On October 17, 2023, ECOS joined over 60 other organizations in signing on to a coalition letter calling on Gov. Newsom to hold Caltrans accountable to his climate vision.
Monthly Archives: October 2023
The widening of I-80 works against California’s climate goals
By Stephen M. Wheeler and Barbara Leary, Special to the Bee | October 17, 2023 | The Sacramento Bee
If we want to know why our state’s transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions have risen since the early 2010s, a good place to look is Caltrans. The agency has long been fixated on widening roads and creating “induced demand” which has led to more driving. Currently, this cycle continues through the agency’s questionable efforts to create additional lanes on the I-80 Yolo Bypass causeway leading into Sacramento. And recently, a high-level administrator was demoted after attempting to stop such actions.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article280482349.html#storylink=cpy
Controversy engulfs Causeway project
Monica Stark, The Davis Enterprise, October 15, 2023
“‘It’s been pretty obvious to me just from observing the ‘rehabilitation’ project that it was doing the sort of deep roadbed work needed for widening,’ Stephen Wheeler, UC Davis professor of human ecology, said…”
Editorial: California’s transportation spending doesn’t match its climate promises, LA Times, October 10, 2023
California leaders talk a good game on fighting climate change. But when it comes to cutting the state’s biggest source of planet-warming emissions — cars, trucks, airplanes and other modes of transportation — the spending doesn’t match the rhetoric.
Click here to read the full article: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-10-10/editorial-californias-transportation-spending-doesnt-match-its-climate-promises
Join us online at 6pm on Thursday, Oct. 19 for the ECOS Climate Committee Meeting, where we will be joined by Jeanie Ward-Waller, former Caltrans’ Deputy Director of Planning and Modal Programs. Jeanie Ward-Waller was demoted last month, after she notified Caltrans officials that she would file a whistleblower complaint about Sacramento-area highway expansion projects allegedly circumventing environmental rules.
ECOS Letter to City re Draft MEIR for GPU and CAP
On October 10, 2023, ECOS submitted a letter to the City of Sacramento offering our comments on the Draft Master Environmental Impact Report (MEIR) for the Sacramento 2040 General Plan Update (GPU) and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP).
Natomas Campaign Update, Oct 2023
Thank you for your interest in interest in and concern about the wildlife, habitat and farmland in Natomas. And thank you for joining our mailing list. Right now our campaign is focused on building our mailing list in preparation for outreach to the public and to elected officials to let them know that we do not want to see the Airport South Industrial Project proceed. None of us wants 450 acres of Natomas farmland and critical habitat paved over for millions of square feet of warehouses on Bayou Way, next to a school and a neighborhood. Click here for full update.
