There is real power in combining the actions of a number of different entities into a collective whole. For example, getting a few people to take an action (write a letter to the editor perhaps) in each of 20 different Cool Cities Teams, when coordinated, can combine into a much larger whole. A concrete example of this is taking action up and down the peninsula to empower cities to pass plastic bag bans (which our Cool Cities Teams did), which ultimately resulted in California passing a ban.
Some of our various past actions are given below:
2/20/13 - (OpEd) Guest opinion: Proposed Stanford development would deepen housing deficit by Adina Levin and Gita Dev
12/22/12 - (OpEd) Caltrain Moving "Beyond Oil," by Irvin Dawid
12/13/12 - (Article) Caltrain electrification project lauded by Sierra Club
12/13/12 - (OpEd) A wake-up call for San Mateo County, by Gita Dev
11/28/12 - (Letter to The Mercury News) Express your view on polystyrene ban, John Cordes
10/27/12 - (Letter to Palo Alto Daily News) Traffic analogies, Irvin Dawid
10/20/12 - (Guest Perspective, San Mateo Daily Journal) Gas Prices Finally Falling, Irvin Dawid
10/08/12 - (Letter to Palo Alto Daily News) Caltrain Funding - Packed rail cars, Irvin Dawid
8/15/12 - (Letter to Palo Alto Daily News) Careful on Alma, Irvin Dawid
8/14/12 - (Letter to Palo Alto Daily News) Bicycle Boulevards (biking on Alma St., Palo Alto), Andrew Boone
8/13/12 - Letter to Daly City City Council in Support of Polystyrene Ban, from Daly City Cool Cities
8/13/12 - (Letter to the San Jose Mercury News) Caltrain should benefit from high speed rail, Irvin Dawid
8/2/12 - (Letter to the San Mateo Daily Journal) San Mateo Mayor Brandt Grotte Calls for Leaf Blower Ban, Bill Silverfarb
8/1/12 - (Letter to the Los Angeles Times) Tallying the True Cost of Coal, Irvin David
7/29/12 - (Opinion Letter in the New York Times) Our Energy Choices and Climate Change, Bruce Hodge, Founder, Carbon-Free Palo Alto
7/14/12 - (Letter to San Francisco Chronicle) 'Train to Nowhere' is moving us forward on approval by state Senate of High Speed Rail funding, Irvin Dawid
6/26/12 - (Letter to San Francisco Chronicle) Transit needs are urgent on transportation funding and gas tax, Irvin Dawid
5/25/2012 - (Editorial in Palo Alto On-line) On Deadline: No more "dithering" — Palo Alto pushes 'carbon free' electricity to fight climate change on Bruce Hodge's successful effort toward carbon-free electricity.
5/25/12 - (Guest Opinion in Mercury News/Peninsula edition) Sierra Club supports dedicated bus lanes on El Camino Real, Adrien Salazar .
5/21/12 - (Letter to Mercury News/Peninsula) The Case For Bus Lanes, Barbara Fukumoto
5/18/12 - (Letter to the Sunnyvale Sun) Sunnyvale Needs More Transit Options, Margaret Okuzumi
5/17/12 - (Letter to the Mercury News) Commentary: Decision Time for Bus Rapid Transit on El Camino Real, John Cordes
5/15/12 - (Letter to the San Mateo Daily Journal) "In Advocacy of Greater HSR Safety" (Caltrain improvements), Irvin Dawid
5/14/12 - (Chapter Letter to City Council) Letter in support of Bus Rapid Transit in Sunnyvale, Ginny Laibl/chapter chair; Gladwyn D'Souza/transportation chair.
5/10/12 - (Letter to Palo Alto Daily News) "California Ave." (Palo Alto streetscape improvement project), Irvin Dawid (Palo Alto)
5/9/12 - (Letter to Mercury News) "Time for a statewide polystyrene ban?" David Clark (San Mateo)
4/17/12 - (Resolution) Executive Committee adopts resolution in support of Bus Rapid Transit
4/13/12 - (Letter to the Wall Street Journal) Demographics Limit Suburbs More Than Planning Does, Irvin Dawid (Palo Alto)
3/31/12 - (Letter to the S.F. Chronicle Editor) High-speed? Electric is fine (Caltrain electrification), Irvin Dawid (Palo Alto)
3/20/12 - The San Jose Cool Cities Team spoke on behalf of the Chapter against the Almaden Ranch Retail Center, SJ City Council unfortuntely voted for the project. Our position quoted in the SJ Mercury News
2/23/12 - (Letter to the Editor) Almaden Ranch Harmful to the Environment, Megan Fluke (San Jose)
2/15/12 - WIN! San Mateo City Council votes to support three agenda items put forth by the Sam Mateo Cool Cities Team: 1) Plastic Bag Ban, 2) Polystyrene Ban, 3) Gas powered Leaf Blower Ban
2/13/12 - (Submitted OpEd) Other Voices (for Electric Bikes), Rob Means (Milpitas Cool Cites)
1/30/12 - WIN! Facebook agrees to make major new investments in bike routes to new campus with support from Menlo Park Green Ribbon Citizens' Committee and Palo Alto Cool Cities.
1/24/12 - (Letter to the Editor) Support Bus Lanes, Jacqueline Vance (Santa Clara)
1/24/12 - (Letter to City Council) Comment Letter regarding General Plan update, Rich Brugger (Daly City Cool Cities)
1/23/12 - (Letter to City Council) Sunnvale Cool Cities Ranking of Study Issues
1/20/12 - (OpEd) Cars Might Save The Planet, Irvin Dawid (Palo Alto)
12/9/11 - (Letter to the Editor) Sunnyvale should follow suit with ban, Margaret Lawson
12/9/11 - (Letter the the Editor) Plastic bag ban is right thing to do, Kim Jelfs
12/9/11 - (Letter to the Editor) No Such thing as a free bag, Barbara Fukumoto (Sunnyvale)
12/9/11 - (OpEd) Want More Bike Parking? Ask for it, Irvin Dawid (Palo Alto)
12/6/11 - WIN! Sunnyvale City Council passes plastic bag ban with support from Sunnyvale Cool Cities Team.
12/6/11 - (Letter to the Editor) City of San Mateo should be commended for pedestrian plan, Kim Thai (San Jose)
10/30/11 - (Letter to the Editor) Bus Rapid Transit offers solutions, Carter Lavin (San Jose)
10/29/11 - (Letter to the Editor) Support for accessible public transportation, Vanessa Quevedo (Santa Clara)
10/27/11 - (Letter to the Editor) Removing lanes on El Camino Real draws outrage, John Carpenter (Mountain View)
10/26/11 - (OpEd) Guest opinion: Make a people-friendly El Camino Real, Adina Levin (Menlo Park)
9/30/11 - First meeting of Land Use and Transportation Committee of the Palo Alto Cool Cities Team
9/20/11 - Kicked off San Mateo Cool Cities Team
9/8/11 - (Letter to the Editor) Almaden Ranch Plan to return even better, Carter Lavin (San Jose)
8/13/11 - (Letter to the Editor) Almaden Ranch plan not in Green Vision, Kenneth Rosales (San Jose)