Energy and Technology

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.

As part of my annual New Year tradition, I am highlighting some of the new California state laws (most of which are in effect as of January 1, 2019 unless expressed otherwise in the law). Keep in mind that during the 2018 Legislative Session, over one thousand Assembly Bills (AB) and Senate Bills (SB) collectively passed. Governor Jerry Brown signed 1,016 of the 1,217 that landed on his desk (he vetoed the rest).  New laws limiting plastic straws, increasing renewable sources for electricity, Gun control, protecting Net Neutrality and others.

I don’t think that many of us in Sonoma Countyy question the reality of climate change. Its disastrous effects were made too painfully evident by the unprecedented size, speed, and destructiveness of our recent wildfires. Although the current administration refuses to acknowledge and confront the issue, we understand that we are in a race against time to develop renewable energy sources and drastically reduce our consumption of fossil fuels. Many of us, as individuals, work conscientiously to reduce our emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). But each municipality has a much bigger carbon footprint than any individual resident or family. Since being elected to the Healdsburg City Council, I’ve made reducing our city’s GHG emissions a high priority. Happily, the Council has stepped up to the plate and taken many measures to reduce GHG.

I’ve been preaching for some time, that if we don’t deal with climate change, do it right, and do it now—nothing else is really going to matter. When I went to the Climate March in 2014 in NYC, I  heard we had 20–40 years to make a difference; recent reports say the window is only 10–12 years. Now is the time.

Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) and Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02) announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $2.9 million to the Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) for relocation of a portion of the water supply pipeline outside a hazard zone, providing for increased resiliency to future disasters.  

California's utility regulatory body will hold one of two upcoming workshops on the practice of shutting off power at high wildfire risk times in Santa Rosa on Friday, December 14.

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? 

Forecast models indicate that an atmospheric river-type storm will approach Central California on Tuesday, with showers increasing along the coast during the late morning hours and moderate to heavy rainfall increasing and spreading inland during the afternoon hours and continuing overnight. Snow levels will remain high with heavy snowfall possible in the southern Sierra. The brunt of the storm is expected to be felt on the Central Coast, where rainfall totals could near five inches in some of the coastal hills.

The atmospheric river that began Monday February 25 and lasted through February 27 is one for the books. Record rains flooded our local waterways. The Laguna de Santa Rosa and Russian River swelled to historic heights; the Russian River peaked at 45.4 feet late Wednesday night, clocking in at the worst flood since 1995. 2,600 houses and dozens of businesses were under water. 3,700 citizens were evacuated. Mudslides buckled roads throughout west county, cutting off neighborhoods from their larger communities. Roadways washed out and flooded, putting us two steps back after beginning to make small gains in improving our infamous pot-holed roadways. First responders worked around the clock, making swift water rescue after swift water rescue, risking their own lives to ensure the safety of others.

After an extensive and thorough investigation, CAL FIRE has determined the Tubbs Fire, which occurred during the October 2017 Fire Siege, was caused by a private electrical system adjacent to a residential structure.

PG&E is staffing up tonight for tomorrow’s storm.  PG&E’s Sonoma Division Emergency Operations Center in Santa Rosa is expected to activate in the early morning hours in order to prepare and respond to storm-related outages in Sonoma County.