Tag Archives: 2018

Board Meeting March 27 – All are Welcome!

How well do YOU know the history of the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS)? We have been working on environmental issues in the Sacramento region since the early 1970s. At our March board meeting, we will be joined by some of the key players in ECOS in the 1980s, including Mayor Heather Fargo, Mike Eaton and Jude Lamare.

Join the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) for our March 2018 ECOS Board Meeting! Everyone who is interested is welcome. Bring a friend!

Tuesday, March 27th, 2018

NOTE: Location change – we will still have the meeting at 909 12th Street, Sacramento, CA but it will be in the Breathe CA conference room on the first floor of the building, rather than the Sierra Club conference room on the second floor.

5:30 pm Reception
Please come and meet and socialize with ECOS Board Members and guests. Light appetizers and refreshments served. Feel free to bring something to share.

6:00 pm Meeting Begins

PRESENTING…
“Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Conversation with ECOS leaders from the 1980s”
Jude Lamare, Mike Eaton, Heather Fargo
(20 minutes) 
Discussion/Question and Answer session (15 minutes)

As usual, ECOS Committees will report on their current business. Announcements from members and attendees are welcome at the end, as time allows.

Clean ride: Would California’s new electric ridesharing bill kill public transit?

By Michael Mott

March 1, 2018

Sacramento News and Review

As Uber and Lyft outrun public transit, more carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases get pumped into the air. It’s part of a wider commuting trend that is giving the capital region the eighth-worst air quality in the country, according to the American Lung Association. One state senator is convinced it’s time to turn ride-hailing services fully electric.

Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley Democrat, introduced legislation that sets a target for companies like Uber and Lyft to replace their fleets with clean-burning vehicles over the next 10 years. The bill would try to accomplish this by setting aside $300 million from the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program.

Click here to read the article. 

A Tesla Semi was spotted on I-80 near Sacramento. Why that might not be an anomaly

By Michael McGough 

March 2, 2018

The Sacramento Bee

Driverless cars may be on California city streets for testing as early as April, but semi-autonomous cars are already driving on our highways.

And, apparently, so too are semi-autonomous trucks. A Tesla Semi, still technically a prototype vehicle, was recently seen driving on Interstate 80 in the Sacramento area, as documented by a YouTube video uploaded by another driver.

Click here to read the full article. 

Driverless cars are expected on California streets in April. What does it mean for you?

By Tony Bizjak

February 27, 2018

The Sacramento Bee

A moment that once belonged only in sci-fi novels is now a month away in California.

Starting in early April, auto manufacturers and technology companies will be free to put cars onto California city streets for testing with no one at the wheel – and in fact no one even in the car.

The Department of Motor Vehicles received legal approval Monday to publish the ground rules – and will begin issuing permits in a month.

Click here to read the full article. 

California Officials Set Up Invasive Swamp Rodent Hotline

By Vanessa Romo

February 12, 2018

National Public Radio 

California has a giant rodent problem.

To clarify, it’s not that California has a huge problem with run-of-the-mill rats, it’s that the state has an emerging problem with jumbo-sized critters.

Nutria, otherwise called Myocastor coypus, were thought to have been eradicated from the state’s wetlands and rivers as far back as 1965, but they have mysteriously reappeared in three counties over the past year, California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira told NPR.

Click here to read the full article.