Environment

Environment

Santa Clara County shields Coyote Valley from development

Climate advocates and conservationists are praising Santa Clara County lawmakers for creating protections for one of the last green open spaces in the South Bay. The Board of Supervisors voted last week to drastically limit development in Coyote Valley, preserving it for open space and agriculture and helping the region achieve climate change goals. “I commit...

How San Jose plans to be carbon neutral in nine years

San Jose pledged to go carbon neutral by 2030, but the feasibility of this ambitious goal is still up in the air. The City Council voted unanimously to approve the pledge on Nov. 9. To be carbon neutral, the city needs to either offset all carbon emissions to reach a net-zero, or eliminate carbon emissions...

San Jose settles flood claims, but Valley Water litigation continues

San Jose residents affected by a devastating flood in 2017 are finally getting a settlement from the city, but litigation over the natural catastrophe isn’t over. The San Jose City Council approved a $750,000 settlement Tuesday for more than 250 plaintiffs suing the city for allegedly failing to warn them about flood dangers following heavy rainfall...

UPDATE: San Jose council keeps Coyote Valley as open space

“Amazon-style” warehouses won’t be in the future of San Jose’s Coyote Valley for now, as the city plans to preserve 314 acres of green space, marking a victory for local environmentalists. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to rezone portions of the valley south of the city from industrial use to agricultural and...

San Jose residents demand better care of Tamien Park

After more than three decades fighting for a public park, residents in a struggling San Jose neighborhood got one. But three weeks later, the grass withered and turned brown. The Tamien Park Soccer Field opened in early June in the city’s low-income Guadalupe-Washington neighborhood. Just three weeks later, the park had fallen into a state...

Electric leaf blower pilot program powers up in San Jose

Gas-powered leaf blowers could disappear from San Jose, two years before they stop being sold in California. An electric leaf blower pilot program launched on Friday aims to decrease the noise and air pollution generated by gas-powered blowers. The idea was developed in close partnership with San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan‘s office and residents of...

Legal woes still halt San Jose park revitalization

A lawsuit continues to obstruct plans to breathe life into a troubled park in downtown San Jose. Local residents approached a national foundation nearly a decade ago with an idea to build an outdoor music venue at St. James Park, with the hopes it would turn the space into an iconic downtown destination. But as...