Category: Policy Update

San José communities are already feeling the effects of climate change, with historically under-invested neighborhoods like East San José facing the first and worst impacts. Last December, Save The Bay conducted an outreach workshop with Latinos United for a New America (LUNA) to gather feedback on the climate impacts being faced by community members and explore possible solutions. Urban heat islands1 came up as one of the main concerns, with multiple community members sharing that summer heat and lack of shade prevents them from even taking a walk in their neighborhoods. Local parks offer little relief, with playgrounds and benches …

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Originally aired on NBC Bay Area: Friday, April 22, 2022 By Joe Rosato Jr. Over the past few years, San José has experienced the impacts of climate change in the form of rising temperatures and scorching heatwaves. Flooding from extreme storms is another imminent threat. Urban green infrastructure can mitigate these impacts, all while keeping pollution out of the Bay and providing invaluable physical and mental health benefits to surrounding communities. Infrastructure like green roofs and rain gardens have a multitude of benefits: they decrease carbon emissions by encouraging walking and biking, reduce urban heat, and provide habitat for birds …

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Bay Area residents don’t have to look far beyond their doorsteps to see the impacts of climate change. Hazy skies caused by extended wildfire seasons, prolonged drought, and record-high heat waves are now normal occurrences, and don’t show signs of letting up. Soon, an increase in flooding due to sea level rise and storms will add to the ever-growing list of climate impacts. While climate change affects all of us, the burden of these impacts will be felt disproportionately by vulnerable communities, especially those that are lower-income, Black, Brown, and Asian. These communities have been historically underserved, leaving them more …

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Read this Bay Story in English → Desde la protección contra el calor extremo hasta la promoción del tránsito activo el enverdecimiento urbano puede proporcionar muchos beneficios de resiliencia climática. Mientras Save The Bay aboga por que se dé prioridad a el enverdecimiento urbano en San José, queremos asegurarnos de que estamos avanzando en soluciones respaldadas por la comunidad. La comunidad Latinx es uno de los grupos demográficos más grandes de San José [1],  y queremos que nuestro trabajo se base en sus comentarios. Recientemente, le dimos prioridad a los comentarios de los residentes del este de San José, donde …

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Lea este “Bay Story” en Español → From protecting against extreme heat to promoting active transit, urban greening can provide many climate resilience benefits. As Save The Bay advocates for urban greening to be prioritized in San Jose, we want to ensure that we’re advancing community-supported solutions. The Latinx community is one of San Jose’s largest demographics [1], and we want our work to be informed by their feedback. Recently, we prioritized obtaining feedback from residents of East San Jose, where a lack of tree cover and historic underinvestment in infrastructure leave residents more exposed to flooding, extreme heat, and …

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King Tides dramatically arrived in early December causing widespread flooding across the Bay Area region [1]. These exceptionally high tides provide us with an important glimpse into our future. You may have encountered flooded sidewalks as you walked along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, or had to drive through an inundated North San Pedro Road in China Camp State Park, or even seen water rising up to seating areas along Jack London Square in Oakland. All of this flooding was caused by King Tides, which occur twice each year when the moon, sun, and Earth align to create the strongest …

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Read this Bay Story in English → En los últimos años, las señales del cambio climático se han manifestado de maneras imposibles de ignorar para cualquiera. Los residentes del Área de la Bahía han estado sujetos a semanas de cielos con humo, mala calidad de aire y calor intenso. Pronto el aumento de las inundaciones por tormentas y el aumento del nivel del mar se convertirán también en la nueva norma. Algunas ciudades locales han demostrado un gran liderazgo reduciendo la contribución de nuestra región al problema climático. San José en particular ha adoptado un plan ambicioso llamado “Climate Smart …

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Fall has arrived and it is a great time of year to get out and explore the Bay. But with days shortening, Halloween looming just around the corner, and rain finally returning after a long dry spell, something particularly scary happens during this time of year – at least for those of us who worry about water quality in the Bay. The first storms of the season create a phenomenon called the “first flush”. That is the flushing out of all the trash and other pollution that has built up on our city streets over the dry season. Think of …

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Lea este “Bay Story” en Español → Over the past few years, the signs of our rapidly warming climate have manifested in ways impossible for anyone to ignore. Bay Area residents have been subjected to weeks of smoky skies, poor air quality, and intense heat, and soon increased flooding from storms and sea level rise will become the new norm. Some local cities have shown great leadership in reducing our region’s contribution to the climate problem. San Jose in particular has adopted an ambitious plan called Climate Smart San Jose that makes the city a trailblazer in cutting carbon emissions. While plans …

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We knew this was coming. This month, Governor Newsom announced the extension of a drought emergency declaration to 50 of California’s 58 counties and asked residents statewide to reduce water usage by at least 15%. That means that every Bay Area county except one (San Francisco) is now under the state’s drought emergency declaration. Local water agencies have gone even further by seeking greater reductions and imposing limitations on outdoor water use. Drought is not unfamiliar to Californians. Our state’s climate has historically been characterized by extended dry periods broken up by rainy years. But it is now clear that …

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