you have twice the number of vehicles but half the fuel. i said, exactly, thank you. this is one of the great initiatives. it has not only cut greenhouse gas emissions in half in three years, but it has put thousands of dollars into the pockets of working class people who sometimes make a struggle -- struggle to make a living. what i also want to talk about briefly is carbon dioxide. a colorless, odorless gas. two numbers i want to talk about. 19.4, 393. a gallon of gasoline weighs 6 pounds, if you lifted up. if you burn it, you can produce 19.4 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. that blew my mind. i knew about oxidation and reduction reactions from high school chemistry, but when you

have that knowledge, that opens up a world of understanding. we were able to quantify greenhouse gas emissions in the taxi industry, which people were not doing. i want to thank all the people at the department of the environment, from the nrdc, that helped us on that. we figured out how to do it long before anybody was really measuring carbon. the second member i mentioned -- i gave a speech last year. it was 391. i went on a website last night and it was 393. that is parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. when we were all born, that number was in the low 300's. that number has been fluctuating between 100 and 300.

before long, we will be passing 400 million. it is a sobering thought about what that means for our planet, but i am proud knowing that i did what i could to cut those emissions of carbon. i felt like we took action appropriately in response to the urgency of the problem. i want to thank everyone here today, the taxicab industry, everyone who supported this policy, all the way to making it a success. thank you very much. [applause] >> our next speaker arguably has one of the toughest jobs in san francisco, overseeing muni and the parking and traffic department. but will come and reiskin, director of the sfmta. -- let's welcome ed reiskin,

director of the sfmta. >> we are charged with implementing the city's transit first policy. in order for transit first to work in san francisco, we need excellent taxi service. as much as we would like to see you hot on muni, your bike, or what we need to go, sometimes you need a car. from a transportation perspective, the most efficient way for us to meet that need, one of them is through taxicabs. i think presidents chiu's experience this morning manifest that. with better service, his girlfriend can get rid of her car. to the extent we can meet that need in san francisco with cleaner vehicles, then we are achieving environmental goals as well. paul's reminder to us, with

those sobering statistics, it is really important. it is not just his use of oxidation reduction reaction, which is a phrase that you do not often hear in a press conference. those numbers are why a lot of us are doing the work we are doing. this is extremely important, not just to san francisco, but to our planet. i want to thank paul and our former mayor, lt. gov. gavin newsom, for your leadership, courage, and a word i have heard before, the audacity to put forward a program like this. i want to thank our current mayor, board president, city industry partners for demonstrating with strong leadership and collaboration among the public and private sectors, we can achieve goals in transportation, the environment, and this is an

important message for us to send to the state and washington, d.c., that we can do so in ways that are good for the economy. transportation, environmental, and economic goals are not anti pedicle. they can support each other. that is important for us to know. -- are not antithetical. it is a day that we should all be proud of what we are achieving. thank you very much. [applause] >> supervisor, does your girlfriend know that we are getting rid of her car soon? in san francisco, like other cities, they have a department of the environment. they do not have this in every city. san francisco is a forward- thinking city. with that, i want to bring up

the director of the department, melanie nutter. >> good morning. i am so pleased to be here today to celebrate this environmental milestone. as you have heard, we would not be here today without the broad coalition of support and the ongoing collaboration that came together around ensuring we could reduce carbon emissions from our taxi fleet coming here in san francisco. the san francisco department of the environment is proud to have been a partner in insuring san francisco's taxi fleet is the greenest in the nation. first, on the policy front, in 2007, 2008, our department staff work with the taxi commission and cab companies to create the green tax ordinance. this collaboration resulted in a performance standard, requiring taxi companies achieve over all the emission reductions each year without mandating specific models.

