This blog takes a deep dive into the vast array of impacts that air pollution has on human health, exploring how poor air quality affects nearly every area of the human body — from head to toe. Research shows that air pollution is a major environmental risk factor for a slew of diseases, from Alzheimer’s disease to lung cancer to osteoporosis, and can significantly lower lifespan and quality of life. Air pollution accounts for extensive damages to public health, as well as vast economic losses due to healthcare costs and lost school and workdays. While air pollution exposure can impact everyone, its damage is not distributed equally. Children, elderly individuals, those with pre-existing conditions, and those living in low socioeconomic neighborhoods or environmental justice communities bear a disproportionate burden of its impacts — emphasizing the need to protect vulnerable populations by taking better care of our air quality.
Tag Archives: Air Quality
ECOS Letter re City of Sac Transportation Priorities Plan
On March 15, 2022, ECOS submitted a letter to the City of Sacramento regarding their Transportation Priorities Plan. Below is an excerpt from our letter.
ECOS recommends:
1) The schedule for developing the TPP plan should be accelerated so projects can be eligible for funding sooner and built sooner.
2) SacRT’s transit system should be the backbone around which the City’s transportation projects are selected, to make existing transit station areas and transit corridors more walkable and livable. This approach is consistent with state law (SB375, SB743), regional policies (SACOG Blueprint, Green Means Go), and it would enable the leveraging of federal grants.
Volunteer for Sacramento Earth Day!
Sacramento Earth Day happens Sunday, April 24, 2022, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
At Southside Park, 8th and T Streets, Sacramento, California
JOIN US and VOLUNTEER! Each volunteer gets a Sacramento Earth Day t-shirt!
Support of SacRT’s 2022 TIRCP application for zero emission buses
February 21, 2022
The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) supports the Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) application to the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) for the purchase of twenty-seven electric zero emission buses (ZEBs) and related charging infrastructure.
These new ZEBs, along with those already in use by SacRT, will reinforce the region’s commitment to greenhouse gas reduction and be a good example for others. Since the transportation sector is responsible for about half of the region’s greenhouse gas emissions, replacing gas powered buses with electric buses is a necessary and important climate action step. It will help improve the region’s air quality, reduce greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions, improve the health of residents and visitors, and demonstrate the effectiveness of clean transportation to the public.
Want to help improve transportation in Sacramento?
Do you walk, bike or roll using a wheelchair or mobility scooter? Or if you don’t, do you have thoughts on how to make transportation more effective?
Would you like to help improve our sidewalks, bikeways, crosswalks and access to transit?
If the answer is yes, here’s your opportunity to help.
The City of Sacramento is looking for community members to apply to be part of one of the three Sacramento Active Streets community planning teams.
The three planning teams will focus on North Sacramento, Fruitridge/Broadway and South Sacramento areas.
“Each plan will identify locations to improve walking, biking, and access to transit – like sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes and more,” said Leslie Mancebo, the City’s transportation planner. “A critical part of the planning process will be community engagement, and we are currently putting together these community planning teams to serve as local experts/advisors throughout the process.”
The City’s Active Streets plans are designed to improve safety and comfort for walking, biking, rolling and accessing transit.
Members of the community planning teams will advise City staff throughout the process to ensure that community voices and priorities are heard. As a member of a community planning Ttam, selected participants will be responsible for:
- Attending up to seven approximately one-hour meetings between March 2022 and June 2023
- Suggesting opportunities for community engagement events (e.g., farmers markets, school resource fairs, etc.)
- Helping spread the word about the plans and about ways to get involved
- Advising City staff to ensure voices of all residents are captured in the plan
- Each planning team member will receive a $75 gift card for each meeting attended.
Those interested in applying can do so on the City’s website. Applications close March 4.
Sacramento County Climate Action Plan
February 17, 2022
Sacramento County staff are hard at work on the County’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), which aims to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and prepare the County for climate-related impacts for decades to come.
The revised final draft of the CAP, and associated environmental document, are available for review and will be heard at a Board of Supervisors workshop in March 2021. You may review the revised final draft of the CAP, and associated environmental document, by viewing the links below. The public comment period is open from Thursday, February 17 to Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Click here to learn more: https://planning.saccounty.net/PlansandProjectsIn-Progress/Pages/CAP.aspx
