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Chico >> With 5 1/2 years left to meet greenhouse gas emission targets, the city of Chico continues to struggle in certain sectors.

The draft greenhouse gas emissions inventory, which is expected to be highlighted during the sustainability indicators report at the Chico City Council today, summarizes results of a high-level community-wide inventory that addresses emissions from the transportation, energy and waste sectors within city boundaries from 2005-12. Many external factors, including the economy and government regulations, are to be credited for reductions, and it remains to be seen how well the city is on track to meet its goals, said Principal Planner Brendan Vieg.

some of these reductions could be reversed, said Mark Stemen, a member of the Sustainability Task Force, which has been tasked with leading implementation of the Climate Action Plan.

councilors voted 5-2 to approve a final draft of the Climate Action Plan

Sustainability Task Force and the Chico State University Institute of Sustainable Development

goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 2005 levels in the next eight years.

The city hasn’t forgotten about its Climate Action Plan

This article was published on 04.17.14.

In November 2012, the Chico City Council put its official stamp on sustainability by adopting a municipal Climate Action Plan. The blueprint, honed by the city’s Sustainability Task Force, laid out a two-stage approach for addressing the impacts of climate change and meeting greenhouse-gas standards established by the state.

Opponents of a Wal-Mart “supercenter” store planned for Oroville have scored a partial victory with the California 3rd District Court of Appeal in their legal battle. The project is a relocated and expanded Wal-Mart Supercenter to replace an existing Wal-Mart of traditional dimension and retail offerings. In their legal action, Friends of Oroville and two individuals are challenging Oroville’s approval of an environmental impact report.

The appellate court agrees with two issues: whether the environmental impact report approved by the city inadequately analyzed the project’s greenhouse gas emissions and whether the new store might put too much traffic on Oroville Dam Boulevard, where the nearly 200,000-square-foot building, supermarket and garden center with its 24-hour retail and grocery services is to be located. “We reverse the judgment to the extent it denied plaintiffs’ petition for writ of mandate — and we remand this matter to the trial court to grant the petition,” the appellate panel says.

When the White House recently released its third National Climate Assessment, the basic findings didn’t surprise anyone who’s stepped outside on a regular basis. The Southwest portion of the U.S., including California, has been decreed in the report as “the hottest and driest region.” What isn’t so obvious, of course, is exactly what the future will bring. But the outlook is not positive.

Ironically, as officials grapple with storage and shortage issues, they also have to deal with flooding. As Robyn DiFalco, executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, explains, shifts in precipitation patterns throughout the country, but even in California, can mean more intense rain and snow in places not accustomed to such levels, and warmer winters mean greater—and earlier—ice melts in California mountain areas.

Water may be a prime concern, but it’s not the only concern. BEC has a three-pronged approach to environmental advocacy: land, air and water, and the interrelationship between the three. As explained by Chico City Councilwoman Tami Ritter, a member of the county’s Air Quality Management District, dry land breeds a greater risk of wildfires, which breeds greater air pollution. As a result, DiFalco says her organization is pushing all three elements as Chico and Butte County implement climate action plans, and the recent reports haven’t shifted BEC’s priorities.