WHat do we mean by "CARBON FREE"?
"Carbon free" is a quick way to express our vision for a sustainable energy economy that no longer burns fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Learn more here.
Help mountain view become a carbon-neutral community
Carbon Free Mountain View holds General Meetings every other month on the third Thursday at 7:30 PM. They are free and open to the public. Agendas are sent to members of the Carbon Free Mountain View GoogleGroup a few days before each meeting. The dates of upcoming meetings are shown on our “Meetings” page.
Contact us to join our GoogleGroup (email list) if you'd like to help Mountain View become a more sustainable place to live, work and play!
Our Board
The Carbon Free Mountain View Board consists of these Mountain View residents. Board members are elected to terms of two years.
Bruce Karney, Chair (term expires Oct. 2025)
Pat Showalter, Vice Chair (term expires Oct. 2024)
Bruce Naegel, Secretary (term expires Oct. 2024)
Mike Balma, Treasurer (term expires Oct. 2025)
Mary Dateo, Public Information Officer (term expires Oct. 2025)
IdaRose Sylvester (term expires Oct. 2024)
John Scarboro (term expires Oct. 2024)
Board Bios
Bruce Karney is a retired marketing and education professional. He has lived in Mountain View since 1981. In 2007 he led a city-wide group of 119 Mountain View homeowners who purchased solar panels at a 35% discount because they all bought from the same company (SolarCity). He subsequently joined SolarCity when it was a small startup to lead group purchasing programs in other cities. Bruce retired from the solar industry in 2012 and is now a full-time environmental activist.
He is the Chair of Carbon Free Mountain View, a grassroots group of environmentalists who were key to building the political support around Santa Clara County for the creation of the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority. He has also been involved in efforts this year to have cities adopt strong Reach Codes -- the best of which ban the use of natural gas in new buildings starting in January 2020.
In 2008 and again in 2017 he was elected as Chair of Mountain View's Environmental Sustainability Task Force (ESTF). The recommendations from the 2008 Task Force provided the basis for the City's Environmental Sustainability Action Plans from 2009 to 2018, and the recommendations from the second Task Force provide a pathway for achieving the City's goals for 2019-2030. Thanks to the efforts of the second ESTF and Carbon Free Mountain View, the city has increased its sustainability budget by more than $3 million per year and plans to add ten new employees focused on various aspects of sustainability and GHG reduction.
Bruce championed the creation of Carbon Free Silicon Valley (CFSV) to bring together environmental advocates from San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. He serves on the Board of CFSV.
He has a BS in Mathematical Sciences from Stanford and an MS in Management Science from UC Berkeley. He is also a graduate of Leadership Mountain View and Acterra's "Be the Change" programs, and has held several leadership roles in the Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association.
Mike Balma is the Development Director and a board member for the nonprofit SunWork. SunWork installs solar systems for home owners that have a low electric bill along with the help of trained volunteers. Mike has completed business development and marketing projects for several solar companies. Mike helped lead the Performance Committee for SunSpec, a nonprofit solar industry alliance pursuing information standards that address operational aspects of PV power plants on the smart grid. He also delivers solar workshops for residents of numerous Bay Area cities.
Mike had an extensive marketing career with Hewlett-Packard including helping build HP’s open source business. He previously worked for SRI International, consulting on renewable energy technologies including solar, wind and biomass. He has a Chemical Engineering degree and an MBA. Mike served on Mountain View's Environmental Sustainability Task Forces in 2008 and 2017-18.
Bruce Naegel's career started in the biomedical industry. He moved to Computer Data Storage (hardware and software) where he held positions in program and product management. As part of releasing award-winning products, He spoke at industry conferences and published articles in trade publications. He also led a standards committee group on measuring performance.
His passion for sustainability was ignited by a news article which stated it would cost half a billion dollars to resettle an Alaskan village with about 2000 people threatened with sea level rise.
