Listen to climate activist, Greta Thunberg, reciting one of her powerful essays over ambient music in this 2019 track “The 1975” (featured on the The 1975’s album Notes on a Conditional Form ).

Community Regeneration Project

Take action on ecological regeneration (of local soil, croplands, and forests) by joining Allen Edwards and a group of volunteers in the forests outside Colfax and on ranch/farmland near Auburn. Build connections between the land and our community, and in the process build a local a sustainable future.

To learn more, watch the video’s below!

Allen Edwards’ June 2, 2024 PECA Presents offering

Bill Jackson's companion video showing Allen's forest management activity and his burning philosophy.

ASK Congress to Prioritize Climate in the Farm Bill

Interfaith Power and Light has joined with Creation Justice Ministries to urge Congress to pass a Farm Bill the promotes climate smart practices, which serve to benefit all people and protect the environment. They are calling on lawmakers to:

  • invest in climate-smart agriculture

  • invest in small and medium-scale farms while supporting the transition away from hazardous industrial farming practices, and

  • support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (through measures such as the reduction of food waste)

You can send a message asking your congress members to support a Farm Bill that protects both people and the climate by clicking on the button below:

Send a Message to the EPA

This January 2024 action alert is from Elders Climate Action: Heavy-duty trucks emit toxic fumes that poison our communities, especially lower-income communities. But the EPA is failing to ambitiously update a rule that could tackle those emissions. The EPA is close to finalizing their plan, and they need to feel pressure from the public to make it stronger. We need to push the EPA to adjust its rule. Click below to make your voice heard.

Take the Pledge

This campaign is brought to you by the Elders Action Network The goal of the Take the Pledge campaign is for fellow “earth champions” to reduce their/our consumption collectively and discover a shared sense of purpose, joy, and satisfaction in doing so. Although the campaign began in the spring of 2023, if you take the pledge now, then you will gain access to a myriad of resources to help you consume less. Find out more about this campaign by clicking on the button below:

Educate Yourself

New Monthly Utility Fees are Coming!

Last year, the CA legislature passed an energy bill (AB 205) that includes a “trailer” (section 739.9) that allows creating a monthly fixed income-based utility fee meant to pay for expenses to maintain the electric grid.  This is a flat fee that everyone must pay regardless of how much (or how little) electricity they use.

  •  Currently, the monthly fee we pay is capped at $10/month and our electric bills fluctuate based on the volume of electricity we use. The new income-based rate structure will force most people to pay high fixed fees (ranging from $30 to $70 for most customers) that don’t take into account how much energy they use.

  • AB-205 reduces how much is charged for electricity use, but Section 739.9 proposes increasing the flat fee paid each month, except for those qualifying for CARE or FERA.

    • CARE (CA Alternative Rates for Energy) or FERA (Family Electric Rate Assistance) customers would pay discounted flat fees.

  • The adoption of an income-based utility fee was added to this bill at the last minute and was never debated on the floor of the assembly.

  • Setting these income-based fees is now before the CPUC (CA Public Utilities Commission), which will make a decision by next summer. Utilities, consumer advocates, and environmental groups have submitted proposals; the deadline for the CPUC to authorize a fixed charge is July 1, 2024. The commission has denied requests to hold public hearings on the proposal.

Negative outcomes of Section 739.9:

  • Efficiency and frugality will be penalized:

    • Californians who live in apartments, condos, and small homes would see their utility bills increase (because smaller units tend not to use much electricity, but their fixed monthly fees will increase – so the overall bill increases).

    • The same goes for people who have made their homes more energy-efficient or who have invested in rooftop solar – they must pay the new monthly fee regardless of how much energy they are conserving.

  • Inefficiency and waste will be rewarded:

    • On the other hand, high use customers will see their utility bills go down (because the rates for electricity use will go down, they will not pay as much for they high volume of electricity they use)

Follow these links to learn more:

Get the Climate Action Now App!

Watch this video to learn how easy it is to use the Climate Action now app.

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to advocate for Climate Action in your busy life? Get the Climate Action Now app and begin writing your representatives and others about issues that are important for the climate. The Climate Action Now folks stay abreast of the causes that matter and provide appropriate content that you can modify to send out in emails and tweets. If you activate the notifications on the app, they you will get a gentle one-time reminder every morning to take some action. Within 5 minutes, you can discover current issues related to the climate and send emails (or tweets) to let the people in power know that you are paying attention.

Partnering with Auburn Sustainability Advisory Committee

PECA members have partnered with the Auburn Sustainability Advisory Committee (SAC) in their efforts to reduce single use both plastic waste and food waste. Our current partnership involves targeting local restaurants to offer more sustainable options for take out containers and food waste. Teams have been visiting restaurants within Auburn city limits, in North Auburn (both up 49 and by the Foresthill exit/Bowman), and in the Loomis/Rocklin area. Come to any one of our events to find out how you can be involved in this effort! Read more about their sustainability efforts in Auburn here.

Click below for some of the resources the teams give to the restaurants:

Get the Too Good To Go App!

Watch this video to learn about using the Too Good To Go app in the Bay Area. There is no reason we can’t make this work in Placer County too!

Did you know that about 24% of all the food in the U.S. (54 million tons) goes to waste? Given that one in ten Americans are food insecure, wasted food is just plain wrong for people. It also is wrong for the planet because much of food waste ends up in the landfill where it rots to form methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Part of the food waste problem can be addressed using the app, Too Good to Go, which was developed in Denmark, but began making its way to the United States in the Fall of 2020. The purpose of the app is connect consumers with surplus food in the form of “surprise bags” that food stores and restaurants would otherwise throw away. Currently (March 2023) only one store in our area is signed up for the service (it is free to both consumers and sellers), but PECA members plan to advocate for restaurants to take advantage of the app and for consumers (that’s you) to get the app.