Collaborative sets climate change goals

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed at the collaborative signing ceremony.

Three Bay Area cities are joining forces with some big names in business to formulate a regional climate change action plan.

Known as the Bay Area Climate Change Collaborative, the group officially kicked off in March 2009. Along with the cities of San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland, group members include San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric (NYSE:PCG), San Mateo-based commercial contractor Webcor, Redwood City-based smart grid networking company Silver Spring Networks, and Palo Alto-based Better Place, which in 2008 announced plans to install a $1 billion electric car charging network in the Bay Area.

“We need the private sector at the table to develop solutions,” says Michael Mielke, director of environmental programs and policy for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which is also part of the collaborative.

The group has outlined 10 specific action areas, each with its own targets and timeline. Among them are developing standard regional green building and rooftop solar requirements by 2010, boosting renewable power use to 30 percent of 2008 levels by the end of 2013, decreasing water consumption and cutting electricity use in buildings.

The collaborative also aims to slash the amount of waste heading to landfills by 75 percent by 2014, and achieve zero waste by 2021.

Many of the businesses taking part in the collaborative are involved in projects that align with the group’s stated goals—from PG&E, which in February announced a 500-megawatt solar initiative, to Webcor, which receives a majority of its revenue from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified projects.

The businesses each contributed money to the collaborative, and also plan to join working groups based on their area of expertise.

The group is still open to new business partnerships, Mielke says. “We’d love to engage as many as possible.”