San Rafael OKs 100% ‘Deep Green’ in new budget
San Rafael officials decided this week to go “Deep Green” by adding money in the city’s 2017-18 budget to purchase 100 percent renewable energy from MCE for city operations.
The move, which will cost $20,000 in addition to the $27,000 already budgeted for MCE, will “set a good example for the entire county” of leadership in helping the environment, Mayor Gary Phillips said at Monday’s public meeting.
Phillips said he was inspired by the public comments in favor of the move — particularly a group of young people who made an impassioned plea.
“It might be worth 20 grand to say, ‘Hey, we’re with you,’” Phillips said. “It’s worth it to me.”
He added that he planned to join mayors across the nation this week in expressing solidarity with the Paris Climate Change Agreement, despite President Trump’s decision to pull out of the accord.
Phillips joined with the other four council members in voting to approve the city’s $111.6 million all-funds 2017-18 budget, with the addition of the $20,000.
The spending plan, which takes effect July 1, includes a $74.9 million operations general fund, up 3.8 percent from the current fiscal year.
In adding the $20,000, the council asked staff to present a six-month review in December as to whether the additional expenses have been offset by savings from installing solar arrays and LED streetlights.
The vote came after members of area environmental groups testified as to their support, including those from Sierra Club, Sustainable San Rafael, Organizing for Action Marin, Marin Conservation Action League and Marin Interfaith Climate Cooperative.
“The 100 percent renewable electricity is so important to achieving the city’s climate change objectives and to keeping San Rafael in the vanguard of climate action in Marin,” said William Carney, president of Sustainable San Rafael.
Councilman John Gamblin said he supported the decision, but he added that it didn’t go far enough since government energy use is only a small portion of the total for the community.
“It’s great to be a leader, but its (the city’s upgrade) not going to move the dial all that much,” he said. Gamblin suggested lobbying the business community to also go “Deep Green.”
“I think we should all buy one share each of Autodesk and BioMarin — two of our largest publicly traded companies,” he said. “With that one share, we can get into their annual meetings and then we could make the case there for them to also go ‘Deep Green.’”
City Finance Director Mark Moses said the 2017-18 budget was bolstered by a 3 percent increase in sales tax revenue and a 5.25 percent increase in property tax revenue.
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