as long as each company's fleet met the required performance standard at an average level of greenhouse gas reductions every year, they could choose the mix of vehicles that best suits them. secondarily, regarding education, we created the grain taxi guide to help all tax to companies in the city to identify cars that they could buy that would meet the required averages. finally, we also used incentives. we were able to work with the air district as well as county transportation authority to seek secured grants to incentivize the purchase of hybrid vehicles by taxi companies in order to achieve the level of emission reductions that would meet the overall goal. as the lieutenant governor said, cities are the laboratory and innovation. this shows how other cities

could bring their taxi fleets as well as to use this to reduce carbon emissions. i first want to thank staff, particularly bob hagen, who has put in many hours of hard work to see this happen. i also wanted to congratulate paul gillespie and all the partners here today who helped to make this possible. we look forward to future collaboration that will have to maintain san francisco's label as the greatest city in america. [applause] >> the bay area air quality management district is in charge of making sure that we follow these regulations. >> as the executive director for the bay area air quality management district, it is my pleasure to recognize the city

of san francisco, mayor lee, lt. gov. newsom for their leadership, and demonstrating the fact that green has gas reductions can occur, they can occur in the economic climate we find ourselves in, and i want to thank and recognize them for their leadership, for creating the cleanest taxi fleet in the world. that is a phenomenal achievement. we have been proud of our partnership with the city. we provided half a million dollars to help purchase some of the taxis here today. we think this is just step one of a long process moving forward. again, i want to congratulate and thank leadership. i appreciate the opportunity to be here this morning. thank you. [applause] >> now, i would like to bring up mayor lee and lt. gov. knew

some, and paul gillespie. there will be a presentation. after that, we will go outside and do some things with the taxi cabs. >> who would have thought we would be saying thank-you four years ago? with that said, on behalf of all the tax to companies in san francisco, we want to thank lt. gov. gavin newsom and mayor lee for their generous support of the taxi industry, and your vision to not only make san francisco the best city in america, but the greenest. with that, lieutenant governor gavin newsom, thank you for your vision. we would like to present you with this plaque. [applause]

mayor lee, we would also like to thank you for your vision. we look for too many years working together. we would also like to present you with this plaque. [applause] >> we have new decals that will be on some of these taxi cabs. i am a hunter who has them. here they are. -- i am not sure who has them. the lieutenant governor, mayor, are going to come down and help us put these on some of the calves outside. -- cabs outside. >> right here? there you go.

very good. [music]

hello, i am ivette torres, and welcome to another edition of the road to recovery. today we will be talking about prevention and early intervention for alcohol and drug disorders and mental health conditions. we will be talking about what's working and what's needed. joining us in our panel today are: frances harding, director, center for substance abuse prevention, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, md;

jane callahan, director, national community anti-drug coalition institute, community anti-drug coalitions of america, alexandria, va; jordan burnham, mental health advocate, active minds inc., washington, dc; dr. wendy greene, assistant director of trauma and critical care and program developer, screening, brief interventions and referral to treatment program, howard university hospital, washington, dc. fran, what is the definition of behavioral health, and how do we distinguish between prevention, early intervention, and treatment within that definition? the definition for behavioral health for samhsa is we are taking the substance abuse and mental health prevention, intervention, and treatment programs, and we are encasing

it within the disorder realm. so substance abuse, prevention, intervention, and treatment are exactly the same, same levels, and so is mental health. we are finding that mental health properties for prevention, especially, are very similar to the properties of substance abuse, and treatment is different in one respect, but the intervention to get people into treatment is very similar. it is similar, but there are differences between the treatment aspect of substance use disorders and mental illnesses, correct? yes, there are. we have different treatment centers for substance abuse. we often have centers for treatment. in mental health, mental health services are delivered by many different realms. we have medical homes that deliver services, we have community centers that deliver services. you don't see traditional structures like in the

substance abuse world for treatment. dr. greene, what is the magnitude of mental, emotional, and behavioral health problems in our society? if you look at the national averages of mental health disorders, they may vary by regions, but there... if you look at some of the underlying day-to-day anxieties, you can imagine that it can go upwards of 70 percent if you include a number of the less diagnosed or less appreciated disease processes. in our trauma population, we often see upwards of 60 to 70 percent of our patients may have some sort of mental health. we feel that the patient who actually has a traumatic event and has some sort of substance abuse associated with it, be it alcohol or some drugs, because they usually have a polysubstance abuse patient. we often find that they aren't just drugging because they want to, but they are usually drugging to a problem. and that problem may be a mental disorder as their

