Transportation, Sea Rise & More…

Principal Planner, Paia Levine, recently emailed the VWC Environmental Committee about the County’s pro-active approach to climate change. Her comments are very interesting and provide links to more details. This is an on-going process but some important steps have been undertaken that you will find of interest!

Her comments included the following:

“I can report … that many things are happening on the sustainability front. The County is clicking through many of the strategies listed in the Climate Action Strategy, which is our guiding document (http://www.sccoplanning.com/PlanningHome/SustainabilityPlanning/ClimateActionStrategy.aspx).

The Board will be considering the Sustainable Santa Cruz County plan (http://sustainablesantacruzcounty.org/), which focuses on land use and transportation planning, on October 28. The Board will see a package of General Plan and County Code amendments that addresses resiliency to climate change, next spring.

For the first time sea level rise will be addressed in coastal planning. Next year,  a major focus will be on preparing a feasibility study to determine the feasibility of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA)  (http://montereybaycca.org/) in the tri-County area. That is a grant funded effort, in partnership with 21 cities, special districts, and San Benito and Monterey counties.  As you might recall, CCA has tremendous potential to reduce GHG emissions, encourage/develop local green energy, and keep energy dollars local at the same time.” (You may remember that the VWC strongly supports the CCA and donated funds to the effort.)