Cole Bush, BCB Shepherdess
David Johnson, Molecular Biologist at NMSU
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM BREAKOUT Presentations
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM BERMUDA ROOM
Ocean Farming & Restoration
Erin Axelrod, LIFT Economy
Andrew K. Baskin, LIFT Economy
Restoring California's majestic giant kelp forests will sequester carbon, increase biodiversity and create blue green jobs. Over 95% of California’s kelp forests have disappeared in the past 150 years. We will explore re-planting our native kelp forests, state coastal regulations, coastal native tribe participation, cutting edge projects including Bren Smith’s GreenWave and Marine Permaculture, potential markets for kelp and sea greens and how vibrant kelp forests support aquatic life bio diversity.
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM CATALINA ROOM
Refinery Town Lessons: How Labor & Community Activists Challenged Chevron and Won
Steve Early, Journalist and author of Refinery Town, Big Oil, Big Money and The Remaking of an American City
Five years after the massive Chevron Richmond fire, are Bay Area refineries less hazardous today for their workers, the environment, and “frontline communities”? Richmond Progressive Alliance member and local author Steve Early will lead a discussion about the refinery safety progress that has been made and the challenges that remain, due to big oil influence in our state and federal government. Find out how stronger "blue-green alliances" can be built and the lessons of environmental justice organizing in Richmond can be applied elsewhere during the Trump Era?
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM CATALINA ROOM
Growing a Revolution: Bringing our Soil Back to Life
David Montgomery, Author and Geologist
In Growing a Revolution David R. Montgomery introduces us to farmers around the world at the heart of a brewing soil health revolution that could bring humanity’s ailing soil back to life remarkably fast. Cutting through standard debates about conventional and organic farming, Montgomery explores why practices based on the principles of conservation agriculture help restore soil health and fertility. Drawing on visits to farms in the industrialized and developing worlds he finds that the combination of no-till planting, cover crops, and diverse crop rotations provides a profitable recipe to rebuild soil organic matter. Farmers using these unconventional practices cultivate beneficial soil life, smother weeds, and suppress pests while relying on far less, if any, fertilizer and pesticides.
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
Juan J. San Mames, CEO Vanilla and Saffron Imports
How deforestation is affecting the price and cultivation of vanilla beans in Mexico, Madagascar, Indonesia, Tonga and Papua New Guinea and more important, the lives of vanilla farmers and the bees that pollinates the vanilla orchids.
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
From Design to Vine to Ovine to Wine: can we drink ourselves out of this mess?
Massey Burke, Natural Materials Specialist
Claudio Nunez, Organic Farmer
Elaine Patarini, Facilitator and Educator at Paicines Ranch
A conversation around designing agricultural ecosystems that mimic nature by including animals as integral components of management and the use of low-carbon natural material buildings. From vision and seeing things differently (design) to the human creativity on the ground in cropping systems (vine) with the integration of animals (ovine) to a nutritious and pleasurable result (wine). The benefits to this approach are demonstrating rapid building of soil organic matter, significant reductions in fossils fuel use, and a more beautiful and diverse agricultural ecosystem.
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM EMERALD ROOM
Lydia Neilsen, Owner at Rehydrate the Earth
Water is the most unique and important molecule on our planet. While once revered by humans as sacred, it is now viewed as a commodity: its mismanagement has led to erosion, aquifer depletion, pollution and scarcity. The true nature of water - science that sounds like magic - inspires a sense of wonder and hope that informs new attitudes and strategies for regenerative water practices. Learn how to honor water through small-scale hand-dug earthworks combined with soil building and perennial plantings which maximize rainwater and grey-water infiltration to prevent erosion, reduce pollution, moderate temperature, reduce energy and water use and support your landscape and local ecosystem.
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM EMERALD ROOM
Building Grassroots Regeneration Movement Across North America: Strategy and Tactics
Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of Organic Consumers Association
Resist and Regeneration meetups, study groups, chapters, and ongoing events of the Regeneration Movement are spreading, slowly but surely across North America. This workshop will focus on what's already happening and how we can reach critical mass in our efforts to resist out of control corporations and politicians and promote regenerative solutions to our pressing climate, environmental, public health, and political Crisis, both in the marketplace and the political arena.
