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California Cities Once Again Leads Fight Against Global Warming

Case Updates:

March 13, 2009

California is yet again leading the country in the fight against global warming. On March 13, 2009, Tulare County Superior Court ordered the City of Tulare to take global warming emissions into account in their city planning process. Several California cities already understand how unnecessary sprawl and inefficient development increases global warming pollution and take this fact into account when creating their city development plans. Now we can ad the City of Tulare, in California’s Central Valley, to this progressive group.

This development did not come without a fight. When the City of Tulare was developing it’s 2030 general plan update (which guides development throughout the city), they ignored the impacts it would have on climate change. In an effort to ensure that Tulare’s expansion minimizes global warming pollution as much as possible, the Sierra Club challenged the general plan in court, and won.

This win sends a clear message that all cities in California must take climate change into account when creating development plans. It is the next step in the growing trend of California cities facing pressure to include global warming mitigation in their planning. It is possible for a city to expand and grow in a way that minimizes pollution, and if more cities follow the City of Tulare and other Californian cities, we will be one step closer to solving global warming.

Many thanks for the long, hard work from the Sierra Club’s Kern-Kaweah Chapter and from lead activist Gordon Nipp. Also, this case could not have been won without the help from attorney Babak Naficy!

For more information on this case click here!

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