Sustainable Development Focus
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE - Jun 14 The Encinitas City Council should take another look at the 19 sites it is proposing to rezone for high-density housing and reconsider some of them before putting the list on the ballot in November, the city’s Planning Commission unanimously agreed last Thursday. The proposed ballot measure list is the city’s latest attempt to comply with state law. It is the only city in San Diego County and one of just a few in the state that doesn’t have a current Housing Element: a state-required document that spells out how a city will accommodate its future housing needs, particularly those of low-income residents. Encinitas has been sued multiple times over this situation, and it has already tried to pass one ballot measure: the failed Measure T plan in 2016. City-hired consultants and council members have said that if Encinitas doesn’t succeed with its latest attempt, the courts will likely impose a plan upon the city. A final City Council vote is planned for July 18.
SOLAR INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - Jun 8 Caesars Entertainment Corp. has set what it calls science-based targets for drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Caesars says it is one of over 400 global organizations that have committed to business leadership and policy alignment on climate through the Science Based Target initiative and one of over 100 companies to have their targets approved. Targets adopted by companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are considered “science-based” if they are in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep a global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial temperatures. One of the first demonstrations of how Caesars will achieve its goals is by issuing a request for proposals this month for a utility-scale purchase of solar energy in the Las Vegas desert. The solar facility will deliver power to Caesars’ Nevada properties.
LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS - Jun 8 Los Angeles County transportation officials have unveiled potential routes for the Sepulveda Corridor Transit project in the first of several public meetings to introduce a proposed rail line linking the San Fernando Valley, Westside, and Los Angeles International Airport. Metro revealed six concepts, including an underground subway, above-ground light rail, and monorail, for the project, part of what would be a massive effort to move huge numbers of people across the region by way of public transit. More than 400,000 vehicle go through Sepulveda Pass each weekday. Despite heavy use, less than 2 percent of trips in the Sepulveda Pass are made by public transit, according to Metro.
GREENTECH MEDIA - Jun 11 Governments looking for ways to slash fossil fuel use and meet their greenhouse gas reduction goals are turning to their increasingly carbon-free grids to decarbonize buildings. The Marin County Board of Supervisors recently approved energy-efficiency updates to its green building requirements that include provisions providing a compliance pathway for all-electric buildings. The updated standards apply to new buildings in unincorporated areas of the county. This week, the California Energy Commission (CEC) will vote on whether to permit Marin County to implement its updated building energy-efficiency standards. California law permits cities and counties to adopt building energy standards more aggressive than the state baseline if the standards are deemed cost-effective and are approved by the CEC.
WATER DEEPLY - Jun 8 A modest strip of wetland, just 38 by 150 feet, in the Oro Loma Sanitary District promises to help solve two of the Bay Area’s most pressing concerns: sea-level rise and nutrient pollution. Below ground, effluent from Oro Loma’s wastewater treatment plant percolates through layers of sand and gravel. The goal is to test whether microbes living there can remove nitrogen and other contaminants that currently pass right through the treatment plant and into the Bay. Nitrates can harm aquatic environments by fueling algae blooms, which in turn can deprive other aquatic life of oxygen. Another key feature of the project that’s not immediately obvious is its shape. The land is higher at one end than the other, forming a subtle wedge. The hope is to protect tidal marshes, which help buffer the Bay shoreline against crashing waves, from rising seas. The horizontal levee concept is now being explored for sites all around the Bay.
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE - Jun 7 A citizens initiative that would require a public vote on any zoning changes for Oceanside’s agricultural, parkland, or open space has landed on the November ballot. Some of the city’s largest commercial farmers oppose the measure, saying it would infringe on their property rights, and a majority of the City Council backs them. The group sponsoring the measure, Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR), formed last year in response to a proposal to build nearly 1,000 homes on 177 acres in northeastern Oceanside in an agricultural area known as Morro Hills. The site is zoned for agricultural uses with a minimum lot size of 2.5 acres, which at present could be changed by a 3-2 vote of the City Council. Opponents of the development say it would increase traffic congestion and pollution, and add to the burden on the area’s already overtaxed infrastructure and public safety systems.
CHICAGO BUSINESS JOURNAL - Jun 12 United Airlines’ United Club lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has achieved gold-level certification through the new Audubon International Green Hospitality program. The carrier’s United Club location in Terminal 7 at LAX was recognized for its indoor air quality, innovative composting program, and dedication to environmental stewardship. United’s sustainability efforts at the LAX United Club come in the wake of the carrier’s launch of service in 2016 using commercial-scale volumes of sustainable aviation fuel at its Los Angeles hub for regularly-scheduled departures. United is now moving to introduce sustainable fuel at other of its principal hub airports.