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM FARALLON ROOM
Anne Biklé, Author, Biologist and Gardener
There are few things that people do better at than nature, but one of them is rapidly making and improving soil. I’ll share the soil restoration practices I used and wrote about in The Hidden Half of Nature, a recent book I co-authored with David Montgomery. These practices are applicable from something as small as a window box to larger gardens and farms. The common elements across this range of settings is to feed the life of the soil with organic matter rather than factory-made chemicals in addition to minimizing digging and plowing, and keeping the ground covered with plants.
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM FARALLON ROOM
Challenging Corporate Rule, Creating Democracy
Keyan Bliss, Grassroots Volunteer Co-Coordinator at Move to Amend
“Challenging Corporate Rule, Creating Democracy” explores the origins and history of corporate power in a compelling lesson on the development of corporate constitutional rights and how those rights undermine We The People and our communities. Large multinational corporations are making decisions on everything from environmental regulations to chemicals in our community's drinking water. Due to the influence of these multinational corporations, communities are overruled in matters like fracking, mountaintop removal, and other crucial decisions where local people should have authority over corporations. This presentation is part history lesson, part call to action to make systemic change on a local and global level."
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM GOVERNOR ROOM
The Way of Ultra Low-cost Organic Agriculture
Rei Yoon, JADAM Organic Farmer
For organic farming to be a realistic option, it has to be low-cost. Unfortunately, organic became something of a luxury. I will introduce Asian traditional agriculture supported by science that enables organic to produce at low-cost but with still high quality and yield. Farmers can make their inputs because knowledge belongs to them. Our goal is to bring back the farmers' sovereignty. I will explain the technology and philosophy that makes it possible including how to view the nature: soil, microbes, and life.
Documentary by Taggart Siegel
Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds -- worshipped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. This documentary follows passionate seed keepers who are protecting a 12,000 year-old food legacy. In the last century, 94 seed varieties have disappeared. A cadre of 10 agrichemical companies, including Syngenta, Bayer, and Monsanto, controls over two-thirds of the global seed market, reaping unprecedented profits. Farmers and others battle to defend the future of our food.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM LOBBY ANNEX
People’s Blueprint on Climate Change, Working Group on Environmental/Social Justice
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Lunch Break
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Plenary III AUDITORIUM
Michael Hansen, Staff Scientists at Consumers Union
Stacy Malkam, US Right to Know
Ignacio Chapela, Mycologist UC Berkeley
Mark Squire, CEO of Good Earth
Synthetic Biology is changing our world in profound and permanent ways. So far these new technologies from CRISPR to Gene Drives are being virtually unregulated yet funded at a staggering rate due to the belief that they will generate the next big economic boon. This Plenary will bring together 4 thought leaders to examine the mechanisms and ramifications of these new economic ventures and to explore the impact on the wellbeing of our communities.
3:05 PM – 4:05 PM Plenary IV AUDITORIUM
Agro-Ecology in the Global South
Leah Atwood, Co-Director at MESA
4:15 PM – 5:45 PM BERMUDA ROOM
Keep it in the Ground: Building Movements for Climate Justice during the Trump Era
Leila Salazar, Executive Director of Amazon Watch
This plenary will bring together people leading the fight against fossil fuel extraction in the United States and abroad. The panel will center on the following questions: “How do we continue our struggles for climate justice during the Trump era? What challenges and opportunities do we face today?" Participants will share stories about their current campaigns and past victories, discuss the connections between their various struggles, and take questions from the audience.
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM CATALINA ROOM
California's Climate Smart Agriculture Programs
Renata Brillinger, Co-founder & Executive Director of CalCAN.
Brian Shobe, Program and Operations Coordinator at CalCAN.
California has four cap-and-trade funded programs that provide incentives to farmers and ranchers for implementing practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon. This session will provide background on the policies that led to the programs and an update on how they are working.