underlying problem, whether it be depression or otherwise. so the mixture of the two, trauma, depression, mental health, are very intertwined. fran, i am going back to you. is there a difference between the level in the statistics between mental health and addiction issues? yeah, around mental health we have approximately 9.8 million adults-and we classify that as 18 years and older-that have a severe mental illness. and we have approximately... our studies are showing us that approximately 2 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17 have also been diagnosed with a major depressive episode. compare that to a statistic for substance abuse for instance; 5,000 deaths occur in substance abuse with young people, ages 12 to 25, with underage drinking in particular. so there is a difference, as well as a difference in cost,

which we can get into later. jordan, you have had, yourself, some experiences with the problems of mental illness and substance use disorders. correct? right. i think the two and two go hand-in-hand. i think that, myself, the first time i picked up a drink was when i was a freshman in high school. statistics show that ages 12 to 17, a young adult in that age, they are twice as likely to pick up their first drink or drug if they experience some type of depression within that year. i was diagnosed with depression in 10th grade. for me, i look at, you know, when i speak to high school and even college students, is that 7 out of 10 young adults who have a serious substance abuse problem also have a serious mental health issue that is occurring with that. so i think, again, they do go hand-in-hand. it is quite high, isn't it? yes, that statistic. and how did you manifest the problem? were your parents aware of the difficulties that

you might have been having? yes, i think my parents were very aware of the problem of me drinking, but one of the problems was that no one wanted to see what the root was of the problem of me drinking. everyone looked at me drinking and were saying, "well, that's why he's not doing that well in school." or, "that's why he's not feeling that great." but no one wanted to go to the x-factor and say, "this is why he is drinking; that is getting him to that point." and so when were you finally assessed? when did you start and when were you finally assessed? in 10th grade, when i was 16, that's when i had a very bad argument with my parents that led me to go see a therapist, which at that time, i didn't want to do. being a 16-year-old male student, i just felt as though i could keep all of my emotions on the inside. anything that i was going through i could drink it off. i could play sports and not worry about it. so i definitely wasn't in favor of going to see a therapist. but during that time when i went to go seek therapy, one thing that i wasn't completely honest about was

my drinking, which was something that hindered me along the way that led up to my suicide attempt. it seems that you were already engaged in a system that was going to provide you assistance when you attempted that suicide attempt. so, if you could talk a little bit about that progression? right. when i was diagnosed, being 16, i didn't know how to handle it, because depressed and depression are two words that are used over and over again in society. i didn't know what the difference was between being depressed and being diagnosed with depression. it was explained to me that, when someone is depressed they know why they are crying, why they can't get out of bed, why their appetite might be a little bit different. but with someone like me, with depression, i can wake up one day and have no idea why i am crying, why i feel like i don't want to get out of bed, why i feel unmotivated. and so it was a process in getting to learn my depression, having to take medicine, knowing that it is not a cold; it doesn't go away after a couple of weeks, after you take medicine and see a therapist. it was a process, but something that

i didn't follow through with. i fell into a lot of tricks that young adults do by taking my antidepressant for about a month, feeling great, and feeling, "well, i am cured from depression," and stop taking my medicine. and so you would stop taking them? exactly. and it was in that period that you attempted to commit suicide? yes. along with self-medicating, with drinking, and taking my antidepressant on and off, that is what led up to my suicide attempt, by going out of my nine-story bedroom window. well, we are glad you are here. thank you, glad to be here. and we are glad you got the appropriate help. so, jane, given all these sets of circumstances, what do parents, really, in terms of beginning to assess a young lady or a young man in their home, what do they need to know? how do they... what signs do they need to look for? that is a really good question, and i think all of the parents who are out there viewing this program are wondering, "what can i do to increase the likelihood that my kids

don't end up with problems that lead to suicide, depression, or substance use?" i think the most important thing, first of all, is to just be a really good parent and listen. and then, secondly, educate yourself and learn about these things, learn about community resources and work together with other parents, particularly in your schools and your communities, to make sure that all of your kids together are getting what they need to grow up to be healthy and avoid problem behaviors. and when things do surface, i think it is really important for parents not to necessarily blame themselves, but definitely proactively get the kind of support they need, both for themselves and their children, to increase the likelihood that little problems won't turn into great big problems. yes. and fran, what do we tell parents in those situations? i think we tell parents... both jane and jordan talked about the role of parents and how important in each of their stories that parents have. they are the first line to see their young people changing their behaviors, as jane was saying,

some of the signs that are out there. we need to tell parents and remind them, first and foremost, that addiction is a disease and it is not their fault. and it is not their young person's fault. they need to know that as well. and if they do what jane said, listen, watch their young people, be interactive with them, get to know their friends, they need to know the signs of what is a normal life for a young person. and when their child begins to act a little differently than they used to act 2 or 3 years ago, that should send some signals to go get help. jordan, your parents obviously saw signs in you. they may not have understood it, and that's okay. we are not asking everyone to be clinicians, but when you begin to see your young person changing their friends drastically, when they start to seclude themselves or they just don't seem right, that's the time to take them to the pediatrician or a doctor or a therapist or whomever.

