'Fresno Green' aims for better air: Mayor announces plan calling for cleaner city operations by 2025  

 

Apr 27 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Brad Branan The Fresno Bee, Calif.

The city of Fresno wants to help improve air quality in one of the country's most polluted regions, Mayor Alan Autry announced Thursday.

Better air is among the goals of "Fresno Green," a strategic plan intended to guide city actions during the next 18 years, Autry and other city officials said at a news conference.

Working with the general plan approved in 2002, "Fresno Green" will make Fresno more environmentally sustainable by 2025, Autry said.

The news conference was held at the city's Municipal Service Center, which has received awards for its use of solar power. Autry and other officials stood in front of city hybrid cars and trucks that run on natural gas.

The environmental plan calls for cleaner city operations involving such things as vehicle use and construction. What the plan will mean for residents is unclear.

Although the plan briefly mentions updates to the city's zoning and building codes to encourage infill development, it doesn't explicitly call for new regulations. Instead, it lists 25 strategies for improved environmental health, such as expanding affordable public transportation, promoting environmentally friendly building standards and creating a "Fresno Green Scorecard" to measure progress.

Council President Henry T. Perea, who helped draft the plan, said he expects the City Council will have to address some of the changes, including any proposal that would require the city to spend money.

Local environmentalists question how effective the plan can be without the weight of law.

"We want to applaud their efforts," said Heather Anderson of the Tehipite chapter of the Sierra Club. "But we want specifics."

Although the city's goals sound great, Sierra Club member Chris Acree said, "we haven't really seen a lot of leadership from the city on the environment."

The city lacks regulatory authority to effectively reduce air pollution, Acree said.

Autry cautioned that the city can only play a partial role in the effort to improve air quality in the region.

But, he added, "Fresno Green" is "not just another document that's going to sit around," and said it contains a number of specific actions.

The plan calls for a 50% reduction of particulate matter and smog-forming emissions from city vehicles. Some of the reductions will be achieved through replacing all of the city's gas-operated light-equipment vehicles with hybrids. Having the support of Autry means the city administration will work hard to carry out the goals, Perea said.

The reporter can be reached at bbranan @fresnobee.com or (559)441-6679.