CA Code Update for EV Charging Infrastructure

On December 16, 2020, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) submitted comments on the proposed changes to Title 24, Part 11 of the 2022 CALGreen Building Code for the 2021 Triennial Code Adoption Cycle.

In our letter, we recommended that the code update include this:

A working and signed Level 1 outlet (110–120 V) shall be installed at each parking space associated with new residential construction.

This simple provision would provide low-cost infrastructure that works for any EV. It would ensure that Californians living in any type of new housing – low-income, high-income, mixeduse, multifamily, single-family — have convenient access to EV battery charging.

Click here to view our letter.

Photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

As Trump Again Rejects Science, Biden Calls Him a ‘Climate Arsonist’

By Peter Baker, Lisa Friedman and Thomas Kaplan | September 14, 2020 | The New York Times

The Environmental Council of Sacramento was mentioned in the New York Times! Our Board President Ralph Propper was quoted regarding Trump’s denial of climate change as California burns.

Mr. Trump flew to California after weeks of public silence about the flames that have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, wiped out communities and forests, burned millions of acres, shrouded the region in smoke and left at least 27 people dead. But even when confronted by California’s governor and other state officials, the president insisted on attributing the crisis solely to poor forest management, not climate change.
…
“Raking the leaves and forest floors is really inane. That doesn’t make sense at all,” said Ralph Propper, the president of the Environmental Council of Sacramento. “We’re seeing what was predicted, which is more extremes of weather.”

Click here to view the full article.

Photo from publicdomainfiles.com.

Implementing Vehicle Miles Traveled Guidelines

On May 26, 2020, ECOS joined other organizations in sending a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom in response to requests from some parties to postpone the implementation of SB 743 (2013). Environmental groups urge the Governor to not further delay the implementation of this very important statute.

Click here to read the letter.

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels.

How California Can Solve Its Water Crisis With Existing Water

December 26, 2019
By Heather Cooley
ComStock’s Magazine

Californians have made real strides to conserve over the past several decades. San Francisco and Los Angeles use the same amount (or less) water today as they did 30 years ago, despite substantial growth.
…
California has a chance to model what a truly resilient water system looks like, combining nature and technology to make the most of every drop and dollar. Just as we are doing in the energy sector, we should be focusing on no-regrets water projects that make economic and environmental sense.

Click here to read the full article.

(Photo: Pixabay via Pexels)

Trump administration proposes new regulations to prevent wildfires

By Emily Cadei
June 12, 2019
The Sacramento Bee

The U.S. Forest Service is proposing regulatory changes that would exempt certain forest restoration projects, road and trail management, administrative and recreation site management, and special use authorizations from environmental impact reviews. The new regulations would speed forest thinning in California by removing dead trees and brush but also has the potential to place more federal land at risk to logging and mineral exploration.

Click here to read the full SacBee article.

Photo by icon0.com from Pexels

CA regions ‘moving in the wrong direction’ to meet climate goals

By Sophia Bollag

November 26, 2018 04:30 PM
Updated November 27, 2018 11:43 AM

The Sacramento Bee

California has some of the most ambitious clean air goals in the country, but a report the state’s Air Resources Board released Monday shows communities are not on track to meet them.
California law requires regions to develop plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through land use and transportation policies. But communities aren’t actually implementing those plans, according to the report.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to read the report from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).