Join us on Sunday, April 23, 2023, at Southside Park, Sacramento, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sacramento Earth Day is the largest Earth Day celebration in the Sacramento region, providing people with the knowledge and means to take care of our Earth. The theme this year is Grow Native. Our event is free and thousands of attendees are expected throughout the day.
ECOS is excited to share with you our 2021 Environmentalist of the Year Awards film, made in lieu of the annual in-person event. Enjoy the film below!
Dr. Michelle Stevens, a professor in the Environmental Studies Department at CSUS, has been leading the Bushy Lake Restoration Project along the lower American River Parkway, which protects, studies, and restores Sacramento’s riparian ecosystem. Michelle was able to “sell” this idea to the local community, a myriad of stakeholders, regional professionals and experts, and fellow colleagues. Michelle started with planting a few plants that are important to native peoples in the region, and nurtured it until it grew into a grant-funded restoration plan involving CSUS students and volunteers. Her work is informed and guided in uplifting the historic indigenous practices and culture of traditional ecological knowledge, and provides a hands-on opportunity for college students through CSUS and volunteers. In 2019, this project won an award at the annual CSU-wide Student Research Competition.
Brandon Rose was ECOS President 2016-2017. During his tenure, ECOS put on a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) workshop, which helped to attract and train volunteers. ECOS supported Sacramento’s plastic bag ban and ethics reform ordinances. Under his leadership, ECOS also helped the City obtain a $44 million “Green City” grant to construct electric vehicle charging stations and acquire electric vehicle fleets for car sharing programs in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Also during Brandon’s board presidency, ECOS worked with Wilton Rancheria to locate their proposed casino within the County of Sacramento’s Urban Service Area, rather than a rural area. In 2017, ECOS sued Caltrans over its approval of extra lanes on US 50 without considering the environmental impacts of increased traffic, which led to a settlement providing funding for transit. Later that year, Brandon was elected to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) board, which has since committed to carbon neutrality by 2030.
Moiz Mir was the president of the Environmental Student Organization at CSUS, 2017–2019. As an intern at the Sacramento Mayor’s Office, he organized youth summits to include students’ voices in the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change, and served on the Commission’s Community Health & Resiliency and Equity Technical Advisory Committees. He co-won a statewide “Best Practice in Student Sustainability Leadership Award” for organizing the CSUS Student Summit on Climate Change. As a student, Moiz worked with Michelle Stevens, supervising student plant experiments at Bushy Lake. With Sunrise Movement Sacramento, Moiz is engaging youth in climate justice action. Moiz recently became the first staff at 350 Sacramento, where he developed a new after-school student climate organizing program.
Anne Stausboll chaired the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change, which presented its recommendations in June 2020. She obtained a unanimous vote on a very progressive set of recommendations, which took two years to develop. The goal is to achieve carbon neutrality in Sacramento and West Sacramento, by 2045. Anne made sure the Commission reviewed and considered everything through a lens of racial and income equity. She is inspiring us to be active with the City of Sacramento to ensure that these recommendations are incorporated into the Cities’ Climate Action Plans, and into appropriate ordinances and other city actions. As Anne says, “it is a crisis situation, and we need to act now. We want the city to start seriously adopting and acting on the recommendations. Now. It’s not something that can wait.”
Saturday, April 24th: Join us for a clean-up of Morrison Creek between Logan Street and Power Inn Drive. This stretch of the creek is slated for improvements to its natural habitat, with walkways and bicycle paths.
Where: George Simm Community Center, 6207 Logan St. (parking is available)
When: 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM (in 2-hour time slots)
Sign up here or call Nancy Hughett at 916-708-4003.
The 2021 Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Tour hosted by Citizens Climate Lobby and this year’s co-hosts; The David Brower Center, Earth Island Institute, Communities for a Better Environment, and Green the Church. Their program this year will be online, and will include twenty of the year’s top environmental films.
Live Virtual Event
Earth Day, April 22, 2021 7PM.
