Tag Archives: carbon emissions

ECOS Mtg + Board: Nature-Based Carbon Solutions & Biodiversity at SMUD, 9/25/2024

Wednesday, September 25, 2024
6:00 pm Featured Presentation by Kathleen Ave of SMUD
7:00 pm ECOS Board Meeting

Kathleen Ave
Sr. Climate & Ecosystem Strategist, Zero Carbon Energy Solutions
Emeritus Chair, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Power in Pollinators Initiative

Kathleen Ave will provide an overview of SMUD’s activities, then launch into a discussion of SMUD’s Carbon and Biodiversity programs. She will share existing and emerging efforts to improve biodiversity at SMUD projects, facilities and along transmission lines, and will discuss a conceptual plan for a Regional Biodiversity Index.

Click here to view the agenda.

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

Caltrans faces legal battle over I-80 Freeway

By Gerardo Zavala | June 7, 2024 | Daily Democrat

The Sierra Club and the Environmental Council of Sacramento have filed a lawsuit against Caltrans alleging legally inadequate environmental analysis of the Yolo 80 Corridor Improvements Project that would add two new lanes through Yolo County … A press release from the two environmental agencies filing the lawsuit claimed that the environmental impact report “grossly underestimates increased vehicular travel, which would emit far larger quantities of greenhouse gasses and air pollutants than claimed.”

Click here to read the article in full: https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2024/06/07/caltrans-faces-legal-battle-over-i-80-freeway-improvement-project-in-yolo-county/

ECOS comments on AKT Development request for LAFCo hearings

On March 29, 2024, ECOS submitted a letter to Folsom City Council regarding the request they’ve received from AKT development to initiate hearings before Sacramento LAFCO to approve sphere of influence designation for a substantial area of land south of the city’s current city limits (and extending well into El Dorado County).

Below is an excerpt from our letter.

…initiation of this process has significant implications for City residents as well as county,
regional and state policies and programs. Of particular interest is how a supply of water to accommodate the proposed development might be made available. Place of use restrictions on Folsom’s water rights will limit the availability of surface water use in the proposed development area.

…We also have concerns regarding the project’s traffic impacts and increases in emissions resulting from the project’s buildout. Under California state law the Sacramento Region must meet mandated targets for greenhouse gas reduction and air quality by 2030. The approval of a very large greenfield most certainly does not advance the long-term ability to meet these targets.

Click here to read the letter in full.

CA Air Resources Board 2022 Scoping Plan Update

The 2022 Scoping Plan Update assesses progress toward the statutory 2030 target, while laying out a path to achieving carbon neutrality no later than 2045. The 2022 Scoping Plan Update focuses on outcomes needed to achieve carbon neutrality by assessing paths for clean technology, energy deployment, natural and working lands, and others, and is designed to meet the State’s long-term climate objectives and support a range of economic, environmental, energy security, environmental justice, and public health priorities.

Click here to learn more.

ECOS Comments on NewBridge Specific Plan, FEIR

On September 1, 2020, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) submitted comments on the NewBridge Specific Plan and Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), dated Aug. 21, 2020.

Below is an excerpt from our comment letter.

CONSISTENCY: The Jackson Corridor projects should be treated consistently in terms of the County’s requirements for project approval. The requirement to meet state mandated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions targets is a particularly important one. Mather South demonstrated that it met state mandated GHG emissions reductions targets in the Climate Change chapter of its Specific Plan/FEIR. By contrast, the NewBridge FEIR currently calls for a demonstration of adequate emission reductions at the time of tentative map approval.

Close scrutiny of the project by the public and yourselves as County leaders occurs at FEIR approval. We ask that the NewBridge FEIR be modified prior to your approval to ensure GHG thresholds are met and the project’s impact is reduced to a “less than significant level.”

Mather South’s FEIR, CC-2 measures (GHG-reducing measures) are named and quantified: EV Charging and 100 Percent Solar on All Nonresidential Buildings and Residential Buildings. In addition, the CC-3 measure for purchase of carbon offsets is described and quantified. The NewBridge FEIR simply lists the CC-2 measures as a menu to be selected at tentative map approval. No quantification is provided. A demonstration that GHG thresholds are met is not provided.

For reference, please see this excerpt from the Mather South FEIR, page 7-29:

“Implementation of Mitigation Measure CC-1 requires the project to comply with all provisions included in the AQMP. This mitigation would be consistent with provisions of General Plan Policy AQ-4. Implementation of Mitigation Measure CC-2 would further reduce GHG emissions associated with residential and nonresidential building energy and transportation. However, GHG emissions would not be mitigated to a less-than significant level through the provisions of the AQMP and Mitigation Measure CC-2 alone. Thus, the purchase of carbon offsets as discussed in Mitigation Measure CC-3 would reduce the transportation-related GHG emissions to reduce mass emissions by 301 MTCO2e/year for the transportation sector by 2032. With implementation of Mitigation Measure CC-3, all GHG thresholds would be met and this impact would be reduced to a less-than-significant level. [Mather South Final EIR, page 7-29, PLNP2013-00065]

Click here to read the letter in full (PDF).

Click here to view the environmental and planning documents.

Image by rawpixel.com