Sac City Council Meeting, April 26, 2022, Item 19 Quarterly Climate Update

On April 26, 2022, ECOS submitted a letter to the City of Sacramento Council Members regarding their Council Meeting on April 26, 2022, Item 19: Quarterly Climate Update. Below is an excerpt from our letter.

Sacramento can be a leader in sustainable and equitable growth and reducing of GHG emissions. The Sacramento region is the home of the Blueprint, upon which was modeled the landmark law SB375 linking land use and transportation. The concept of coordinating or integrating land use and transportation was right in 2008 and it is still right today. The key is to implement it.
Therefore, ECOS urges the City to use SacRT’s transit system as the backbone for redevelopment. Five- to seven-story buildings should frame the light rail station areas. Streets with existing high-ridership bus routes should be transformed into boulevards with consistently high street walls, wide sidewalks, protected bikeways, street trees on park strips, and curb parking. New parks and public plazas should be inserted.

Click here to read the letter in full.

American River Bridge Deck Replacement Project

On April 21, 2022, ECOS submitted a letter to the California State Lands Commission regarding the American River Bridge Deck Replacement Project. Below is an excerpt of our letter.

ECOS requests you pull this item from your consent calendar to enable a full discussion of this item. ECOS further requests that the Commission deny Caltrans’ application for a public agency permit and approval of a right-of-way map for the American River Bridge Deck Replacement Project.
In 2021, ECOS filed a lawsuit against Caltrans for this Project, asserting that their Mitigated Negative Declaration is inappropriate, for reasons cited below. Our subsequent settlement negotiation for this Project has not led to a resolution.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Sac County Candidate Forum: Watch the Video

April 26, 2022 at 6pm

Watch on Youtube below.

Sacramento County District 5 Supervisors seat: Hear what the candidates say about issues affecting Sacramento, including climate change, land use and transportation, equity, housing, business and the prospects for a clean energy economy – before the June 7 primary.

The race for the Sacramento County District 5 Supervisor seat is probably the most important race in the Sacramento region in terms of equity and climate. The County and City of Sacramento are the most populous areas within the Sacramento region and therefore, where they go, so goes the region.

All District 5 candidates will be participating in the forum. They are (in alphabetical order) Pat Hume, Alex Joe, Steve Ly and Jaclyn Moreno. Moderators will be Capradio’s News Editor Kris Hooks, and Environment and Climate Change Reporter Manola Secaira.

Sponsored by Environmental Council of Sacramento, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento Chapter, 350 Sacramento, and the Sierra Club Sacramento Group

Sacramento among California cities with filthiest air in the US, new study says. What to know

By Brianna Taylor | April 22, 2022 | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento has some of the filthiest air, according to a new air quality study. The American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2022” is based on the data of air quality throughout the United States, obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System. The study focuses on the years 2018 to 2020. According to the 155-page air quality report, the area ranked No. 7 out “25 Cites Most Polluted by Daily Particulate Matter.” The 11 other state cities ranked include: Fresno, No. 1, Bakersfield, No. 2, San Jose, No. 4, Redding, No. 5, Chico, No. 6, Los Angeles, No. 8, Visalia, No. 9, San Diego, No. 13, Salinas, No. 14 and San Luis Obispo, No. 22.

We suggest you also read a letter to The Sacramento Bee written by 2021 Environmentalist of the Year Anne Stausbol, written in response to this article.

Kudos to The Bee for bringing attention to Sacramento’s ranking, once again, as one of the country’s regions with the worst air pollution. The American Lung Association report also shows that we rank ninth worst for ozone pollution. Both particulate and ozone pollution have serious health impacts, especially for vulnerable populations. The report tells us the first thing local governments must do is adopt a climate action plan that supports walking, biking, transit and zero-emission-vehicle infrastructure, with supportive building and parking policies. The Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change made this exact recommendation to the City Council in June 2020. Yet almost two years later, the city has not produced its climate action plan. How can our leaders allow Sacramento to remain on this list year after year? The city must act now to address this public health crisis by enacting a plan that embraces and funds our recommendations.
– Anne Stausboll, Sacramento

Comments regarding sufficiency of South American Groundwater Sustainability Plan

April 15, 2022

Here is a summary of our comments:
1) We find the climate change analysis used as the basis for the GSP is not sufficiently robust to reflect currently anticipated climate change conditions for the region. The analysis does not reflect current science. For this reason, we suggest DWR provide more direction in this area for future GSP updates.
2) We believe a review of the GSP utilizing Article 6, Section 355.4 finds the plan deficient in several important areas. Our findings are listed in more detail below. DWR should work with the subbasin GSAs to address the shortcomings described below before approving the GSP.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Get into State Parks With Your Library Card

April 14, 2022

Calling all Californians! You can now check out a FREE vehicle day-use pass at your local public library.

In partnership with the First Partner’s Office and the California State Library, State Parks is providing free vehicle day-use entry to over 200 participating state park units operated by State Parks to library-card holders. The California State Library Parks Pass is valid for entry of one passenger vehicle with capacity of nine people or less or one highway licensed motorcycle.

Click here to learn more.