Earth Day 2020

Earth Day 2020: Did you know this year is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day? There are many online events, actions and activities happening across the globe all month long! ECOS invites you to participate from home in protecting our home planet. This list may grow; check back for updates.

Online Earth Month! Events, Actions and Activities

Remote Earth Week Sacramento

Local climate and environmental activists announce plans for the week of Earth Day, in accordance with social distancing requirements!

Click here to learn more.

By April 17: Save the Delta, Stop the Tunnel

For those of us at home, the feeling of helplessness can be real. BUT we can still help the earth! Right now, you can take action to Save the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Please share! And take care.
https://www.ecosacramento.net/2020/04/save-the-delta-stop-the-tunnel/

April 20: Earth Day Future 50: A Celebration

Join the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The public is welcome to join Stanford students, staff and faculty to gather online to hear reflections on how far we have come since the first Earth Day in 1970 and what the next 50 years may hold for the future of the Earth. April 20, 2020 – 1:30pm
https://woods.stanford.edu/events/earth-day-future-50-celebration-virtual-event

April 20: Earth Day Live

The world’s largest civic event is going digital for the first time in its history. We’ll demand that leaders take science seriously, listen to their people and push for action at every level of society to stop the rising tide of climate change. We can make a better world for everyone; tell everyone you know about April 22.
earthday.org

April 25: Celebrate Earth Day with Katharine Hayhoe and CCL

At a time when we are worried, isolated and unable to physically be with one another, we thought it would be good to spend a little time together — online, of course — to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. So far, more than 1,500 people have registered to attend “Uniting from Home: A Virtual CCL Event with Katharine Hayhoe” on April 25! At the event, we’ll hear from one of our favorite climate allies, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe. April 25, 10am-1pm PST.

Click here to register.

Wild and Scenic Films Online

All across the globe, humans are feeling the impacts of COVID-19, social distancing and confinement at home. With this in mind, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival invites you to watch some past Wild & Scenic Official Film Selections from home for free!
www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org/socialdistancing/

Do Citizen Science

The citizen science app Earth Challenge was launched this week. With the Earth Challenge app, anyone with a smart phone can contribute to a global database of information on air quality, providing researchers with invaluable data and guiding future environmental policies.
https://www.earthday.org/press-release/worlds-largest-citizen-science-initiative-launched-for-earth-day-2020/

Innovation without gentrification?

By Graham Womack
April 1, 2020
Sacramento News and Review

The promise and pitfalls of Aggie Square in Oak Park

“The reality is Aggie Square could be the best thing for the neighborhood, and it could be the worst thing for the neighborhood,” said Sacramento City Council member Eric Guerra, whose district is directly east of UC Davis Med Center.
https://sacblog.newsreview.com/2020/04/01/innovation-without-gentrification/

Even a UC Davis official—Hendry Ton, the university’s associate vice chancellor for health equity, diversity and inclusion—has questions about Aggie Square causing gentrification and displacing residents.
“I think there’s a lot of questions about that and I certainly have questions about that as well,” Ton said. “I think that the potential is that if the people in Aggie Square and the university are thoughtful and careful and collaborative about this, this can be a very significant force for good in the neighborhood.”
So far, however, collaboration hasn’t exactly been smooth, with officials and residents clashing on plans to ensure the neighborhood benefits from the project.
A group connected to the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative, known as Sacramento Investment Without Displacement, has been working on a legally binding community benefits agreement for Aggie Square.
A January draft of the agreement called for local hiring from nearby zip codes, anti-demolition policies to protect homes and enrollment of at least 50 percent of Medi-Cal recipients living within five miles of Aggie Square.
“We believe that this project has a lot of potential to be successful. But it also has a lot of potential to displace working families.”
Gabby Trejo is executive director of Sacramento Area Congregations Together.
“We want to see Aggie Square be successful,” said Gabby Trejo, who has been working on the agreement and serves as executive director of Sacramento Area Congregations Together. “We believe that this project has a lot of potential to be successful. But it also has a lot of potential to displace working families. And we want to make sure that working families in our region are protected.”
City leaders have yet to commit to a community benefits agreement, however. Guerra and Councilman Jay Schenirer, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, are instead working on a letter of intent, which city leaders declined to provide.
“I’m less concerned about the type of document and more concerned about an honest agreement… that will last longer than whatever we call the agreement,” Guerra said.
But Trejo and Sasso said the letter is insufficient. “We’ve seen other folks be bad actors in that things are promised and then they’re never delivered,” Sasso said.
https://sacblog.newsreview.com/2020/04/01/innovation-without-gentrification/

Click here to read the full article.

ECOS’ Involvement

ECOS is a part of the Sacramento Investment Without Displacement coalition to work towards preventing the displacement of long-time residents and local businesses that could occur as a result of this significant, new project at the UC Davis Medical Center.

