New Book Tackles Central Valley Challenges

Modesto, CA (May 7, 2010) – California’s Central Valley is undergoing immense
change. A dramatically expanding population is encroaching on some of the world’s
richest farmland, putting increased strain on water, clean air, roadways, and health.
What must the Valley do to create a livable, perhaps even abundant future?

Answers to this question are addressed in the Great Valley Center’s latest book, “2020: Visions for the Central Valley,” released today at the organization’s annual conference, Valley Up: Ideas, Innovation and Inspiration, at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto.

"2020: Visions for the Central Valley" is available through bookstores, major book distributors including Ingram, Baker and Taylor, and other distribution centers, or by visiting the Heyday website at www.heydaybooks.com.

The book features transcripts of five keynote speeches made one year ago at the Center’s 2009 conference, during which five leading experts in the fields of transportation, agriculture, sustainability and health shared visionary and thought-provoking ideas on how to drive the Valley toward a more sustainable state by the year 2020.

The book includes transcripts of the following speeches:

• The Sustainability Imperative, L. Hunter Lovins, founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions
• Designing the Transportation of the Future, Quentin Kopp, chairman of the California High Speed Rail Authority
• A Thriving Agriculture in the Twenty-First Century, A. G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture
• The Delta’s Age of Reason, Jeff Mount, director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences
• A Community Approach to Health and Health Care, Richard Pan, pediatrician at the UC Davis Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care

“The stakes are enormously high for the Central Valley,” said Amy Moffat, editor of the book. “While all five speakers point out serious challenges and discouraging concerns, they are also deeply optimistic that any action taken today—some as simple as planting a seed or walking with a friend—will lead the Central Valley toward a better future.”

The book also includes a list of ways people can contribute to a sustainable region at the end of each chapter, along with additional resources and discussion questions that encourage readers to consider how everyday choices affect the surrounding environment.

Courtesy copies of the book will be provided to media upon request. Please contact:

Amy Moffat
(209) 522-5103
cell (209) 564-7308
amy@greatvalley.org

Order information
2020: Visions of the Central Valley is available through bookstores, major book distributors including Ingram, Baker and Taylor, and other distribution centers, or by visiting the Heyday website at www.heydaybooks.com.

2020: Visions for the Central Valley
Edited by Amy Moffat
Trade Paper • 6 x 9 • 112 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59714-133-8 • $12.95
Politics / Environmental Studies
Available Now!