|
JPC Home
JPC Members
Meeting Schedule
Agenda Packages
Meeting Minutes
Presentations
Reports
Webcast
Climate Change
Member Agencies
ABAG
BAAQMD
BCDC
MTC
| |
Joint Policy Committee
Regional
Climate-Change Strategy
Air
District Climate Protection Summit
As part of its Climate Protection Summit
on November 10th, the Air District convened breakout sessions
to share initial ideas for addressing climate change in the Bay Area.
Participants self-selected into five groups: business, government,
non-governmental organizations, youth and transportation; and they suggested a
panoply of interesting and useful ideas. Staff has reviewed the
suggestions made during all five sessions and grouped them into general
themes, reported below. Principal themes, without regard to
organizational or institutional responsibility and without any attempt
to evaluate or rank, are as follows:
 | Transportation and land-use: planning and investment
Including, for example:
- Encouraging more smart-growth (infill, TOD, jobs/housing balance, centered
de- velopment);
- Discouraging development and transportation investments in areas subject to
sea-level rise;
- Connecting transportation funding directly to smart-growth initiatives;
- Encouraging energy conserving housing developments and buildings;
- Encouraging more office development in transit-accessible locations;
- Locating context-setting and highly symbolic public facilities (e.g., sports
stadi-ums) with greater regard to multi-modal accessibility;
- Developing stronger public transit, biking and walking systems;
- Providing more free shuttles, particularly in downtown areas;
- Expanding carpool lanes;
- Giving greater priority to non-automobile modes in the regional
transportation plan;
- Implementing “complete streets” supporting all travel modes;
- Canceling highway widening projects;
- Developing a regional rail plan;
- Supporting inter-regional high-speed rail;
- Integrating rail and bus networks;
- Encouraging safe routes to schools;
- Increasing car share availability;
- Expanding bus rapid transit;
- Encouraging more transportation demand management (TDM) including tele-commuting
and employer trip reduction ordinances;
- Facilitating more ride sharing. |
| Information sharing, networking, and technical assistance
Including, for example:
- Maintaining and publishing an inventory or clearinghouse of contacts,
relevant in-formation, current initiatives and best practices;
- Holding forums to share information and provide opportunities for
peer-to-peer networking on climate-change issues;
- Providing metrics and models to assess climate-change effects and
initiatives;
- Developing a greenhouse-gas-reduction toolkit;
- Providing regional indicators of climate progress;
- Funding itinerate experts to assist greenhouse-gas reduction programs;
- Automating access to utility baseline data;
- Standardizing and streamlining emissions inventory and audit processes;
- Providing information to assist environmentally friendly procurement;
- Joining national networks of cities and regions working on climate change
initiatives. |
| Alternative technologies, energy sources, and fuels
Including, for example:
- Exploring “community choice aggregation” utility models;
- Supporting renewable energy;
- Encouraging plug-in hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles;
- Accelerating implementation of cleaner fuels (e.g., biodiesel)
- Using landfill methane to power trucks and buses;
- Supporting AB 1493 (Pavley) type rules for freight vehicles;
- Electrifying CalTrain;
- Cleaning school bus emissions. |
| Financial incentives and disincentives
Including, for example:
- Exploring new vehicle fees and taxes (e.g., vehicle registration fee to be
used for climate-friendly transportation);
- Removing parking subsidies;
- Implementing a “feebate” program (rebates for fuel efficient vehicles
supported by fees on less efficient vehicles);
- Implementing an indirect-source development fee, similar to that being tried
in the San Joaquin air basin, to pay for transportation improvements;
- Raising parking meter rates and using the funding generated for climate
protection;
- Providing additional incentives for fleet turnover;
- Pursuing environmentally preferable purchasing and contracting programs;
- Developing a community-based system for trading energy or carbon credits;
- Providing regional funding for local, NGO and small-business
greenhouse-gas-reduction programs and projects;
- Exploring new pricing strategies (e.g., road tolls, reduced transit fares).
|
| Regulation
Including, for example:
- Increasing standards for stationary sources;
- Requiring taxi fleets to phase in hybrid or other fuel-efficient vehicles;
- Implementing energy efficient standards for building remodeling;
- Setting regional green building standards so investors cannot choose
jurisdictions with less stringent regulations;
- Preventing refinery flaring;
- Ending exemptions for trucks;
- Expediting permit processes for green development;
- Removing methane exemptions. |
| Integration (incorporating climate considerations into existing
programs and procedures)
Including, for example:
- Making greenhouse-gas impact an important part of the CEQA process;
- Tying MTC project funding to emissions impact;
- Basing Proposition 1B funding on support for emission reduction.
|
| Public information
Including, for example:
- Communicating the benefits of reduced or zero car ownership;
- Connecting “Spare the Air Days” to the climate issue;
- Designing and implementing a school curriculum;
- Coordinating town hall meetings;
- “Branding” climate change and creating a recognizable logo, similar to
“Spare the Air;”
- Publishing a climate change newsletter;
- Exploiting community-access, public and commercial television opportunities;
- Engaging youth in climate change and emission issues;
- Implementing environmental considerations in new driver education programs;
- Providing a forum for businesses and other affected entities to express
opinions on climate- change policies and regulations;
- Providing rebate and incentive information;
- Providing resources for community and employee education;
- Providing information on how other environmental issues relate to climate
change;
- Educating parents on how their children may be affected by climate change;
- Connecting builders and developers to the climate issue;
- Involving churches;
- Emphasizing personal responsibility and things individuals can do to reduce
emis-sions;
- Tailoring messages to reach the not-yet-converted;
- Relating climate change to health;
- Developing multiple messages and messengers. |
| Environmental Stewardship
Including, for example:
- Increasing composting and waste reduction;
- Banning recyclables and green waste from landfills;
- Decreasing water use;
- Linking water conservation to “Spare the Air;
- Launching a “native plant” program to conserve water and reduce waste;
- Encouraging local foods;
- Modernizing storm water regulations. |
| Environmental Equity
Including, for example:
- Initiating climate justice projects and programs to reduce differential
climate im-pact on disadvantage communities
- Addressing equity issues in cap and trading programs for greenhouse gases.
|
| Leadership and Coordination
Including, for example:
- Overseeing multiple efforts on multiple fronts;
- Articulating clear and consistent goals, shared values and common
priorities;
- Partnering to reduce duplication and reinvention;
- Providing strong links to state efforts;
- Encouraging and supporting local, business and NGO efforts;
- Developing a consolidated plan to cap emissions and attain climate-change
objec-tives;
- Advocating for legislation;
- Supporting legal defenses of climate actions;
- Helping to build political will. |
| |
|
