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CHICO — The Arts Commission and Sustainability Task Force will continue as they are, at least for now, the Chico City Council decided last week. As the city faces budget-induced staffing challenges, the council is looking closer at its committees and commissions to find efficiencies while still meeting the city's and public's needs. Several councilors said the Sustainability Task Force, which was put on hold for restructuring earlier this year, is necessary to complete the Climate Action Plan, as required by the General Plan.

Mark Stemen of the Butte Environmental Council said the Sustainability Task Force is the best way to complete a climate action plan that identifies necessary action and engages the community. He noted the council promised to address climate change in 2006, with 25 percent target reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. "To be clear, our efforts so far have not reduced greenhouse production levels in Chico; they have simply slowed the rate of increase," he said. "As a community, we are still producing more and more greenhouse gases each and every year."

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.

CHICO — Frustrated by the city's lack of action to pull the Sustainability Task Force together, members plan to set a meeting of their own. It's been nearly nine months since the Sustainability Committee was disbanded by the City Council, and even though new members were selected Sept. 4, they still wait to be seated and have their first meeting. The delay is largely because the city has not yet identified staff to attend the meeting, after the assigned person was among positions eliminated in recent layoffs. Meanwhile, the Climate Action Plan's 2020 deadline looms closer and several new task force members are impatient to start their work.

Mark Stemen, one of seven citizens assigned to the task force, said Friday that he plans to call a meeting himself, hopefully next week. "Other people get mad, we get moving," he said. "We're tired of this. We are going to meet and the city can catch up with us." The meeting's focus will be to elect a chairperson, assign someone to take minutes, review the task laid out by the City Council and outline what needs to be done, Stemen said. "Hopefully by then, the city will be embarrassed enough they will find someone to come take notes for us," he said.

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.

Environmental groups get together to gain support for local efforts following sustainability conference

“It’s not just what we need to do, but ‘this is what we’ve done,’” Stemen said. “The amount of activity that’s happening around these types of issues—sustainability, environmental justice, basic peace with the planet—is really vibrant in this community so having a night like this allows people to find out what’s going on and be re-energized. When you’re just one group, sometimes it’s a little lonely, then you realize, ‘No, I’m just one of many.’”

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.

The rainy season is here, however, California is long from being clear of the drought. It would need to rain for 150 days before the state has recovered from the past several years of drought, said Debbie Davis, rural affairs adviser and drought liaison with Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office of Planning and Research.Davis shared an update at a forum about groundwater last week in Chico, held by the Butte Environmental Council.

The groundwater plans for the future won’t do anything to help with the current drought, said Paul Gosselin, Butte County’s executive director of Water and Resource Conservation.

Groundwater has been the state’s water bank, which is appropriate in times of drought, she said. However, there are problems when there is not enough water put back into the ground.O

Goldstein reached out to the general public at Chico events such as Thursday Night Market; the homeowner workshops co-sponsored by North Valley Energy Watch and the Butte Environmental Council, nonprofits that put together tool-and-testing kits available through the Chico library; and meetings with business leaders.

Molly Marcussen, a recent graduate of Chico State, began her CivicSpark fellowship this week, transitioning into City Hall as Goldstein transitions out. The two met in one of Marcussen’s classes last fall—Community Service Practice in Geography, taught by Sustainability Task Force chair Mark Stemen—but otherwise have not worked together.

Nani Teves says it’s not too late to do something about Gov. Jerry Brown’s new plan to send North State water south, and she and other local water activists have a plan of their own to inform residents on what’s at stake. Teves, water outreach coordinator for Butte Environmental Council, was referring in a recent interview to BEC’s Code Blue 2013 water outreach campaign, which kicked off on Feb. 5 with a free forum at Chico State called “Ethical Issues and Water: An Interfaith Dialogue.” The Code Blue series of no-cost, water-centric educational events—held “so that people are aware of what’s happening regarding local water, and are given the tools to do something about it”—will run throughout the year.

Included on the Code Blue schedule of free events: a talk titled Science and Politics of North State Water (May 1); an educational field trip (June 8) to the Bay Delta, under which two multibillion-dollar, 40-foot-diameter tunnels are planned to be built to send North State water south; and fall workshops on installing water-conserving gray-water and rainwater-catchment systems.

