http://stocktonchamber.org/

http://stocktongov.com/gogreen/

http://greenteamsanjoaquin.com/

San Joaquin - Index

San Joaquin - may08 - Index

209
sAN jOAquIN
PEOPLE l PLACEs l THINGs
The emerald City
sTOCkTON GOEs “GREEN”
in maRCH, Stockton received the distinction of being named in Popular Science magazine’s list of
“america’s 50 greenest Cities” in the United States (march 2008), coming in at number forty-nine.
“We were very, very pleased,” recalls Christine Tien, Deputy City manager, of the reaction in
the mayor’s office. after a recent slew of bad publicity about the city, “this was great news.”
it’s an achievement the city has been working toward for a long time. The Stockton Chamber
of Commerce has encouraged businesses to be more environmentally-friendly for years, according
to program and publicity director Frank Ferral. Their green Team San Joaquin talks to businesses
regularly about the benefits of going green.
“We explain how carpooling, recycling, and energy efficiency not only reduces a business’
carbon footprint, but can also help them actually reduce costs,” says Ferral.
Business and government leaders aim to continue improving Stockton’s green status. Starting
may 1, Tien says that government vehicles had their biodiesel blend increased from 5 to 20
percent, greatly improving fuel efficiency without modification to existing engines. meanwhile,
the Stockton Chamber is going into local high schools to promote jobs installing and maintaining
wind turbines and solar panel systems.
With such plans, by next year, Stockton’s ranking should be even higher, which is enough to
make other cities green … with envy. –Nissa Hallquist
FoR MoRe inFoRMaTion about Stockton’s “green” programs, visit www.stocktonchamber.org,
www.stocktongov.com/gogreen, or www.greenteamsanjoaquin.com
[ BY THE NuMBERs ]
Popular Science magazine recently
ranked Stockton as one of the fifty
greenest cities in america. That
got us excited to find out how San
Joaquin County residents as a whole
are becoming more environmentallyfriendly,
from what they recycle to
how they get around town.
800
size, in acres, of Foothill
sanitary Landfill, san
joaquin County’s largest public landfill
Average tons of waste
791per day dumped in the
Foothill landfill, located near Lodi
Public landfills run by san
2 joaquin County
Cars removed from
2,498 county highways
last fiscal year thanks to san joaquin’s
Commute Connection efforts
213,000 People
served in
the first six months of operation of
the new regional bus transit system
in 2007
Turbines that make
4,489 up the Altamont
Pass Wind Farm
Number of
125,000households Altamont Pass wind power can
service in and around san joaquin
County annually
— compiled by Jennifer Bonnett
Sources: San Joaquin County, California Wind
Energy Association
28 san joaquin magazine maY 15-JULY 1 2008