Developers funded Sacramento County climate action plan

Environmentalists see a conflict.

By Michael Finch II | June 10, 2021, Updated JUNE 11, 2021 | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento County leaned on developers last year to help fund its long-delayed climate action plan, raising conflict of interest concerns among environmentalists who say the early drafts do not have enough detail to be an effective blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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In the eyes of some environmentalists, the financial arrangement suggests a conflict of interest. Each of the five firms wants the Board of Supervisors to expand the boundaries of where new development is allowed to include their projects. And that decision is in conflict with the aims of the climate plan.
“I know some environmentalists were concerned that the county’s staff was compromised in this way,” said Ralph Propper, president of the Environmental Council of Sacramento. “There were a lot of concerns about that but the county was pleading poverty.”
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article252009793.html

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Photo by Pok Rie from Pexels

Western Soils and Plants are Parched

June 5, 2021 | NASA

For the second year in a row, drought has parched much of the United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. Following one of the planet’s warmest years on record, and with precipitation this year well below average in the western U.S., scientists and government agencies are watching for diminished water resources and potentially severe fire seasons.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148419/western-soils-and-plants-are-parched

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California teen: I’m marching 266 miles, from Paradise to San Francisco, for climate justice

By Lola Guthrie | June 07, 2021 | The Sacramento Bee

The climate crisis isn’t a future threat. It’s as real and tangible as the ash drifting across the sky. I’m no longer comforted by the thought that adults will clean up their mess. I feel outraged and hopeless.
That’s why I’m marching 266 miles, from Paradise to San Francisco, with fellow youth activists from the Sunrise Movement. We’re marching for climate justice and fighting for every community.
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article251903963.html

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Photo by Lode Van de Velde. License: CC0 Public Domain.

California’s Latest Drought in 4 Charts

Alvar Escriva-Bou, Jeffrey Mount, Michael Dettinger | May 3, 2021 | Public Policy Institute of California

California is grappling with drought again, facing many of the same conditions and challenges that were features of the 2012–16 drought—including stressed ecosystems, depleted reservoirs, hard-hit farms and rural communities, threats to urban water supplies, and the potential for extensive wildfires. Knowing what’s different and what’s similar to our last major drought can help us better prepare the most vulnerable sectors for ongoing dry times.
To put this drought in context, this is only its second year. Historically, droughts have lasted up to six years. Our most recent one lasted five. We cannot know if this drought will break next year or four years from now, but we should plan for continuing drought.
https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-latest-drought-in-4-charts/

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California’s Latest Drought in 4 Charts

California’s Wildfire Season Is Off to an Early Start

By Olivia Rosane | May 4, 2021 | EcoWatch

Fire season in California usually starts in summer and extends through the fall, according to The Guardian. However, the climate crisis has upended weather patterns in the state, which is now suffering from drought conditions. Much of California, including the north, is experiencing its driest wet season in more than 40 years; Sacramento experienced its driest on record in April, NWS said.
https://www.ecowatch.com/california-wildfires-2021-2652873703.html

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Kassis Property in SN&R

As vote looms over Rancho Cordova’s last open space, city’s mayor and vice mayor took money from the developer aiming to build over it

By Scott Thomas Anderson | March 24, 2021 | Sacramento News and Review

For months a coalition of Rancho Cordova nature-lovers has been trying to protect the city’s last unspoiled haven along the American River – some 40 acres of grassy, oak-studded wildlife shelter with captivating ties to history and some of the oldest Native American burial sites in the region. If they win, this pastoral property along the brushy shoreline could become a park or learning center. If they lose, it will become 244 tract houses, 24 of which will block one of the most picturesque river views in all of Sacramento.

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