California Regional Action Update: Central Coast

ICLEI USA
June 3, 2009

Central Coast local governments continue to pioneer strong regional models, often addressing the unique challenges that face largely rural communities.

In the Santa Cruz area, the County of Santa Cruz, the City of Santa Cruz, and the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) continue to work together under a Climate Action Compact, which was jointly established in September of 2007.  The compact commits each partner to:

• Set and present a greenhouse gas reduction goal for their organization;
• Identify specific inter-institutional cooperative projects that reduce GHG emissions, stimulate investment in the community and foster economic development;
• Present a comprehensive GHG reduction plan for their organization; and
• Invite others from the public, private and non-profit sectors in the region to join the effort.
  

One recent example of the inter-institutional cooperation inspired by this compact is a joint effort between the County and City of Santa Cruz to explore the creation of a public financing program for energy improvements through the community, as referenced by AB 811.

The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) continues to work with ICLEI to develop a regional training model to guide approximately 20 jurisdictions through the process of completing greenhouse gas emissions inventories. AMBAG is also actively providing energy management support to local governments through the PG&E Energy Watch Partnership program.

In the San Luis Obispo area, San Luis Obispo County recently received RESCO (Renewable-based Energy Secure Communities) funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to research local renewable energy resources and market opportunities. The project will span 18 months and will establish an informed approach to renewable energy development in the region. The County has also completed its GHG inventory, and will be initiating a climate action planning process in July, 2009 to align with climate related general plan updates already underway.

The cities within SLO County also continue to make progress, and regional collaboration is being supported by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD). The City of San Luis Obispo will be partnering with Cal Poly this fall to complete its climate action plan. Cal Poly has developed a two-quarter academic program whereby students will be put to work developing the City’s climate action plan.