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June 2016
East Bay Energy Watch (EBEW) is a Local Government Partnership between PG&E and Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Our programs and services are funded by California utility ratepayers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). For tools and resources visit:
http://www.ebew.org/partnership-governance/
Better Together Resilient Communities
To assist local governments in meeting this challenge, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is launching the Better Together Resilient Communities grant program. The program will invest $1 million over five years – or $200,000 per year – to support local planning efforts to help better prepare for, withstand, and recover from extreme events and other risks related to climate change, such as sea level rise, flooding, land subsidence, heat waves, drought and wildfires. For more information, please read here.
Funding
EPA Smart Growth Program
The EPA’s Smart Growth Program focuses on complex or cutting-edge issues, such as storm water management, code revision, transit-oriented development, affordable housing, infill development, corridor planning, green building, and climate change. Applicants can submit proposals under four categories: community resilience to disasters; job creation; the role of manufactured homes in sustainable neighborhood design or medical and social service facilities siting. For more information, click here
Cities-LEAP Funding
The Cities Leading through Energy Analysis and Planning (Cities-LEAP) provide funds to cities for improvements in energy efficiency, renewable energy, outreach, as well as training and technical analysis and assistance. For more, click here.
Local City News
San Ramon's discussion on drought and redwoods
The city of San Ramon discussed drought and revitalizing the redwood trees at the city council meeting last week. According to a board director for East Bay Mud, the county's water levels are 88% of average thanks to residents and cities who continue to cut back their water usage. Read more here.
New Funding for Public Transportation
A proposed sales tax in Contra Costa County would raise nearly $3 million dollars for transportation projects like BART. For more on the transportation project click here.
Losing Open Space in Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County is one of many counties in California that are rapidly losing open space due to urban sprawl and agriculture. This loss of open space not only changes our countries natural beauty but also makes leave a great negative impact on the local plant and wildlife communities. For more about California’s loss of open space click here.
Solar Panels in San Francisco
San Francisco is taking strides in becoming a sustainable city by requiring all new buildings to install solar panels. This piece of city legislation puts San Francisco on the path to a sustainable future and will help them meet the goals of their climate action plan. For more on San Francisco new building codes, click here.
Other City News
Still Feeling The Effects of Aliso Canyon
The Aliso Canyon gas leak could mean summer black outs for the L.A area. Without the gas from Aliso, there will not be enough gas to power back up generators. This is just another example of the fragility of the energy grid and a sign that cities should be heading to more sustainable energy options while also creating a more efficient energy grid! For more, read here.
Portland's New Educational Stance
Portland schools banned any materials that cast doubt on the severity of climate change in order to prepare its students to fight it. For more on Portland’s educational decision, click here.
St. Albert Succeeds in Beating it's Greenhouse Gas Goals
The city of St. Albert beat it's 2020 greenhouse gas reduction goal this year!! How? Mainly by switching to renewable energy and having a more precise calculation of their energy output! For more on St. Albert’s achievement read here.
San Diego Sets Aside $94 Million for Meeting There Climate Action Plan
San Diego's new climate action plan designates approximently $94 million would be directed at fire prevention, storm runoff infrastructure improvements and other issues peripheral to climate change abatement but critical to San Diego’s ability to withstand the impacts of global warming. For more on San Diego’s new climate action plan read here.
Clean Energy Ministerial
On June 3rd the United States is hosting global energy leaders for the first time since the Paris Agreement at the Seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) and the inaugural Mission Innovation (MI) Ministerial in San Francisco. Leaders from 23 countries are meeting with the dual goal of accelerating the deployment of today’s clean energy technologies through the CEM and investing in innovation for the technologies of the future through Mission Innovation. For more on CEM7, click here.
Coal Companies Being Forced To Clean Up
The Fed announced that they want to ensure coal companies can clean up the land they damage. Under self-bonding, instead of having to take out third-party surety bonds, coal companies are effectively allowed to argue that their history of financial health is all the evidence they need to prove they can pay for reclamation. Click here for more information.
First Ever National Food Waste Reduction Goals
The U.S. EPA Administrator. Gina McCarthy, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, announced the United States’ first-ever national food waste reduction goal, calling for a 50% reduction by 2030. Read here to learn more.
Youth Advocates Win a Case Against Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
According to 17 year-old Shamus Miller, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case Kain et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, “This is an historic victory for young generations advocating for changes to be made by government. The global climate change crisis is a threat to the well being of humanity, and to my generation, that has been ignored for too long.” For more about the case, click here.
How Future Infrastructure Legislation is Linked to Sustainability
70% of the forecast increase in emissions from developing countries is expected to come from infrastructure that has yet to be built. This means that infrastructure decisions that cities make in the next few years could cement their ability to meet the Paris goals. Read more here.
Economics
California's Cap and Trade Struggle
California's cap and trade program may be in trouble. The systems currently is used to curb emissions and will be used as a source of funding for the upcoming bullet train project. But the legality of cap and trade is being challenged in court by a business group, and questions are growing about whether state law allows it to operate past 2020. For more, click here.
