Invocation: Jeff Gutierrez
Flag Salute: Kristen Watson filling in for Toni Harper
Song: Ed Tomlinson, “This Land Is Your Land”
Greeter: Jacob Frost
Roving Mic: Amy Travis
SPOKE EDITOR PROFILE:
Jorge Barrientos is the director of marketing and public relations at Chain | Cohn | Clark law office. He serves on board of directors for a variety of community organizations including The Hub of Bakersfield, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Kern County Chapter), and Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Education Foundation. When he’s not working or serving our community, you can find him traveling the world and hanging with his family, which includes wife Carla, 4-year-old son Julian, 2-year-old daughter Gianna Sol.
GUESTS:
- Superintendent John Mendiburu and Craig Bonna, KCSOS (Steve Sanders)
- Joe Kandle, Roya Resources (Lynn Blystone)
- Patrick Beck, Bakersfield Hyundai (Mike Allen)
- Christine Francis, HEARTS Connection (Ashley Vorhees)
- District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer (Kathy Scrivner)
GOOD NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Jim Damian, filling in for President Joe "Ghost" Hay, shared that Ben Stinson is on the mend from some health issues post-surgery. Please keep him in your thoughts.
He also reported it is the 30
th anniversary of Tehachapi High School’s only undefeated season. Speaking of Tehachapi, the
Tehachapi Mountain Festival takes place this weekend.
Jeff Gutierrez shared some kind words about speaker Lorelei Oviatt, who shared time to have lunch and guide his daughter, who is now in college.
Dr. Girish Patel was happy to celebrate India’s Independence Day on Aug. 15, and also his fourth anniversary of his kidney transplant.
Shannon Lebare shared that her 8-year-old son was crowned champion in a Kern County junior golf tournament.
Happy birthday to Cathy Abernathy (8/20) and Ryan Crowl (8/23)
UPCOMING MEETINGS:
- Chief Aaron Duncan, Kern County Fire Department, on 8/24
- Off-Site Meetings:
- Aug. 31: Stockdale CC
- Sept. 14: Stockdale CC
- Sept. 21: Dark, Margarita Party at the home of Lou & Cheryl Barbich (stay tuned for details)
- Sept. 28: Stockdale CC
PROGRAM
In what apparently has become Energy Week at Downtown Rotary, we were joined by Lorelei Oviatt, Kern County Director of Planning and Natural Resources, to speak about Kern County’s Energy Future. She has decades of professional planning experience in the public and private sectors – approaching 30 years at the County of Kern – focusing on project managing large scale, multiagency planning and moving extremely complex projects through the system under accelerated timeframes. She was recently
appointed to a White House task force responsible for recommendations for permitting and developing carbon capture projects nationwide.
Kern County, Oviatt reports, has “embraced renewable energy” starting decades ago, diversifying energy sources in oil and natural gas, wind, solar (photovoltaic and thermal), alternative fuels, biodiesel, and geothermal. But we are also at a crossroads with Sacramento, which is increasingly making it more difficult for our area’s 400 oil companies to survive.
“But we’re winning because we’re clever,” she said. “We make California No. 1 for wind and solar. They need us more than we need them.”
Our county has been successful at partnering with landowners and drawing in investors in various energy sources, bringing more than $80 billion, 12,000 construction jobs, $225 million in new property tax revenue, and power for 32 million people.
So, what’s next?
Carbon capture and sequestration, Oviatt said, is a process that involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions and then storing or isolating them underground to mitigate the impact on climate change.
“We’re going to go where the oil companies are going, underground,” she said.
Three projects are in permitting, and eventually Kern County will remove 80 million tons by 2045. These projects will expand local industries. Additionally, a
Kern County Carbon Management Business Park near the CCS projects will be focused on energy solutions, expected to bring in $68 million in taxes and 23,000 jobs.
At the same time, California continues to halt issuing permits for new drilling, putting in peril Kern County’s $90 million in oil property taxes, and thousands of jobs.
“We’re not waiting on California. We’re going to take care of ourselves,” Oviatt said. “It’s not time to talk about leaving people behind. This is our opportunity to pave our future.”
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