Built Environment

Contributed by: Peninsula Clean Energy With Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE), your community is taking action on climate change while saving money. By working together, we have steadily cut hundreds of thousands of metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by using cleaner electricity while saving our residents and businesses millions of dollars through lower electric rates. We also invest in programs to further reduce carbon emissions and provide significant savings. In September 2024, Caltrain became the first commuter rail service provider to go electric using PCE’s 100% renewable powered Green Transit tariff. This historic partnership gives you a modern, all-electric [...]

This is the final week of Sustain SSMC and our behind-the-scenes tour of our core programs that are helping to make San Mateo County more sustainable for everyone! This week we have an up close and personal look at our Annual Sustainability Awards. Our 2025 event will be the 26th year we come together as a community to celebrate sustainability champions from our county. See application and event details here. See our other behind-the-scenes profiles to understand the work and impact of SSMC: Sustainability Dashboard Indicators Report Ideas Bank We need your support. If you are concerned about the future [...]

We hope you’re enjoying learning about what goes on behind-the-scenes with SSMC’s core programs and seeing how they make our county more sustainable. Up next is the Sustainability Ideas Bank, a collection of over 80 solutions to the most important issues facing our cities. Most of these solutions were researched by the 62 student interns who have worked with us since 2019. Many of them tell us they were so inspired by speaking with experts and learning how policy is shaped that they have changed their majors and career plans to focus on making our world more sustainable. If [...]

SSMC hosted three expert speakers to talk about the impacts and alternatives to freeway widening. The event, titled “Beyond Freeway Expansion: Exploring Sustainable Alternatives” drew a diverse audience including elected government leaders and city and county staff, non profit leaders and community advocates. Speakers shared facts about freeway widening, offered a list of actions individuals can take and provided helpful resources to learn more. Speakers included: James Coleman, Mayor of South San Francisco Julio Garcia, Executive Director of Rise South City Mike Swire, Chair C/CAG Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee and San Mateo County Transportation Authority Citizen Advisory Committee [...]

We continue with our behind-the-scenes look at SSMC's core programs that help make San Mateo County more sustainable for everyone. We can't produce these programs without your support. As an independent 501(c)(3) organization, we rely on donors like you to sustain our work. Your donation–big or small–makes a significant difference to a local organization like SSMC. Sustain SSMC And a reminder, donors who set up a recurring monthly donation of at least $20 per month will receive an invitation to our fabulous end-of-year donor appreciation event. We have a great event planned with a very special guest. Donate now [...]

Most of our community knows about some of the work we do, but do you know the impact all of our core programs are having? This month, we shared a behind-the-scenes look at how SSMC creates our core programs and how they help make San Mateo County more sustainable for everyone. Take a look at each of our profiles: Sustainability Dashboard - keep reading below Indicators Report Ideas Bank Annual Awards Celebration Like what you see? Thousands of hours of work go into our core programs, which help to make San Mateo County more sustainable and hold our cities accountable. [...]

Dear Friends of Sustainable San Mateo County, As we reach the midyear mark, I am excited to share some updates on Sustainable San Mateo County's progress, and more importantly, highlight the exciting opportunities ahead. The recent heat waves have reminded us of the urgent need to equitably address climate change and its impacts. Ensuring that all members of our community are resilient to these challenges is more important than ever. At SSMC, we are dedicated to promoting sustainability in ways that benefit everyone, and we are grateful for your support in making this possible. In [...]

SSMC strives to educate and support our youth to be part of creating a more sustainable world. This year we announced for the first time our Youth Sustainability Award and in April we hosted our second annual Youth for Climate Policy event. Today we’re thrilled to announce our 2024 SSMC Summer Intern Class! This year, eight talented, experienced and passionate college students will learn about the world of policy research and community engagement while creating SSMC's next set of innovative Ideas Bank solutions addressing critical environmental and social issues. Our interns will be focused on the issues San Mateo County [...]