Regulate plastic bags As a student and Butte Environmental Council intern interested in a sustainable future, I am submitting this letter in support of the Chico City Council’s voting to restrict plastic-bag use. California uses an estimated 400 plastic bags per second, requiring an estimated 12 million barrels of oil annually. Only 3 percent of plastic bags are recycled, and the thermosetting process used to mold plastic bags is irreversible, creating a product that is not biodegradable. These bags end up in the streams, creeks, rivers and eventually the ocean. On the bags’ journey to the sea, the plastic breaks down into smaller pieces, absorbing toxic chemicals along the way. These contaminated bits of plastic contribute to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is twice the size of Texas. At least 267 marine species have been documented to be adversely affected by plastic debris. California spends $25 million annually to manage plastic-bag pollution and $303 million in litter reduction. If consumers were to utilize reusable bags instead, we could reduce waste and water pollution and contribute to the local economy by allowing wonderful companies such as ChicoBag to further their commitment to consumer safety. Lindsay McDonnell Chico

In January, dogged tree activist Charles Withuhn continued his effort to replenish the urban forest by offering free trees to the public through his organization, Chico Tree Advocates. “What makes me grateful to live here is not the bushes. It’s these towering giants that have been here since Annie Bidwell, and they’re not being replaced,” he told CN&R.

On March 1, Natalie Carter stepped down from her post as general manager at the Chico Certified Farmers’ Market to take the reins as executive director of Butte Environmental Council.

In the June primary, Butte County voters showed their overwhelming support for banning hydraulic fracturing locally: Measure E, sponsored by local group Frack-Free Butte County, won by 71.5 percent of the vote.

In Chico, that means Goldstein is working with nonprofits like Butte Environmental Council and GRID Alternatives as well as city staff and the Sustainability Task Force to implement the city’s Climate Action Plan. That plan calls for a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gases over 2005 levels by the year 2020.

Committee members voted 2-1 Tuesday to recommend that the Chico City Council develop restrictions on "single-use" plastic bags.

Robyn DiFalco of the Butte Environmental Council and Sustainability Task Force said she thinks plastic bag bans represent a shift in society moving away from disposables. "We will look back and say I can't believe we used to do it that way because it doesn't make sense to give out that many single-use bags," DiFalco said.

Tammy Wichman of the task force said to get more community input on the ban, and she thinks the council should move forward with the proposal.

Also Tuesday, the City Council will hold a public hearing on the Draft Housing Element Update and consider authorization to submit it to the state for review and comment. The housing element is one of seven required elements in a general plan, and must be updated every five to eight years.

The element has six basic components: a housing needs assessment, a site inventory, a constraints analysis, housing programs, quantified objectives and public participation. The proposed actions are designed to meet various housing needs, including affordability for low-income residents, production of affordable housing for all income groups, and improvement and investment in existing residential neighborhoods.

Also Tuesday, the council will consider a resolution approving a one-year license to the Butte Environmental Council to operate a temporary community garden at West Eighth Avenue and Highway 32. The vacant, one-acre city-owned site is eventually planned for development as a fire station, but an interim use of a garden with no permanent structures would not interfere with that plan, according to city staff.

This article was published on 03.13.14.

Of all the toxins confronting people daily, endocrine disruptors rank among the most insidious. These chemicals can have stealth effects—not only impacting the hormones of those exposed, but also creating a genetic legacy that can continue for generations.

“It’s one of those Pandora’s Box situations,” said Chico geologist John Lane, of Chico Environmental Science and Planning.

Published on November 3, 2013 by growingupchico

When it comes to waste, “there is no away.” This is an important life lesson that the Butte Environmental Council hopes to impart to local students, teachers and community members with their new recycling education program. RARE, The Recycling and Rubbish Education program, strives to educate through engaging interactive workshops and field trips, which focus on the four R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle and rot.  The program comes directly to the students at their Butte County school and is completely free of charge. “When we give children meaningful, hands-on experiences within their classrooms and show them up close by visiting the local landfill, they feel connected to the bigger picture of where trash ends up,” said Tanya Parish, RARE program coordinator.  “Our hope is that they then take positive steps to create a healthier and more sustainable future.”