KJ set to lead the City of Trees

November 24, 5:33 PMSacramento Environmental News ExaminerHarry Osibin

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Sacramento is known as the “City of Trees” and, word is,  there are more than a million trees in town.  It seems the original city planners anticipated the need for air conditioning for the hot central valley of California and, using state-of-the-art 19th-century technology, planted trees everywhere.  This town is chock-a-block with woody plant-shaded streets.

Environmentally, the city is surprisingly progressive in other areas as well with bicycle advocates spurring installation of bike lanes on various thoroughfares, the light-rail system has observed twenty years of service and people actually walk to get places, especially in Midtown, a compact “grid” community near the state capital.  Residents have the option of using energy generated from renewable sources from the local utility SMUD.

That said, Sacramento has elected its first former professional athletic-turned politician as mayor.  Hometown hero Kevin Johnson unseated two-term incumbent Heather Fargo in a surprisingly snippy contest.

Crime and the economy were the keynote themes of the campaign.  Environmental concerns were rarely mentioned.  Mayor Fargo has been a perennial in the tree community both at the national and local levels.  Mr. Johnson played against Wayne “Tree” Rollins while both competed in the NBA.

Some critics suggest that matters of the environment and clean energy sources should have had higher profiles during the campaign.  There is a burgeoning green business community in Sacramento and the Capital Region could become a destination for this kind of enterprise.  Shuttered military reservations, such as the former McClellan Air Force Base, have become incubators for clean technologies.

Reducing crime becomes much easier when communities are developing employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in this new economy.

The issues are all linked.  The new Mayor has pledged to eliminate the hazards on the crime-ridden light rail system, thus encouraging ridership.  Enviros see a nice progression:  create jobs, reduce crime, clean-up public transit, encourage ridership, get cars off the road, reduce pollution and congestion.  And plant more trees.