Exciting New Steps for
Mountain View Sustainability
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Thank you to everyone who came to the December 4 City Council meeting to share your input and listen to the Council’s discussion of the staff analysis of the Environmental Sustainability Task Force 2 (ESTF-2) recommendations.
The City Council approved several early actions and up to
half a million dollars in the current budget to achieve them. We are excited about the upcoming opportunities to strengthen our Sustainability Program to help reach our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction goals.
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The early actions approved by Council include:
- Installing 10-15 Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers
- Exploring expansion of the free Mountain View shuttle
- Identifying “reach codes” (new building codes that go further than state standards to reduce GHG emissions)
- Work on a Decarbonization Road Map (a guide to a comprehensive Citywide approach to reducing GHG emissions from the built environment)
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Based on ESTF-2’s recommendations and Council’s direction, staff will also begin developing the City’s fourth Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP-4, see more below). This plan will establish the City’s strategic priorities and specific actions over the next few years.
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The City Council identified some items it would like to see explored in the ESAP-4:
- Potential strategies for encouraging installation of EV chargers in multi-family buildings
- Group-buy opportunities for EVs and EV chargers
- Transit passes for employees of small businesses
- Expansion of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) to all of Mountain View
- Options for the establishment of a community committee to support the City’s sustainability efforts
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Environmental Sustainability
Action Plan 4 (ESAP-4)
Stay Tuned - We Want Your Input!
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Over the winter, staff will develop the City’s fourth
Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP-4), to be completed by April 2019. ESAP-4 will be a three year plan covering Fiscal Years 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22, mapping out policies, programs, and projects the City expects to implement to lower our greenhouse gas emissions and meet our climate goals. You can see ESAPs 1, 2 and 3
here.
To make sure the plan is representative of our community’s values and concerns, we invite you to give your input through a new online community engagement tool, Engagement HQ, which we’ll be rolling out in early 2019. Stay tuned for more info!
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City of Mountain View Divests from
Fossil Fuels!
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At the December 12 City Council meeting, the City Council voted to adopt a Resolution modifying the City's investment policy, which states that
“No investment is to be made in entities that engage in the direct exploration, production, refining, or marketing of fossil fuels.” Council also approved a recommendation to “divest the City’s holdings in Chevron and Exxon Mobile Corporate Notes as soon as possible.”
The
Investment Review Committee (IRC), made up of the three Council members that sit on the Council Finance Committee and two members of the public, provides input about the City’s investment policies and practices. The Committee meets annually to review the City’s investment portfolio, and the recommendations were made as part of the IRC’s Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2017-18. The Annual Report and Resolution can be found
here.
There is a growing movement around the world to divest institutions from fossil fuels, and we are proud that the City of Mountain View is making a bold statement to take fossil fuels out of our investment portfolio.
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Action of the Month:
May Your Holidays be Merry and Green
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Happy Holidays from the Mountain View Sustainability Team! We know sustainability can fall to the wayside with the chaos of gifts, parties, and travel—Americans throw away 25% more trash during the holidays—but here are a few easy ways to lessen the impact of your holidays:
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- Lights: There are many options for string lights that use LED bulbs, and putting your lights on a timer means you’ll never accidentally leave them on all night.
- Carbon offsets: Air travel is a large component of many people’s carbon footprint, and while we can’t always avoid flying, we can minimize our impact (and guilt) by purchasing offsets. This site has a list of certified carbon offsets to choose from.
- Gift wrapping: Even if you reuse or recycle it, tens of thousands of trees are cut down each year to make wrapping paper. Try these alternatives:
- Brown paper bags—jazz them up by drawing on or decorating them
- Pillow cases with a brightly colored ribbon
- Scarves, fabric, or handkerchiefs
- Packaging Disposal: The holidays come with boxes, bags, and ribbons, and while it’s better to avoid the packaging altogether by giving a Zero Waste gift (see our November newsletter for ideas) or using alternative wrapping, make sure you properly recycle any holiday gift packaging you can (more info here).
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We Want to Hear From You!
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Tell us your sustainability story! Have you recently made energy efficiency upgrades to your home, incorporated a new zero waste habit into your life, or found an alternate mode of transport that you love?
Send a photo and a short blurb to
[email protected] and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter!
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www.mountainview.gov/sustainability
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