Visit us on the web! 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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Join Our Mailing list!
info@cccclimateleaders.org
Contact us:
925.631.0597
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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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Thank you to our sponsors!
PG&E
QUEST
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Newsletter Contributors:
Content:
Anne Cavazos
4CL Consultant
Carla Dowell
QuEST Contributor
Editor:
Katherine Bracken
4CL Volunteer
Contributing editors:
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
info@cccclimateleaders.org
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East Bay Energy Watch (EBEW) News
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Funding
EPA Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities - Technical Assistance Application Due: October 26, 2012 Eligible Entities: Local, county, or tribal governments. The EPA Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program provides quick, targeted technical assistance to selected local and/or tribal governments using a variety of tools that have demonstrated results and widespread application. EPA will offer nine tools, including planning bikeshare programs, creating a green streets strategy, and a green building toolkit. In 2013, EPA will select up to 44 communities for assistance. For more information, see the technical assistance webpage. Sustainable Design Assessment Technical (SDAT) Assistance for Communities.Application Due: November 16, 2012. Eligible Entities: Committees with a cross-section of residents, local government agencies, businesses, institutions, and community groups.
The American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Center for Communities by Design is seeking potential partner communities that can demonstrate the capacity to convene a diverse set of community leaders and stakeholders for an intensive, collaborative planning process focused on long-term sustainability. Visit the AIA SDAT page.
EPA Brownfield Area-wide Planning Grant - $4 Million Application Due: November 30, 2012 Eligible Entities: General purpose unit of local government and others. This grant will fund projects to facilitate community involvement and conduct research, training, and technical assistance necessary to develop area-wide plans and implementation strategies to facilitate Brownfields assessment, cleanup, and subsequent reuse. For more information, see the request for proposals. USDA 2013 Urban and Community Forestry Grant - Approximately $900,000 Application Due: December 3, 2012 Eligible Entities: Any U.S. non-federal organization, operating within the US or its territories. The National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council is seeking innovative grants proposals for program development, research, and collaboration to address the following two strategic priority issues: proposals that demonstrate the connection between the personal benefits of urban forests and quality of life within a community through community engagement; and proposals that design an urban forestry recruitment program and retention strategies that support existing urban forestry academic curricula. For more information, see the request for proposals.
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Local City News
El Cerrito Council to Look at Green Power. As part of a long-term effort to reduce the community's carbon footprint, El Cerrito is considering a public power system that would bypass PG&E's standard electricity sources in favor of exclusively green power. The City Council on Tuesday will hear a presentation from Marin Clean Energy, a state leader in implementing alternative energy purchasing, also known as "community choice aggregation," or CCA. View the Full Article.
Cities Don't Have to Choose Between Energy Efficient and Low Income Housing. EPA Region 9 presented its Climate Change Champion Award to: Grid Alternatives of Oakland, California which provides renewable energy and energy efficiency services, equipment and training to low-income communities. It developed a solar affordable housing program that has trained more than 8,000 community volunteers and job trainees who have installed more than 2,000 photovoltaic solar power systems. This has created jobs, skills, and income for the communities, as well as environmental benefits. Through solar power and energy efficiency upgrades to homes, Grid Alternatives has prevented 180,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Contra Costa Cities Can Reduce Plastic Water Bottle Waste. Reduce plastic water bottle waste, by incorporating this type of local city ordinance that would require new and renovated buildings to make it easier to refill reusable water bottles. View the Full Article.
Cites Partner with Catalog Choice. Please post a link to Catalog Choice, to help the residents in your city to reduce their junk mail. A number of local governments around the country offer their residents a junk mail reduction service through a partnership with Catalog Choice. There is a small setup fee for this service, and then a small annual fee. King County is a good example.
Napa County Delays Climate Plan, Critics Asked To Weigh In. County Planning Director said the extra time is needed to continue developing an aspect of the plan that would have some developers and businesses pay into a mitigation fund if they can't achieve a high enough reduction in greenhouse gases through their construction projects. View the Full Article.
American Canyon Stakeholders brainstorm at Energy Efficiency Climate Action Plan Workshop.
