Location

San Jose

Team Mentors

Esther Duong

Dashiell Leeds

Monica Mallon

David Poeschel

Hoi Poon

Student Leaders

Danica Kubota

Mani Bekele

Vaishali Ravikumar

 
SJ Action Team Photo.jpg
 
 

Impact

  1. San Jose City Council Carbon Neutrality Plan effectively brought deadline to be carbon neutral to 2030

  2. Organized members to work with elected officials and city staff as well as to give public comment at City Council and other public meetings to:

    • Support city staff recommending to City Council a Multifamily Housing EV Charging Reach Code to require access to basic EV charging for all newly constructed apartment units in the city

    • Sunset the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) exemption to San Jose’s natural gas ban at multiple past City Council meetings, and continuing into the future

    • Support the creation of the municipal utility SJ Power

    • Help maintain funding for Viva Calle and Viva Parks, programs which are particularly important in leading the city toward a less car-dependent future

    • Successfully blocked two proposals to cut critical funding to the Climate Smart San Jose program

    • Urged Mayor Mahan to include climate and sustainability in his priority list of city policy areas

  3. Delivered interactive presentations to almost 200 elementary and middle school students on the basic science of climate change and empowered them toward individual action, civic engagement, and advocacy into their future.

 

What we’re working on:

 

  1. Sustainable Public Transit Options

    VTA (Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority) used to have a much better bus network and much better ridership in the early 2000s when they invested more money in transit operations. They can have a strong network again if they reallocate Measure B funds from highways to transit operations, including bus service.

  2. Building Electrification Reach Codes

    Establish aggressive building reach codes including wiring for electric vehicle charging so that new buildings in San Jose can run on carbon-free electricity.

  3. Natural Gas Phase-Out

    Prohibiting Natural Gas Infrastructure in New Buildings in San Jose.

  4. Additional Projects

    Working towards implementation of systematic climate literacy curricula in public school districts, accelerating the adoption of drought-tolerant native gardens, and potentially hosting a future forum of city council candidates to bring attention to their positions on climate action.

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