5:00 PM – 5:45 PM CATALINA ROOM
Farm Bill 2018: Opportunities for Regenerative Agriculture
Kari Hamerschlag, Deputy Director, Food and Technology Program
Kendra Klein, Staff Scientists at Friends of the Earth
Mark Lipson, Senior Program and Policy Specialist at the Organic Farming Research Foundation
The Farm Bill is an essential economic and policy engine that drives our current food and farming systems and provides nutritional assistance to tens of millions of Americans. Unfortunately the vast majority of Farm Bill spending supports unsustainable GMO monoculture that feeds biofuel and factory farm production. This workshop will provide a general overview and updates on the Farm Bill as well as opportunities to engage in ongoing campaigns aimed at reducing subsidies for factory farming and expanding support for sustainable livestock, organic and regenerative agriculture. Learn about which programs must be renewed and expanded, including those that fund sustainable agriculture research, create incentives for local and regional and regenerative livestock practices, enhance farmers’ ability to transition to organic and expand conservation agriculture.
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
Pesticides in the Environment: Environmental Racism and Endangered Public's Health
Dr. Ann López, Executive Director of Center for Farmworker Families.
Recently national media outlets disseminated information about the environmental racism involving lead in the water system of Flint, Michigan. In addition, the potential destruction of the potable water supply for the Standing Rock Sioux indigenous people received national press. However, it is not necessary to look across the country for egregious examples of environmental racism. A mere two hours away in the Salinas Valley, the IQs of unborn Latino babies are being compromised by organophosphate pesticides. These children then enter elementary school with compromised intellectual ability and continue to be exposed to a Dow chemical brain-damaging pesticide. What can we do to protect ourselves and loved ones from the extreme physical harm and suffering caused by agrochemical exposure? How do we as a society and world transition away from industrial farming practices that require the use of these poisons to health-promoting organic agro-ecological food production.
5:00 PM – 5:45 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
Bees, Climate Change, and Human Survival: How You Can Help
Jennifer Davis, Beekeeper and Founder/director of Bee Friendly Portland
Over 70 of the 100 foods we eat depend on bees for pollination. One in 12 jobs in the USA are food-related. Nearly half of our bees are dying annually, and over 700 native bee species are at risk of extinction. Over 100 million trees have just died in California- and 30 million people in Africa are at risk of starvation. How are these things related, and what is to be done? There are creative and positive things we can and must do now to save our bees, and therefore help save humans, too.
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM EMERALD ROOM
Composting Organic by-products of Green Businesses on-farm for sovereignty and carbon sequestration
Gowan Batist, Farmer and Compost Maker
I would like to share our composting system using affordable technology to compost spent grain and hops from North Coast Brewing Company and how that has allowed our family farm to own land and sequester carbon, while being the first vegetable farm in our county's history to have an MCRCD Carbon Farm Plan. I will share the social and financial structures of our process.
5:00 PM – 5:45 PM EMERALD ROOM
Clean Power to the People: Organizing for Solutions through Community Choice Energy
Jessica Tovar, organizer for the Local Clean Energy Alliance
Learn about the Local Clean Energy Alliance's efforts in the East Bay Area to use Community Choice energy program to advocate for local clean energy that works for low-income & communities of color. The Local Clean Energy Alliance brings together; grassroots environmental justice, housing, workforce development and labor to fight for Local Clean Energy. We will talk about our challenges, victories and vision for local clean energy to create jobs, community benefits and healthy community.
4:15 PM – 5:45 PM FARALLON ROOM
"Energy, Water & Industrial Agriculture: Paradigm Shift Needed Now!"
Dr. Ramon (Ray) Seidler, Former Professor of Microbiology Oregon State University and a Senior Research Scientist, U.S. EPA
Andrew Schwarz, Organic Farmer
U.S. industrial agriculture consumes 80% of the total water used in this country and about 25% of the nation’s energy. We need to figure out how to control the increase in global temperature and reduce water consumption to sustain food production into the future. The answer is not industrial agriculture that relies on planting GE seeds coated with toxic synthetic chemicals, it is not the use of annual doses of fertilizers derived from fossil fuel production, and not the use of chemical pesticides that cause cancer and hormone diseases, and not the concepts of SynBio products that destroy natural biodiversity and kill jobs . The answers lie within the concepts and adoption of regenerative agricultural principles that sustain the soil, encourage biodiversity principles, and foster healthy soil producing healthy plants, and healthy consumers.
