In switching from conventional petroleum diesel to Neste Renewable Diesel made from waste and residues, the County of Sacramento will reduce up to 8,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its fleet annually - an up to 80 percent reduction. In addition, renewable diesel will reduce tailpipe emissions and improve air quality. The County will be using renewable diesel in a range of heavy-duty vehicles including more than 400 municipal public works and specialty vehicles. Other Californian fleets using renewable diesel include San Francisco, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Carlsbad, Google, and UPS. ( Link) 

The Sacramento city council unanimously approved an ordinance to protect Sacramento's existing trees and foster expansion of the urban forest. The ordinance sets up a public process for city tree removals, creates a funding source and regulations for planting new trees when older ones are removed, imposes higher fines for illegal tree removals. ( SacBee)

Photo: Peter Weber via Shutterstock

A surge in major wildfires in the Western U.S. due to climate change will expose tens of millions of Americans to high levels of air pollution in the coming decades, according to a new study. The researchers estimated air pollution from past and projected future wildfires in 561 western counties, and found that by mid-century more than 82 million people will experience "smoke waves," consecutive days with high air pollution related to fires. The regions likely to receive the highest exposure to wildfire smoke include northern California and western Oregon. The length of the smoke wave season (the period between the first and last smoke wave day) is estimated to increase by an average of 15 days in over 63% of the counties.( Yale)

California currently has 9 fires over 25 acres or more. More than 3,800 fires have scorched over 112,900 acres of state land since January - a 20 percent increase from the same time period last year, and well above of the five-year average of 3,200 fires and 85,900 acres. Counting fires on federal land, the 2016 total thus far is 4,600 fires over 306,000 acres. In June, the Forest Service` estimated that 26 million trees have died over 760,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada area - bringing the total to 66 million over four years of severe drought. ( WashPost) 

The Council on Environmental Quality released final guidance requiring federal agencies to evaluate climate change as part of the environmental review required by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) for all federal actions. When possible, agencies must quantify climate impacts, such as the quantity of additional GHG emissions, including indirect emissions, resulting from a new project, permit, or other agency action - or, alternatively, how much carbon it may sequester. The guidance also asks them to consider how to do things differently, which could help prepare the U.S. better for a warming climate. ( WashPost)

An authoritative, accessible single source of information on road closures and fast-rising water levels, smart land-use planning restricting development in Special Flood Hazard Areas, expanded mandatory flood insurance, and flood-proof construction standards would help cities prepare for flooding and minimize damages. But even the best preparation could not have entirely saved Baton Rouge from the overwhelming effects of 25 inches of rain in 3 days. ( City Lab) 

Photo: NOAA

Paving the way for the U.S.'s greatest yet improvement in flood forecasting, this new NOAA tool uses data from more than 8,000 USGS gauges to simulate conditions for 2.7 million locations in the contiguous U.S. The National Water Model will generate hourly forecasts for the entire river network and help pinpoint floods as many as three days in advance. The model will provide more accurate, detailed, and timely information for emergency managers, reservoir operators, first responders, farmers, and more. As the model evolves, it will provide street-level forecasts and inundation maps to improve flood warnings, as well as water quality forecasts. ( NOAA)

In San Bernardino, 82,000 people were ordered to evacuate when an explosive wildfire hit with unprecedented intensity. In the same week, Louisiana saw 1-in-1000 year flooding and an Alaska village voted to relocate from the coast. Yet the topic of how climate change can displace people tends to be more widely discussed outside of the United States than within it. Few places have seriously addressed the likelihood that there may be large-scale movements inland from many coastal areas. ( Washington Post)

After Katrina, New Orleans proposed replacing certain heavily damaged neighborhoods with green-space and water-absorbing parks - a good idea, except that the neighborhoods selected for razing were overwhelmingly black, while similarly damaged White neighborhoods were spared. This is just one of many examples of "urban adaptation injustice", in which cities ignore the needs of low-income areas and communities of color, or worse, exacerbate existing inequities. To help climate action planning create more equitable cities, the NAACP has created a checklist of demographic, environmental, and economic indicators to help planners. ( CityLab)

This policy white paper, from our partner climate adaptation collaborative Sierra CAMP, synthesizes biophysical research and the policy expertise of the Sierra Nevada region to make recommendations for the state's 2017 update of its climate adaptation plan Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk. The paper examines climate impacts on the Sierra Nevada region and analyzes the opportunities for climate mitigation and adaptation. ( Link)

