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Contra Costa County Climate Leaders (4CL)

A project of Generation Green a 501(c)3 Non Profit Organization
Contra Costa County Leaders
http://@CCCCLeaders Follow on Twitter

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You'll find case studies, issues of the month, workshop materials, archived newsletters and updates on local government activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Contra Costa County.
 
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Contact us:
925.631.0597

 
The 4CL Program offers:
 
Quarterly workshops for education and networking opportunities
 
Monthly newsletters for environmental updates, pertinent local information, and interesting upcoming events
 
Ongoing website containing the CCC city environmental developments, archived newsletters, and other educational resources.
www.cccclimateleaders.org

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Newsletter Contributors:
 
Content:
Sean Talebi
4CL Consultant

Editor:
Lynda Deschambault
Executive Director 4CL
 
 
Newsletter articles are collected from a variety of sources and are cited via a website reference when applicable
 
To add content or events to our next monthly newsletter, please send an email to  

January, 2019

Funding
EPA Brownfield Assessment, Clean Up, and Multipurpose Grants, these 3 grant opportunities can help your city assess, clean up, or repurpose brownfield sites. Sites must be publicly owned, applications for all 3 grant opportunities must be submitted by January, 31st, 2019.
 
MCE
MCE Solar One Receives CA Highest Honor, The CA EPA has awarded MCE Solar One with the Governors Economic and Environmental Leadership Award for their outstanding service to the Richmond Community in collaboration with RichmondBUILD. With over 470,000 customers, MCE Solar One is expected to eliminate 3,234 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Has your city opted up to 100% renewable energy with MCE's Deep Green program yet?
 
Local City News
City of Walnut Creek Opts Up to Deep Green, along with other sustainability measures such as the city's first publicly owned LEED certified building, the public library. WC has also recently installed new solar panels above car parks. Learn about Walnut Creek's initiatives HERE

City of El Cerrito Urban Forrest Committee is working to improve the existing El Cerrito municipal code language around trees and shrubs in public places and right-of-ways, including planting strips. New ordinance is intended to establish clear guidelines for planting, maintenance, and removal of trees and shrubs. This ordinance would serve to help improve the health of El Cerrito's Urban Forrest and would also meet a prerequisite standard for the city to receive the Tree City USA designation.

Legislation
Contra Costa County to ban all polystyrene food service ware in unincorporated areas,  Ten of the 19 Contra Costa cities have already banned Styrofoam food ware and eliminated this toxic product from their waste streams, with Concord being the most recent. Learn more about the county ban HERE. Learn about the harmful effects of polystyrene from our 4CL fact sheet on Styrofoam. If you want to pursue a polystyrene ban in your city please contact us for help!

COP24 Climate Talks, 300+ Elected Officials, from 40 states call for phasing out fossil fuels through a Green New Deal approach. The coalition calls for an end to permitting for new fossil fuel projects, a halt of public investments and subsidies of fossil fuels, and to move swiftly to 100% renewable energy. This comes at the heel of the Global Climate Action Summit, San Francisco, amidst nationwide catastrophic weather events throughout 2018. Read the full breakdown of the summit and statements HERE

Local Actions
The CA Air Resources Board Reports on Small Gas Engines Impacts, mainly consisting of lawn mowers and leaf blowers which contribute GHG emissions greater than all cars in the state. According to CARB, 1 hour of mower use and 1 hour of leaf blower use equates to 300 and 1100 miles driven in a car respectively. In light of CA's recent air quality challenges CARB will consider new standards in 2020. View CARB's fact sheet and learn about which cities, such as Santa Barbara, are pursuing action HERE

"Paris to Pittsburgh" Documentary Highlights Local and Youth Action on Climate Change, produced by RadicalMedia and Bloomberg Philanthropies, this new documentary highlights the role of local government and youth driven action in making progress on addressing climate change. It also features an interview with Mayor Peduto of Pittsburgh who is committed to fighting climate change and pursuing a new clean energy economy. Read more about the documentary which aired Dec, 12th, 2018, HERE

Other City News 
City of Manteca to turn waste into fuel, with a new project to create a food waste processing along side waste water treatment to combine dried sludge and food waste into useable biofuel to power its fleet of garbage trucks. The power for this project will be provided from a new utility scale solar farm that will be built in conjunction to bring down long term costs. Could Manteca's innovations work for your city? Read more HERE

Resources
New World Health Organization Report, concludes that meeting the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement would save millions of lives and billions of dollars in health incidents related to air pollution. The report suggests multiple pathways and actions for meeting these goals including mobilizing mayors and other subnational leaders to promote climate goals. What can your city do? Read more HERE and access the official report HERE

Sustainability Exchange is a quarterly meeting of local government staff in Contra Costa who work on sustainability issues to network, share, and learn from each other. Access the materials and meeting notes from the most recent meeting, "Lets Talk Climate", held November, 2018 as well as all past meetings HERE

New Guidebook on Equitable Clean Energy for Local Governments and Partners, released by the Vermont Energy Access Coalition and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network aims to foster energy innovation projects for underserved populations which draws upon best practices from the US and Canada. Read HERE

101 Ways Mayors and City Residents Can Fight Climate Change, from home and workplace upgrades and changes, conscious habits, and sustainable eating to citywide and community initiatives Curbed offers 101 unique ways of being more environmentally friendly for individuals, city governments and community coalitions. Read all 101 actions you and your city can take HERE

Buying Green and Saving Money, purchasing environmentally preferable products can have lower upfront costs, lower maintenance costs, and reduced replacement, disposal, and clean up costs. The National Association of Counties provides resources for purchasing green and saving green! If you or your city purchasing manager missed our Environmentally Preferable Purchasing workshop that included presentations from the Center for Environmental Health and more, please see the presentations and resources posted on the 4CL website.

Events
March 18-19, New York, NY, Join Mayors at the Ethical Corporation's Responsible Business Summit 2019, mayors of the cities of Philadelphia, Hoboken, and New Bedford are confirmed to speak at the summit this year, joining over 100 speakers and 500 attendees in New York this march  to discuss the role of local governments in addressing climate change at this sustainability focused business summit. Read more about the event HERE and RSVP HERE

January 22, Antioch, CA, 7pm, 200 H St, City Council Will Amend General Plan to reflect the increased protection that the Richland's initiative Let Antioch Voters Decide initiative have won for the Sand Creek Area west of Deer Valley Rd for the added protection of open space land. See how your cities compare on open space land HERE

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Please visit our website for information on Local Government actions in Contra Costa County 
www.cccclimateleaders.org


 
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Contra Costa County Climate Leaders (4CL)
P.O. Box 6993
Moraga, CA 94570

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