Sustainable Development Focus
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE - Oct 13 With transportation funds strained, the San Diego region has one path to hit the state’s increasingly strict caps on greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks — forego highway expansion in favor of dramatically beefing up its bus network, according to a San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) report presented on Friday to the agency’s board. To meet the state targets, agency staff recommended elected officials approve more than $400 million in bus projects through 2025, while also enacting a suite of local policies aimed at discouraging driving, such as increased parking fees and highway tolls. The report comes in the wake of revelations from the United Nations scientific panel on climate change that humanity has until 2030 to dramatically curb greenhouse gases or face devastating consequences, such as increased drought, wildfire, floods, and food shortages.
UTILITY DIVE - Oct 15 A $7.1 million project at the Port of Long Beach will demonstrate how microgrid technology can provide a clean, reliable supply of electricity for critical operations. Helped by a $5 million grant from the California Energy Commission, the port will install a solar carport, power storage systems, and advanced controls at its security headquarters. As part of the project, the port will analyze 12 months of performance data and share it with the state’s other seaports.
SMART CITIES DIVE - Oct 16 Portland General Electric (PGE), the utility that covers more than 40 percent of Oregon, announced plans to file a proposal for the nation’s largest smart grid test project, which would serve more than 20,000 customers. PGE would help customers automate smart devices to interact with the grid; when electricity demand is high, for example, customers could elect to run their devices more efficiently to save energy. The project aims to get at least 66 percent participation from eligible customers; the typical participation rate for a demand-response program is less than 7 percent.
SANTA MONICA DAILY PRESS - Oct 15 The Santa Monica City Council this week unanimously approved the Local Coastal Program (LCP) Land Use Plan– the first update to the plan since its adoption in 1992. The update is an important step toward aligning the LCP with current city policies related to mobility, sustainability, and adaptation to sea level rise, as required by Coastal Commission guidelines. The Land Use Plan consists of seven policy areas that address State Coastal Act requirements, including access to the beach and sea-level rise. While Santa Monica has not yet experienced effects of sea level rise, adopting these policies now makes Santa Monica one of the first Southern California cities to begin this level of preparation.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Oct 16 Uber and Lyft cars contribute heavily to San Francisco’s traffic slowdowns, especially in the downtown area and at night, according to a report released on Tuesday, which both companies said used a flawed and incomplete approach. The report from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority crunched data from November-December 2010 and the same two months in 2016 to get snapshots of how traffic changed over those six years. The report attributes about half the increase in congestion over the six years to ride hailing, with the rest due to 110,000 new jobs and 70,000 new residents.
TECHCRUNCH - Oct 16 Amazon announced today that it has invested $10 million in Closed Loop Fund, which finances the creation of recycling infrastructure and services in U.S. cities. In a statement, the e-commerce behemoth claimed that its investment will keep one million tons of recyclable material out of landfills and "eliminate the equivalent of two million metric tons of CO2 by 2028, equivalent to shutting down a coal-fired power plant for six months." As the largest online retailer in the U.S. by far, Amazon packages produce a massive amount of cardboard and packaging waste every year. The burden placed on overwhelmed municipalities and waste collection services that need to dispose of packaging from Amazon and other e-commerce stores has been dubbed the “Amazon Effect.”
CURBED S.F. - Oct 11 San Francisco Mayor London Breed is looking for someone to head the city’s newly formed Housing Delivery Department and move housing projects forward. “We are in desperate need of new housing, but our current permitting process is too slow as projects are bounced back and forth between city departments instead of moving forward,” said Breed in a statement released Wednesday. “Once the Planning Commission approves these projects, the city must move more quickly to get these housing units permitted so we can create more homes for people. My Director of Housing Delivery’s sole job will be to work with our city departments to streamline the permitting process and work with departments to get housing built quickly.”