EPA has released the 2016 edition of Climate Change Indicators in the U.S., which shows compelling and clear evidence of long-term changes to our climate, and highlights impacts on human health and the environment in the US and globally. The report contains observed trend data on 37 climate indicators, including seven new ones, and a feature on climate and health.  ( US EPA)

In partnership with Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs, Transportation for America is launching a new national, multi-city collaborative to help cities use technologies to meet their transportation challenges. The Smart City Collaborative will bring cities into working groups, develop pilot projects, share successes and failures, and engage with one another to come up with new, creative solutions to the problems at hand. To join the Smart City Collaborative, please fill out a short application (deadline August 31). There is also a State of the Smart City benchmarking survey for all cities to establish a baseline to understand what technologies, strategies, and tools cities are currently employ. ( Link)

The California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) is hosting the fifth California Climate and Agriculture Summit (Feb. 28-March 1, 2017) and is seeking proposals for workshops, plenary speakers, and poster presentations. The summit explores the science, policy, and practice of climate change and agriculture in California. Participants include farmers and ranchers, agency staff, agricultural professionals, policymakers, and advocates. Deadline: September 2, 2016. ( Details)

CivicSpark is still accepting project applications for the 2016-17 service year! CivicSpark: Water Action Fellowship helps local governments build their capacity to address some of California's toughest water resource management challenges.  Fellows work on specific research, planning, or implementation projects for 11 months to improve local water security, enhance stewardship, and better integrate land-use planning with watershed management. To find out more, please visit our website or contact Danielle Dolan, Water Program Manager, atddolan@lgc.org.

To comply with the Clean Power Plan, states are required to submit state compliance plans for review and approval by U.S. EPA. The Proposed Plan is designed to comply with this important federal rule while ensuring smooth operation of California's existing suite of climate programs, including the Cap-and-Trade Program. Comments are due September 19, 2016, at 5pm. ( Link)

The National Adaptation Forum is now accepting proposals for symposia, training sessions, and working groups that reflect the best thinking in the adaptation field, informed by theory, research, and practice, on key subjects related to the focal topics and cross-cutting themes. Deadline: September 30, 2016. View instructions and apply today.

Local governments will learn about tools and products provided by the State of California to help promote clean energy projects for residents and businesses. Learn how your local government can receive up to $22,000 for free co-branded marketing materials and other marketing ideas to promote unbiased clean energy financing tools with the "State of Savings" program, part of Energy Upgrade California. Also learn about updates to the California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing's Residential Energy Efficiency Loan product, which grants homeowners an unsecured alternative to PACE and other financing vehicles. ( Register)

Sierra Nevada forests are critical to Sierra communities and to the entire state. And yet, the Sierra is experiencing mass tree mortality with 66 million tree dies offs the last six years alone, leading to greater wildfire risk and other severe vulnerabilities. What can we do to protect the Sierra? In this webinar, we'll give you the basics of forest health and what needs to be done on the ground. Then we'll take a look at California forest policies and their overlap with climate policy, and explore opportunities to increase investment in Sierra forest restoration. ( Register)

FEMA now requires communities seeking funding for disaster preparedness to integrate climate into their Hazard Mitigation Plans (HMPs). However, guidelines for how to integrate climate are hard to find. This session will examine the HMP process opportunity, including real world examples of communities integrating climate and hazard mitigation planning. Tools and resources for practitioners will be shared for practical how to applications. $25. ( Link)

Connect with a diverse audience of over 600 local, regional, and state leaders who are committed to addressing California's adaptation needs. The 2016 California Adaptation Forum will feature a variety of breakout sessions on essential adaptation topics that reflect the diverse needs and challenges facing California, regional project tours highlighting adaptation efforts in Southern California, pre-forum workshops on tools and strategies for implementing adaptation solutions, and numerous networking opportunities. Use CRC's special discount code CAF16PPCRC to receive $25 off your registration! ( CAF)

Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century according to leading medical journal The Lancet. But the Lancet also concluded that "Tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century." Indeed, many climate mitigation actions - reducing fossil fuel use; promoting walkable, bikeable cities; supporting sustainable, local agriculture - offer significant benefits for public health. This free webinar, with panelists from Health Care Without Harm, the Public Health Institute, and We Act, will explore the possibilities for "win-win" solutions to climate change and health. ( Register)

The CRC is a program of the Local Government Commission.