4:15 PM – 5:45 PM GOVERNOR ROOM
The Biodynamic Approach to Regenerative Agriculture
Thea Maria Carlson, Co-Director of the Biodynamic Association
The deep principles and innovative practices of biodynamic agriculture, can be taken up by any farmer or gardener wanting to enhance the health and vitality of their soil and the food they grow. In this workshop, we will explore the unique and practical ways that you can apply biodynamics to grow the most nutrient-dense and vibrant food possible, build soil organic matter, revitalize landscapes, and protect the climate by bringing more carbon into the living realm.
To the Ends of the Earth (Documentary)
To the Ends of the Earth is an award winning 2016 documentary about extreme energy and gas extraction. Narrated by Emma Thompson and featuring Naomi Klein, the filmmaker David Lavallee brings audiences up close and personal with shale gas fields, tar sands and the huge pipelines that represent the far edges of resource extraction in the 21st century.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM LOBBY ANNEX
People’s Blueprint on Climate Change, Working Group on ECOLOGY
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM COMMUNITY DINNER
7:00PM – 8:00 PM Keynote Speaker AUDITORIUM
Founder & Executive Director, Oakland Institute
8:00 AM Registration/Breakfast
9:00 AM – 9:05 AM Intro by Soil Not Oil Coalition
9:15 AM - 10:15 AM Plenary V AUDITORIUM
Holistic Social Investment/Divestment
Theo Fergusson, Sustainable Living Systems
Eric Mathis, Healing Institute
Kendra Johnson, Consultant for Regenerative Design
Stuart Valentine, Living Coalition
10:20 AM - 11:20 AM Plenary VI AUDITORIUM
Reclaiming Our Democracy; Resistance and Renewal
Osprey Orielle Lake, Women Earth and Climate Action Network
Drew Dellinger, Planetize the Movement
Sharon Lungo, Ruckus Society
With diversity and strength, peoples’ movements nationwide are calling for systemic change and justice on the issues that we know are inseparable - from gender justice to Indigenous rights, from racial justice to immigrant rights, from climate and environmental justice to economic inequality. This moment in history demands that we take our collective efforts to another level as we work towards a healthy and just planet in the face of oppressive and dangerous political landscapes.
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM BERMUDA ROOM
The ReGeneration: How The Intersection of Art & Activism is Catalyzing a New Generation of Ec0-Leaders!
Aaron Ableman, United Nations award-winning artist, rapper/producer, author and actor
Rupa Maria, Artivist/Singer of Rupa & the April Fishes
Ashel "Seasunz" Eldridge, Artist
Social change is hard, especially when it comes to shifting humanity's apocalyptic impact on the biosphere. Over the years, movements have employed a variety of communications efforts to attract public interest to issues and causes. Activists and changemakers have turned to the arts for inspiration and as a way to engage audiences through deep & emotional connections to create more meaningful interactions. At the same time, more artists are imbuing their work with social or environmental messaging to advance the issues they feel most passionate about. Art, sports and entertainment is the language of youth and we all must recognize this common ground which brings diverse voices together in decision making process', from the field of business to ecological regeneration.
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM BERMUDA ROOM
Food & Environmental Connections from an African American Perspective
Yasir Cross, Sunflower Farm
Lori Caldwell, The Compost Gal
Troy Horton, Town & County Permaculture
Wanda Stewart, Urban Farmer Homesteader & educator.
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CATALINA ROOM
Agro-ecology: No-till Vegetable Farming for the Future
Elizabeth and Paul Kaiser, No-till, Ecological Farmers
Description of Presentation/Workshop/Panel: Agroecology: No-till Vegetable Farming for the Future
Create life in and around your hand-labor, no-till beds for growing a bounty of nutrient dense produce. This workshop will review best practices for increasing agroecology in and around farm fields, no-till practices that increase soil microbiology and carbon, intensified cropping that can support these and provides increased farm productivity. These three ideas (agroecology, no-till, intensification) support each other and are necessary to create a healthy, sustainable farming system.