Click here to learn more about Aggie Square and ECOS’ involvement.

Image credit: Edna Winti, 2016/366/238 Proceed with Caution

Unmet Transit Needs – Upcoming Meetings

Posted October 15, 2019

Whether you ride daily, occasionally or haven’t tried transit yet, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments is looking for feedback on our area’s bus, dial-a-ride, paratransit and light rail transit services. SACOG accepts transit needs related comments from any area in the counties of Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.

What are your thoughts on local transit service? Would you like to use it for more trips, but don’t because of issues like where it goes, the schedule or cost? Are there places you really need to go but cannot currently? Please give SACOG your thoughts by attending an Unmet Transit Needs meeting or by relaying your comments to SACOG.

The California State Transportation Development Act (TDA) requires the Unmet Transit Needs Process be conducted annually by Regional Transportation Planning Agencies. SACOG is the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for the counties of Sacramento, Yuba, Sutter and Yolo. SACOG staff conducts the Unmet Transit Needs process annually for these four counties. The TDA requires that SACOG make a determination whether there are “unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet” in the jurisdictions throughout the four counties.

There are also a number of ways to comment beyond the hearings, so please feel free to also call, text, email, fax or mail your unmet transit needs comments to SACOG!

Upcoming Meetings

OCT 28 2019, MON
2 – 3pm
Sacramento Regional Transit Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Sacramento RT Auditorium, 1400 29th Street, Sacramento, CA

OCT 30 2019, WED
2 – 3pm
City of Galt Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Galt Council Chambers, 380 Civic Drive, Galt, CA

NOV 4 2019, MON
2 – 3pm
City of Davis Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Davis Council Chambers, 23 Russell Blvd., Davis, CA

NOV 5 2019, TUE
2 – 3pm
Sutter and Yuba Counties Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Yuba County Government Center, 915 8th Street, Marysville, CA

NOV 6 2019, WED
6 – 7pm
City of Elk Grove Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Elk Grove Council Chambers, 8400 Laguna Palms Way, Elk Grove, CA

JAN 16 2020, THU
9:30 – 10:30am
Sacramento Regional Transit Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
SACOG – Board Room, 1415 L Street, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA

Click here for more details on the SACOG website.

Get involved in plans for I-80 and Hwy 65 Transportation Corridors

Posted October 15, 2019

Get involved in the future of the I-80 / Business 80 corridor from downtown Sacramento to Auburn and the Highway 65 corridor from Lincoln to I-80. The effort will result in a multi-modal plan that considers improvements to vehicle, truck, rail, bus, pedestrian, and bicycle travel along the corridor, with an emphasis on increasing travel choices to reduce congestion.

Learn more and join the conversation on Monday, October 28 from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. for the second Placer Sacramento Gateway Plan Community Workshop. A brief presentation will begin at 5:45 p.m. Stop by anytime between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. to hear a project update!

Can’t make it to the workshop? Go to http://bit.ly/more80choices for a livestream of the presentation.

Click here to RSVP.

ClimatePlan’s Commitment to Investment without Displacement

April 04, 2019

California is in the midst of an affordability crisis. Without careful planning and policies, new investment in existing neighborhoods or ongoing disinvestment in areas where low-income people live can push lower-income and people of color out of their own communities and away from jobs and transit. This exacerbates historical inequities, forces more driving and climate pollution from those who have the highest propensity to ride transit, re-segregates our towns and cities, and destroys natural and agricultural lands. ClimatePlan recognizes that displacement threatens to undermine all of our network’s priorities including climate, equity, health, active transportation, and conservation; it is a central challenge to building a more sustainable and equitable California.

Displacement harms people and communities and worsens the climate crisis. Recognizing these profound impacts, beginning in April 2018, ClimatePlan convened partners from housing, transportation, land use, equity, conservation and climate organizations to develop a shared policy platform on Investment Without Displacement for guiding the ClimatePlan network’s advocacy. Over 20 participants worked collaboratively to develop the approach and solutions outlined in the document linked below.

The ClimatePlan network’s vision is to create a healthier, more sustainable California, where people of all backgrounds and incomes have the opportunity to thrive.

Click here to view the document.

325 Fairgrounds Drive

February 15, 2019

Tahoe Park residents are asking why housing density has been greatly reduced in the plans for a development to be built near Broadway and Fairgrounds Drive in Sacramento. Why reduce housing density in the midst of a housing shortage, especially in a prime infill location?

Click here to read the letter written in opposition to amending the General Plan to lower the density requirements at 325 Fairgrounds Drive. Signatories include Alex Kelter, MD and Robert Meagher, MD, Co-Chairs of Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) Land Use Committee.