Funding to Save The Great Barrier Reef
New research find that 90% of the Great Barrier Reef has been affected by some sort of bleaching. In light of this news Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced the creation of a 1 billion Australian dollar ($740 million) fund to protect the reef. For more, click here.
Low Income Communities Possibly the First to Suffer For Flooding
Climate changed induced flooding looks to affect a billion people by year 2060. Many of the areas that are most prone to flooding also have a great deal of inequality, meaning that this flooding may disproportionately affect impoverished communities. For more on the future of flooding, click here.
Measure AA Passes
Voters in the Bay Area approved Measure AA to help fund restoration projects to restore wetlands in an effort to mitigate the effects of sea level rise and protect the Bay Area coast. This tax increase will provide much needed funding making the bay healthier and more beautiful. For more on the passing of AA, click here.
Big Companies go Green
155 major companies, such as Toyota and Ben & Jerry’s have committed to cut their emissions. This effort to decrease their carbon foot print is in line with a 2C global warming limit. For more, click here.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Divests
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has divested all of their holdings in BP, following in the footsteps of many colleges and organizations who have also dropped their fossil fuel investments. For more on this story, click here.
Increasingly Common Floods Now Strike Texas
Texas cities are currently facing a flooding crisis, an occurrence that could become more common as global climate effects occur. The conditions have become increasingly dangerous leading to property damage, injury, and death. For more, please click here.
Federal reports Pave a Path to Fracking in California
Two federal agencies on Friday quietly finalized two reports, set for release next week, which found offshore fracking in California poses no "significant" risk to the environment -- paving the way for oil and gas companies to resume the controversial extraction method in the Santa Barbara Channel and imperiling the region's wildlife in the process, opponents said. For more about fracking in California, click here.
Rising Tides Puts the Bay Area At Risk
"An abundance of scientific studies says the bay’s average tide could climb several feet or more by 2100, with most change coming in the decades after 2050. It’s an inexorable shift that threatens low-lying neighborhoods as well as the fish, birds and wildlife that need tidal flats to survive!" click here to read more.
Coastal Cities Prepare For Sea Level Rise
As sea levels rise, many cities are appointing chief resilience officers to help prepare their city and its residents in the events of flooding and other issues related to the rise of the sea. Many cities are looking toward the Rockefeller's 100 Resilient Program to help fund this position. Cities such as San Francisco and Berkeley have competed for, and won, slots in this program. Click here to learn more about chief resilience officers and how they help coastal cities.
Making Renewable Energy For Growing Cities
As cities become larger and more centralized–and especially if city planners prioritize density over sprawl–they have the opportunity to bring massive amounts of renewable energy to existing power grids and also to pioneer new, more distributed energy models. Click here to read more.
What La Niña Will Bring
As El Niño passes, the world now can prepare for what La Niña will bring! The cooling ocean may signal the start of La Niña. Scientists say this pattern typically contributes to more hurricanes in the Atlantic, drought in Brazil and heavy rain in Indonesia and India. For more about this story, read here.
Climate Change Putting Pressure on the Colorado River
As greenhouse gas pollution piles up in the atmosphere, it’s trapping heat and raising global temperatures, which is beginning to impact the Colorado River watershed. Heavier impacts on drinking water supplies in the West, and elsewhere, are projected for the future as warming accelerates. For more, click here.
Climate Corps Climate Action Plan Program
Hire a Fellow and complete your Climate Action Plans!
Climate Corps will provide your city a cost-effective, low-risk option for utilizing high caliber talent. Fellows commit 1,500 hours of service for 10-months, full-time. Sign up today for the next cycle August 2016 to June 2017. A 10-month Fellow is just $31,000 for local governments! Email climate.corps@gmail.com for information on hosting a Fellow.
EBEW Workshop For Home Owners
EBEW (East Bay Energy Watch) is hosting a workshop for home owners who want to make there homes more energy efficient and earn rebates. The free workshop is on June 30th 6pm – 8pm at the Richmond city council chambers.
Climate Corps Bay Area Fellowship Program
Climate Corps Bay Area (www.climatecorps-bayarea.org) is continuing to provide area public and private sector organizations a cost-effective, low-risk option for utilizing our high caliber, fresh talent. In so doing, Climate Corps provides emerging climate professionals (recent graduates) with critical professional development and resume-building experience. Our Climate Corps Fellows commit 1,500 hours of service for 10-months, full-time. The upcoming program cycle goes from late August 2016 through June 2017. The turnkey cost to host a 10-month Fellow for the coming program cycle is $31,000 for non-profits, academic institutions, and governments or $37,500 for our for-profit partners. Please email us at climate.corps@gmail.com to let us know if your are interested in hosting a Fellow.
Review Contra Costa County Climate Leaders on Great Nonprofits:http://greatnonprofits.org/
Please visit our website for information on Local Government actions in Contra Costa County www.cccclimateleaders.org
Click here to check out our new Youtube account and video.
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