Environment and Energy

Overview

Environment and Energy

Article Features

Local Streets and Roads Awards Recognize Best Practices

The annual Outstanding Local Streets and Roads Project Awards Program recognizes projects that promote fiscal and environmental sustainability in the local transportation system and can be…

Article City Forum Cory Golden

Fix-It Fairs and Repair Cafés Divert Waste, Aim to Change Mindset

Repair cafés help cities send a message that just because something is broken, it need not be thrown away.

Article Features Steve Sanders

Sustainability Offers a Path to Prosperity

Sustainable communities are often better able to thrive and become more prosperous; sustainability is not just about the environment.

Article Legal Notes Karen TiedemannLynn HutchinsRafael Yaquian

What You Need to Know About AB 2 and Community Revitalization Tools

City officials seeking creative ways to finance economic development projects should take a look at the tools provided by AB 2.

Article City Forum Eva Spiegel

Volunteers Needed: Study Examines New Ways to Fund Transportation Infrastructure

A statewide study will examine replacing the outdated gasoline tax with a road user charge.

Article Features Julia Lave Johnston

Planning for Healthy and Sustainable Cities: National City Offers a Model

National City used a comprehensive planning approach to address community environmental and health concerns.

Clovis Builds Dry Creek Trailhead to Educate and Connect the Community

The City of Clovis transformed a three-acre unimproved lot into an educational community recreation area that protects natural resources and promotes healthy living.

California Cities Use Creative Approaches to Recycling

As California residents and businesses increase the amount of material they recycle, local governments seek ways to build additional recycling facilities and expand existing programs.

Article City Forum Mark Cowin

California’s Water: Drought, Floods And Preparedness

Although we have millions of acre-feet of empty space behind dams to capture storm runoff and snowmelt, that space cannot protect Californians against levee breaks, mudslides or overflowing urban…

Article Features Dan Carrigg

2015 Legislative Year in Review

Significant positive developments for the League included the adoption of a new economic development tool for lower-income communities and the passage of a medical marijuana regulatory bill package.

Salinas Fosters Ag Tech Innovation

Technology will soon be radically transforming agriculture and the Salinas Valley, home to an agricultural industry that generates over $8 billion annually.

Article City Forum Jen JacksonHeidi Sanborn

Extended Producer Responsibility: Protecting Public Health and the Environment

Ensuring that residents properly dispose of hazardous wastes — such as pesticides, batteries, needles and pharmaceuticals — from their homes is an important part of protecting the environment…

Article President’s Message L. Dennis Michael

Preparing Your Community for Fire Danger

The combination of drought, higher temperatures and abundant dry vegetation means that California’s fire season is now a year-round phenomenon.

Article Features Karalee Browne

Palo Alto Builds on a Legacy of Innovation as a Sustainable Community

Many of the more progressive policies and programs in place today started as smaller pilot programs.

Article

Celebrating 60 Years of Service to California’s Local Governments

This year the Institute for Local Government (ILG) celebrates its 60th anniversary. The occasion offers a chance to reflect on ILG’s history of promoting good government at the local level and look to its future in helping create opportunities and establish partnerships that support the work of local agencies throughout California.

Advancing Climate Action, Sustainability and Community Well-Being

A recent symposium brought together state and local leaders to explore opportunities for accelerating sustainability activities in California.

Article Features Ken Farfsing

Stormwater: The Orphaned Utility

How quickly can stormwater utilities be rescued from their financial straitjacket so they can start helping resolve the state’s chronic water supply problems?