For
Immediate Release
Contact:
Kate Forrest, 
650-854-5695
or Mitch Slomiak, (650) 380-2326
“Bay Area Cool” Cool Roof Campaign to
Eliminate the Equivalent of 350 Tons of CO2 from The Atmosphere
One
of Over 3,000 Simultaneous Events in Over 150 Countries
The launch of the Menlo
Park Green Ribbon Citizens’ Committee “Bay Area Cool” project is timed to take
place as part of a worldwide day of climate change activism.
The Bay Area Cool campaign
has a target of converting 35 homes in
There are a variety of
cool roof shingles, paints, and other techniques that can be used to make a
“cool roof.” These are explained on the Bay Area Cool campaign website,
bayareacool.org. If you are installing a new roof, cool roof materials are no
more expensive than conventional roofing materials. And an existing asphalt
shingle roof can be made “cool” by painting it with special reflective paint
that contains tiny aluminum particles. The cost of painting an existing roof is
much less than putting on a new roof.
The campaign will conduct
outreach and educational efforts focused on schools, buildings, businesses,
communities of faith, and neighborhoods. Students from
“We know that the people
of
This worldwide 350 action
comes six weeks before the world’s nations convene in
Images of the events from
around the world, including the cool roof rally in
“People have said the
science of global warming is too confusing for average citizens to understand,”
said environmentalist Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. “The multitude of
350 events prove that millions of people understand exactly what is at stake in
the next few years, and that they want swift action to safeguard the
future.”
About
the “Bay Area Cool” Cool Roofs Project
Cool roofs are important
because global warming has two components. One is the “greenhouse effect,” in
which the atmosphere traps heat instead of letting it flow out into outer
space. Human production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases has
significantly increased the greenhouse effect on Earth.
However, much of the heat
that is trapped by the greenhouse gases is created due to human manipulation of
the landscape. The dark surfaces of typical roofs, parking lots, and other
manmade structures convert visible light from the sun into heat that
subsequently warms the atmosphere—heat that is trapped by greenhouse gases. To
address this effect, cool roofs work just like arctic ice, to safely reflect
light from the sun back out into space so it can’t heat the atmosphere.
More information,
including answers to common questions about cool roofs, is available on the Bay
Area Cool website, at bayareacool.org.
About
the
The Menlo Park Green
Ribbon Citizens’ Committee advocates, inspires, and supports action among the
residents, businesses, and institutions of
About
350.ORG
Founded by author and
environmentalist Bill McKibben, 350.org is the first large-scale grassroots global
campaign against climate change. Its supporters include leading scientists, the
governments of 92 countries, and a huge variety of environmental, health,
development and religious non-governmental organizations (NGOs). All agree that
current atmospheric levels of CO2 — 390 parts per million — are causing damage
to the planet and to its most vulnerable people, and that government action at
the Copenhagen climate conference is required to bring the earth’s carbon level
swiftly down to 350 ppm.
350.org is member of TckTckTck – a global alliance of
faith groups, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and over a million
individuals calling for a fair, ambitious, and binding international climate
change treaty.
For more information, visit www.350.org.
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