E-Bikes Offer Affordable Option To Reach Climate Goals

While we commit so much of California’s climate funds to electric cars it’s fair to ask if there are other options worth exploring.

E-bikes replace car trips

A recent study by the College of Engineering at Portland State University found that subsidies for electric bikes are more cost-effective than electric car incentives at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from private cars. The study focused on the greenhouse gas impacts of subsidies for electric bikes, battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrid electric cars in Oregon. It found that e-bike subsidies, like those in CalBike’s proposed $10M E-Bike Affordability Program, were the most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

MSN NEWS - 5/28/21

Incentivizing E-Bikes Would Be Money Well Spent

CalBike, a bike advocacy group, is sponsoring AB 117, the E-Bike Affordability Bill, but as currently written, the measure has no funding and lacks even a guaranteed start date.

CalBike wants to make e-bike commuting more affordable for 10,000 Californians. The organization notes that the state has spent about $1 billion on rebates and incentives for electric vehicles, but nothing on e-bikes. So it’s circulating a petition that asks the state to allocate an initial $10 million to underwrite e-bike purchases. Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath, who represents North County, is working with CalBike to get that program off the ground.

If approved, the first financial incentives for e-bike purchasers could be available in mid-2022.

Voice of San Diego 5/10/21

Planning for Delta tunnel moves forward

Those speaking in opposition to the DCP referenced a host of problems that would result from the construction and operation of a tunnel including degraded water quality, damage to the Delta’s ecosystem and wildlife, and disruption of heritage Delta communities.

“(MWD) ignored the outcry from the entire state, including their own ratepayers during a pandemic,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. “Thousands of people made important and thorough written comments and dozens of verbal comments that MWD General Manager Kightlinger dismissed as repetitive. This follows his pattern of being dismissive of what the public expects from water district management and a refusal to admit the level of research and depth that constituted a good majority of these comments.”

The Press 12/29/20

Yes, we need a ‘Grand Bargain’ over Delta water – and everyone’s best ideas

Re “Gov. Newsom must clarify his Delta tunnel plan”; Commentary, Aug. 25, 2020

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt calls for “a ‘Grand Bargain’ in which all the parties achieve a consensus, confirmed in legislation, to apportion Delta water between exports and an adequate ecological flow to San Francisco Bay.” 

We agree. Let’s start with a statewide water audit. Leadership now asks, “How much was promised?” That question ignores the reality of how much water actually exists and leads to endless litigation, as Babbitt explained.

Delta stakeholders were asked for, and contributed, portfolio project ideas. But no meaningful proposals from the Delta were included. If the bargain is to be truly “Grand” let’s get everyone’s best ideas, not just the powerful water interests who created the current mess.

CalMatters 8/28/20

Local Pair Makes 2020 Clean Energy Hall of Fame

Leon, who is also the executive director of the Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute, was crucial in bringing the innovative Green Raiteros electric vehicle ridesharing program to help Central Valley residents, especially farmworkers, receive transportation for critical needs.

Business Journal 12/14/20

Kansas energy company abandons plans for $2.2 billion coal power plant

Two companies that battled for more than a decade to expand coal power in Kansas say they’ve abandoned their plans to build a $2.2 billion coal-fired power plant.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, announced Wednesday that it will let its air permit for a proposed coal-fired plant in Holcomb expire in March, signaling an end to a project that drawn criticism from environmentalists. It was first blocked by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in 2007 and then cleared for construction by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2017.

But during that time, coal fell out of favor for environmental and economic reasons. It has been on a decline nationwide for at least a decade as public concerns about coal’s contribution to climate change have risen. At the same time, competing energy sources, such as cheaper natural gas and heavily-subsidized solar and wind energy, have taken off. The Kansas plant would have been the first one brought online in the United States since 2015.

AP - 1/15/20

Proud to have been part of this campaign for so many years.
- bps

The electric carshare for one town's farmworkers

HURON, Calif. — To catch a Lyft from Huron, population 7,288, to a hospital in Fresno will run you about $50. That's far beyond the means of most people in this tiny farm town, one of the poorest in California.

One entrepreneurial official has a captivating solution: Build a homegrown Latino Lyft, sans the smart phone, using only electric cars.

E&E News 10/25/19

Bienvenidos a Huron: Riding Around with Mayor Rey León

León was born in Fresno and raised in Huron, a tiny “suburb” of Fresno. After completing his undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley in 1997, he returned to Huron and, in 2016, was elected mayor in a landslide victory.

CALIFORNIA Magazine (UC Berkeley Alumni) 10/16/2019

Editorial: The delta twin tunnels project is dead

Gov. Gavin Newsom killed the divisive twin tunnels project Thursday, calming fears that have roiled the delta communities and dominated California water politics for more than a decade. It is a signature decision for the young administration.

San Francisco Chronicle 5/3/2019

This retiree created a one-woman ride share for residents

Long before “Uber” became a verb, Carmen Lopez, now 71, used her Honda Civic to ferry neighbors in and out of Huron, an agricultural town in California’s Central Valley. In Huron, there’s no place to buy a dress, deliver a baby, or attend high school (teens ride the school bus to a town 30 miles away).

Woman’s Day (May 2019)