Sacramento City General Plan Update and Climate Action

Be a part of history and join the kick-off of the General Plan Update! Sacramento 2040 is the City of Sacramento’s blueprint for how and where Sacramento will grow over the next 20 years. At these family-friendly events, light food will be provided. A brief presentation will begin at 5:45 p.m. Hosted by the City of Sacramento.

The workshop dates, times and RSVP links are below. RSVP’s are requested, but not required.

April 22 | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Hagginwood Community Center, Auditorium
3271 Marysville Boulevard, Sacramento 95815

April 25 | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The Sam & Bonnie Pannell Community Center, Conference Room
2450 Meadowview Road, Sacramento 95832

April 29 | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Oak Park Community Center, Room A/B
3425 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Sacramento 95817

Click here to read ECOS member Sacramento 350’s “Action Alert” for the workshops.

Why Housing Policy Is Climate Policy

By Scott Wiener and Daniel Kammen
March 25, 2019
The New York Times

California has long been seen as a leader on climate change. The state’s history of aggressive action to reduce air pollution, accelerate the use of renewable energy and speed the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy has inspired governments around the world to set more ambitious climate goals.
But there is trouble on the horizon, and California’s climate leadership is at risk.
Across most of the state’s economy, greenhouse gas emissions have been trending steadily down. But ballooning car traffic on city streets and freeways is negating much of that progress. In California, about 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are from transportation, and they are increasing. In some California counties, two-thirds of emissions are from vehicles.
In November, the California Air Resources Board released an update on efforts to reduce pollution from transportation. The numbers were alarming. Despite headlines about California’s push for more electric vehicles, pollution from cars is still climbing. “With emissions from the transportation sector continuing to rise, California will not achieve the necessary greenhouse gas emissions reductions to meet mandates for 2030,” the board warned.
The solution? “Significant changes to how communities and transportation systems are planned, funded and built,” the board said.
Put more directly, in order to solve the climate crisis, we have to solve the housing crisis.

Wiener, Scott, and Daniel Kammen. “Why Housing Policy Is Climate Policy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/opinion/california-home-prices-climate.html.

Click here to read the full article.

The Elk Grove Climate Action Plan is Inadequate

350 Sacramento, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, and the Sierra Club Mother Lode Chapter are grass-roots groups concerned with minimizing, adapting to, and reversing the effects of climate change. We are concerned that the proposed Elk Grove Climate Action Plan does not meet mandated requirements for a qualified Climate Action Plan, and does not adequately respond to the actual threat climate change poses the City.

Click here to read our letter outlining our concerns and suggested improvements to the plan.

Judge rejects San Diego County’s climate action plan

By Richard Allyn, Reporter

Posted: Dec 28, 2018 9:40 PM PST
Updated: Dec 28, 2018 10:53 PM PST

CBS 8 San Diego

SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – Environmental activists are calling on San Diego County leaders to adopt a new climate action plan.

For the third time, a judge Friday rejected San Diego County’s plan, saying it doesn’t comply with goals for reduced emissions. It was a ruling that environmental leaders praised and they used the moment to urge the County Board of Supervisors to create a comprehensive climate action plan.

The new court ruling found that San Diego County’s climate action plan fails to comply with its own and the state’s goals of cutting back on carbon emissions. The judge rejected the county’s proposal to use carbon credits from out of the county or out of the country, saying that offsetting greenhouse gas emissions in other parts of the world does nothing to help us here at home.

Click here for the full story.

City prohibits gas stations, relaxes parking requirements, next to light rail stations

December 11, 2018

From Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement

The Sacramento City Council Tuesday voted 8-0 to prohibit new gas stations, drive-through restaurants and auto repair shops within a quarter mile of light rail stations. Those within a half mile will require a conditional use permit.

The new rules also eliminate minimum off-street parking requirements for housing developments within a quarter mile of light rail stations, and reduce them by half within a half-mile radius.

The changes are intended to spur construction of housing in pedestrian, bicycling and transit-friendly corridors around light rail stations, where residents would have less need for cars.

Click here to read the full post.

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).