Energy and Technology

Vegetation Removal for Wildfire Safety Under Scrutiny. All across the state, PG&E is sending out crews to remove trees in large swathes under power lines. In neighborhoods, tree inspectors are tagging trees for trimming and removal. What used to be a required 18” clearance has become a 4-foot to 12-foot clearance since fires raged across our state and electric power lines have been identified as a source for several of these fires.

Sonoma County activists and students gathered at a May 15 meeting to discuss local approaches to support the Green New Deal, a proposal to tackle economic inequality and combat climate change at the same time.

CAL FIRE investigators were immediately dispatched to the Camp Fire and began working to determine the origin and cause of the fire. After a very meticulous and thorough investigation, CAL FIRE has determined that the Camp Fire was caused by electrical transmission lines owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E) located in the Pulga area. 

University tries very hard to get students involved with sustainability. With the way the campus is going with its efforts, there will be many other changes and programs to keep the school on a positive track towards a healthier campus for the environment. If all of the students on campus get involved with the practices that are being shown, there could be a positive and dramatic change in the community.

North Coast Senator Mike McGuire, Chair of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (JCFA) is hosting an important hearing in Humboldt County to discuss the impacts on California’s fisheries and wildlife from offshore wind energy development. 

On March 20, the City of Sebastopol launched a three-month 'Bus Buddies' program in an effort to help encourage ridership on Sonoma County Transit's Route 24. Overall ridership on the shuttle has already increased over 57% since free fares were announced last summer. The program aims to keep the momentum going, and ridership growing.

Two new proposed gas stations in the county have raised concerns about the environmental impact of the stations.  

In the next few days, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) contract crews will be working in Santa Rosa, Fort Ross, Annapolis and Monte Rio to conduct accelerated wildfire safety inspections of substations using helicopters.

Over 300 educational, business, government and community from the North Bay Counties will meet onApril 5, 2019 at Sonoma State University to discuss pathways to Economic, Social and Environmental Resilience at the14th Annual Sustainable Enterprise Conference.

There is a good bit of talk about a Green New Deal (GND), a plan to address climate change by directing federal dollars to restructure the economy, protect us from further disasters, create high paying jobs and reduce social inequities. How might a Green New Deal benefit the North Bay? 

Within a year, electricity from onshore wind and solar will be cheaper than any electricity from fossil fuels, a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) forecasts. This doesn’t even consider the “hidden” costs of fossils fuels—from mining and drilling operations, spills, and greenhouse gas emissions, nor does it factor in huge fossil fuel subsidies.

A article about a huge gas station proposed for Highway 116 and Stony Point Road  was featured in the April our edition. That article by Jenny Blaker helped spark a community uprising that culminated on July 8 with the developer withdrawing the application. Many people and organizations were instrumental in this success both before and after the April Gazette article, and we thank them all. While we are celebrating the termination of that proposal, we remain concerned about two other gas station proposals. One of them, in Petaluma, has been permitted by that city, and is now being fought in court.  The other, at Highway 12 and Llano Road, is wending its way through the Sonoma County permitting process. In this case there is still an opportunity for the community to weigh in.

California’s three largest energy companies announced a coordinated wildfire safety and awareness campaign to prepare Californians for the threat of extreme weather and power outages during times of wildfire danger. Energy companies turn off power to fire prone areas during extreme weather events as a safety precaution. This is known as a Public Safety Power Shutoff. tel:18667436589

Are you prepared for another wildfire – and going without electricity for an extended period-of-time when extreme fire danger conditions are forecasted?

Daily Acts has sponsored the Community Resilience Challenge for ten years; now they’re partnering with the Regional Climate Protection Agency to launch the Sonoma Climate Challenge, a program that offers actions varying in cost and difficulty that save water and energy and reduce pollution. Rated from easy to challenging, each action has information about how to do it, upfront cost in dollars, time commitment to take action, savings in resources, dollar cost of the action, and more information on resources to help you.

Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury report acknowledges Sonoma Water’s earthquake preparation. In June, the Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury concluded its investigation into the risk of a major earthquake in Sonoma County and the effect that it could have on residents, due to impacts on water supplies. The Grand Jury’s report suggests some areas where the department should improve while acknowledging some of the agency's strengths.

Topics will include expansion of the Public Safety Power Shutoff program, accelerated safety inspections of electric infrastructure, enhanced vegetation management around power lines, and hardening the electric system for the future by replacing equipment and installing stronger and more resilient poles and covered power lines.

Over 300 people showed up in the rain on May 15th to learn about the Green New Deal (GND). People of all ages, from little children with their parents (there was a table for the kids to color postcards with climate-friendly slogans to be sent to Gov. Newsom) to older folk, including many like myself, who are in the “Old Greyhair” League, were at the Fairgrounds to hear about local efforts to implement the GND.