Larry Greene to Speak to ECOS About the Paris Talks (COP21)

Thursday, January 7th, 2016 at 6:00pm
Location: Breathe CA, 909 12th Street, Sacramento, CA.

Larry Greene, Executive Director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) will be speaking about his time at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21). Join ECOS’ Transportation, Air Quality and Climate Change (TAQCC) committee to hear about his experience.

ECOS’ Comments on Expanding the Urban Services Boundary in Natomas

12/15/2015

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors announced today that they have moved their workshop on the plan to expand the Urban Services Boundary north of Natomas from tomorrow, December 16th, 2015 to March 8, 2016. ECOS’ comments on how expanding the boundary would allow for a whole new area of urban sprawl when we should instead be focusing on infill development and reaping the co-benefits were submitted on December 15th, 2015.

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We hope that your Board understands the significance of your actions regarding expanding the USB north to the Sutter County line. We understand that this is only a step in a long process of considering entitlement approval. But you have authorized entering into contracts for over $7 million worth of studies and work to figure out the details of creating a new town of 55,000 people, and you have authorized preparation of a $1 million Environmental Impact Report to consider the impacts. You are proceeding as if this is a done deal only requiring the planning details to be worked out. And you are doing so without having fully and publicly addressed the significant issues associated with the threshold decision of whether this development should proceed at all, in this time frame, or under the auspices of the County rather than the City. Please consider our request to put the project on hold while you undertake a serious and unbiased review and hold a public discussion on the important concerns we are raising.

See our comments by clicking on the letter above or here.

If you build new roads, traffic will come

SacBee Editorial

November 27, 2015

“It’s a theory called “induced travel,” basically the transportation version of the law of supply and demand. Adding capacity cuts travel time, thus lowering the “price” of driving and leading to an increase in driving. In the paper, UC Davis professor Susan Handy writes that increasing a road’s capacity by 10 percent is likely to increase vehicle miles traveled by 3 percent to 6 percent in the short run and 6 percent to 10 percent in the long term, basically offsetting any gains.”

Read more here.

Holiday Party Fun!

Thanks to all who came out to the annual Environmentalists Holiday Party co-hosted by the Environmental Council of Sacramento and the Sierra Club Sacramento Group on Friday, December 5th, 2015! We had a wonderful time with everyone and enjoyed the live performance by Jenn Rogar and her band! We shared unique holiday dishes and heard a few words from Sacramento City Councilmembers Jeff Harris and Eric Guerra.

Happy Holidays… and to another year of important work!

Photo by Barbara Leary

Photo by Barbara Leary

Photo by Barbara Leary

Photo by Barbara Leary

Photo by Barbara Leary

Jenn Rogar & band! Photo by Barbara Leary