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Dylan Roberts, Representative & Chris Hansen, Senator (CO)

Acting to Prevent & Mitigate Wildfires

An op-ed from NewDEAL Leader Colorado Representative Dylan Roberts highlights the importance of the state legislature’s successful bipartisan passage of six bills to prevent and mitigate wildfires, including one with NewDEALer Senator Chris Hansen as a prime sponsor. As underscored by the latest IPCC report on climate released this week, the changing climate and resulting increase in extreme weather events demand immediate action to protect people both now and in the future. Roberts highlights his state’s recent “dramatic upsurge in the incidence and duration of forest fires” that mirrors what’s happening throughout the western states and explains how the new state laws will mitigate this challenge in Colorado. Hansen’s bill directs funding to forest restoration and risk mitigation projects, while others in the package allocate funding to the water conservation board for watershed protection and new technology for firefighting. Read more about this important legislative work to combat the effects of climate change.

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Marko Liias, Senator (Lynwood, WA)

Phasing Gasoline Vehicles Out of Washington

The Washington State legislature passed the groundbreaking Clean Cars 2030 bill, championed in the Senate by NewDEAL Leader Washington Senator Marko Liias. The bill requires all passenger vehicles model year 2030 or later to be electric vehicles, the most aggressive state goal in the country, and is the first gasoline phaseout legislation to be passed. Senator Liias noted that the legislation clarifies the transition to electric by creating a timeline and providing tools and guidelines for businesses and consumers alike to have a roadmap for the way forward. Read more about this pioneering bill.

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Mandela Barnes, Lieutenant Governor (Wisconsin)

Climate Recommendations for Wisconsin

For a year and a half, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes has led his state’s Climate Change Task Force as it conducted public listening tours and generated policy recommendations. Now, with the announcement of Gov. Evers’ latest budget, Barnes is seeing his hard work pay off with the inclusion of $60 million in spending for nearly three dozen climate recommendations in the budget proposal. Highlights include the creation of an Office of Environmental Justice, increased data collection and stronger requirements around pre-approval environmental assessments. Read more about the proposed budget here.

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Leirion Gaylor Baird, Mayor (Lincoln, NE)

Lincoln Prepares for the Future

Despite the perception of climate change as a coastal issue, forward-thinking leaders like NewDEAL Leader Lincoln, NE Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird understand that their communities are not immune. In a recent interview with The Well News, Mayor Gaylor Baird discussed the steps her city is taking to improve resilience and prepare for an uncertain future. Recently, Gaylor Baird released a climate action plan, which lays out policy and spending priorities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 and build the city’s resilience across economic, demographic, and infrastructure sectors. In addition, Lincoln has debuted a new process to turn Lincoln’s wastewater into biogas, which can then be sold to generate revenue for the city. Check out the Mayor’s profile in The Well News here.

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Jon Mitchell, Mayor (New Bedford, MA)

A new plan just released by New Bedford, MA Mayor Jon Mitchell would see his city reach zero-waste, 100% renewable energy, and tree planting targets by 2050. The plan, NB Resilient, has six focus areas: climate and energy; economy and jobs; infrastructure, utilities and waste; natural resources; public health and safety; and transportation and land use. “In the midst of the pandemic,” Mayor Mitchell said, “we in New Bedford know that the world goes on. There are other challenges we face, there are other opportunities we must seize – and top among all of them are the threats and opportunities presented by climate change.” Read more about the New Bedford Resilient plan here.

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Sam Liccardo, Mayor (San Jose, CA) and NewDEAL alum Josh Fryday

California Climate Action Corps
NewDEAL Leader San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced his city would join the first-of-its-kind California Climate Action Corps, an initiative created by NewDEAL Honorary Vice Chair Governor Gavin Newsom and housed in his office of California Volunteers, led by NewDEAL Alum California Chief Service Offier Josh Fryday. The effort, which is the nation’s first statewide volunteer corps to fight climate change, will mobilize Californians to volunteer for environmental work and community initiatives, such as urban tree planting and food rescue programs. Volunteers who serve a year will receive a financial stipend to help pay for college. Learn more about San Jose’s participation in this new initiative to fight the effects of the growing climate crisis.

The Wind Siting Reform

Problem

In Massachusetts, it’s currently easier to build a large fossil-fuel energy facility than to get a permit to produce wind energy. Other New England states have more predictable siting laws, making them more attractive to developers.

Solution

The Wind Siting Reform Act streamlines the permitting process for wind energy facilities while preserving local control. It creates a timely and predictable process for developers to follow, which will encourage the development of wind energy facilities in our state.

Recycling Brownfields

Problem

Like many older industrial cities, Flint is left with contaminated and abandoned brownfield sites from old factories. These unused sites have been a major impediment to the redevelopment of Flint’s downtown area, negatively affecting the quality of life and economic value of surrounding communities. Unfortunately, the high costs of traditional remediation for such areas often prevent reuse.

Solution

Mayor Walling has proposed thinking about redevelopment in a new way — through the lens of recycling. In a pilot project utilizing this new paradigm, Flint is working to transform the site of a former Chevrolet plant, Chevy in the Hole, into Chevy Commons, a parkland along the Flint River with wetlands, woodlands, grasslands and other green areas. Thinking about “recycling” space means looking to reuse or renew, and requires making success out of failure and converting costs to revenues by finding alternative uses for waste products, working in alignment with natural processes, and serving the public in new ways.

Farmland Protection

Problem

Across the country, counties are losing millions of acres of farmland to urban sprawl each year, resulting in limited crop production and diminished economic growth for these communities who depend on farmland as a primary economic source.

Solution

In 2000, Senator Unger sponsored legislation that created the Voluntary Farmland Protection Act, authorizing county commissions to adopt and implement a farmland protection program and appointing a farmland protection board in order to voluntarily protect agricultural lands from overdevelopment. This act provides a unique opportunity for each participating county to design, implement, fund and administer a Farmland Protection Program that aligns with their particular county’s needs and goals, while outlining state-level guidelines as a resource. The protection of farmland through conservation easements provides many benefits for local communities; the ability to provide a local source of agricultural products; the enhancement of tourism; the preservation of historical and cultural resources; and providing open space for rapidly developing areas while protecting natural resources.

Renewable Energy Market

Problem

States across the Western region vary in their access to and use of renewable energy sources. Many states continue to rely heavily on fossil power-plants, with high pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Other states, such as California, have excess renewable energy sources during parts of the day, but lack access to ready markets for their green energy. There are also challenges to integrating some renewable resources, such as wind and solar, since they are subject to weather patterns that may not match demand.

Solution

Senator Bob Hertzberg proposed a new plan to help improve how Western states trade and integrate renewable energy resources, like solar, wind, geothermal and others. His plan would guide the development of a new regional electricity market and grid operator to manage diverse needs across the West. Participation in the marketplace would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, deliver power more efficiently, avoid costs for duplicative infrastructure, increase transmission-grid efficiency, and raise awareness of energy availability and pricing. By coordinating these efforts across the Western region, Hertzberg plans on dramatically increasing access to reliable and less expensive sources of renewable energy, helping to reduce pollution across the region.

 

How to steal this idea:

Learn more about Senator Herzberg’s proposal on his website: Sen. Bob Hertzberg announces plan to create renewable energy market with other Western states to help fight climate change

 

Visit and share the gallery of NewDEAL Challenge winners at governing.com/newdeal. 

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