(We wrote the letter below on the draft environmental review for the San Jose General Plan. CGF Intern Kelsey Grousbeck did great work co-authoring this letter. -Brian) August 15, 2011 Andrew Crabtree, City of San Jose RE: Committee for Green Foothills comment letter on the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for Envision San Jose 2040...
Author: Brian Schmidt
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CGF letter gets extension of time to file comments on San Jose General Plan EIR
(We’re happy to note that the letter we wrote and found co-signers below resulted in a two week extension of time to file comments by anyone, greatly helping the role of public participation. CGF Intern Kelsey Grousbeck did great work to help make it happen. San Jose staff also deserve credit for being willing to...
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Apple orchard in Cupertino?
Take a look at this Youtube video of a presentation by Steve Jobs to Cupertino City Council, discussing a potential new campus for Apple that would bring back plum orchards and natural landscaping. The new jobs could also have a lot of impacts that need addressing, but the proposal is interesting. -Brian
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Tipping points for housing-deficient areas
In a housing deficient area like here in the San Francisco Bay region, it’s wrong to simply say any new house anywhere is a good thing. This is true economically as well as environmentally – a potential house location 10 miles due east of San Jose might sound like a quick jaunt away from Silicon...
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Real version of Farmville – a model for local farms?
Here’s an interesting experiment in England – a farm is signing up 10,000 subscribers to run their farm, making actual monthly decisions (loosely based on the Facebook game called Farmville): The farm is on the National Trust’s Wimpole Estate. You’ll be part of a group of 10,000 online Farmers working with farm manager Richard Morris to...
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CGF urges Gilroy to stay involved in the County Habitat Plan
(We sent the letter below to Gilroy’s City Council, urging them to reconsider a proposal to withdraw from the County Habitat Plan. Their decision was to reconsider it a later point. -Brian) May 2, 2011 City Council City of Gilroy Re: Item 10b, Gilroy‘s participation in the CountyHabitat Plan Dear City Council Members; As...
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More good news! Santa Clara County joins the ban on single use takeout bags
Yesterday, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to enact a ban on single-use takeout bags. With reasonable exceptions, it bans plastic bags, bans paper bags with less than 40% recycled content, and requires a 15 cent fee on paper bag use to encourage the use of reusable bags. We thank Supervisors Shirakawa, Cortese,...
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Good news! CGF successfully urges San Jose and Santa Clara to provide an Environmental Alternative at the Water Plant
(We submitted the comments below as part of a long-running CGF campaign to protect the natural habitat near the Santa Clara San Jose water plant near Alviso. You can watch the San Jose discussion here, and I spoke at the 2:40:00 mark. The City Council appears to have listened and will include an “Environmental Alternative”...
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CGF comments on the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan
(We submitted the comments below on the County’s Habitat Plan. To follow along, the citations can be found here. -Brian) April 18, 2011 Cori Mustin, Senior Fish and Wildlife Biologist USFWS Ken Schreiber, HCP/NCCP Program Manager County of Santa Clara Executive’s Office Re: Comments on the DraftSanta ClaraValley Habitat Plan Dear Cori and Ken:...
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CGF Position Statement on the proposal to destroy farmland for east-side Gilroy high speed rail station
(CGF issued the following position statement earlier this year. -Brian) Committee for Green Foothills Policy Opposing a Proposed Eastern Location for the Gilroy Train Station February 16, 2011 Committee for Green Foothills is reviewing the as-yet incomplete information on the alignment and potential impacts of High Speed Rail between San Jose and Merced. Even at...