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
Building Resilience Through Grassroots Organizing
Kevin Danaher, Co-Founder of Global Exchange, FairTradeUSA & the Green Festivals
There are many old, vacant school district properties in the USA. This session will focus on our plan for restoring and updating one of California’s oldest school buildings: Quincy’s first school (1905). The vacant building and large grounds on Main Street have huge potential as a community learning center, teaching youth of all ages homesteading skills, resilience, green technology, and community-based enterprise. During the fall Dr. Danaher is teaching a community course through Feather River College to involve diverse constituents in this project.
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
Creating a unified network of California Trails for non-motorized transportation and recreation
Ken Donnell – Program Director for the California Guild and the California Trails Master Plan project.
Bob McFarland – President of the California
Diana Rude' – legislative consultant for the California Guild
The California Guild has submitted a resolution to the California legislature call for the state government to develop a California Trails Master Plan for non-motorized trails so that the many trails in existence or being planned can someday become part of a single unified state wide network. The long term goal is that such a transportation & recreational infrastructure would reduce the carbon footprint of human transportation, help to create healthier lifestyles for CA citizens, reduce death & accidents for walker and bicyclists, and permit California's economy to continue growing but with a reduced or zero carbon footprint. At the same time legislation is being pursued, the CA Guild is hosting regional conferences to bring together people currently involved with trails development, or those who are interested to become part of this great work. The 2d regional conference is currently scheduled for September 22, 2017 in Oakland CA.
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM EMERALD ROOM
Promoting Civic Engagement in disadvantaged and unincorporated communities in Tulare County
Irma Medellin, Lead Organizer at El Quinto sol de America
Angel Garcia, Community Organizer at el Quinto Sol de America
El Quinto Sol de América’s mission is to utilize art, culture and education as principal tools to help create more just and equitable communities, including achieving a higher quality of life for farm worker communities. We will share the History of EQS and the strategies we use to promote the participation of community members, through educational workshops such as speaking in public, talking to the media, but mainly understanding the issues that concern us and the importance of participation and asserting our voices.
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM EMERALD ROOM
A Business Model For People and Planet: Intro to Worker Cooperatives & Two Bay Area Case Studies
Yassi Eskandari, Sustainable Economies Law Center
In order to address our environmental problems, we need to rethink our economic system. Indeed, environmental injustice often stems from extractive industry and business practices, and a legal system that incentivizes profit over people and planet. However, worker-owned cooperatives present a different way to do business. Worker cooperatives provide their members with living wages and decision-making power, provide their communities with essential goods and services, bolster local economies, and, because of their place-based nature, tend to be more responsible environmental stewards than businesses owned by distant shareholders. This presentation will provide an overview of what a worker cooperative is, why they are essential to the environmental movement, and provide a case study of what two neighboring Bay Area cities are doing to support the development and expansion of worker cooperatives.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM FARALLON ROOM
Reversal of Climate Change and the New Water Paradigm
Russ Speer, USA West Coast Coordinator for Voices of Water for Climate.
Jan Dietrick, President of Rincon-Vitova Insectaries
Christina Bertea, Greywater Action instructor/plumbing contractor.
Laura Maher, Sierra Watershed Progressive.
Diana Donlon, Center for Food Safety
Finian Makepeace, Kiss the Ground
Rehydration of the continents is a key part of reversing climate change. The principles of Michal Kravcik's New Water Paradigm have been used on many major projects around the world. Every person can capture rain water on their own property and help to initiate and complete community rain water harvesting projects. The panel participants will discuss the importance of the new water paradigm and give examples of large and small projects. Attendees will be given handouts which will help them to take individual actions which will truly contribute to the reversal of climate change.
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM GOVERNOR ROOM
The 5 Steps to an Abundant Future
Matt Powers, Author, Educator, Plant Breeder, Gardener & Family Guy
Matt Powers, author of The Permaculture Student Series and online educator, has distilled his research in permaculture and regenerative restoration of landscapes and bodies of water into 5 clear, critical steps to guarantee an abundant future: Build Soils, Grow Forests, Restore & Support the Oceans & All Bodies of Water, Support & Generate Biodiversity, & Rewild Human Culture. Come learn about how you can take action now in your communities to reverse the negative environmental & social trends: it all starts with soil.
