Category Archives: ECOS Updates

From The New York Times: The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood, Mapped

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Where and how you live shapes your household’s contribution to climate change. Explore differences across the nation.

By Nadja Popovich, Mira Rojanasakul and Brad Plumer | Dec. 13, 2022

“Cities and local governments could use the data to identify the most effective ways to fight climate change — by, for example, encouraging developers to build more housing in neighborhoods where people don’t need cars to get around or helping households in suburbs more quickly adopt cleaner electric vehicles.”

Click here to read the full article.

Map by EcoDataLab in partnership with the CoolClimate Network at the University of California, Berkeley.

Letter of Support for SacRT Grant Application

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SacRT is applying for a grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Rail Vehicle Replacement Program. The application asks for help replacing our aging fleet of Light Rail Vehicles with modern new low-floor vehicles. As many of us know, many of the light rail cars still in use today were original to the system in 1987 and they are now past their useful life. In addition, the new vehicles are much more accessible for people with mobility issues and those taking bicycles or scooters on light rail for their first-mile/last-mile needs. On December 20, 2022 ECOS submitted a letter of support for SacRT’s application.

Click here to read our letter.

Support for the County of Sacramento’s Early Action for New Construction Electrification Ordinances

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On December 20, 2022, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, the Environmental Justice Coalition, 350 Sacramento and Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento submitted a joint letter of support for the County of Sacramento’s early action for new construction electrification ordinances.

You can read our letter below.

Dear County Supervisors,
In advance of the final release of the County’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), we recommend the Board of Supervisors implement the draft CAP’s excellent measures for all-electric new buildings.
County Climate Action Plan measures GHG-05 (commercial) and GHG-07 (residential) call for ordinances to require all-electric construction by 2023 for new low-rise buildings and 2026 for new larger buildings. The measures are included below for your reference.
The City of Sacramento approved a nearly identical ordinance last month, for implementation during the same timeframes as the County CAP measures. The City ordinance is consistent with the California Green Building Standards Code, and was preceded by public workshops, stakeholder meetings and technical reviews – all of which will help to provide guidance for such ancillary issues as technical exemptions and appeal processes.
We note that County staff is already primed for this task. The County has signed onto an MOU on collaborative electrification efforts with both the City and SMUD, and has also created a task force to advise on this subject and other climate actions.
Although a January 2023 start for the measures may no longer be viable, we request you direct staff to prepare the necessary ordinance language and rationale for public review and Board approval shortly thereafter. Taking this decisive action now – without waiting for the CAP – will signal that the County, like the City of Sacramento and many other State municipalities, is ready to move forward with meaningful climate action.

Click here to read our letter in PDF.

Climate Committee meeting Dec. 13

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December 13, 2022, 6 PM

I-80 Causeway, Adding Lanes between Davis and Sacramento

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

6 PM: Welcome and Introductions

6:10 PM: Adding Lanes to I-80 between Davis and Sacramento, including Yolo Causeway
Yolo County Transportation District’s Executive Director Autumn Bernstein will discuss plans to add “managed lanes”. In October, the District board agreed to an MOU with Caltrans to develop this project, and to apply for State funding to augment federal funds; SACOG has agreed to prioritize this project. A tolling authority is planned; the District will determine how tolling lane revenue should be spent. Can tolls be used to fund public transit, sufficient to fully mitigate additional vehicle-miles that this widening would induce?

6:45 PM: Measure A Failed — Can We Design a Better Measure A for 2024?
Roger Dickinson (former State Assemblymember and County Supervisor) will present ideas.

7:00 PM: Sacramento County Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force – met December 8.
Task Force Chair Timothy Irvine will update us.

7:15 PM, Updates:

1. City of Sacramento Preliminary Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
Comments on Preliminary Adaptation Plan were presented December 5.

2. Tsakopoulos’ Jackson Township project (1400 acres) EIR to County Supervisors December 13

All are welcome to present updates on additional items.

Click here to view the agenda in PDF.