Back in the early 1970s, Laura McDermith of Mountain View was delivering copies of the Los Altos Town Crier to local residents. Fast forward to 2023, McDermith, now Laura Neish, is delivering clean energy to low-income communities on the Peninsula that could otherwise not afford it.
McDermith not only delivered the paper, she made the front cover: A July 11, 1973, cover photo shows her among a group of female newspaper carriers with the caption, “Moving in on the previously all-male occupation of newspaper carriers, nine girls now distribute the Town Crier to readers each Wednesday.”
“It was magical to ride your bike around at 4:30, 5 o’clock in the morning,” she recalled of her delivery route to homes in both Los Altos and Mountain View.
Fifty years later, Neish is executive director of 350 Bay Area, an environmental advocacy group focused on getting policies passed in the region to reduce toxic emissions causing air pollution.
Her Los Altos-based group, which includes a 350 Silicon Valley component, recently received a grant from the state’s Energy Commission to launch the Fast Path to Clean Indoor Air program, which has installed portable heat pumps and air purifiers in 30 low-income households.
“The people being helped are all renters and include families,” said Cheryl Weiden of Los Altos, who works with Neish on the steering committee of 350 Silicon Valley. “The units they live in are mostly small, crowded, have no air conditioning and often with expensive or substandard heat sources. Consequently, summer conditions can be roasting and, in the winter, frigid. … The efficient and portable heat pumps will provide both heat and air conditioning, while the air purifiers will provide cleaner air to breathe, and the equipment will belong to the renters.”
Climate emergency
Founded in 2012, 350 Bay Area was inspired by the international organization 350.org. The number “350” references 350 parts carbon dioxide per million, long regarded as a safe upper limit before tipping over into hazardous air territory. That figure is now more than 420 parts per million.
“We’re in ghastly, unsafe territory,” Neish said of the world’s air pollution and the impact of climate change. “The earth’s systems are far more sensitive to these changes than anybody expected. So, we’re seeing the glaciers melting faster, the oceans warming – things are happening at a faster clip. It’s definitely a climate emergency for all of us.”
The group’s mission statement includes building a grassroots climate movement to eliminate carbon pollution and “achieve a clean energy future with racial, economic and environmental justice.”
“We really have gotten to the point in general, especially in California, where there are more people that are concerned about climate change than not, so we’re focused on activating them to get specific policies passed to reduce emissions,” Neish said. “What we’re trying to do is call out the fossil fuel industry – ramp down these fossil fuels and ramp up clean electricity, and then switching our systems to that clean electricity – you know, the heating and cooling of our buildings.”
Persistence pays off
Neish, who has more than two decades of experience in strategic management consulting and project management, said 350 Bay Area gets into “the policy weeds. And then we bring the information to our large group of supporters, to enable them to reach out to their elected officials and other policymakers with the right kind of talking points to get them to take action.”
Persistence is a key to success. It took the group 10 years to get setbacks on oil and gas drilling signed into law last year. State Senate Bill 1125, which establishes a 3,200-foot buffer between drilling areas and homes and schools, is already due for a challenge at the ballot box by the fossil fuels industry.
“So, now we’ve got a fight,” Neish said. “And again, it’s a continuing process, so you can get the legislation and it directs an agency to do one thing or another thing, and then you just have to make sure that those things (happen) appropriately – it takes a lot of work.”
“I love working and knowing Laura Neish,” Weiden said. “I admire her values, skills, humanity and selflessness. She is a calm and skillful leader. The volunteer work we do can be challenging, and sometimes I question why I put so much effort into it. Then I step back and realize that I get to meet and work with people like Laura, and this inspires me to continue.”
Faced with the daunting challenge of climate change, groups like 350 Bay Area look to make an impact one small step at a time, such as with the air pump project.
Weiden said, “There are opportunities to volunteer to help with the project, also. We need volunteers who are fluent in both English and Spanish in several capacities. The time commitment is relatively small, but with a big payback.”
For more information, visit 350BayArea.org.