He then found some like-minded people at Veritas Symantec. Some of them realized that Veritas software can be configured to save energy in a data center. This effort yielded an energy ROI program, industry conference presentations, and a sales campaign yielding seven and eight figure software deals. Three years ago, he joined Sustainable Silicon Valley. In the last year his focus was in Metrics and Research. That included numerous blog articles and a set of industry publications on visualizing the drought. He is part of a team working to bring energy efficiency to a disadvantaged community. Bruce led the Measurement and Metrics Working Group of the Mountain View's 2017-18 Environmental Sustainability Task Force.
IdaRose Sylvester's career has been centered in high tech marketing. For the last decade, she’s run her own business mentoring other small businesses, and also does teaching and training for companies large and small. Motivated by the desire for stronger communities, she is branching out beyond the traditional Silicon Valley milieu, working in the intersection of all her interests and experience.
In 2017, IdaRose reignited her long time passion for environmental issues by joining the Environmental Sustainability Task Force, and she led the Outreach, Regional Collaboration and Advocacy Working Group. She now serves on Mountain View’s Human Relations Commission. She is also VP of WIRE, an organization helping women get elected and appointed to local office, and is a local political activist. Her work with CFMV is focused on continually advocating for sound planning and policy and "sustainability first" in decision making.
Mary Dateo has worked as an engineer, quality instructor, programmer and project manager. Combining a life-long love of design and gardening, she currently runs a landscape design business that specializes in sustainable residential landscapes.
Mary has lived in Mountain View over 20 years. She was a member of Mountain View’s Environmental Sustainability Task Force in 2017-2018, during which she lead the Transportation Working Group. That experience has inspired her to try to bike and walk more, drive less.
Pat Showalter has dedicated both her career and her public service to protecting and advocating for the environment of the Bay Area. Professionally, Pat is a licensed civil engineer who started her career as a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, served as director for the non-profit San Francisco Creek Watershed Council, and recently retired after 15 years with the Santa Clara Valley Water District. She specialized in multi-agency projects like the Valley Habitat Plan and the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration.
Pat served on Mountain View's City Council from 2015 to 2019 serving as Vice Mayor in her first year and Mayor in her second. She guided the City through the council priorities of housing, transportation and sustainability. Pat was active in regional issues through the Santa Clara County Cities Association, serving on the Bay Conservation & Development Commission as well as the Recycling & Waste Reduction Commission.
Beginning in 1994, she dedicated her spare time to Mountain View’s Environmental Planning Commission, where she served nine years and maintained an active role in local leadership. Pat learned that protecting the Bay Area's environment and providing adequate housing are inextricably linked.
Pat holds a Master’s in Civil Engineering from U.C. Berkeley and a Bachelor’s in Geology & History from Mount Holyoke College. She served for many years on the Boards of the Los Altos - Mountain View League of Women Voters and the Santa Clara League of Conservation Voters. Pat may be spotted biking with her husband along the Stevens Creek Trail or hiking in one of the many Bay Area parks that she works so hard to protect.
John Scarboro believes it is important to work toward a more sustainable, equitable and community-minded world. He cofounded Carbon Free Mountain View with Cherie Walkowiak as an answer to the question of what we can do to help keep the world habitable for our children and future generations. He served on the Mountain View Environmental Planning Commission from 2014 through 2018 in support of a safer, more sustainable and more equitable community. He was on the Safe Mountain View steering committee and organized bike to work events at Ames Research Center. This school year he is involved in activities supporting the Los Altos High School PTSA Sustainability Committee, Instrumental Music Boosters, Marching Band, and Water Polo team.
He worked in aerospace and automotive industries before transitioning to apply systems optimization in the environmental field. He managed and promoted statewide pollution prevention programs and later implementation and operation of environmental management systems in complex environments. He continues to work at NASA Ames Research Center implementing systems and solving problems that help people throughout the Center to systemically increase achievement of environmental and mission goals. He has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering and is a registered professional engineer.