About 20 people gathered in American Canyon's Senior Multi-use Center for the city's Energy Efficiency Climate Action Plan workshop. The climate plan is to enhance energy efficiency throughout the residential, commercial, and industrial communities, according to city officials. The city was awarded funding from Pacific Gas and Electric for the project. View the Full Article.
2012 Bioenergy Action Plan Will Increase Bioenergy Opportunities. The 2012 Plan was developed by a combination of state agencies and outside experts and will also help California meet its climate change goals and protect public health and safety. View the Full Plan.
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Other City News
New York City Benchmarking Grades Are In. In New York City buildings over 50,000 square feet, have been energy benchmarked and scored by the City. The City released the results from the first year of the energy-benchmarking initiative begun as part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to reduce greenhouse gases. More than 6,000 multifamily buildings submitted data to the Energy Star Portfolio Manager an online tool developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. View the Full Article.
Boulder Offering Free "Energy Coaches" For Businesses. This pilot program is part of a larger effort by the city to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the commercial and industrial sectors, which accounted for 83 percent of Boulder's energy use in a 2006 analysis. Participating businesses will use the Energy Star Portfolio Manager program to track and rate their energy, which they will share with the city. View the Full Report.
Key to a Cool City? It's in the Trees. The best thing cities can do to keep cool is plant trees. "It's that simple." Calthorpe said. "...you can do white roofs and green roofs ... but believe me, it's that street canopy that makes all the difference." View the Full Article.
New York City Council Prepares to Help The World Plan for Climate Change. The Council is announcing legislation that creates a Climate Change Adaptation Task Force to specifically assess how various climate ailments, such as extreme heat, storms and flooding, would affect the city's health, structure, and overall well-being. View the Full Article. Also refer to 4CL's public health fact sheet.
Building Sustainable Cities in EU and China. The first EU-China Mayors' Forum, the flagship event of their urbanization partnership, was held in Brussels on Sept 19-20 and concluded with the signing of a charter signaling the next phase of their joint efforts to promote sustainable cities. View the Full Article.
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Legislation
Another Important Legislative Victory for Community Choice Energy. On September 27 Governor Brown vetoed AB976 which would have singled out community choice energy programs like Sonoma Clean Power and prohibited them from using the same consulting service before and after the launch of a program. The coast is getting clearer and clearer for emerging community choice energy programs throughout California to launch. View the Full Report.
Governor Signs Regional Commuter Benefit Bill. Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1339, which allows the Bay Area Air District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to implement a regional Bay Area commuter policy benefiting many employees."This bill will reduce payroll taxes, cut commute costs, reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in the Bay Area. "It also offers a win-win approach to regional environmental concerns that will help California meet its climate goals laid out in AB 32 and SB 375 while saving Bay Area businesses money." View the Full Report.
CEQA Streamlining: Geography and Addressing Climate Change Can Help. As environmental regulations such as the California Environmental Quality Act and AB32 known as the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 continue to evolve in California, cities, counties and other public agencies have an opportunity to streamline environmental review for key infrastructure, transit and other projects. View the Full Article.
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Impacts
Climate Action for Health: Integrating Public Health into Local Climate Action Planning. Prepared by the California Department of Public Health, this publication, created for planners of California cities, provides information on how health co-benefits can be integrated into local Climate Action Plans. View the Full Report.
Sea Level Rise Threatens Countries, Regions and Cities around the World. With sea levels expected to rise by as much as three feet by the year 2100, in large part due to climate change, low-lying countries and coastal cities face an unprecedented challenge this century. Recent research indicated that in the next several centuries, average global sea levels could rise somewhere between 18 and 29 feet... View the Full Report.
Philippines Floods Prompt Climate Action. As the Philippines tries to emerge from years of agricultural backwardness and attain food self-sufficiency, farmers, non-government organizations (NGOs) and government agencies are trying to map out strategies that can mitigate the effects of weather patterns gone wild. View the Full Report.
Researchers Identify Link between Heat and Heart Stress. Heat is the top weather-related cause of death in the United States, and scientists have long known that heat waves increase hospitalization and death rates among susceptible populations - the very young and very old, the poor, and those battling cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, among others. But until now they have not known how heat causes heart failure. View the Full Report.
