Sacramento City Council embraces ‘slow streets,’ electrified buildings to fight climate change

August 26, 2020

Members of the Sacramento City Council Tuesday embraced the recommendations of the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change and voted to move forward immediately on 10 first-year action items, including creating ‘slow streets’ for pedestrians and people-pedaled vehicles only and crafting an ordinance to require future buildings to run entirely on electricity.

Click here to read the full blog post from Mayor Steinberg’s office.

City of Sacramento Climate Action Plan/General Plan Questionnaire

Note new deadline: June 19, 2020

There is still time for city residents to participate in the 2040 General Plan update and Climate Action Plan’s virtual community questionnaire, as the deadline has been extended until June 19. The previous deadline for public input was June 5. Click here to learn more.

Sacramento City is updating their general plan, including the City’s Climate Action plan. We need Sacramento City residents to fill out this online community questionnaire to make sure everyone’s needs are represented. Participate by June 19, 2020 to help the City prioritize key proposed strategies around six general topics which will be part of the 2040 General Plan. You can choose to provide input on all six topics, or just one! You might be impressed by the ideas proposed; we were! 

The six general topics presented in this virtual workshop for public input are:

  • Livability
  • Mobility
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Justice
  • Economic Development
  • Sustainable Growth

Each of these general topics has specific questions for participants and opportunities for additional input. ECOS encourages all of our members and allies to spend approximately 30 minutes responding to this survey opportunity by June 5th, 2020. It is very important that our City government receives robust input and support from progressive, environmentally-conscious citizens.

Available in multiple languages.

Time commitment: approximately 30 minutes


Summer Days Often Feel Much Hotter If You Live In One Of California’s Historically Redlined Neighborhoods

May 26, 2020 | By Randol White | Capital Public Radio

California’s triple-digit heat is back — and new research shows residents in the state’s most underserved neighborhoods suffer the most when the mercury rises.

Portland State University’s heat-mapping project tapped volunteers last summer in four California metro areas to attach GPS-equipped temperature collection gadgets to their cars and drive along set routes for an hour in the morning, afternoon and evening. They drove through the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Victorville and Sacramento.

The research project was led by Vivek Shandas, a professor who believes this form of heat-data collection can help city planners solve decades-old problems.

“We’re trying to bring the understanding of climate change and the changes happening on a planetary scale down to the individual person and down to the individual city block,” Shandas said.

The data collected that day indicates the temperature differentials between neighborhoods can vary by as much as 20 degrees.

Wealthy, tree-canopied neighborhoods are typically cooler, and low-income, asphalt-heavy communities run hotter.

Click here to read the full article.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.

Funding Sacramento County’s Climate Action Plan

On May 12, 2020, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, 350 Sacramento and the Sierra Club Sacramento Group sent a letter to Sacramento County with concerns about funding the County’s Climate Action Plan.

We are gratified that on April 7, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to proceed with work on the County’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). However, we are concerned that the fiscal impact of the Covid-19 pandemic could make it difficult to include the CAP work, of approximately $300,000 disbursed over two fiscal years, in the County’s FY 20-21 budget.

Click here to read the letter in full.


On May 27, 2020, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, 350 Sacramento and the Sierra Club Sacramento Group sent a response letter to Sacramento County with concerns about funding the County’s Climate Action Plan.

Thank you for your prompt response to our May 12 letter on CAP funding. We appreciate your efforts to secure funding for the CAP. As reported at the County’s May 24, 2017 CAP workshop, most of the work (then $267,060 contract and $431,300 staff) was to have been funded by Long Range Planning fees. However, your response indicated funding from development project applicants instead. It isn’t clear if these are only applicants currently in the entitlement process; if so we have the following concerns.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Photo by Ron Reiring via flickr.