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We Must Solve Global Warming This Decade, Says Climate Strategist Wilford Welch

After being the diplomat to China during the Nixon Administration, Wilford Welch has been working and teaching at the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. He has helped K-12 teachers teach climate change essentials to all subject areas and grades throughout the United States and wrote the book “In Our Hands” as the textbook. Welch has also been teaching Climate Potential and Climate Justice classes to students at the Bayside Martin Luther King Jr Academy in Marin City.

Published

4 years ago

April 24, 2022

Oakland Post

“Global Warming,” Londres 2009 (street-art-avenue.com)

By Godfrey Lee

Wilford Welch, a climate change expert and author of the book “In Our Hands – A Handbook for Intergenerational Actions to Solve the Climate Crisis,” spoke at the Sausalito Council Chambers in Sausalito on Thursday, April 14.

Welch says that we must deal with global warming during this decade in order to avoid environmental and societal collapse.

Global warming is the problem, which results in climate change. We can’t do much about climate change after it happens, but we can do something about global warming before it affects us as climate change, Welch says.

After being the diplomat to China during the Nixon Administration, Welch has been working and teaching at the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. He has helped K-12 teachers teach climate change essentials to all subject areas and grades throughout the United States and wrote the book “In Our Hands” as the textbook. Welch has also been teaching Climate Potential and Climate Justice classes to students at the Bayside Martin Luther King Jr Academy in Marin City.

Welch, who is a resident of Sausalito, is also an appointed member of the Sea Level Rise Task Force in Sausalito.

Welch asks us to think about what you would do if a fire was coming down the hill toward your house. That is an analogy to our response to the threat of global warming, which we may not see or feel but which is still happening. Welch says that we, in the United States, had six decades to really deal with global warming. Yet our actions had been insufficient as we were too busy with our lives and concerned with other social and political issues.

Global warming, which results in climate change, is increasingly, damaging our environment. We must therefore act quickly in this decade to change our lifestyle to minimize the environmental damage in the second half of the century, Welch says.

“We have all the technology capabilities we need to deal with the climate emergency,” Welch wrote on page xv in his book. “The only thing we lack is the individual, collective and political will to address this crisis. It is unclear whether the human race, at its current level of evolvement, has the maturity and wisdom, individually and collectively to do what is needed – or in the time it is needed. Let’s change that starting right now. The future is ‘In Our Hands’”

We can act by focusing on the global warming problem, choose how we want to deal with global warming, and act on our decisions as well as we can. We can increase our awareness about global warming. We can use 100% renewable energy, and switch to LED lights, were among the suggestions Welch made.

Everyone can take more action now to fight global warming, so that we can have a better future for tomorrow.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

3 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

1 week ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.