All films available on-demand April 23-27
Local climate and environmental activists announce plans for the week of Earth Day, in accordance with social distancing requirements!
Activists of all ages in the Sacramento region have organized street art, a fundraiser, and live online events for the dates of April 22-24. The City of Sacramento is aiding with virtual programming. Money from the fundraiser will benefit the Services Not Sweeps Coalition.
Earth Day — the biggest day of the year for climate and environmental justice demonstrations — is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, just as the spread of coronavirus has disrupted work, school and social gatherings, the pandemic has forced the cancellation of mass gatherings for Earth Day in Sacramento and across the nation.
Locally, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) has canceled Sacramento Earth Day, the organization’s annual celebration in Southside Park normally slated for the Sunday closest to Earth Day. The festival started in 2006 and typically raises 15 percent of the group’s annual budget. The Sacramento chapters of March for Science and Fridays for Future will not hold their planned climate strike. Earth Day events by ECOS and March for Science draw thousands of participants on average.
As a movement based on science, we take recommendations from public health professionals seriously. Evidence shows that social distancing works to slow the spread of coronavirus. We are proud of our quick adaptation to current circumstances, and pleased to offer impactful programming for such a historic day.
Members of the Sacramento chapters of youth-led organizations Sunrise Movement and Fridays for Future are leading a “chalk-out” at, where participants will decorate sidewalks with chalk art to raise awareness around the climate crisis.
Sacramento chalk art locations include but are not limited to: The California Capitol Building, Sacramento City Hall, Downtown Commons, K and 20th Street
Times: Sunrise, noon, and evening (6:30 AM, 12:00 PM, and 5:30 PM respectively)
Folsom locations: Raley’s (East Natomas), Target, Palladio/Whole Foods, Costco, Safeway (Prairie City Rd), Sam’s Club, and City Hall.
Time: All chalking to start at 6:30 a.m.
Other locations: Chalk art is slated to appear in Sacramento, Folsom, Rocklin, and potentially other Sacramento suburbs.
Time: All locations will chalk at 6:30 a.m. Some may chalk at additional times.
People interested in chalking may sign up at: tinyurl.com/ChalkOut2020
Contact: Hannah Karsting, 916-220-6031, hannahlk49[at]gmail[dot]com; Caroline Cochrane, 916-342-8129, ccochrane2003[at]gmail[dot]com; Mikayla Taylor, (916) 599-5839, mkotaylor[at]gmail[dot]com
In recognition of the challenges facing the Sacramento community as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, local climate justice organizations will raise money through an online silent auction, virtual ‘tip jars’, and other calls for donations. All proceeds will go to the Services Not Sweeps Coalition, members of which include Loaves and Fishes, Sacramento Food Bank, and the Poor People’s Campaign.
Contact: Chris Brown, 916-384-7476, info[at]sacclimate[dot]org
Environmental orgs, in partnership with a variety of local organizations, businesses, artists, and public figures, will put on a 12-hour-long livestream from 12pm to 12am on April 24th. This event will be centered around the twin crises of climate change and COVID-19. It will provide education, political engagement, entertainment, and community-based responses to the anxiety caused by the coronavirus.
The livestream will include virtual town hall featuring Q&A sessions with local leaders, including Councilmember-elect Katie Valenzuela, slated for around 4-7pm.
Details on how to watch the livestream will be released by 4/22. Learn more here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/earth-day-live-sacramento
Contact: Alex DeNuzzo, 916-694-7632, awesomenuzzo[at]gmail[dot]com
Click here for even more ways to get involved, from a safe distance, on Earth Day 2020.
“This is truly a surreal time and we’re all trying to process what it means, for now, for the future, for ourselves and our loved ones, for those most vulnerable. I am all out of words of wisdom. I just know that the climate crisis isn’t stopping for a mere global pandemic, although it’s hard to focus on non-immediate threats right now, and that it’s more important than ever that we work toward our vision of a ‘world with a safe climate, where nature is respected and protected, and our social, political, and economic systems work for all people and the planet.’”
