Green Communities program concludes successful first round

The Great Valley Center’s Green Communities program, a collaborative effort with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability USA, has completed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories for ten local governments in Stanislaus and Merced Counties. During the first round of the program, Great Valley Center (GVC) staff and interns were trained and sent to local governments to essentially measure the “carbon footprint” of each government. Results were delivered individually to the participating local governments as a starting-point for reducing GHG emissions in future operations.

Green Communities is funded by California utility customers and administered by PG&E under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. The program is intended to provide support to local governments and communities in pursuing their energy efficiency and GHG emission reduction goals. It is clear that many local governments find it difficult or impossible to achieve such goals alone.

Donna Kenney, Community Development Director at the City of Livingston stated, "As the only Planner employed by the City of Livingston, I had neither the training nor the time to conduct a local government operations (LGO) greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the city."

The Green Communities program provided the City of Livingston with the tools, training, and resources necessary to complete the inventory, as well as GVC staff and intern support to limit impacts on city staff-time.

"The experience was painless and cost-free and I would recommend it to all cities in the Central Valley," Donna Kenney concluded.

The nine local governments from Stanislaus County that partnered with the GVC during this first round of the Green Communities program have since obtained funding through Proposition 84 to continue with GHG emission reduction efforts at a regional level. Proposition 84, also known as the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, authorizes over $5 billion in general obligation bonds to fund a variety of environmental and infrastructure improvements in California, including a Sustainable Communities and Climate Change Reduction element. 

Government partners sought for second round of Green Communities

Of course, with the successful close of this round of the program, GVC is now actively looking for other local governments to assist over the next several months. You can expect to see us working in the following Central Valley regions in the near-future: San Joaquin County area, Merced County area, and west Kern County area. 

To learn more about the Green Communities program accomplishments or how to get involved
please contact Bryce Dias, Program Associate, at bryce@greatvalley.org.