August Newsletter + Welcoming our New Members

Greetings! This month, we welcome all of our new members who wrote to the SF Board of Supervisors to express their support for Caltrain, as well as those who attended our SFCTA Congestion Pricing Update and Lunch & Learn with the Port of SF.
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The mission of Urban Environmentalists is to address the climate and inequality crises by transforming cities and towns into inclusive communities designed around people rather than cars. We value healthy environments supportive of all life; vibrant, diverse, and nurturing urban communities with abundant housing and opportunities for all; and efficient, equitable use of our planet’s resources, especially land. We look forward to seeing you at one of our August events!
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Upcoming Events

• We’ll be joined by the Greenbelt Alliance at our 8/3 meeting at 6PM - sign up here.

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An Important Milestone
Every Urban Environmentalist contributes to this movement, and there are now over a thousand of us on this email list! To celebrate, we made this visualization of our 800 Bay Area members. The counts on the map represent the number of members in each ZIP Code.

Some other notable regions for Urban Environmentalists subscribers:

• Southern California (50 subscribers)
• Mid-Atlantic / Northeastern United States (22 subscribers)
• California’s Central Valley (21 subscribers)

We recognize that our membership is lacking in many disadvantaged Bay Area communities that bear the brunt of our pollution burden and face barriers to affordable housing, healthcare, and employment. Our goal is to identify speakers and team leads who live in and advocate for these communities.

Events Recap

Last month was jam-packed! Events included an SFCTA Congestion Pricing Update and a lunch & learn with the Port of SF, co-hosted by the Association of Women in Water, Energy and Environment (AWWEE).

• At the SFCTA event, Colin Dentel-Post described the various congestion pricing options considered and the final two options, the “Inbound” option and the “Bidirectional” option. See the full recording here or check out the live tweet thead.
• At the Port of SF lunch & learn, Diane Oshima provided an overview of the many projects and programs on the waterfront, covering resilience, equity, housing, mobility, and more. She also shared links for how you can get involved. And don’t forget, event participants are invited to a 20% discount off their first-year membership with our co-host, AWWEE, using code PORTOFSF. AWWEE’s educational events expand knowledge, build leadership skills and showcase the success of women. Most importantly, they serve as touch points for members to make valuable new connections, creating a sense of community for women working in often male-dominated fields. See the full recording here.

Today’s Actions - SB 902 + SB 288

SB 902 (Streamlining Rezoning up to 10-plexes)

• Senate Bill 902 would allow cities to zone parcels in a transit-rich area, a jobs-rich area, or an urban infill site for up to 10 units. To support SB 902, contact your State Assemblymember. - Find Your Representative

SB 288 (CEQA Streamlining)

• Senate Bill 288 would exempt bus rapid transit and regional rail services on existing public rail or highway rights of way from onerous and unnecessary regulations. To support SB 288, ask your local city council for a resolution of support for the bill. To learn more, see this presentation from SPUR.

What we’re reading/watching:
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• Building Urbanism into Climate Policy - our very own co-lead Zack Subin with his first blog post for the Rocky Mountain Institute
• Rich Americans’ homes produce nearly 25% more greenhouse gases than poorer people’s - LA Times
• A Better Caltrain Is One that Exists - Roger Rudick, Streetsblog SF
• Government moves to end minimum carpark requirements and remove low height-limits in bid to increase dense housing - Henry Cooke, Stuff (New Zealand)