Sacramento--with new dynamic political leadership--is wonderfully positioned to provide leadership around green issues, particularly if it embraces the need for more water storage, nuclear energy, and innovative management of parks and open spaces.
Here are two large projects and one smaller one, where Sacramento can provide leadership, in addition to those mentioned in the article from the Bee.
1) Bring Rancho Seco back online, thereby providing clean nuclear power for our growing region.
2) Lead the effort to finally build the Auburn Dam, thereby providing 2.3 million acre feet of new water storage, raise our flood control level to the gold standard of 500 years, and produce 400-600 mega watts of clean hydroelectric power.
3) Establish public private partnerships to manage large signature park areas like the American River Parkway, to create a more prosperous environment in a shrinking government funding atmosphere.
An excerpt from the article.
“For Sacramento, the light at the end of the economic tunnel may be green.
“The largest solar-panel factory on the continent is taking shape in McClellan Park. Economic development officials say more than half the companies checking out the region are in clean-tech. And state government is rolling out the nation's most ambitious energy-efficiency and renewable power programs, making it a huge potential ally – and customer – for the green economy.
"We think the environment is perfect," said Cheryl Beninga, managing director of American River Ventures, a $100 million private-equity fund in Roseville.
“Barack Obama's election win has added to the excitement. During the presidential campaign, Obama pledged to spend $150 billion over 10 years to create 5 million green jobs, and green-tech investment looks to be one of the pillars of the economic stimulus package he's been promoting over the last week.
“Green technologies reach from solar cells and biofuels to ultra-efficient lights and vehicles and more. The sector is an appealing engine for growth because it promises to generate a wide range of jobs – from manufacturing and construction to engineering and finance – while reducing pollution, trimming waste and cutting fossil fuel consumption.
“Sacramento already has a promising foothold in several green industries. But the region has missed opportunities in tech booms past – from software to biotech – and there's reason to be skeptical this time, too.”