the worst thing they could do is nothing. jordan? a lot of times what parents ask is, "how can i start that conversation with my child?" because it might feel awkward, it might feel wrong to have that conversation. and two tricks that i always give to parents is: one, everyone asks how you are doing. in our society we all say, "how are you doing?" to make that positive connection, to start a conversation, i tell parents ask your kids how they are feeling, and that can change the entire dialect of a conversation by just one word, "how are you feeling?" and the other thing is relate. i know my parents and i used to do this thing called highs and lows. at dinner we would talk about our highs for the day, what we loved, and then our lows, what was our down point for the day. and for me, that secured me, to know that i'm not just going through a bad day. my mom, my dad, they can have a bad day too. so always relate and try to start a conversation is a good tip for parents. when we come back we are going to be talking more about what parents can do, what programs are available, and how everyone can really get engaged and get involved to prevent substance use disorders and mental illnesses

in our young people. we will be right back. [music] it's really important from the evidence that we have that just doing prevention activities or services in one setting isn't enough. for example, a young person needs to hear the same thing from parents that they hear from their schools, that they hear from their health care provider, that they hear from their church. so these messages, and the activities, and the direction that a community is trying to go needs to support each other. it's important, whether it's changing norms, about the way children view alcohol and substance use, or about they way they seek help, or are supported in seeking help.

and that really takes everybody assisting those children and youth, and the families, altogether in the same way with the same messages. well, prevention-prepared community dovetails into a recovery-oriented system of care because, again, you're mobilizing the resources of the community to create a supportive environment, so you have strong schools, so you have parents interacting with the schools. in a recovery-oriented community, what you are trying to do is make sure that you have access to the agencies in the community. so, all of the agencies in the community are operating to support the individual in recovery. in a prevention-prepared community, all of the agencies in the community operate to support the children, the young adults in the community. you have got strong supervision in the prevention-prepared community, so parents are actively involved, just as family is actively involved in a recovery-oriented system of care. it's not that the individual is by himself or herself;

it isn't just their problem. the same thing with a prevention-prepared community; the community understands that, if a child does not have support, that child becomes the community's problem as well as the child having his or her own problems. i had no idea it was going to be so hard. i didn't know what to expect. you hear the stories, i never took any of it seriously until i found myself here. and i realized i was going to have to work hard for my recovery. if you or someone you know has a drug or alcohol problem you are not alone. call 1-800-662-help. recovery was the hardest job i've ever had and the most important. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. [music]

it is very therapeutic to be able to go around the country to tell my story to young adults, to adults, therapists, psychiatrists, whoever may listen, because i feel that is something that i didn't have before. you know, struggling with my depression and my stress and anxiety, i felt like i didn't have a voice. so to be able to speak about what i do and speak about my story and where i came from, i think it is important because i know there are people listening that can relate to at least one or two parts of my story. and that is a great thing because four out of five americans are affected by mental health, and that shows that so many people are related to mental health in some type of or form of way. and i think that is why the conversation needs to be had, because the statistics out there show how many people are affected by it, how many people deal with it themselves, personally, and to have that conversation is really where the education starts, and that is what is most important. fran, we started talking about what parents can do, but let's go back a little bit and let's talk about what happens if we really do not prevent these problems within

the population of young adults and other populations that we really have to engage with. first and foremost, i think your viewers would be interested that it is predicted by 2020 behavioral health disorders- remember, that is substance abuse and mental health-will surpass all other chronic diseases as the major health problem for our country. that in itself grabs your attention. to break it down even further, approximately $250 billion is spent each year on the cost of mental and emotional and behavioral disorders. to add to that, over $500 billion is cost to our society for addiction disorders; for instance, substance abuse and alcoholism.