November 28, 2008

District 8 Report

Green with envy

Creating an economically viable and environmentally sustainable city

By Vice Mayor Dave Cortese
Special to the Times

Green with envy is what I want other communities and cities to be when they look at San Jose and everything that we have accomplished, particularly with regards to our forward thinking and environmentally friendly practices.

While we have a long way to go until we can reverse the harmful effects that human society has had on the environment, my colleagues and I on the San Jose City Council have made it our purpose to do everything within our means to be environmentally correct.

I am honored that Pinn Brothers chose a neighborhood in Evergreen to build the first solar residential community in California. It shows us that our efforts to make a green city will be supported by private enterprise and will help encourage others to join in the fight; such as Tesla Motors agreeing to locate their manufacturing plant here in San Jose to build their electric cars.

Environmental health goes hand in hand with personal health. When we eat healthier foods such as locally grown fruits and vegetables, we reduce the amount of pollution emitted in the process of growing and shipping the food. Likewise, when we take the time to get out of our cars and walk to the store or neighborhood park, we develop healthier bodies while reducing our carbon footprint.

So with that in mind, as part of the Green Vision for San Jose, the City Council is determined to create 100 miles of interconnected trails to help our residents break their addiction to cars. I am proud to say that we began the proceedings to create a brand new trail system when I first took office. The Thompson Creek Trail just opened its first segment and is well on its way to becoming a vital link for the residents of District 8.

Increased trail usage as well as other pedestrian travel modes helps reduce carbon emissions. In this vein, last year I asked the City Council, and they unanimously supported, adopting aggressive targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions for municipal activities. What this means is that by doing things like using alternative fuels in our public fleet, switching over our streetlights to smart, zero-emission lighting, and encouraging solar technology and other clean renewable energy resources, we will bring our emission levels down below 80% of 1990 levels.

Furthermore in order to see a more immediate impact, we have instructed every department of the city to look at how it can make an individual impact towards reducing our carbon footprint. It could be filtering our own water straight out of the tap so we do not waste the energy to produce the plastic bottles and ship them to our offices. Or even encouraging employees to use public transportation or carpooling whenever possible. All of these are things that all residents of our great City of San Jose, can try to do.

But our efforts shouldn’t just stop in San Jose. It would be great if the entire Bay Area was working in concert on climate protection, because then we can have a greater impact. A great way to do that is to work through the regional agencies for the Bay Area. As former president of the Association of Bay Area Governments I helped set up the Joint Policy Committee (JPC). The JPC looks at our region as a whole to determine how we can work together to reduce emissions and make our cities more healthy and livable; such as making public transportation more efficient, making it easier for green projects to get the needed permits on an expedited basis, and creating more incentives for cities, businesses, and homeowners to incorporate energy efficient practices into our daily lives.

I am happy to say that as District 8’s representative to the San Jose City Council for the past eight years we have started to make progress towards a green city that will be a model for California, the nation, and the world. Silicon Valley has made its mark through innovation, and I urge my peers on the City Council to continue this work towards sustainable living and continue the legacy of forward thinking. While I am sad to leave my post, I look forward to seeing the exciting and creative ideas our new councilmember, Rose Herrera, will use to make our district and the city an even better place to live.

As always, please continue to contact me with any questions or comments you may have.  I look forward to hearing from you by phone (408) 535-4908 or email dave.cortese@sanjoseca.gov.