Rohnert Park, Sonoma Co, CA

Rohnert Park, Sonoma is the local government with very advanced sustainable strategies. It has already set GHG reduction target. It is promoting smart growth and sustainable development.

I happened to pass by the town the other day, and decided to cruise around to see if I could find anything sustainable.

I took a picture of a new development that apparently tries to promote mixed use. I think the first floor is meant to be offices/shops, and second floor and upward is for residential use. Each property is rather small, and built right next to each other.

If you are from old European or Asian (or probably other) communities, this is not extraordinary at all. Mixed use is a traditional way to use limited space efficiently.

But here in US, this is something rather new just because the land has never been scarce. Urban area has been sprawling horizontally, requiring more untouched land to be developed. It wasn't until recently that people started to question about the practices because it leads to waste of almost all the resources: land, energy, water, electricity, etc.... With current high gas price, more people/local governments should be interested in planning communities differently to reduce VMT (vehicle miles traveled).

City of Rohnert Park is one of the front-runners to explore the US version of smart growth. Stay tuned with them!

You can be fined by conserving water??

Sacramento couple who let lawn die to save water face $746 fine

Just reminds me how much impact climate change/environmental issues has on all aspects of our daily lives and how unlinked they are from the rules that govern our daily lives.

AB32: Draft Scoping plan released

California Air Resources Board released its draft scoping plan for AB32 (Global Warming Act) last Thursday at its Board meeting.

Dr. Bob Epstein, co-founder of E2 and Vice-Chairman of Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee (ETAAC) for AB32, made a comment after staff presentation for the draft scoping plan.

He said that he is hearing a lot of concerns from around the country recently, that it's not a good timing to start implementing measures to address climate change because of the high energy prices and economic downturn. He said it's exactly because of this reason that we need to implement AB32 now; it's not meant to worsen the situation, it is meant to be the remedy.

Toward low carbon & sustainable community; Ronhert Park and Sonoma Mountain Village, Sonoma, CA

Although it has not been talked much in the past, land use has large impact on the environment and GHG emissions. Principally, only local authorities can design their community. General plan& CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) can be a powerful tool to shift planning toward sustainability in California.



This is powerpoint presentation, case studies for community development toward sustainability in two communities in Sonoma County, California. Sends the message very clear.
I love this photo.

Palo Alto marchants: just banning plastic bag is not enough

Palo Alto merchants, faced with a proposed new regulation, come back with more sweeping alternative!

Local grocery stores and pharmacies are claiming that just banning plastic bag is not enough.

Instead, the comprehensive program should charge paper bags and an include intense effort to shift people to cloth or other reusable bags.

They also suggest that the program would also apply to all retail businesses in town, not just the 13 groceries and pharmacies affected by the current plan.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=8225

As a reusable bag user, I have always been worried about increased paper bag consumption due to the skepticism for the plastic bag. Too much paper bag is also waste of our precious resources (even recycling requires energy and other input). I totally agree with Palo Alto marchants!