ExhibitCC 01-17-2012 Oral Communications e2/1-L Cam
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To; Cupertino City Council Date: 17 January 2012
From: Gary Latshaw, Resident and Co-Chair of Cupertino Cool Cities
Subject: Environmental Concerns
I am writing on behalf of the Cupertino Cool Cities Team. We are an informal group
with about 80 citizens on our distribution list. As the New Year starts, our members want
to express their concerns about several issues. Most of the issues deal with climate
protection, which requires a reduction in carbon emissions. The City was a signatory in
2008 to the Mayor's Climate Protection agreement. However in the intervening years
since the agreement was signed, local and global carbon emissions have increased while
the evidence for damaging climate change has accelerated. This increase in emissions is
all the more reason to act on these issues.
The issues are:
1. The City should install solar panels on some of its properties. Although the report
Solar Power Generation Site Viability Evaluation- City of Cupertino dated June
2, 2010 suggested three sites for solar panel installations,the City has not moved
forward on any of these. The lack of action on the part of the City stands in
contrast to the solar installations at local high schools, DeAnza/Foothill College,
and the recent decision by Milpitas to have panels installed.
2. Many of the City Buildings were built during the era of cheap energy and
ignorance of the dynamics of climate change. Denise East,the co-chair of Cool
Cities, with cooperation from the City staff, has taken the initiative to monitor the
environmental parameters of the Community Center. The City should address the
likely inefficiencies of these buildings.
3. Car transportation is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions. The City does
not have a local public transit system such as those in Palo Alto and Los Gatos.
Moreover,the lack of an attractive and efficient alternative to the car will put
Cupertino at a commercial disadvantage relative to Cities served along the El
Camino Grand Corridor. El Camino Real will soon be served by a Bus Rapid
Transit(BRT) system. The City urgently needs to become proactive in acquiring
local and regional transportation.
4. In December of 2011, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District presented
its draft rule for cement plant air quality compliance. The prospect of using a
more ghg efficient fuel, natural gas, was not quantitatively analyzed. It was
summarily dismissed as being too expensive. If the City concurs that this item and
other items in the draft rule (see attached letter from the Sierra Club) are not
adequately analyzed, the City should submit comments to the District.
At past meetings of the Council the various violations of air quality and water quality
from the Lehigh Cement Plant have been raised. Permanente Creek, which flows through
Rancho San Antonio County Park and a portion of Cupertino, is listed by the
Environmental Protection Agency and the San Francisco Bay Area Water Quality
Control Board as an"impaired water body" due to pollution from Lehigh. The
City should express its support for the reduction of pollution from Lehigh to
make Cupertino a healthier place to live and work.