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM GOVERNOR ROOM
The Environmental Impacts of Animal Agriculture
Sonja Huang, Bay Area Director of the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition and Green Monday.
I will give a 45 minutes presentation on the environmental and public health impacts of animal agriculture, including both industrialized and grass-fed products. We will discuss the impacts such as deforestation, water and air pollution, loss of biodiversity, antibiotic resistance, and more.
Chasing Coral (Documentary)
Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. Divers, photographers and scientists set out on an ocean adventure to discover why the reefs are disappearing and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM LOBBY ANNEX
People’s Blueprint on Climate Change, Working Group on ENERGY
1:00 PM - 1:15 PM Community Family Festival
Talk about the Seed Library
Rebecca Newburn, Co-Founder of Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library
Seed libraries are a community-based response to the loss of genetic diversity, climate change, economic instability and food deserts. Take a tour of Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library, located in the same complex as the conference. Richmond Grows has been a pioneer in the seed library movement from designing a “create a library” template used to launch hundreds of seed libraries around to the world to partnering on the National Save Seed Sharing Campaign, which was a response to legal challenges to seed libraries. Learn about how to start and maintain a seed library as well as hear updates on legislative advocacy happening around the US. Find out how to connect with local, regional and international hubs to support seed saving at the community level.
12:00 PM – 5:00 PM Civic Center Plaza
Soil Not Oil Family Festival
Powered by Biketopia Music Collective
Bands: Maisha Lani – Luminiscent – Heather Normandale – Bicicletas por la Paz
1:00 PM – 1:50 PM Lunch Break
1:50 PM - 2:15 PM Keynote Speaker AUDITORIUM
Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
2:15 PM – 3:15 PM Plenary VII AUDITORIUM The Living Ocean
Karina Nielsen, Coastal Ecosystems Lab SFTU
Jason Scorce, Professor of Environmental Studies
Vicky Vasquez, Shark Specialist
Anna Cummins, 5 Gyres Institute Global Strategy Director
David Helvarg, Blue Frontier Global Strategy Director
From soil to the sea, Our Living Ocean is impacted by people’s land based actions. This plenary brings together leading experts on the state of our blue planet and how runoff from industrial agriculture, urban waste and massive amounts of plastic are impacting ocean health. It will examine how sharks and other marine wildlife are being decimated for short-term profit and how a healthy ocean can generate a sustainable blue economy and help restore the needed balance between economics, the environment and social equity.
3:20 PM – 4:20 Plenary VIII AUDITORIUM
Socio-Ecological Justice to Heal the Earth
Ruchi Schroff, Navdanya International
Starhawk, Author/Permaculture Designer
Susana De Anda, Community Water Center
Facilitation, Miguel Robles Soil Not Oil Coalition
Every day dozens of species go extinct. Humans have been destroying ecosystems under the guise of “progress” and it’s time we drastically change our relationship with nature. Oil determines the price of modern living. Our immediate challenge we face is how to adapt to an oil-less society based on creativity, greater cooperation and empathy.
4:30 PM – 5:15 PM BERMUDA ROOM
Working Coast To Coast Making Cities and States Sustainable Free From Oil Dependency
David Zuckerman, Politician and Organic Farmer. He is the 81st Lieutenant Governor of Vermont.
Gayle McLaughlin, Former Mayor of Richmond, California. Founder of the Richmond Progressive Alliance
Kay Wallis, Communications Specialist
Vermont Lt. Governor David Zuckerman, a leading political leader and environmentalist in Vermont.
Gayle McLaughlin former Richmond Mayor and a leading Bay Area political leader and environmentalist will lead a discussion and answer questions related to climate change, fossil fuel based economies and the emerging response from Cities and States to the US withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. What kind of economy and what kind of nation do we need, how do we get there and what are the next political steps we take to resist and move forward.
