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Last month our executive director, Joanna Gubman, had the pleasure of being interviewed by our friends at Modern Power about our work here at Urban Environmentalists (and her previous work in clean energy and transportation at the California Public Utilities Commission). We kept being focused on technology substitution. Let's take our gas cars and turn them into electric cars… Those things are great and they need to happen. And they are not enough. If you've been wanting to learn more about what we do at Urban Environmentalists and how you can get involved, this interview is a great introduction -- take a look!
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This morning, the SF Chronicle published an opinion piece by Urban Environmentalists Lead Zack Subin and UCLA Professor Michael Manville. In their article, they call on Governor Newsom to sign AB 2097, a parking reform bill that would prohibit local governments from mandating excessive parking near transit: Parking policy is both climate policy and housing policy; done right, it can also make California a more affordable place that offers more opportunities to more people. Urban Environmentalists has supported AB 2097 throughout this legislative session, sending support letters to the Legislature, calling representatives, and more. We're excited and proud of how far this bill has come, and call on the Governor to sign AB 2097 now!  At Urban Environmentalists, our bread and butter is grassroots advocacy. But it's important to advance thought leadership in our field, too! We're honored that our peer-reviewed paper on Energy Efficiency, Land Use, and Equity was accepted into the conference proceedings of the ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, a leading national conference that takes place biennially.
The paper was written by our executive director, Joanna Gubman, and lead volunteer Vanessa Boehm. Joanna presented at the conference this past Friday, where we were able to meet and learn from a number of potential new coalition partners. We look forward to jointly exploring how energy efficiency programs and policies can actively pursue land use justice, not just technological solutions, to better help both people and planet. On Apr 26, SF made permanent a car-free JFK Promenade. Urban Environmentalists joined a broad coalition of San Franciscans that helped spur legislation from the mayor, ultimately supported by 7 of 11 city supervisors after a 12 hour meeting. This is a key step, but only a first step, towards creating the complete active transportation network that will be needed to meet the city's climate action target of 80% trips on active or shared travel modes by 2030. Walk SF has a recap of more ways to celebrate in the coming weeks.
We've been busy with other advocacy and events:
Urban Environmentalists have created an action letter to send to the SF Planning Commission demanding more housing and greater equity in the Housing Element Update. Join the campaign here.
2021 saw 8 people dead and many more seriously injured on Berkeley's streets.
Urban Environmentalists have set up a petition to urge the city council to update the city's Vision Zero Plan and ensure it can meet its goal of zero traffic deaths by 2028. Sign the petition here. Urban Environmentalists is campaigning for a connected Active Transportation Network in SF12/12/2021 As part of its Vision Zero Strategy update, the SF MTA has proposed weaving together the city's protected bike lanes with nascent Slow Streets and car-free streets into a connected network. We could not be more excited about this concept, but it will take sustained political support to make it a reality. Read more and sign our petition.
Urban Environmentalists has had three Meet & Greets with candidates for State Assembly district 17, corresponding to Eastern SF. We have hosted Bilal Mahmood, David Campos, and Thea Selby, and the final event with be with Matt Haney on Dec 13. We have cohosted with Streets for People and SF YIMBY. You can catch the event videos at Streets for People's YouTube page.
SF-based Urban Environmentalists will be participating in SF YIMBY's endorsement process: stay tuned for their endorsements by early Jan 2022. We're proud to join over 200 other organizations in calling on COP26 leaders to commit to boosting bicycling as a way to quickly and effectively make progress on our climate goals. Learn more and sign your organization on too!  Last week, the California Efficiency + Demand Management Council invited us to speak at its Fall Conference on the essential topic of aligning climate policies with equity priorities.
Our Executive Director, Joanna Gubman, spoke about how land use reform is both a fundamental equity issue and an essential tool in fighting and adapting to climate change. She shared our vision of how the energy efficiency and demand management industry can prioritize climate and land use equity today - we just need more holistic, human-centered approaches and a willingness to fund low-tech measures like bollards and infill housing. We also encouraged attendees to move forward in a way that amplifies marginalized voices and invests in the solutions underserved communities really need. Many thanks to fellow panelists Megan Day (NREL) and Quinn Parker (Encolor) for their inspiring words as well, and for the good conversations they sparked. Let's get to work! |
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May 2022
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