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  2. Read other peoples' comments. Give thumbs up to comments that you agree with.
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100% renewable electricity for all municipal buildings and facilities

The county and all municipalities transition all electricity accounts to Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) Evergreen 100% renewable product.

Jurisdiction (Who can make the decision?)
City/town councils

Equity considerations
TBD

Scale of Greenhouse Gas reductions
TBD

Co-benefits
TBD

Cost considerations
TBD

Where it has been tried
Local example: The county and several cities (Sonoma, Cotati, Windsor, Petaluma) have already switched to SCP Evergreen 100% renewable electricity for municipal accounts.

Other examples: TBD

Imagine it:
TBD

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100% renewable electricity for all commercial buildings and facilities

The county and all municipalities require all commercial electricity accounts transfer to Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) Evergreen 100% renewable product by 2024.

Jurisdiction (Who can make the decision?)
TBD

Equity considerations
TBD

Scale of Greenhouse Gas reductions
TBD

Co-benefits
TBD

Cost considerations
TBD

Where it has been tried
Local example: TBD

Other examples: TBD

Imagine it:
TBD

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What are your buildings & energy policy ideas?  

Share your policy ideas by submitting a comment using the form below. Please try to suggest policies that: 1) can be implemented at the local level; 2) have potential greenhouse gas emission reductions; and 3) benefit all community members, with priority given to the most vulnerable among us. You are also welcome to submit your policy idea in our brief policy submission form.

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Comments (5)

Posted by Angela Conte(Santa Rosa)

Reduce and restrict the removal of any living healthy trees within residential and commercial areas. Permits should be given by the city "Arborist Department" with permission and inspection for tree planting and once planted the tree cannot be removed simply because it is later deemed impractical to the building site. Also, property owners would need to plant multiple new trees for any single tree removed. Trees need to protected while planting requirements are managed.

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Posted by Jenny Blaker(Cotati)

First, 100% renewable energy has to be defined. Carbon neutral has to be clearly identified. Burning of forest woody biomass for energy needs to be specifically excluded from consideration as it is not clean, not carbon neutral and not renewable.

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/debunking_the_biomass_myth/pdfs/Forest-Bioenergy-Briefing-Book-March-2021.pdf

Posted by Angela Conte(Santa Rosa)

Require commercial for profit real estate owners to cover all utilities in rental and leasing agreements. This would force them to improve energy efficiency, water use and all environmental applications before and after leasing, and not lay the burden on the renters. You own it, you maintain it's operational efficiently for the good of the community.

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Posted by Angela Conte(Santa Rosa)

50-50 Green-scaping requirements where there is equal vegetation for every square foot of developed land. If you build residential or commercial properties then you are required to produce equal amounts of landscaping by means of planting in or on buildings, around buildings, or parks and public spaces in another part of the city.

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Posted by Mark R Mortensen(Santa Rosa)

Here is an interesting proposal from Carbon Free Palo Alto...their BE Smart Program (t.ly/v7eP) for what they term "Beneficial Electrification." The idea was such that it made Bill McKibben's NY Times column (t.ly/i9kS), and he describes the program:

"An interesting proposal from the local advocacy group Carbon Free Palo Alto: they’re pitching a plan for “beneficial electrification” that would incentivize utilities to track down their customers’ old fossil-fuelled appliances (think gas-powered water heaters or cooktops) and offer to guide those customers through the steps required to replace them with ultra-efficient electric models. The utility would use “its access to low-cost, long-term capital to finance installations” and then recover its “costs from customers during the lifetime of the new device.”

I'm not sure that Sonoma Clean Power would appreciate the idea of "tracking down" appliances, but they already do "on bill financing" and are opening a showroom full of electric appliances and heat pump replacements. Could be the next step toward this type of BE program is not a large one.