5:15 PM - 6:00 PM BERMUDA ROOM
Living Soils –the “Cambia Solution” to Global Warming
(Alejandra) Liora Adler, is a multi-faceted actionist.
Andrew Langford, Chief Permaculture Officer of Cambia.
Keli Rutan Jorgensen: Soil Scientist
The Cambia Solution for almond orchards is a rare gem that helps fix climate change by increasing carbon drawdown by 5 times, reduces water use by up to 50% and at the same time doubles farm income.
This Solution is based on over two years of research under a 45K grant to Gaia University from Lush Cosmetics. It profoundly changes the operating system of how almonds are grown in CA and deals with three major issues of an industry which produces 84% of the world's almonds while currently using over 11 % of CA’s water resources, enough water to supply the city of Los Angeles for three years.
Incorporating the scientific research of Dr. Elaine Ingham and Dr. David C Johnson we create a fungal rich compost tea inoculant which kick starts the recovery of a soil biology capable of carbon drawdown at a rate of 20 to 40 tons per acre per year.
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM CATALINA ROOM
Trees to Mitigate Climate Change: Protecting and Expanding Forests in California and Beyond
Joyce Blueford, PhD Geologist
Karen Holl, PhD, UCSC Environmental Studies Dept.
Georgia Doremus, Soil Not Oil Coalition
Facilitator: Hana Lyon, Soil Not Oil Coalition
TBA Staff Member Friends of the Urban Forest
Trees have enormous potential to sequester carbon, restore water systems, provide resilience in the face of changing climate, and foster well being and habitat for humans and other animals. This panel highlights real life reforestation and land restoration techniques, in the Alameda hills, urban environments, northern forests and tropical environments. Learn about successful initiatives using food waste to restore native oak savanna and other ecosystems, as well as challenges encountered. Find out how trees are integral parts of a cityscape and how we can encourage urban forests through tree planting, protection, and care. Wild forests are key to life on earth - discover how they are being threatened, protected, and expanded. Ample time will be allotted for Q & A, so come with your curiosity and discover how you can contribute to bringing back the trees.
4:30 PM – 5:15 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
Regeneration: A Deep Dive workshop on Living, Farming and Eating Regeneratively
Finian Makepeace, Recording Artist & Activist
From degeneration to sustainable to regeneration, building the talking points and strategy for the new paradigm of regeneration for food, agriculture and climate change. Learn the distinction between degeneration, sustainable, and regeneration. Work on what it means to create regeneration as a new context for humanity. Maine objective is that everyone is empowered to become a communicator of the concepts of regeneration and Regenrative agriculture as the potential future of humanity.
5:15 PM - 6:00 PM DRUMMOND ROOM
Agroecology: Definition, Debate, and the Threat of Co-optation
Antonio Roman-Alcalá, Educator, Researcher,Writer & Organizer
In this workshop, Antonio Roman-Alcalá will introduce the global history and use of the term 'agroecology', as well as its current uptake in North America. From this framing of the ways in which people are already using and mobilizing 'agroecology', we will open up to a group discussion: What do *you* think of the term? Does it describe the work you do? How is it different or competing or complementary to regenerative agriculture, permaculture, organic, and other terms/paradigms? Noting that the first conference dedicated to 'agroecology' is being organized in 2019, we want your input: How would such a conference benefit our movements for Soil not Oil?
4:30 PM – 5:15 PM EMERALD ROOM
Bill McDorman is Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance
How do we quickly build a new food system upon a foundation of our own seeds? We are the people of the pinch. We need to be smart. We need to focus and use the best tools available. We must organize ourselves quickly and efficiently. This workshop is designed to get you up and running as a seed citizen with all the tools you need to save seeds and convince those around you to become seed citizens.
