Join Us in Pushing for a Stronger CARB Scoping Plan
Speak Up to Protect the Western Joshua Tree from Climate Change
I Saw Firsthand Why We Must Stop the Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project
Sierra Club California's Wellness Week (7/11-15)
Last month, we sent out an alert about the California Air Resources Board (CARB) releasing their draft 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan Update, which lays out a roadmap for how the state can achieve its carbon emission reduction goals.
The draft plan doesn’t go far enough in meeting several of those climate goals, including reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting California communities from pollution. Even worse, it won’t allow the state to reach carbon neutrality until 2045.
Notably, CARB’s plan relies on expensive and unproven carbon capture and storage technology that will perpetuate the combustion of fossil fuel rather than phasing out these polluting industries. It also looks to expand polluting methane gas power plants and infrastructure.
Sierra Club California is urging our members and supporters to take action and submit a comment to CARB telling the agency to be more ambitious as the state combats the climate crisis. The Board will meet on June 23rd to hear a presentation from staff.
Last week 73 organizations, including Sierra Club California, sent a letter to Governor Newsom and the California Air Resources Board today criticizing its plan for reaching carbon neutrality, saying the plan is a setback for the state and the world. In the letter, advocates outline necessary changes to the Scoping Plan to ensure it delivers immediate emissions reductions at the pace and scale that climate science and environmental justice demand.
In addition to the letter, our allies in the environmental justice community are organizing a rally in Sacramento on the 23rd. Sierra Club staff will be present and in support. You can find more information about that here.
Send your comment in today!
California’s western Joshua Trees will be a victim of climate change unless the California Fish and Game Commission takes a bold step next week to list it as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
The iconic species is under threat from a variety of harms. Climate change is already limiting the western Joshua Tree’s range and making it harder for new seedlings to establish and ensure a thriving future population. The risk of wildfires and ongoing harmful practices have and will continue to destroy existing trees and habitat if left unaddressed. Scientists say that the western Joshua Tree could lose 90% or more of its habitat in the Mojave desert by the end of the century.
On June 15th, the California Fish and Game Commission will vote on whether or not to list Joshua Trees under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). You can help protect the western Joshua Tree by calling in to the meeting (or attending in person in Los Angeles) and urging the Commissioners to vote YES!
In 2020, the Fish and Game Commission granted temporary protections to the western Joshua Tree as a candidate species under the CESA. Join Wednesday’s meeting and tell the Commissioners to stay on this trajectory, permanently protect the western Joshua Tree, and work to address the harmful practices threatening its survival.
If we are successful, the western Joshua Tree would be the first species protected under CESA primarily due to climate change. This listing would set a precedent to protect other species from climate change impacts in upcoming years – a critical tool for ensuring a thriving future for our state, and ensuring California achieves our goal of protecting 30% of our lands and waters by 2030.
Urge the Commission to list the western Joshua Tree as threatened under the CESA and help ensure this iconic tree will remain a part of California’s deserts for future generations to experience.
On May 20th, Sierra Club California staff joined Friends of the River and the Center for Biological Diversity for a tour of the area where the proposed Pacheco Reservoir Expansion will be located.
The Pacheco Reservoir Expansion project is a proposal to build a much larger new reservoir to replace the existing Pacheco Reservoir, located in Santa Clara County. The proposed new location will inundate the North Fork Pacheco Creek into the eastern portion of Henry Coe State Park. Pacheco Reservoir’s operational capacity is currently 5,500 acre-feet. The Pacheco Reservoir Expansion project would significantly enlarge the footprint of the reservoir, flooding an additional 1,500 acres. The tour was led by Doug Maner, a volunteer with Friends of the River.
We began the hike starting at the gate on Bell Station road off State Route 152 between Casa de Fruta and Pacheco Pass. We hiked two miles down Mack’s Corral Trail to the North Fork Pacheco Creek, then downstream to the inundation zone.
Along the way, we saw a variety of plant and animal species, many of which I had never seen before. It seemed that each hillside on every switchback had a different and unique flower, buzzy insect, or slithery friend. Some of the critters we saw were a red velvet ant, Pacific chorus frog, a Diablo Range garter snake, California newt larvae, and a gopher snake. The wildflowers included mariposa lilies, sticky monkey flowers, and blazing stars.
We then stopped and had lunch at the proposed location of the reservoir’s inundation zone (pictured above). Baby frogs and Sacramento sucker fish accompanied us as we rested upon rocks and logs, soaking up the light breeze in the late-spring shade.
The Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project will destroy oak and sycamore forest and riparian habitat in the reservoir footprint, create new barriers to wildlife migration, and negatively impact water quality in Pacheco Creek, the Pajaro River, and the Monterey Bay. Even with these negative impacts, the project proponent, Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water), has admitted that this project would not guarantee water storage during longer drought periods or offer reliable water supplies.
Further, Valley Water is pursuing alternative projects that would improve water reliability through conservation measures, recycled water, and other storage projects. Other than the Delta tunnel, the Pacheco Reservoir expansion is the most expensive project currently being considered by Valley Water. In addition, while Valley Water is assuming that it can locate project partners to share in at least 20 percent of the cost, those project partners have not yet materialized. This means that as of now, local ratepayers and statewide taxpayers will ultimately be responsible for the project’s costs.
The tour reinforced our commitment that California should not be building new water storage or conveyance projects such as the expansion of Pacheco Reservoir and the Delta Conveyance Project to solve climate crisis impacts on our water supply. California already has constructed nearly 1,400 dams and reservoirs and the consequences continue to mount. The tour showed us first hand the damage and destruction these projects can have on our natural environment.
Access to Bell Road will be open for all weekends during the summer. I highly recommend taking your friends and family on this hike and enjoying the peace and quiet that comes with being out in nature, miles away from human civilization in any direction.
For more information on the Pacheco Reservoir Expansion project, view our fact sheet here.
Molly Culton is our Northern California Water Organizer and can be reached at molly.culton@sierraclub.org.
Sierra Club California's Wellness Week (7/11-15)
By Michael Blenner
This year, Sierra Club national gave all employees a week off (in addition to our regular holiday schedule and PTO) to relax and recharge. National selected a week in mid-May but due to scheduling conflicts and the ramping up of the legislative session, Sierra Club California chose to defer our wellness week to July.
As such, all Sierra Club California employees will be out of the office from July 11th-July 15. Some of us will be traveling and hiking, some will spend time with family, and some will just be enjoying the time off at home! We wanted to let our members know in advance that we will not be sending out any alerts that week, and will not be as responsive to emails. We appreciate all of your support and look forward to catching up once we’re back in office.
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