– Laurie Litman, President, 350 Sacramento
“Sac DSA supports the Earth Day Actions because all people, rich or poor, have the right to live on a healthy planet. We must remind our elected officials that the health of the Earth is tied to the health of people everywhere.”
– Gina Patterson, Organizer, Democratic Socialists Of America Sacramento
“We recognize this is a difficult time to begin new initiatives, but with both the pandemic and climate crises, time is not on our side. The pandemic crisis is short-term and immediate, but while the impacts of climate change are gradual, they are more enduring. Therefore, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ We must move forward with climate action and do what is required to avoid a threat whose scope has no historic parallel; to do not as little, but as much as possible.”
– Ralph Propper, President, Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS); Laurie Litman, President, 350 Sacramento; Barbara Leary, Chair, Sierra Club Sacramento Group
“My generation has grown up with the threat of an ecological breakdown constantly looming above our heads. We know that as youth, we will live to see the worst effects of the climate crisis. This Earth Day, we’re demanding that our elected officials have the courage to prioritize our lives over fossil fuel money.”
– Supriya Patel, Organizer, Fridays For Future Sacramento
“There has never been a more critical time to be listening to scientists. The federal government was too slow to heed the warnings of epidemiologists, and its failure to act quickly has allowed the virus to sicken and kill exponentially more people. We should apply this lesson to climate change. Believe science and act fast.”
– Wes Samms, Lead Organizer / CEO, March For Science Sacramento
“The recent shift to digital platforms and social distancing is reducing our carbon emissions around the world. However, the COVID crisis shows that the human costs of waiting to the last minute are enormous and much worse than planning ahead and working proactively to fend off an emergency. We need to learn from these days that we need to care for people in ways that care for our environment at the same time.”
– Chris Brown, Organizer, Sacramento Climate Coalition
“This Earth Day, our local, state and national leaders should do more to empower our community to harness the awesome power of the sun to fight climate change, reduce pollution and help people cut their energy bills. Rooftop solar and battery storage is the ultimate win-win for the people and the planet. Unfortunately, utilities across California are working to make it harder and more expensive for people to do the right thing by choosing solar energy. With one million solar rooftops across California, it is clear the people are ready to lead. Are our leaders ready to get out front and take it to the next level?”
– Lee Miller, Organizer, Solar Rights Alliance Sacramento
“Crises that threaten our health, our homes, and our families are only going to get more common as our climate changes. COVID-19 has proven that its possible to disrupt business as usual and change everything about our way of life. With our response to this pandemic, we have an unprecedented opportunity to build a society that takes care of all its people, and puts our future over profit. Now more than ever, we need a Green New Deal.”
– Logan Dreher, Local Coordinator, Sunrise Movement Sacramento
Above all, please follow all stay-at-home and social distancing orders.
Take care Sacramento, and stay safe.
April 10, 2020
Op-Ed by Denis Hayes
The Seattle Times
Author Denis Hayes was one of the organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970. The first thing to know about the beginning of Earth Day is that the big win wasn’t establishing Earth Day itself, but bringing the same organizing skills to the 1970 November elections.
“That November political triumph made clear to Congress that Earth Day had not been just a frolic in the park. One month after the 1970 election, the Clean Air Act of 1970 passed the Senate unanimously and the House with just one dissenting vote.
In short order, Congress also passed the:
• Clean Water Act
• Occupational Health and Safety Act
• Marine Mammal Protection Act
• Endangered Species Act
• Safe Drinking Water Act
• Set Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards for cars
• Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
• Toxic Substances Control Act
• National Forest Management Act
In the 10 years following Earth Day, bold new laws changed the direction of the United States economy more profoundly than any other period in history, except perhaps the New Deal. And the New Deal was pushed by a wildly popular president whose party controlled both houses of Congress. The environmental revolution came from the grassroots up.”
Click here to read the full article.
Photo from University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, via flickr.com.
U.S. Post: PO Box 1526, Sacramento, CA 95812