Recently, SLO County did a Green House Gass (GHG) Inventory and discovered that 66.7%, let me say that again, 66.7% of GHG emissions in San Luis Obispo County are attributed to TRANSPORTATION. The rest of the pie is broken down into: other 10%, waste .8%, residential 9.3%, and commercial/industrial 14.8%. Wow. That means that if we can change our commute habits, we can drastically reduce GHG emission in our County. GHG's are attributed to climate change, which may have a big part in our shortage of rainfall and rise in temperatures in SLO County. Have you noticed the decrease in rainfall that we've had in the past few years?
In response to these findings, the County is planning to prepare a Climate Action Plan to reduce these levels. More info here: http://www.slocleanair.org/programs/climatechange_general.php. County Planning Newsletter here: http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/AssetFactory.aspx?did=20298
As Rideshare Staff, we continually drive (no pun intended) the message that by taking the bus, carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking or telecommuting we can make an impact on our air quality. Now, we can change that by saying, we can have a HUGE impact on our air quality. Not to mention that the money saved by not driving alone can otherwise be spent on our local economy (which could use a little boost) and also increase physical health (which could use a big boost, as our county has the highest childhood obesity rate on the Central Coast).
If you're reading this, chances are you already do your part to decrease vehicle emissions, miles and trips. Thank you. Please help us spread the word about our program so that we may help others in our mission to move people, not cars.
-MNM
