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SAVE THE DATE:
Upcoming Events
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Understanding the Urban-Rural Connection
November 5,
2015
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Workshop aims to define and understand the importance of the urban-rural connection for climate adaptation.
2015 Town Hall on Climate Change
November 14,
2015
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Featuring a distinguished panel, public comment period, networking, and interactive work groups.
Region Rising
November 20,
2015
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
An inaugural conference dedicated to dreaming big about our region's future and how each of us can bring it to life, now...
CAP Quarterly Luncheon
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Save the Date!
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AIR QUALITY IN THE NEWS*
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*The news links above do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cleaner Air Partnership or its members. They are intended for information purposes.
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Fall Sees a Flurry of State and Federal Air Quality
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Reinforces importance of cross-sector collaboration
There has been a flurry of air quality-related policy activities this fall, both at the federal and state level. These actions present opportunities for cleaning up the air, improving public health and stimulating economic development. For the
Cleaner Air Partnership, increasing air quality standards that improve public health will create challenges for businesses that need to be addressed through incentive-based pollution control measures and other innovative solutions.
At the state level, the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 (SB 350, De León) was signed into law by Governor Brown. This legislation calls for 50 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030; a doubling of energy efficiency savings in existing buildings by 2030; and wide-spread electrification of the transportation system.
The California Air Resources Board has held multiple workshops and public hearings on several air quality-related activities including a second update to the
AB 32 Scoping Plan for meeting 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets and the
Sustainable Freight Action Plan. The Sustainable Freight Action Plan calls for several State Agencies to collaborate on the development of an integrated plan which aims to improve freight efficiency, transition to zero-emission technologies, and increase the competitiveness of California's freight system. The
Sustainable Freight Action Plan will be completed by July 2016 and the final 2030 scoping plan is due in the fall of 2016.
While these policy initiatives will certainly benefit air quality and public health, they will likewise present challenges for businesses and economic growth. As the
Cleaner Air Partnership moves toward its 30th year of action, it's more imperative than ever that business, public health and civic organizations continue to partner to work toward fair and effective incentive-based pollution control measures and other innovative solutions for meeting air quality standards.
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Breathe California Seeks Clean Air Champions and Artists
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Call for clean air nominations and art contest submissions
Are you a Clean Air Champion?
Breathe California is looking for the Sacramento Region's clean air heroes. If you or someone you know does their part to promote clean air, you could be Breathe California of Sacramento - Emigrant Trails' next Clean Air Award winner!
Submitting a nomination is easy! Just click here, and answer a few questions about your (or your nominee's) clean air efforts. Winners will be celebrated at a Clean Air Awards Luncheon in May 2016 where they will have opportunities to promote their efforts and business.
2016 High School Clean Air Art Contest
Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, in partnership with the Verge Center for the Arts, the Crocker Art Museum, and the Sacramento Air Quality Management District, is hosting its 9th Annual High School Art Contest. Visit Breathe's website or download the flyer for more details.
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Clean fleets, electric vehicles contribute to workforce development opportunities
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Intersection explored at October CAP quarterly luncheon
On October 16th,
John Lane, the new volunteer chair of the Cleaner Air Partnership, welcomed the quarterly luncheon attendees and reminded everyone how easy it is for each of us to get polarized in our own perspectives of what clean air means. John stressed the importance of the
Cleaner Air Partnership (CAP) and how it is a place to learn from one another, take the lessons learned and implement them in the region so future generations can live in a region with clean air, while ensuring health and economic prosperity. The theme of the luncheon was supporting clean technology in the Capital Region and the speakers were: Tim Taylor from Sacramento Air Quality Management District; Raef Porter from SACOG, and Evan Schmidt from Valley Vision.
Tim highlighted the successes of the
Sacramento Clean Cities Coalition and the Northern California Clean Technology Forum. The technology forum was a free event and had 215 people register to attend. Tim expressed his amazement on how the panelist were finding areas of agreement to work together. He discussed the advantages of Golden Gate Petroleum renewable diesel, which is made of leftover sheep and fish, and noted that renewable diesel is competitively priced to bio-diesel, so much so that San Francisco has transferred all their fleets from bio-diesel to renewable diesel.
Raef informed the group of SACOG's
Take Charge Electric Vehicles (EV) program. Raef stated that the EV adoption curve is far greater than the adoption of hybrid vehicles and that the number of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in the Capital Region is projected to grow to 75,000 by 2025. The Take Charge program goes into detail on how to make the region "EV ready" by creating a readiness plan, how to look for state and federal dollar, where to build charging stations and the need to have constant monitoring to implement updates to the plan. Raef's takeaway message was: "We don't want people to have a dramatic change of lifestyle but to get down to the person level and replace carbon emission cars with ZEVs." However, there are still some issues that arise with EVs that need to be worked out before the huge influx of EVs arrives within our region. Some of these issues discussed were how to incentivize more people to purchase EVs, charging station availability issues, how to integrate EVs into daily life and how to ensure EVs are accessible to all.
Lastly, Evan Schmidt gave a presentation on workforce readiness and economic development around zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and waste-to-energy technologies
such as renewable natural gas (RNG) produced through anaerobic digestion of organic sources of waste in the region. With the ZEV adoption, consumers must be educated and aware that purchasing an ZEV isn't as easy as just driving one off the lot. The consumer must also think about charging installation and the range of the car's battery between charges. The waste to energy industry is a new but quickly emerging area, which has potential to create jobs in sales, operating, haul away, etc. Evan's presentation enlightened the participants on how the region must prepare the workforce by training workers and preparing students with career awareness, community college classes, internships and pathways.
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The Cleaner Air Partnership is a joint project of Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and Valley Vision to help the Sacramento Region meet clean air standards that protect health and promote economic growth.
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