Just a week after the State of California set a high bar for climate ambition at the Global Climate Action Summit, the City of Sacramento and the City of West Sacramento joined together to launch the joint   Mayors' Commission on Climate Change with the goal of drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045. The commission, which will be led by retired CalPERS chief Anne Stausboll, will build political support for aggressive climate action and devise strategies for both cities to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. "By working together, we can accelerate and shape the transition to a clean energy economy that's already occurring to ensure that it benefits our local businesses and residents," Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. "We can strengthen Sacramento's position as a hub for investment in clean technologies and promote social equity and economic prosperity for all."  

Photo: Jean Revillard/Solar Impulse/Handout via Reuters

This past week, Governor Jerry Brown capped a marathon year for the state's legislature by signing a flurry of laws passed earlier in 2018. Meeting a deadline to enact the bills, Brown's signatures wrap up one of the most ambitious legislative sessions in California history, which could remake the world's fifth-largest economy. The laws touch almost every part of the state's energy and transportation sectors, from microgrids to   electric vehicle deployment. To top it off, Brown unexpectedly signed executive order B-55-18 on Sept. 10, putting California's economy on track to be carbon neutral by 2045. ( Quartz)

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) took key steps toward implementing the Community Air Protection Program, a first-of-its-kind effort to improve air quality in local communities that face the worst impacts of air pollution. The Board selected the first 10 communities that will be the focus of targeted actions to monitor and improve air quality, including the South Sacramento-Florin neighborhood, which is disproportionately exposed to air pollution burden from cars, trucks, and other sources. As part of the Community Air Protection Program, the South Sacramento-Florin neighborhood will receive additional air quality monitoring and community engagement efforts to identify sites and opportunities for mitigation measures. ( CARB)

	Photo: New York Times

The federal government failed to take into account the poverty that plagued the island even before the storm. The result is that hundreds of thousands of people across the island are still living in homes in desperate need of repair. Of the 1.1 million households who requested help from FEMA, about 58 percent were denied. Among those who appealed, 75 percent were rejected again. The median grant for home repairs was $1,800, compared with about $9,127 paid out to survivors of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, according to a Times analysis. All told, FEMA spent nearly twice as much for housing repair grants in Texas as it did in Puerto Rico, though the money went to 51,000 fewer people. ( NYTimes)

Photo: Gosia Wozniacka / AP

The mainstream paradigm often views climate change as a collective risk, and pushes people to action by selling fears of future societal collapse and environmental ruin. Both can be averted if politicians and people work together and with urgency, the common argument goes; if we all pitch in, we can avoid the worst. As the fallout from Harvey, Irma, and Maria shows, though, that argument is false. The suffering caused by a warming and more temperamental environment is already happening, and it isn't distributed equally, nor will it be. From the poor people in Vieques, Puerto Rico, who still face uncertain medical care and unstable electricity after Maria, to black and Latino communities severed from dialysis services in Houston during Harvey, if there's anything the current climate regime tells us, it's that vulnerable populations are already in trouble. ( Atlantic)

	Photo: Eric Lowenbach/Getty Images/Flickr RF

America's national parks have warmed twice as fast as the US average and could see some of the worst effects of climate change, according to the first study comparing the impact of climate change across all 417 national parks. Temperatures in national parks increased by 1C from 1895 to 2010, double the warming experienced by the rest of the country, and yearly rainfall totals decreased over 12% of national park land, compared to 3% of land in the US. Many national parks are found in deserts, high mountains or in the Arctic region of Alaska, climates that are known to be the hardest hit by global warming. Yellowstone could see three to 10 times increase in land burned by wildfire by 2100, while Joshua Tree could lose up to 90% of the habitat suitable for its namesake trees. ( Link)

Photo: Famartin via Wikimedia

Valley fever - a disease caused by inhalation of airborne soil fungus - is no longer strictly a Valley phenomenon. It has spread north to Sacramento and west all the way to the coast, with infections reported in 53 out of 58 counties. A growing number of dust storms, exacerbated by climate change, have spread the fungal spores far beyond the Central Valley, where the infections traditionally have been concentrated. Because the symptoms resemble that of the flu, physicians out of the Valley rarely consider Valley fever in their diagnoses, but in its worst complications, it can lead to meningitis. ( Link)

	Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The future economic costs of climate change for the US are the second highest in the world, behind only India, according to the first country-by-country analysis of the economic damages of climate change. The results suggest that the US has been underestimating how much it benefits from reducing its GHG emissions. The authors caution the estimates are still on the conservative side, as it does not factor in long-term impacts like sea-level rise. ( Link)

California's Climate Change Assessments contribute to the scientific foundation for understanding climate-related vulnerability at the local scale and informing resilience actions, while also directly informing State policies, plans, programs, and guidance, to promote effective and integrated action to safeguard California from climate change. You can read the statewide reports, as well as the Sacramento Valley regional report. ( Link)

SACOG will award mini-grants of up to $3,000 per project in support of small events and non-infrastructure programs or projects that encourage biking, walking, riding transit, carpooling, vanpooling and teleworking, as options for reducing car trips and vehicles miles traveled. Projects that focus on testing a new strategy or tactic for changing travel behavior will be prioritized. Applications considered on a rolling basis until $30,000 has been awarded for each of two application phases. The second phase is open July 15 through December 31, 2018. ( Link)

The   Pre-Disaster Mitigation program (PDM) funds State, Local and Tribal Governments to implement and sustain cost-effective measures designed to reduce the risk to individuals and property from natural hazards, while also reducing reliance on Federal funding from future disasters. The Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program funds State, Local and Tribal Governments to reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings and structures insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In FY18, the FMA Program will prioritize proposals that address community flood risk by setting aside $70 million for this purpose. FEMA will seek to fund two types of community flood mitigation activities: Advance Assistance for flood mitigation design and development of community flood mitigation projects and mitigation projects that address community flood risk for the purpose of reducing NFIP flood claim payments. Deadline for both programs: January 31, 2019. ( PDM & FMA)

Learn about the basics of electric vehicles, including what to know before buying, charging technologies and discounted rate options. Hear from our partners on the future of electric vehicles in Sacramento and check out how SCUSD is playing a role in that vision with our new electric buses. The event is open to all staff, parents and community members. ( Link)

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) will release the 12th edition of the Scorecard, an annual report ranking all 50 US states and the District of Columbia for their work on energy efficiency and highlighting the best practices of top-achieving states, as well as those showing marked improvement. While energy-saving efforts were challenged on multiple fronts this year, particularly federal-level vehicle and appliance standards, the 2018 Scorecard provides plenty to celebrate at the state level, such as the rollout of ambitious plans to ramp up savings in states including New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. ( Register)

As extreme weather events increase, existing buildings are vulnerable to power disruption, equipment failures, displacement of residents, and other costly damages. This webinar will feature tools and strategies to improve the resilience of existing buildings and community assets through building upgrades and microgrids. The webinar will include an overview of DNV GL's B-READY building resilience tool, which helps building owners and managers translate climate-related, site-specific risks into actionable resilience strategies. ( Register)

This webinar will explore how changing technology and mobility patterns will drive the evolution of the built environment, what cities and planning organizations should do in preparation, and how developers are mobilizing to capitalize upon this opportunity. ( Register)

Join this conversation with practitioners and decision makers leading efforts to incorporate sound science in local sustainability policy in response to natural disasters. Panelists include Grant Davis, General Manager of the Sonoma County Water Agency, Dr. Cecilio Ortiz Garcia from the University of Puerto Rico, and Dr. Janice Beecher, Director, Institute of Public Utilities at Michigan State University. ( Link)

Hear from Yolo County and cities, as well as Yolo County Housing and UC Davis, on their current status in climate action planning. Some jurisdictions are in discussions and planning, while others have adopted climate action plans and are now analyzing their effectiveness. Come and learn from each jurisdiction's successes, challenges, and next steps.

Accurate and consistent data is a key ingredient in an effective water management strategy, but many organizations struggle with water data collection and analysis. In this webinar, hear from partners that have enacted innovative water metering strategies and analytical methods that allow them to draw greater insights from their data. Additionally, find out more about a new opportunity to gain recognition from the Building Owners and Managers Association for benchmarking your buildings' water and waste data. ( Register)