dondonoughe

Centralized or decentralized? Purple pipes or potable reuse? Five weeks ago, this would have sounded like the oddest game of “Would You Rather” I’d ever played. But learning about the conversations Bay Area cities, organizations and engineers are having about the future of our water supply has felt like being introduced to a new world! This summer I’ve been conducting water sustainability research for Sustainable San Mateo County (SSMC), a nonprofit partnering with local cities and businesses to further environmental, economic and social sustainability. I’m one of four interns working to expand SSMC’s Sustainability Ideas Bank, a database of sustainability [...]

By Calista Triantis Local cities and counties are leading the way in holding fossil fuel companies legally responsible for climate change. San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, Santa Cruz County, San Mateo County and Marin County have all joined multi-billion-dollar lawsuits across the U.S. against major oil companies for the impacts of climate change on their communities. This spring the 9th Circuit allowed these lawsuits to continue in state court rather than federal court, where oil companies are usually favored. A ruling in favor of the cities and counties would not only financially mitigate the infrastructure these communities need to adapt but [...]

By: Lizzie Avila On June 30, we held our fifth Virtual Happy Hour in the midst of racial tensions between police and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) communities following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others. We think this is a very important time to use this platform to examine the relationship between environmental issues and racial and social inequities and to encourage honest conversations about this topic. Our guest speaker was Lilian Chang, a rising senior at Mills High School and the Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee of the San Mateo County Youth [...]