How Will Climate Change Affect Food Production? Isolating the influence of climatic change from all the other trends is difficult, but one recent Stanford University study found that increases in global production of maize and wheat since 1980 would have been about 5% higher were it not for climate change. View the Full Report.
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Economics
Wild Weather is The New Normal and Insurance Companies Must Act. This year's extreme events follow the world's costliest year ever for natural catastrophe losses, including $32 billion in 2011 insured losses in the United States due to extreme weather events. This is no short-term uptick: insured losses due to extreme weather have been trending upward for 30 years, as the climate has changed and populations in coastal areas and other vulnerable places have grown. View the Full Report.
Cities, Universities, and Utilities Can Now Derive An Important Additional Benefit From Trees. They can earn carbon offset credits by planting and maintaining trees in public and private urban areas. The California Air Resources Board Urban Forest Protocol, which was developed by the Climate Action Reserve, provides guidelines for measuring carbon stored in urban forest offset projects. View the Full Report.
Feeling the Economic Impact of Climate Change. The bottom line on climate change is going to be our bottom line. It's the economy that may be the first place we are forced to really wake up to what climate change means for society. View the Full Report.
Oxfam Warns Climate Change And Extreme Weather Will Cause Food Prices To Soar. A report from Oxfam warns that global warming and extreme weather will combine to create devastating food price shocks in the coming decades. View the Full Report.
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Science
Climate Models That Predict More Droughts Win Further Scientific Support. Using a statistical method with data about sea surface temperatures, Dai, a climate researcher at the federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research, found that the model accurately portrayed historic climate events. "We can now be more confident that the models are correct," Dai said, "but unfortunately, their predictions are dire." View the Full Report.American Meteorological Society Adopts Stronger Statement on Climate Change. Saying that the warming climate is a direct result of human activity, the American Meteorological Society released a revised statement on climate change. The 2012 update draws much stronger conclusions about human influence on the Earth's climate and the resultant global warming. View the Full Article.
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Upcoming Events
Contra Costa County Climate Leaders (4CL) workshop on Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled and GHG Associated with Transportation.
Tuesday, October 23rd 9 am - 12 pm
City Hall, 3rd Floor Conference Room, 1666 North Main Street, Walnut Creek, CA
Hear about legislative and program updates (BAAQMD and League of CA Cities), resources and funding (511.org), and hear from other cities as they share best practices and example of how they are reducing community-wide VMTs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with transportation. Various local governments addressing this important issue through General Plan updates, Climate Action Plans, transportation policies, education, outreach, and practice will be presenting. Sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Quantum Energy Services & Technologies, Inc. (QuEST). This is a FREE event, however space is limited. Register today: info@cccclimateleaders.org or call 925-708-9686
The Basics of Benchmarking in EPA's Portfolio Manager.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 11:00 am, PDT
Whether you are looking to benchmark a K-12 school, fire station, courthouse, supermarket, or office, learn how easy it is to start benchmarking your building's energy consumption and tracking its improvements in over time with EPA's Portfolio Manager. Webcast registration.
Financing Energy Efficient Upgrades with ENERGY STAR.
Tuesday, October 30, 11:00 am, PDT
Learn how public sector organizations are improving energy efficiency with innovative solutions to financial barriers. Attendees will learn about financing projects in the public and private sectors, the basics of performance contracting, and how EPA's tools and resources can help you make the decision to improve your facilities now or later. Webcast registration.
Workshop - Getting It Done: Jumpstarting Energy Efficiency Projects for Local Governments
Thursday, November 15th, 9 am - 1 pm (lunch included), 1 pm - 3 pm *Bonus Deep-dive Financial Analysis*
Location to Be Determined in Contra Costa County
Do you have energy efficiency projects that you'd like to see happen, but you are not sure how to get them done? This workshop offers strategies and hands-on exercises to help you jumpstart these projects. Local government staff members and energy efficiency implementers are invited to stay for the afternoon and dive into detailed financial analysis and crafting a case for action based on the numbers. Please Click Here for more information OR contact Leah Zippert (leahz@abag.ca.gov or 510-464-7995) to register.
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