Welcome to Monitor Notes, a weekly roundup of news items, event announcements, and updates on past Bay Area Monitor articles.
Public Streaming Service
After Governor Gavin Newsom tasked state agencies with meeting a stream of water challenges and building a “climate-resilient system,” they’re asking for help. “Think about California’s diverse regions 30 years from now,” said Cal EPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld (pictured) in a press release. “What can the state do now to best help people, the environment, and the economy thrive even as California’s natural fluctuations grow more variable and extreme?” Cal EPA, along with the state’s Natural Resources Agency and Department of Food and Agriculture, needs the public’s ideas and input to help determine priorities and policies that address droughts and floods, rising temperatures, wildfires, and aging infrastructure, among other water-related needs. Click here to email state agencies directly and see an event calendar. Suggestions will be handed to Gov. Newsom later this year.
Form of Recreation
Ever wonder how many of these same threats — drought, wildfire, sea-level rise — will impact local parks and trails? The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) wants the public’s say on these important issues in a new online survey. Feedback helps district staff gauge priorities with an eye toward wildfire prevention and climate change. They also want to know what services, programs, and recreational activities residents think should be added to local parks in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Surveys are online now. They’re also available at the Alameda County Fair EBRPD exhibit in the Agriculture Building through July 7.
All Over the MAP
If you travel on US-101, you know a thing or two about traffic. So impart your experiences, including commute challenges and plans for how you might travel in the future, in a survey through July 31. Responses are necessary to create a Mobility Action Plan (MAP) for the 101 corridor in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. Bad traffic isn’t isolated to these counties, though. Average Bay Area commute time is around 34 minutes today, 14 minutes more than it was in 1980, according to Metropolitan Transportation Commission data. Recent ballot measures to ease congestion have been met with mixed feelings. 2018’s Regional Measure 3 passed with 54 percent of the vote, raising bridge tolls to pay for bottleneck-clearing and to improve transportation.
Greenhouse Effect
Greenhouse gas emissions from San Francisco buildings have been cut by more than half since 1990. But more work is necessary to deliver zero-emissions building stock by 2050. Learn what’s being done during an American Institute of Architects, San Francisco (AIASF) discussion on July 2 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Staff from the SF Department of the Environment (including Senior Green Building Coordinator Eden Brukman, pictured) will talk about the City’s commitments, plans, and current legislation for zero-and-low carbon buildings. Buy tickets here, and then filter through the Monitor’s coverage about the role of San Francisco and other cities making climate commitments and policy implementation plans.
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