Third Act National Day of Action 3/21

Please join Third Act Sacramento in a National Day of Action on 3.21.23 when people across the country will withdraw their money and cut up their credit cards from the Four Big Dirty Banks: Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citibank; the biggest funders of fossil fuel projects.

The goals of this action are:

1) Shame these banks for bankrolling our climate crisis.

2) Let the banks know that we won’t be complicit in the destruction of the earth.

3) Pressure the banks to stop funding fossil fuel projects.

4) Have fun while helping to create a healthier, more livable future.

This National Day of Action is for all ages, and all are encouraged to sign the pledge to move your money. Volunteers in Third Act Sacramento have created a factsheet on local alternative banking options that do not fund global heating and destruction of our precious earth. For more information about the Day of Action and other creative protests in the lead-up to March 21, go to https://thirdact.org/national-day-of-action/ or contact us at thirdactsac[at]gmail[dot]com.

Information on local actions: find the Sacramento or Davis actions on the map and sign up to receive more information and updates.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby News

Click here to view the latest news from Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

Including updates on:

Climate Update

On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court said that without “clear congressional authorization,” the Environmental Protection Agency was powerless to aggressively address climate change, to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Congress is gridlocked now, but one day Congress will act. Meanwhile the Biden administration is working with many other federal agencies and the private sector to implement clean energy projects and operations.

A few weeks earlier, at the Citizens’ Climate Lobby June 2022 conference, Executive Director Madeleine Para referred to CCL’s extended efforts on carbon fees and dividends with the U.S. Congress, and the sad reality that there isn’t yet enough political will to “pass the biggest, most critical climate policies into law.” So, in addition to carbon fees and dividends, CCL has decided to throw its weight behind Clean Energy and Natural/Land-based Solutions, particularly forests and reforestation to store and remove carbon and help insects, birds and animals adapt to an already-changing climate.

CCL is focused on national and regional issues while ECOS focuses on the Sacramento region. It is important that California and Sacramento lead because “when the people lead, the leaders will follow” – Mahatma Gandhi. We need to get local elected officials to be more aggressive in climate action.

The CARB Scoping Plan states “Many jurisdictions are already asserting bold climate leadership, yet meeting the challenge of climate change requires more widespread action at the local level – roughly 35 percent of California’s GHG reduction potential is from activities that local governments have authority or important influence over.” Here’s a good article, As Federal Climate-Fighting Tools Are Taken Away, Cities and States Step Up, about action by localities on climate change.

ECOS Climate Committee 5/12 Focus on Transportation

ECOS Climate Change Committee – Focus on Transportation, THURSDAY, MAY 12 6:00 pm

Co-hosted by Ralph Propper, Climate Committee Chair and John Deeter, Transportation Team Lead

Agenda

6:00 Let’s chat — Zoom break-out rooms

6:05 Welcome and brief introductions

6:10 Sacramento Regional Transit (Sac RT) staff will discuss plans for the coming year. RT’s fiscal status has improved, as ridership is increasing again.

Craig Norman (Director of Engineering) will discuss more frequent service on Folsom line, electric buses, low-floor light rail stations/vehicles, new LRT stations (Dos Rios station; Horn Rd. station near Rancho Cordova’s Kassis property)

6:30 SacRT and TOD – Traci Canfield will provide high level overview of the SACOG-SACRT Transit-oriented Development Action Plan written in 2020

6:50 CapCity Freeway Lawsuit Update – Betsy Weiland of SARA (invited contributor) to discuss impacts to river

7:05 Transportation Ballot Measure for November election – Steve Cohn of SacMoves (invited contributor)

7:20 UPDATES

Climate Action Plans for County and City of Sacramento
For July presentation — Valley Rail, San Joaquin JPA, by Dan Leavitt, Manager of Regional Initiatives, will update us on the Stockton to Sacramento segment of Valley Rail w/maps, station areas, station designs. Valley Rail is on the Sacramento Subdivision from Stockton to Natomas — on separate, parallel UP track(s) to Sac RT from Cosumnes River Blvd to R Street in Midtown. Service will extend to Natomas (Elkhorn Blvd), but planning work is being done with Butte CAG and SACOG for a future extension to Butte County (Chico).

7:30 Adjourn

Thursday, May 12, 2022, 6:00pm

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155

To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

Sac City Council Meeting, April 26, 2022, Item 19 Quarterly Climate Update

On April 26, 2022, ECOS submitted a letter to the City of Sacramento Council Members regarding their Council Meeting on April 26, 2022, Item 19: Quarterly Climate Update. Below is an excerpt from our letter.

Sacramento can be a leader in sustainable and equitable growth and reducing of GHG emissions. The Sacramento region is the home of the Blueprint, upon which was modeled the landmark law SB375 linking land use and transportation. The concept of coordinating or integrating land use and transportation was right in 2008 and it is still right today. The key is to implement it.
Therefore, ECOS urges the City to use SacRT’s transit system as the backbone for redevelopment. Five- to seven-story buildings should frame the light rail station areas. Streets with existing high-ridership bus routes should be transformed into boulevards with consistently high street walls, wide sidewalks, protected bikeways, street trees on park strips, and curb parking. New parks and public plazas should be inserted.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Third Act Sacramento Gets Boomers Involved in Climate Fight

By Hannah Holzer | March 27, 2022 | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento facilitators Ferris and Laurie Litman have wholeheartedly committed the third acts of their own lives – post-retirement – to climate activism. Both worry about the futures their children and grandchildren will face. Litman says the fact that young people have inherited a planet polluted by older generations is “an intergenerational injustice.” “This is the most important thing people my age can be doing,” Litman said. “We overconsumed. We’ve taken a lot, and now we’re leaving a depauperate future for our kids.”

Sacramento’s Third Act working group is still in its early days, but as it grows, so does excitement about the future. The group meets virtually on the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. and anyone who lives in or around the Sacramento region is encouraged to get involved by emailing thirdactsac[at]gmail[dot]com. Fighting a planetary crisis on a personal scale can feel futile. But people of every generation must do everything in our power to ensure a livable future.