Over the years, California State University, Bakersfield has had many journalists come to its campus to cover a variety of stories, from research to major gifts to student profiles. Usually these journalists are local, but when the work the university is doing has a wider reach, it just might catch the eye of those outside of the region — or even the country.
On June 5, CSUB hosted nine foreign journalists, coming from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The tour, which was organized by the Central Asia Media Exchange program, focused on energy security and covered topics like wind and solar energies and carbon management.
“Part of the reason that we came to Bakersfield is the climate in this part of California is very similar to the climate in Central Asia,” said Christopher Neelley, a contractor for the United States Department of State who organized the tour. “They have a lot of the same wind and solar opportunities that are being used here. We wanted them to see how it was being done in Bakersfield so they could take that information back and share it with the public in their home countries.”
Dr. Anthony Rathburn — chair of the university’s Department of Geological Sciences and interim director of its California Energy Research Center — was happy to help when Neelley reached out to him about including Bakersfield on their 10-day tour, which also included visits to Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. Through CERC, CSUB has created a resource for the local community, and those beyond it, to learn more about energy.
“I was interested in helping provide information from our region that may help the journalists' countries make the transition to a more diversified, greener energy profile,” Dr. Rathburn said. “I hope that the journalists were able to get some insights into what works to increase solar and wind energy options. I also hope that they have made connections to our region and got inspiration from all of the great energy-related projects here in Kern County.”
Lorelei Oviatt, AICP director of Kern County Planning and Natural Resources, and Linda Parker, a consultant who specializes in wind and solar permitting, joined Dr. Rathburn to speak to the journalists. The three gave presentations for the journalists and took questions, aided by two interpreters who traveled with the group.
“California’s policies, just like your countries’ and the United Nations’, are now trying to figure out how do we move from fossil fuels to renewable energy? But it produces here in Kern County millions of dollars that we need for our people,” Oviatt told the journalists. “While the state of California would like to get rid of natural gas, we need to figure out a transition, an evolution, that actually creates reliability for all of us.”
The trio of speakers discussed the pros and cons of different methods of generating energy. While solar farms, for instance, don’t interfere with the airspace used by nearby military bases like wind turbines do, they do remove the opportunity for land owners to use that same space for animals to graze. With either method, planners also have to take into consideration feedback from neighboring home and business owners, who may not want to look out their windows and see large turbines or rows of solar panels.
“If the government and people in charge have goals for renewable energy and 100% clean energy, the question is: Who has to sacrifice to make that happen?” Oviatt said. “And the answer is: nobody wants to.”
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