5:15 PM – 6:00 PM EMERALD ROOM
GrassRoots Indigenous Transit (GRIT)
Rey Léon, Founder and Executive Director of the San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Advancement & Policy Project (Valley LEAP
The farmworker community of Huron is an hour away from the county seat city of Fresno where all the services reside. It takes a family three hours to arrive there by regional transit. The community has been able to develop an indigenous ride-sharing transit, model that is getting greened up to reflect the people and fulfill the needs of access to specialist doctor for asthmatic children, diabetic grandparents and other social, legal and immigration services. Recent funding is not just creating an electric vehicle charging corridor between this farmworker city and Fresno but also helping establish the first private electric vehicle maintenance center in the San Joaquin Valley. Additional resources are providing 2 plug in electric Chevy Bolts with a range of over 240 miles. This program is about environmental justice, climate justice and economic justice for both the driver and the families that sorely need the rural ride-sharing service to maintain a family and financial health.
4:30 PM – 5:15 PM FARALLON ROOM
Biocentrism vs Capitalism: Ecosystem Defense for Public Lands in the Context of Rightwing Communities
Karen Coulter, Environmental Activist
Karen Coulter will give a workshop illustrating how her organization, Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project, acts to protect forests and high desert ecosystems in eastern Oregon from unsustainable resource extraction, including logging, roading, toxic herbicide use, and livestock grazing. She lives in proximity to the forests she defends, near small rural right-wing conservative communities that date from European colonization and usurpation of the land from Indigenous peoples. Karen will address the challenges of working with resource extraction-funded public lands agencies and unsupportive communities with histories of resource extraction-driven economies. She will also talk about the conflict between capitalist cultures and sustaining biodiversity and ecological integrity under climate change. Her presentation will include a concise slide show showing the wild ecosystems she is protecting, their degradation, and how volunteers assist with legal defense through field surveying proposed timber sales over thousands of acres each summer. Karen will discuss the ways the public can become involved with these and similar efforts, and answer questions.
5:15 PM – 6:00 PM FARALLON ROOM
The Balance of Beneficial Use of Land
Sabra Ambrose, Waste Management Engineer , CalEPA Engineering Support Branch
Linda Thepot, Staff Counsel, CalRecycle/CalEPA
This presentation will explore three case studies in California that occurred over the past 50 years based on land use by way of disposal to land. The first case study involves post closure land use of a former burn dump in the agricultural area. The second case study involved the investment by Waste Management to sustainably manage the leachate from a former disposal site in Alameda County. The last case study and by far the most unique I have ever seen in my career involves the struggle for a farmer in Ventura County to maintain his acerage/parcel for agricultural land use. The struggle included the accepting of fill material to the amount of almost 40, 000 cubic yards. This disposal to land constitutes a violation of land use on several levels. In brief, several levels of government coordinated a compliance program with the farmer to evaluate the fill material against regulatory thresholds of COPS and otherwise background or acceptable soil used in agriculture.
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM GOVERNOR ROOM
'Rights of Nature: Protecting and Defending the Places We Live’.
Shannon Biggs, Movement Rights.
Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN International.
We will explore the paradigm-shifting work of Rights of Nature, and explain how this transformative legal framework is already being used around the world to challenge legal systems based on dominion over and exploitation of the Earth, and instead usher in a legal, social, political and economic framework based upon the inherent rights and natural laws of the Earth’s living systems. We will delve into examples of how U.S. and international communities are successfully enacting local Rights of Nature legislation as a tool to protect ecosystems, their communities and just climate solutions. Presenters will also share stories of the growing global movement for the Rights of Nature and the dynamic Rights of Nature Tribunals that have been held in countries worldwide.
4:15 PM – 6:00 PM LIBRARY ROOM
Plant This Movie Documentary
"Plant This Movie" explores the zeitgeist of urban farming around the world, from Havana, Cuba to communities of urban farmers in cities as diverse as Shanghai, Calcutta, Addis Ababa, London, and Lima.
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM LIBRARY ROOM
Abundant Land: Soil, Seeds, and Sovereignty. Documentary film
Director, Natasha Florentino
Abundant Land follows a group of Hawaiian residents on the island of Moloka'i as they oppose the biotech industry's use of their land to test genetically engineered seeds and work to restore an integrated food system based on ancient Hawaiian farming practices.
4:15 PM – 6:00 PM LOBBY ANNEX
People’s Blueprint on Climate Change - WRAP UP AND NEXT STEEPS
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM SOIL NOT OIL CELEBRATION AUDITORIUM