Petaluma Starts Climate Conversations
The Petaluma Equitable Climate Action Committee (PECAC) helps bring diversity and equity to an arena of public policy otherwise dominated by white voices as the city continues to advance its ambitious climate goals.
Petaluma made international news earlier this year for enacting the nation’s first ban on new gas stations. The city of 60,000 in southern Sonoma County also moved this year to prohibit natural gas in nearly all new construction, and hasn’t allowed new drive-thrus since 2008. It aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.
But mitigating climate change involves more than just ending old habits; it also requires building new ones. That’s part of the impetus behind PECAC, pronounced “peacock” in the local parlance, says Kerry Fugett of the Petaluma-based nonprofit Daily Acts. Her organization is helping to coordinate the new committee, which was established in the wake of the city’s passage of a Climate Emergency Framework in January. “We designed the PECAC to help advance the implementation process of this framework so that it had more voices of color in that process,” Fugett says. Six residents with past experience in community and social activism (but not directly tied to climate) were chosen from among 30 applicants to serve on the committee for six months.
Representing Black, Latinx, and Asian-American communities in Petaluma, and a range of socioeconomic perspectives, the committee members — half of whom are under 25 — are supported by a small stipend and tasked with reviewing the Climate Emergency Framework for relevance to their own community, leading outreach and listening circles, and reporting back to the city council with recommendations for prioritizing policies and addressing climate equity issues.
Though modest, the program is one step toward bringing more people into the climate conversation, “which historically has not always felt inclusive,” Fugett says. “We are hoping that this can feed into how [the Climate Emergency Framework] is woven into the general plan process, and potentially future budgeting decisions.”
Other Recent Posts
The Case for Climate Castles
As climate change throws more extreme events at us, isn’t it time to think bigger, bolder, further ahead? Six young architects draw climate-resilient castles.
Looking for Justice at the Nexus of Housing and Climate Policy
How housing is built and who it is built for are not only equity questions, but also climate mitigation questions. When people can afford to live near their jobs, their emissions from commuting go down.
Bittersweet Beach Outing to See King Tide
On a clear morning in January, a group of tide worshippers gathered at the Santa Monica Pier to “celebrate the ocean and build our climate community,” said Laurene von Klan.
Future-Proof Homes?
Oona Khan dreams about her home of the future, after losing her Malibu retreat to fire. Caught in a quagmire of legal battles with Southern California Edison, and surging construction costs, Khan is still waiting to start construction.
Safer at School from Wildfire Smoke?
Research confirms the drastic impacts wildfire smoke has had on school learning. But 16 East Bay schools now have updated air filters and more actions are in the pipeline statewide.
My Neighborhood Wised Up to Fire
When we fled the house in the Santa Cruz mountains that we had been living in for just nine months, we knew exactly two of our neighbors.
Extremes-in-3D
In Part 1 FIRE, KneeDeep explores where to expect debris flows from burn scars, how one neighborhood became fire wise, and what schools are doing to become safe havens.
East Coast: Three Tales of Trouble and Triumph in the Fight Against Storm Surge
In this January mini-series, KneeDeep reaches across the continent to the East Coast to see how New York, New Jersey and Miami are wrestling with rising seas, whether they are succeeding in getting the local populace on-board, how the Army Corps’ is faring in its slow embrace of more nature-based flood-protection, and what parallels can be found here in San Francisco Bay. Three different angles on the same story, including one presented for your listening pleasure, by reporters Lilah Burke, Robin Meadows, and Ashleigh Papp.