
Blog
A space for learning.

Finding Solar Joy – and Savings – During the Pandemic
Learn more about how easy it is to add affordable solar and solar batteries to your home through CEC's Solarize Santa Barbara program.



Creating a Shock-Proof Local Food System
Over the last few months, we’ve witnessed in real time how shocks to the globalized food system impact one of the most basic human rights: the right to healthy, accessible food. Entangled in the global COVID-19 pandemic and climate-related disasters are layers of wealth, race, privilege and language that affect the ability of Central Coast communities to survive and thrive.
In this webinar, we explored how CEC’s Food Rescue program and other local efforts are working to support those most vulnerable to hunger – particularly students, unsheltered populations, farm workers and seniors. We also discussed the work of the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network to equitably stitch together the torn fabrics of our food system – from local farmers and fishermen, to local restaurants and distributors.

TEDxSantaBarbara: The Pandemic Did Not Solve the Climate Crisis
CEC’s CEO Sigrid Wright recently joined TEDxSantaBarbara‘s Mark Sylvester to discuss the Five Important Trends for the Climate as part of TEDxSantaBarbara’s Making Waves: Conversations with Influencers and Disrupters.

Inside Julia’s Kitchen: Meet Julia Blanton, SBC Food Rescue Program Coordinator
Recently on Inside Julia’s Kitchen, a podcast of The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, host Todd Schulkin talked with CEC’s SBC Food Rescue Coordinator Julia Blanton about food rescue and how it has been used to address food insecurity and put restaurants back to work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Plus, Julia shares her “Julia Moment”.


WIN: Take Action on Local Transportation Reform in your Community / Toma acción sobre la reforma del sistema de transportación en tu comunidad
A final version of Connected 2050 RTP-SCS was adopted in August 2021. Learn more.
Una versión final de Connected 2050 RTP-SCS se adoptó en agosto de 2021. Aprende más.

Our Climate Emergency During the Pandemic: A Virtual Community Forum
A community forum focused on climate change advocacy during the pandemic and the inter-generational activism that continues to build local momentum.


The Right to Breathe
This will not be a lyrical post, but rather a stuttering gasp of grief and impotent rage after witnessing – as we all did this week – the cries of an unarmed man for the most basic human right: the right to breathe.


Navigating by New Constellations
Lately, with our collective navigational instruments on the blink, dials spinning uselessly, I awake from sleep and find myself curled into the shape of a question mark, as if to reflect back all the unknowns of this time.

Adaptive Leadership Practices: Panel of Regional CEOs
A panel discussion including CEC CEO Sigrid Wright on how the nonprofit sector has been on the front lines supporting our communities through the COVID-19 crisis.


WIN: Strauss Wind Project underway! #cleanenergy
We are pleased to share that the Strauss Wind Project received its permits in early May. This means that construction can begin on Santa Barbara’s first wind farm. Renewable energy continues to be more cost-effective than oil and gas and the struggles of the fossil fuel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic are only increasing this divide.

Unraveling the Kinks in the Local Food Chain to Build and Sustain a Resilient Food System
Like a heat map, the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to areas of strain, places where we need to pay greater attention. One of the most noticeable of these is the food system.


The Long Emergency
Recently it’s felt like we’ve been living in a near-constant state of emergency. In fact I have on my nightstand a book of that title – Living in the Long Emergency, which I have yet to read. The truth is that the joint crises of a global pandemic, a deeply flawed economic system, structural racism, fraying political institutions, and growing climate chaos don't leave me with a lot of enthusiasm for this as a bedtime story.

Burn Your Maps
After months of pandemic-induced disruption at so many levels, I find it liberating to realize that the times we are in may just be demanding that we let go of where we wish we were, set a new course, and burn our old maps for fuel.