Tag Archives: Transportation

The State of the Transport System 3/7

March 7, 7AM-8AM a.m. PST

Transport accounts for 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is the world’s second fastest growing source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Major action is needed to transform the transport system to meet climate goals – from shifting to zero-carbon cars, trucks, ships and planes; to improving the availability of clean, modern and affordable public transportation; to providing safe walking and cycling networks; to implementing new measures to reduce unnecessary trips and wasted fuel.

Join Systems Change Lab and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities on March 7 for a high-level discussion of the current state of play in the global transport system and the five critical shifts needed to achieve global climate goals:

  1. Guarantee reliable access to safe and modern mobility
  2. Reduce avoidable vehicle and air travel
  3. Shift to public, shared and non-motorized transport
  4. Transition to zero-carbon cars and trucks
  5. Transition to zero-carbon shipping and aviation

Panelists will explore the shared importance of vehicle electrification and shifts to active mobility, the role of various actors in catalyzing new solutions for aviation and maritime shipping, the status of tipping points in driving exponential progress, and how a systems approach can help us reimagine transport as we know it.

This session will set the stage ahead of Transforming Transportation 2023, organized by the World Bank and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.

Moderator: Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO, World Resources Institute

Opening Remarks: Felipe Ramírez, Urban Mobility Director, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities

Panelists:

  • François Bausch, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Mobility and Public Works and Minister of Defence, Luxembourg
  • Maruxa Cardama, Secretary General, SLOCAT Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport
  • Binyam Reja, Global Practice Manager for the Transport Practice in the Infrastructure Vice Presidency of the World Bank
  • Sandra Roling, Director of Transport, The Climate Group

Click here to learn more.

Click here to register.

ECOS Climate Committee Meeting 1/19

Thursday, January 19th, 2023 – 6:00pm-7:30pm

Zoom link: ECOS ZOOM 6656164155 or call: 1 669 900 6833, Mtg ID: 665 616 4155

6:00 Welcome from Ralph Propper, Climate Committee Chair, and Susan Herre, President of BoD

6:10 Featuring: Meg Cederoth, Director of Planning and Sustainability, CA High Speed Rail Authority; Annika Ragsdale, formerly Climate Analyst for CA HSR, currently Lead Resilience Consultant for WSP

  • Overview of the California High-Speed Rail program and current construction activities
  • CA HSR’s Award-winning Sustainability Program: greenhouse gas mitigation and tracking, construction requirements, criteria air pollutant reductions, habitat conservation, and climate adaptation

6:40 Transportation Team Discussion, continued from previous night’s meeting

  • Continue discussion of “green” transportation for Sacramento region. What changes will be needed to meet the State’s climate goals by 2030, 2050? Is it greater than we are imagining?
  • How to make this new transportation team come to life. Where will it focus its energies?

This meeting is open to everyone interested in addressing one of our region’s most pressing challenges.

Essay: Sacramento voters rejected Measure A’s giveaways and political patronage for a reason

ECOS Board Member Brad Banan wrote the following article published in the Sacramento News and Review on November 18, 2022.

By standard political measures, a proposed Sacramento County transportation tax should have won approval in this month’s election. Supporters had a truckload of campaign cash and the backing of the political establishment, among other things.

They spent more than $4 million on Measure A. Opponents spent less than $7,000.

And yet, just like voters nationwide rejected the narrative of an impending “red wave,” so it appears that local voters bucked conventional wisdom and nixed Measure A. As of Nov. 15, 54 percent of voters were opposed to the measure, leading by a margin of 22,000 votes. The measure would have added a half percent to the county’s sales tax for 40 years, raising it to 9.25 percent in Sacramento.

So why did the transportation tax fail?

Click here to keep reading.

Vote No on Measure A

Dear ECOS Community,

Please share this message with your neighbors, friends, and colleagues. Measure A, on the ballot this November, is presented as a “citizens’ initiative” and therefore requires only a 50.1 percent majority to pass. It is critical that you vote NO on Measure A.

Measure A circumvents the Sacramento BLUEPRINT, California’s climate targets, and federal transportation planning law. It contains roadway capacity expansion projects and a new rural expressway that will induce car travel and sprawl development and pull resources from transit and transit-based development.

Under Measure A, SACOG concluded in its May 2022 analysis, “the region would likely fall short of meeting its state-mandated 19 percent per capita greenhouse gas reduction target by nearly 2 percent,” which is a ten percent shortfall. SACOG also found that failing to meet the mandate “would jeopardize the region’s ability to compete for state transportation and housing funding programs.”

If Measure A passes, the region will take a disastrous step backward, worsening existing economic inequalities and prospects for climate adaptation.

The Measure A proponents falsely say the measure will combat climate change.

• Bill Magavern, Policy Director of the Coalition for Clean Air summed it up: “Don’t be fooled. Despite promising to reduce congestion and improve air quality, Measure A will have the opposite effect by spending taxpayer dollars on the construction of numerous highway expansions throughout the region. The Coalition for Clean Air opposes Measure A because it is a threat to the air quality of the Sacramento region, which already suffers from unhealthy levels of air pollution, and would also result in increased congestion, global warming impacts, and sprawl.”

• In CARB’s October 10, 2022 letter to Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Sing-Allen, Steven Cliff, the CARB Executive Officer, wrote “The combined set of projects in this $8.5 billion measure would be inconsistent with the statewide effort to lessen the impacts of climate change.”

• Mike McKeever, former Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), commented, “The most recent mailer from the Measure’s proponents, which claims that Measure A fights climate change, is the exact opposite of the truth. Measure A proponents are so desperate for their $8.5 billion tax that they are spending millions of dollars to spread falsehoods.”

The League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Sacramento Taxpayers Association, United Latinos, Sacramento Sister Circle, Save the American River Association, and dozens of other organizations oppose Measure A. For more information and a complete list, see MeasureANotOK.org.

VOTE NO ON MEASURE A

Additional references:

• Oct. 27, 2022: Backers of a Sacramento sales tax hike are lying to voters. They should reject Measure A. By Marcos Breton of The Sacramento Bee’s Editorial Board. https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article267915392.html

• Oct. 20, 2022: How special interests exploited a loophole and put a Sacramento County tax hike on the ballot. By Yousef Baig of The Sacramento Bee. https://www.sacbee.com/article267335212.html

• October 10, 2022: Essay: Sacramento journalist breaks down why Measure A would fund new suburban highways, increase greenhouse gases and super-charge sprawl. By Sacramento News & Review Staff, Brad Branan

• Oct. 10, 2022: Sacramento County voters must reject Measure A, an $8.5 billion gift to special interests. By Sacramento Bee Editorial Board. Also Video on Measure A with former SACOG CEO Mike McKeever, Sierra Club Sacramento Chair Barbara Leary, Sacramento Taxpayers Association President Bruce Lee. https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/election-endorsements/article266980846.html

Sincerely,

Susan Herre

President of the ECOS Board of Directors