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San Mateo is checking off items on its climate change to-do list, but it’s still facing other hurdles, like updating an outdated emissions inventory and adapting to a regional ban on the sale and installation of natural gas water heaters by 2027.
Each jurisdiction puts forward a number of initiatives as part of its Climate Action Plan, a document outlining how it will align with state goals to reduce carbon emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and achieve substantial progress toward carbon neutrality by 2045. Many of San Mateo’s plans have focused on decarbonization, such as recently adopting reach codes, or building codes that go above state-level mandates, that incentivize use of electric appliances and penalize reliance on gas infrastructure in homes and buildings. It prioritized the electrification of municipal buildings, expanded its electric vehicle fleet and passed a gas leaf blower ban going into effect next year. The city also partnered with Peninsula Clean Energy to set up solar carports at Beresford Park.
“The city did not pay anything up front, and PCE and McMillan [Electric] are responsible for the long-term maintenance of the system,” Sustainability Program Manager Andrea Chow said during a recent Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission meeting. “It was also sized to offset 100% of the Beresford Recreation Center’s historical annual usage, and so over the term of the power purchase agreement, the city is estimated to see savings of $450,000 across the term.”
Still, a foundational component of the overall plan is the GHG inventory, which assesses the main sources of emissions and guides city staff and officials on where to focus its decarbonization policies. The most recent inventory is from 2019.
“We do really need to know if what we’re doing is aggressive enough or ambitious enough to hit the goals that we want to hit,” Commissioner Kimi Narita said during the meeting. “We are the biggest city in the county, and I do think we have that obligation … we can’t rely on 2019 data.”
The city is also working alongside the county to inform property owners about electrification benefits and rebates, especially in light of the recent Bay Area Air District ruling that solidified a ban on the sale and installation of new natural gas water heaters starting in 2027. While there will be some exemptions to the rule, the district’s decision was controversial, given the replacements could cost owners thousands of more dollars.
Building and vehicle electrification initiatives are a common feature of Climate Action plans, considered one of the most consequential ways for cities to lower their GHG emissions. Many cities, including San Mateo, have had to weigh the financial implications of electrification against climate goals and regional and state-level policies, as residents and city leaders have raised concern over the delta between the average energy upgrade costs what they’ve experienced firsthand.
In the US, transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions, yet this article says nothing about changing transportation norms of driving a personal vehicle to where you want to go. Public transit, walking, biking, and scooting are the best ways to reduce carbon emissions. Healthy for your body too!
Perhaps, Macqueena, you’ve missed the latest headlines that the UN-backed IPCC admitted their doomsday “climate change” predictions were a lie. Better late than never to acknowledge those with common sense already knew. Let’s hope more lawfare is initiated to stop this woke ideology that transfers more of your hard-earned taxpayer money to climate change grifters for an issue that was never an issue. BTW, doesn't walking increase carbon emissions due to increased exhalation?
But the leader of the democrat climate brigade, bartender and climate expert Dr. AOC, said in 2019 that we only have 12 years before "our planet is destroyed. It's time to start breathing less, freak out more, overreact and of course, tax, tax, tax.
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(3) comments
In the US, transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions, yet this article says nothing about changing transportation norms of driving a personal vehicle to where you want to go. Public transit, walking, biking, and scooting are the best ways to reduce carbon emissions. Healthy for your body too!
Perhaps, Macqueena, you’ve missed the latest headlines that the UN-backed IPCC admitted their doomsday “climate change” predictions were a lie. Better late than never to acknowledge those with common sense already knew. Let’s hope more lawfare is initiated to stop this woke ideology that transfers more of your hard-earned taxpayer money to climate change grifters for an issue that was never an issue. BTW, doesn't walking increase carbon emissions due to increased exhalation?
But the leader of the democrat climate brigade, bartender and climate expert Dr. AOC, said in 2019 that we only have 12 years before "our planet is destroyed. It's time to start breathing less, freak out more, overreact and of course, tax, tax, tax.
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